The Officer of the Watch/Tactical Officer is arguably the busiest officer in Aries CIC. Tasked with the monitoring of DRADIS and coordinating various command and control functionality, including computer control, the Tactical Officer must relay changes in status and keep the commander updated continuously during the fluid events of battle. The Tactical officer is typically the first to know that an attack is imminent and will address the battlestar by the public address system to go to battle stations through Condition One or Two alerts.

While the Helm officers drive the ship, it is the Tactical officer that plots FTL jumps, the apparently instantaneous leap from one location in space to another location millions of kilometers away. The Tactical officer of Galactica not only has to provide Jump coordinates to the battlestar's helm, but is also responsible for relaying both scheduled sets and sets of emergency jump coordinates to over 70 other FTL-capable civilian ships that make up the Fleet to ensure that all ships always stay close to Galactica's' protective sphere.

Nearby the Tactical Station is a tactical board and table where the commander can meet with several officers and crew at once for advanced battle or strategy conferences. The Tactical Station is frequently manned by other specialists and officers that assist the Watch Officer.

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