Brad Boimler at a glance
Brad Boimler is a rare Command officer in Star Trek Fleet Command, pulled straight from the animated comedy Lower Decks. If you recruited him from an event or a draw and opened his sheet, you probably noticed it looks unusual the first time you read it.
The short version: Boimler is a bridge officer, not a captain. His officer ability raises your ship’s penetration stats, which matters in combat against targets that lean on mitigation. His captain ability does nothing at all, so he should never sit in the captain’s chair.
This guide covers who Boimler is in the show, what his abilities do in the game, where he fits, how to get him, and how to think about crewing him.
Brad Boimler in Star Trek canon
Ensign Bradward “Brad” Boimler is a Human junior officer in Starfleet’s Befehl division during the mid-24th century. He first served aboard the USS Cerritos under Captain Carol Freeman, then later transferred to the USS Titan under Captain William T. Riker. Jack Quaid voices him in Star Trek: Lower Decks, the animated series that premiered in 2020 and follows the lower-ranked crew who keep a starship running while the senior Offiziere get the glory.
Boimler is ambitious and anxious in equal measure. He follows rules and protocol closely and wants nothing more than to climb the ranks, which sometimes leaves him frozen when a moment calls for improvisation. His friend and self-appointed mentor Beckett Mariner usually drags him into the kind of trouble that teaches him when to bend the rules. The character was partly based on Sam Lavelle from the TNG episode “Lower Decks,” an officer so careful about doing everything right that he never gets to be the hero.
The show even names a Starfleet policy after him: the Boimler Effect, a mandate that rewards shortcuts over rigid rule-following, much to Boimler’s own discomfort. In 2381, a transporter accident split him into two identical copies with the same memories, one keeping the name Bradward and the other becoming William. That gag is why you will also find separate Boimler-related officers floating around the wider Star Trek roster.
Brad Boimler’s role in STFC
Boimler is a Command-class officer whose value sits entirely in his officer ability. In STFC, the officer ability is the bonus a character provides from a bridge seat rather than from the captain’s chair. Boimler’s ability pushes up your ship’s penetration stats, the numbers that decide how much of your weapon damage gets through enemy defenses.
Penetration covers three things: Armor Piercing, Shield Piercing, and Accuracy. Armor Piercing and Shield Piercing reduce how much an enemy’s armor and shields blunt your hits, and Accuracy improves the odds that your shots connect cleanly. Raising all three at once is an offense move, so Boimler reads as an offense-leaning support officer rather than an economy, mining, or station-defense pick.
That focus also tells you where he does not help. He brings nothing to a mining run, nothing to research or Raffinerie work, nothing to station defense, and nothing from the captain seat. He is a combat bridge officer with one job, and he does it for ships that already want to trade fire.
Captain ability and officer ability
Captain ability: Unfit to Lead
Boimler has no working captain ability. His captain slot carries an ability called Unfit to Lead, and its effect is exactly what the name promises: nothing. Putting Boimler in the captain’s chair provides no benefit at any rank. Treat that seat as wasted whenever he is captaining, and place a real captain there instead.
This is a deliberate design joke tied to his character, and it is the single most important thing to know before you build a crew around him. Boimler only earns his place from a bridge officer seat, never from the chair.
Officer ability: The Real Action
From a bridge seat, Boimler’s officer ability, The Real Action, increases your ship’s Armor Piercing, Shield Piercing, and Accuracy. Lifting all three penetration stats at once helps your shots land and bite through enemy mitigation, which is the defensive layer that soaks incoming damage. The bonus grows as you promote him through his ranks, so a higher-rank Boimler sharpens the effect.
Because the exact percentages shift with game updates, the practical read stays simple: Boimler is a penetration booster. Pair him with weapons-focused officers and a hull that already wants to deal direct weapon damage, and his ability works in the background every round without any activation on your part.
Where Brad Boimler shines
Boimler is a situational pick, and he rewards players who already treat penetration as a deliberate combat lever. A few places he can earn a seat:
- Combat ships built around landing consistent, accurate hits, where extra Armor Piercing and Shield Piercing turn into more damage actually getting through.
- Fights against targets with high mitigation or heavy defenses, since raising penetration is one way to claw back damage those targets would otherwise shrug off.
- Crews where your captain and one bridge seat are already settled and you want a third officer who adds offense instead of a passive economy perk.
He is not a first pick for newer players still filling out core combat and faction crews. His ability is narrow, and the empty captain slot means he competes for one of your limited bridge seats without the flexibility of an officer who can also captain. Once your essential crews are built, though, he becomes a reasonable specialist to slot in when penetration is the stat you need.
How to get Brad Boimler
Boimler is a selten officer, and like other Lower Decks characters he tends to show up through limited events and recruitment tied to that roster rather than through a permanent faction store. Availability rotates, so check the current event schedule and store offers in your game before you plan around him.
Reaching his maximum rank takes 680 shards in total. The climb by rank, as of the latest Daten, looks like this:
| Rang | Total shards to reach it |
|---|---|
| Rank 1 | 45 |
| Rank 2 | 110 |
| Rank 3 | 230 |
| Rank 4 | 410 |
| Rank 5 | 680 |
Where those shards come from changes with the live calendar, so do not count on a fixed source. Confirm the current rotation before you spend resources chasing him.
Synergy and crew building
Boimler belongs to the Lower Decks crew synergy group, alongside Beckett Mariner, D’Vana Tendi, Sam Rutherford, Carol Freeman, Doctor T’Ana, Alonzo Freeman, and Abzeichen. In theory a synergy group rewards fielding its members together.
In practice, that group currently carries no percentage bonus, so pairing Boimler with the rest of the Lower Decks crew gives you no extra stat boost today. Build his crew around what his ability does, not around the synergy tag. Put a capable captain in the chair, slot Boimler into a bridge seat for the penetration boost, and fill the third seat with an officer that backs up your combat goal, whether that is more weapon damage, more accuracy, or survivability on the hull you are flying.
Frequently asked questions
Is Brad Boimler any good in STFC?
He is a niche offense officer. His penetration buff is useful on the right combat ship, but the dead captain ability and narrow focus keep him out of most core crews. He is nice to have, rarely a priority.
Why does Boimler’s captain ability do nothing?
His captain ability, Unfit to Lead, has no effect by design, a nod to the character’s running gag about never quite being ready for the captain’s chair. Always captain your ship with someone else and use Boimler in a bridge seat.
What does The Real Action do?
It raises your ship’s Armor Piercing, Shield Piercing, and Accuracy while Boimler sits on the bridge, helping more of your weapon damage get through enemy defenses. The bonus increases as you rank him up.
Where do you get Brad Boimler shards?
Through limited events and recruitment connected to the Lower Decks roster. Availability rotates, so check the current event schedule and store offers in your game rather than relying on a fixed source.
Is Boimler worth ranking up?
Only if you actively run penetration-focused combat crews and have spare shards. Reaching rank 5 costs 680 shards, so handle your main combat and faction officers first, then invest in Boimler if the offense still helps.
Bottom line
Boimler is a fun, character-driven officer with one clear job: boost penetration from a bridge seat. If you fly combat ships that want their hits to land harder against defended targets, he has a home in your lineup. If you are still building out your essential crews, he can wait on the bench until you have a seat to spare.
