Buena Park : Trekkie Boards Starship to Reenlist in the Navy

Petty Officer Robert E. Alexander reenlisted in the Navy Wednesday on the bridge of the USS Enterprise--at the Movieland Wax Museum.

In a ceremony that Mr. Spock might have called a bit “illogical,” Alexander’s wish to sign up for another hitch in the Navy aboard the starship was fulfilled when the museum allowed him and 12 buddies to use its life-sized replica of the starship’s bridge, alongside wax figures of the stars of the popular television show and movie series.

Alexander, who has been in the Navy for eight years, had always intended to reenlist, but finding the right place to do it was hard. While en route to the San Diego Naval Base after a tour of duty in the Pacific, Alexander, 28, and fellow Trekkies decided on the Enterprise.

“Some guys choose aircraft, flag masts, submarines and all those places,” Alexander said, turning to look at ship’s Capt. James T. Kirk. “I just thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be neat to do it on the Enterprise?’ ”

Alexander, who claims to be the show’s “biggest fan” and who has nearly all its episodes on tape, went from one character to another, pretending to introduce himself while friends repeatedly snapped his picture.

“It’s like a dream,” said the sonar technician, who is stationed aboard the destroyer Hewitt. “I’ve got butterflies in my stomach.”

It was a fellow Trekkie and a Navy counselor, Tom Hanson, who found the substitute Enterprise and got permission from Navy officials to hold the ceremony at the unusual location. “I called ‘ship-to-shore’ for two weeks, arranging this,” he said. “I just had to keep him (Alexander) from getting weak knees.”

Cmdr. Stephen R. Loeffler of the Hewitt said he thought the Enterprise was just as appropriate as any other place for a reenlistment ceremony.

“It’s a little unusual,” Loeffler admitted, looking over the ship’s flashing colored lights. “But I guess the USS Hewitt is very much like the USS Enterprise in its own right.”

Sandra Alexander, 28, watched her husband pledge six more years to the Navy aboard his favorite starship and said, “He just had to be reenlisted on the Enterprise. He loves those guys.”