Cabot R. Erhaftlich was a 23rd century Human man, born around reference stardate 1/76, around the year 2240. Erhaftlich was a career Starfleet officer in the Military Operations Command, and by the 2280s he had risen to the flag officer rank of commodore, in command of the Federation starship USS Bosch. Erhaftlich's vessel was ordered, on stardate 2/21, to lead a small fleet of vessels to intercept the USS Cooper at the Federation-Klingon Neutral Zone border, at the order of Commodore Jarv Gouthar of Starbase 14.