A chief linguistics officer is in charge of all linguistic sciences aboard a starship. Starfleet utilized linguistic officers in unexplored or under-explored areas of space where many first contact situations may arise. Exploring the Typhon Expanse and regions around it where many various cultures and species existed, the USS Cantabrian (NCC-24705) had a chief linguistics officer named Threk. After Threk's untimely death in 2372, Captain Noah Wrightson promoted Lieutenant junior grade Benjamin Caldwell to chief linguistics officer of the Cantabrian.