Jordan Rampart once enjoyed a rich career, learning the duties of Starfleet's various branches--command, navigation, sciences, security, even medical--in a quest to one day become captain.  In 2382, Romulan agents of the Tal Shiar captured him and implanted false memories as part of a mind-probe experiment, hoping to acquire classified Starfleet information.  In an illusionary world created for him by his Romulan captors, Rampart and his Romulan interrogator, Vor'ana, fell in love, married and had children; the ordeal ended when Rampart's "family" "died" in a transporter accident, along with an imaginary sister he never had.  The incident left him deeply and psychologically scarred.  Rampart became leery around transporters as a result, an instinctive fear which persists to this day.  Despite counseling and treatment, Rampart later suffered a mental breakdown, unable to reconcile the illusion with reality, believing his memories were real.  Jaded and depressed, he fell into a downward spiral which jeopardized his career with charges of disorderly conduct, negligence of duties and refusal to obey orders.  Facing possible court-martial and dishonorable discharge, he resigned from Starfleet in 2384.

 

In 2385, Starfleet admiral Richmond Fitz, Rampart's former CO, offered to reinstate Rampart due to his extensive Away Team experience, as the first leader of the Cadre, a type of "Away Team" on detached duty which travels the galaxy via artificial wormholes.  Rampart took the job, subconsciously hoping that use of subspace transporters would cause him to suffer the same fate as his "family".  During a mission to Romulus, he found Vor'ana alive, and learned that she had been manipulated as he was, leaving her neurologically damaged and incarcerated in a mental hospital.  Although he and Vor'ana had never actually married, Rampart thought of her as his wife and took leave from Starfleet to be with her, helping to guide her rehabilitation.  Starfleet utilized Rampart's choice to assign him as a liaison to the Romulan Republic during that time, a position he maintained for several months until late 2385.  Eventually Vor'ana recovered.  Because Rampart tried to help her despite what she did to him, and because they shared the same implanted memories, Vor'ana truly fell in love with him; later they officially married in accord with Federation and Romulan laws.

 

Following Vor'ana's recovery, Rampart was reassigned to the UFS Arcadia to safeguard his father-in-law, Vronak, a Romulan scientist sent there as part of an exchange program with the Federation.  Shortly after taking residence aboard the Arcadia, Rampart was placed in command when former captain Stephen April was promoted to admiral.

 

Rampart has a "loose" command style, often casual and open with others, yet is firm when he needs to be.  His experiences with Romulans, aided by having a Romulan wife, have made him something of an expert on Romulan politics and culture.