Kyle Commander Kyle was a male Starfleet officer in the 23rd century . He served aboard the between 2267 and 2270 under the command of Captain James T . Kirk , during a historic five - year mission that starship undertook . He held the rank of lieutenant during the five - year mission and was assigned primarily to the operations division . His main duties on the " Enterprise " included transporter chief and engineering assistant . He was also trained to operate the helm and the science station . In 2285 , he was a commander assigned to the under the command of Captain Clark Terrell . He served as the communications officer on that ship . ( , ; ; ) Starfleet service . After the " Enterprise " was accidentally hurled back in time to the year 1969 , Kyle was threatened in the transporter room by John Christopher when he , a United States Air Force pilot , pointed a phaser at Kyle and demanded to be beam ed down to Earth . Captain Kirk disarmed Christopher and prevented the escape . After an airbase staff sergeant was inadvertently beamed aboard , Kyle served him chicken soup from a food slot in the transporter room , before the " Enterprise " made a return voyage to 2267 . ( ) Kyle was in the same room when Lieutenant Marla McGivers threatened him with a phaser on stardate 3141 . 9 . He was rendered unconscious by Khan Noonien Singh while Khan , a 20th century despot , enacted a plan to hijack the " Enterprise " . Kyle later recovered from this ordeal . ( ) However , he was assault ed in the transporter room by a cordrazine - crazed Doctor Leonard McCoy later that year . After Lieutenant Galloway discovered Kyle unconscious on the floor , he was revived . ( ) Kyle beamed aboard a dead Lieutenant during a mission to Pyris VII . ( ) He later assisted First Officer Spock in finding a weakness in Apollo ' s force field , on stardate 3468 . 1 . ( ) He beamed a damage control party over to the and returned them safely to the " Enterprise " during battle with a " planet killer " on stardate 4202 . 1 . ( ) He was later too sedated to work the transporter controls , so Kirk and Spock had to beam a Redjac - possessed Hengist out into deep space themselves . ( ) Kyle aided Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott in loosening Vaal ' s hold on the " Enterprise " on stardate 3715 . 3 . ( ) He inadvertently beamed aboard the mirror universe counterparts of , , and Lieutenant when an ion storm on the Halkan homeworld disrupted the transporting process . ( ) On stardate 4307 . 1 , in the year 2268 , Kyle was at the helm of the " Enterprise " while the ship journeyed through a space amoeba . ( ) The next year , he sent a landing party over to planetoid Memory Alpha and beamed them safely back after the planetoid was attacked by non - corporeal Zetarian s . ( ) Later that year , Kyle grew a mustache . He transported Kirk , Spock , McCoy and Scott over to an insectoid ship on stardate 5221 . 3 . He locked onto them when explosions erupted aboard the alien vessel and returned them safely to the " Enterprise " . ( ) He transported a cosmic cloud ' s villi into Scott ' s force field box to regenerate the ship ' s antimatter reserves on stardate 5371 . 3 . ( ) He also beamed aboard an alien disguised as long - lost philanthropist Carter Winston , not realizing that the newcomer was , in fact , . ( ) After temporarily succumbing to the effects of Harry Mudd ' s love crystals , Kyle transported Kirk and Spock down to a planetoid to rescue Nurse Christine Chapel . ( ) He assisted the bridge crew on stardate 5577 . 3 , when Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu broke a leg in a fall . ( ) On stardate 7403 . 6 , he beamed down a landing party , with Pandronian representative Ari bn Bem , on a scouting mission to Delta Theta III . ( ) By stardate 8130 . 4 , Kyle sported a goatee and had transferred to serve aboard the " Reliant " as a communications officer . While in orbit around Ceti Alpha V , he was unable to communicate with Terrell and Commander Pavel Chekov on the planet surface , not realizing that they had encountered Khan and his followers . Kyle was stranded on the planet when they hijacked the " Reliant " . After Khan was defeated in the Battle of the Mutara Nebula , Kyle and the rest of the " Reliant " crew , on stardate 8141 . 6 , were rescued by the " Enterprise " . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Kyle was a recurring character played by English - born actor John Winston . He first appeared in and was given onscreen credit as " Transporter Chief " . He had no set identity until Spock addressed him as " Lieutenant Kyle " in . Kyle was originally set to appear in , but Winston was not available at the time the episode was filmed , so the character was replaced by O ' Neil ( Sean Morgan ) . ( " " ) For the , he had a mustache and was voiced by James Doohan . The script for mentioned that the character had to be voiced with a British accent . Winston wore a goatee when he reprised the role of Kyle for . Christopher Doohan , son of James Doohan , stated on his that he portrayed Kyle for his uncredited cameo in the film . Apocrypha . Kyle was born on Earth . According to the comic book " Who ' s Who in Star Trek 1 " , he was born in Adelaide , Australia and his father was a sales representative for one of Earth ' s largest transportation companies . The novel " Traitor Winds " established his birthplace as Sydney , Australia . The video game " " mentioned that he was born in Sheffield , England in 2241 . " Who ' s Who in Star Trek " stated that he attended Perth Engineering College . His personnel file in " Star Trek : Starship Creator " noted that he graduated from Starfleet Academy in 2263 . He was assigned to the USS " Bull Run " as a transporter technician . He was promoted to lieutenant junior grade after receiving his starship pilot certificate in 2264 . He was transferred to the " Enterprise " as a lieutenant and was estranged from his wife , Rebecca , and his two daughter s , Susan and Dawn , who lived in New Berlin , Luna . According to " Star Trek : Starship Creator " , he was assigned to the in 2278 and became the senior helmsman . He was awarded the Citation for Bravery in 2280 for piloting a shuttle and clearing a safe path for the " Bozeman " out of a Tholian minefield . He was promoted to lieutenant commander in 2281 and named second officer of the " Bozeman " . He was transferred to the USS " Reliant " in 2284 at the request of Chekov and became second officer . " Who ' s Who in Star Trek " stated that he was assigned to the after the events of . The novel " The Fire and the Rose " mentioned that he attended Kirk ' s memorial service at Starfleet Academy in 2293 during the events of . There were inconsistencies with regards to Kyle ' s first name . In " Who ' s Who in Star Trek " , his first name was Thomas . According to FASA ' s " " , it was Winston – an apparent reference to John Winston . The novels " Present Tense " and " The Fire and the Rose " state that it was John – another apparent tribute to the actor who portrayed him .