J . Hayes Major J . Hayes was a Human male who served as a Military Assault Command Operations officer during the mid - 22nd century . In 2153 , Hayes was assigned as the commanding officer of the MACO detachment aboard for the mission into the Delphic Expanse . Hayes died in February of 2154 , rescuing Ensign Hoshi Sato from the Xindi - Reptilian s aboard one of their warship s . Personality . Hayes was a hardened military man with extreme discipline . He was dedicated to the chain of command , and preferred to maintain a certain level of consistency in his life . Hayes was a graduate of the military academy at West Point , New York , and had undergone lunar survival training , an extremely intense ordeal , by the time he served on " Enterprise " . ( ) Actions aboard " Enterprise " . Almost immediately upon boarding " Enterprise " , Major Hayes found himself in conflict with chief armory officer Malcolm Reed , who believed that Hayes intended to take control of the ship ' s security . When " Enterprise " s first officer , T ' Pol , recommended that Reed allow Hayes to lead a rescue mission for Captain Archer and Commander Tucker , who were being held captive in a trellium mining facility , Reed voiced his opinion that Hayes thought that his own team was more capable of carrying out the mission . ( ) In October of that year , Hayes accompanied Captain Archer and Lieutenant Reed on an away mission to a Xindi - Arboreal colony which was producing a key component of the weapon being built to destroy Earth . During the mission , Hayes advised Archer that two spatial charge s fired from orbit would be enough to destroy the facility . Ultimately , however , Archer chose not to destroy it , when he discovered that the Xindi working there had no idea that their labor was being put towards the destruction of Human ity . ( ) In December of that year , Hayes proposed a series of tactical drills be held for " Enterprise " s senior officer s , a request which Archer agreed with . This caused a certain amount of friction between Hayes and Lieutenant Reed , who felt that Hayes was circumventing his authority by taking his request directly to the captain . This tension eventually came to a head when what started out as a simple sparring match between the two degraded into an all - out brawl in the corridor s of the ship . The two combatants were forced to terminate the fight , however , when a hostile alien attempted to destroy the ship . Hayes and Reed were forced to work together to stop the alien , eventually succeeding in saving " Enterprise " . Later , in Captain Archer ' s ready room , the two of them were berated by Archer for the fight , and ordered to settle their differences immediately . The two complied , claiming that the dispute was settled . ( ) The tension between the two resurfaced only a month later , however , when Archer , who was under the influence of a unique neurochemical , relieved T ' Pol and Reed of duty and placed MACOs in command of " Enterprise " . As Archer was being influenced to sacrifice a majority of the ship ' s antimatter in order to restore power to a Xindi - Insectoid hatchery , the " Enterprise " senior officers were forced to retake the ship from the MACOs . This resulted in a firefight being fought on the bridge , with Hayes and Reed competing for control of the ship . Ultimately , however , the Starfleet officers were successful in taking control , and relieved the MACOs of duty . After Archer had been treated by Doctor Phlox , Reed conversed with Hayes about recent events , with Hayes admitting that respecting the chain of command was not as simple as he had once believed . ( ) In February 2154 , Hayes led a boarding party aboard a Xindi - Reptilian warship to rescue Hoshi Sato , who had been abducted by the Reptilian s . While the rescue mission was ultimately successful , and Sato was safely retrieved , Hayes was shot through the chest by a Xindi particle weapon mid - transport , suffering serious injuries . In " Enterprise " s sickbay , Hayes recommended that Reed should rely on Corporal McKenzie and make use of her familiarity with the MACO team upon his death . Immediately thereafter , Hayes lost consciousness and , despite attempts by Dr . Phlox to revive him with cardiostimulator s , Hayes succumbed to his injuries and died . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Hayes was played by actor Steven Culp . He once speculated that Hayes ' first name was either " Jeremiah " or " Jay " . Finding Hayes ' mindset was at first difficult for Steven Culp . " " It was sketchy at first , " " he related . " " There wasn ’ t a lot on the page and I know that the second episode I did , I was kind of like ' why am I here ? ' Because he didn ’ t have much to say , but I took that as my clue . Man of few words – man of action . It was kind of an experiment with me , almost like a kind of character . Someone who is totally defined by his actions . " " An insightful article was influential in the development of Hayes . " " Around the second episode I worked on , titled ' The Shipment ' , I came across this article in the , " " recalled Steven Culp . " " It was about this young soldier in Iraq who had grown up in a bad neighborhood , grew up kind of a troubled kid who found himself in the military . He seemed like this dedicated , gung - ho soldier who had found fulfillment in the military . I took it to the director [ of the episode ] and said , ' This is me . This is my character . ' It grew from there . " " ( ) Apocrypha . In the novel " Last Full Measure " , Hayes ' first name is " Joss " . Hayes ' mirror universe counterpart appeared in the novella " Age of the Empress " .