Bill Smitrovich William Stanley Zmitrowicz Jr . , known as Bill Smitrovich is an actor from Bridgeport , Connecticut , USA , who played Michael Webb in the episodes and . Smitrovich is perhaps best remembered for his portrayal of Drew Thatcher on the family drama series " Life Goes On " . Smitrovich starred in this series for all of its four seasons ( 1989 - 93 ) . Prior to this , he was a regular on the NBC series " Crime Story " , where he played Detective Danny Krychek . Four years after " Life Goes On " , Smitrovich had a recurring role as Bob " Bletch " Bletcher in Chris Carter ' s " Millennium " series , on which Terry O ' Quinn was a regular . Smitrovich had previously co - starred with O ' Quinn in the films " Without a Trace " ( 1983 , in which both Smitrovich and Thomas Kopache appeared as policemen ) , " Silver Bullet " ( 1985 , with Leon Russom and Lawrence Tierney ) , and " Ghosts of Mississippi " ( 1996 , co - starring Whoopi Goldberg , Susanna Thompson , Brock Peters , Richard Riehle , and Bill Cobbs ) . Smitrovich ' s early film credits also include the 1984 comedy " Splash " ( with Clint Howard , Charles Macauley , Jill Jacobson , Christopher Thomas , Valerie Wildman , and Patrick Cronin ) , Michael Mann ' s 1986 thriller " Manhunter " , and the 1989 crime drama " Renegades " ( co - starring Robert Knepper ) . He later starred in such films as the 1996 science fiction blockbuster " Independence Day " ( with Brent Spiner , Erick Avari , Leland Orser , Raphael Sbarge , Robert Pine , and Tim Kelleher ) , 1996 ' s " The Phantom " ( with Leon Russom and Cary - Hiroyuki Tagawa ) and " The Trigger Effect " ( with Rick Worthy and William Lucking ) , 1997 ' s " Air Force One " ( with Dean Stockwell ) , and the 2000 political thriller " Thirteen Days " ( with Steven Culp , Tim Kelleher , and Kevin Conway ) . Additionally , Smitrovich made two guest appearances on " Miami Vice " , one in 1984 and another in 1985 . His " Past Tense " co - star Frank Military ( Biddle Coleridge ) was a writer for that series . Smitrovich later made guest appearances on such television shows as " Murder , She Wrote " ( with Gregory Itzin ) , " NYPD Blue " ( starring Gordon Clapp and Sharon Lawrence ) , the 1998 remake of " Fantasy Island " ( starring Mädchen Amick and Malcolm McDowell , in an episode with Louise Fletcher ) , " 24 " ( with Roger R . Cross ) , " The Nine " ( starring John Billingsley ) , " Eli Stone " ( with Ethan Phillips ) , and " Desperate Housewives " ( starring Teri Hatcher ) . From 2001 through 2003 , Smitrovich had a recurring role as Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Welsh on the TV drama " The Practice " . He also made two additional appearances as Walsh in 2004 . During his time on this show , Smitrovich worked with such " Star Trek " performers as Earl Boen , Ellen Bry , Alan Dale , Eve Brenner , Richard Cox , Bari Hochwald , Clyde Kusatsu , John Larroquette , Virginia Madsen , Mark Margolis , Dakin Matthews , Carolyn McCormick , Richard McGonagle , Mark Moses , Alan Oppenheimer , Andrew Robinson , Cristine Rose , Jennifer Savidge , Mark L . Taylor , and star William Shatner . During his time on " The Practice " , Smitrovich was also starring as Inspector Cramer on the A & E series " A Nero Wolfe Mystery " ( with Saul Rubinek ) , which ran for 29 episodes from 2001 through 2002 . He also had roles in the made - for - TV films " Fail Safe " ( 2001 ) , in which he co - starred with James Cromwell , and " The Reagans " ( 2003 ) , in which he played the role of Alexander Haig . More recently , Smitrovich co - starred with Patrick Stewart in the 2005 film " The Game of Their Lives " and had a supporting role in Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios ' blockbuster " Iron Man " ( with Faran Tahir ) . His upcoming films include " Flash of Genius " and " Seven Pounds " , both co - starring Tim Kelleher . Since 2004 , Smitrovich has recurred as Special Agent Alexander Olczyk on " Without a Trace " , the CBS crime drama starring Enrique Murciano . Other " Star Trek " actors he has worked with on this show include John Cothran , Jr . , John Doman , Claudette Nevins , and Jennifer Parsons . As a Screen Actors Guild ( now SAG - AFTRA ) member , Smitrovich worked in several positions for this union and was recently voted to serve as SAG National Board alternate and to the Hollywood Division Board of Directors .