Mendon Mendon was a male Benzite in the 24th century and an officer in the Benzite government . In 2365 , he participated in an Officer Exchange Program operated between his government and the United Federation of Planets , with the rank of Ensign . Mendon specifically requested to be assigned to the . He came aboard at Starbase 179 . While on the " Enterprise " , he met Wesley Crusher , who , at first , thought Mendon was his friend Mordock , but Mendon pointed out that Crusher was mistaken , remarking that as they were from the same geostructure , they would look alike . ( ) Mendon comported himself in a manner very confident of his own abilities , and after observing the bridge crew , he attempted to suggest some changes to Captain Picard in order to make things " more efficient " . After Picard brushed off his approach , referring Mendon to his supervisor Lieutenant Worf , Mendon scan ned the Klingon starship , with which the " Enterprise " - D was making a rendezvous . He discovered a subatomic bacteria eating away at the hull of the " Pagh " , but did not report it until a similar lifeform was discovered on the hull of the " Enterprise " - D . He revealed that he had merely followed Benzite procedure , which required that a problem not be reported until a solution had been found . When Picard informed Mendon that he should have followed Starfleet procedure , not Benzite procedure , and alerted his superiors to the problem immediately , he became despondent . He told Wesley Crusher that he thought he had failed , but Crusher consoled him , telling him he should attempt to find a solution to the problem . Mendon continued his analysis , and eventually found a solution , a tunneling neutrino beam . This saved both ship s from destruction . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Mendon was played by actor John Putch in his second of three " Star Trek " appearances . Putch previously played the identical - looking Mordock in , awarding him the honor of being the first guest star to play two separate characters from the same species . ( " " , 3rd ed . , p . 75 ) Of returning to play Mendon , Putch recalled ; " " I was all very impressed by that . I thought , ' Ah , they love me , they love me . ' What they really loved was that it was me , because they ' d spent all that money on making that blue head and it was form fitted to me . . . I don ' t fault them for that . I would have done the same thing , but it ' s funny how you are naive about these things when you ' re just an actor . " " The makeup department originally created ( for Mordock ) one major appliance that covered most of actor John Putch ' s head and additional pieces that covered his upper lip , chin , and eyelids , both of which were an unusual configuration of " puffy eyes " with lids that " folded back on themselves like Venetian blinds . " The mouth area and earlobes possessed a set of catfish " feelers " while the overall headpiece was painted blue with oranges and yellows worked in to make the skin color look more lifelike . ( " " , p . 110 ) The script for " A Matter Of Honor " describes Mendon as " " a large , blue - skinned officer from the planet Benzar . He breathes through a special device at his chest which converts the oxygen level to his use . He is young , alert , quick moving and as the nature of Benzites , he is always ready to please and demonstrate his abilities . " "