Tigh also has a strong dislike of Gaius Baltar; this turns into murderous rage during Baltar's tenure as head of the collaborationist government. Tigh had a particular respect for his subordinate Felix Gaeta, going so far as to defend him after he makes a foolish mistake separating "Galactica" from the civilian fleet, though this respect all but evaporated after Tigh suspected Gaeta of collaboration with the Cylons on New Caprica. It is unclear how Tigh feels about Gaeta after he found out it was Gaeta supplying the human resistance with vital information. He expresses contempt at civilians' unwillingness to forego certain comforts, such as having more than "a thimbleful of water a day" and seems genuinely shocked they refuse to accept martial law. He has an unrelenting moral vision and sense of duty, to the extent he publicly refuses to shake hands with Tom Zarek, a former Sagittaron rebel turned politician, even though it would be politically expedient to do so. According to the memories implanted by Cavil, Tigh entered the Colonial Fleet as an enlisted man during the first Cylon war. Whether he replaced an existing human being, or was a complete fabrication, is unknown. Still a teenager, he was serving on the "Brenik" when it was boarded by Cylon Centurions. The bloody hand-to-hand shipboard combat that ensued left him with mental scars lasting for the rest of his life and convinced him that, although they are machines, the Cylons truly hate the human race. He is also frequently able to anticipate Cylon tactics from his considerable combat experience. Tigh was eventually trained as a Viper pilot and commissioned as an officer. Some time after the first Cylon war, he was mustered out of the service, and took low status work in civilian freighters for several years. Tigh met William Adama during a bar fight that began when Tigh was taunted by his shipmates over his wartime service, and the two quickly became firm friends. Adama was instrumental in saving Tigh from his most self-destructive tendencies. After his marriage, Adama was able to use his new wife Carolanne's connections to get first himself and then Tigh reinstated in the Colonial Fleet. He had a strained relationship with his wife, Ellen; as Adama later puts it, there were rumours "she slept with half the Fleet while Saul was in space." After her infidelity was discovered; he carried a great deal of bitterness about it, to the extent he attacks Kara Thrace for mentioning it during a card game.