Nogura was a Starfleet admiral of formidable reputation in the late-23rd century.
Nogura temporarily transferred command of the USS Enterprise to Rear Admiral James T. Kirk, and demoted Captain Willard Decker. The transfer was done at Kirk's request in reference to the V'Ger crisis. When hearing that Admiral Kirk had talked Nogura into giving him command of the Enterprise, Commander Montgomery Scott commented that "I doubt it was that easy" with Nogura. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
- The character's first name was never revealed on screen but is given as "Heihachiro" by Gene Roddenberry in the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Nogura was referred to several times, but never shown, in the Star Trek newspaper comic strip as well as in the novel The Lost Years, where he is said to have been a decades-long friend to the Kirk family and the man responsible for getting Kirk his first assignment as captain of the Enterprise.