Officially, Dawson was a civilian. He was a former marine and then intelligence officer before going off the radar. Intel let him still have access to their work, simply for all the work he had done in the past. He was an asset they wanted to keep tabs on, and he was fine with that. They had no jurisdiction over him, and he had no jurisdiction over them.

That being said, as a courtesy (though technically they did request him to do so) he decided to get typical boarding evaluations done.

His first stop was sickbay. The doors quietly opened as he stepped through to the common area and waited to be addressed. He simply quietly observed.

-Dawson, Intel