This episode was originally supposed to be the opening episode of the fourth season, with "Homefront" being the finale of the third season.
Although it is almost impossible to make them out, outside Starfleet Command are a number of statues of famous starships, including the Enterprise from Star Trek (1966) the Original Series. Production designer Herman F. Zimmerman used Galoob toys as the statues.
Susan Gibney, who plays Erika Benteen, previously portrayed Dr. Leah Brahms in two Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) episodes - Booby Trap (1989) and Galaxy's Child (1991). She was also considered for the role of Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager (1995).
Captain Benteen commands the USS Lakota. These names allude to the Little Bighorn War of 1876 where Captain Frederick Benteen was one of the United States Cavalry commanders who fought against the Lakota Sioux, an American Indian nation.
The names of the former Lakota officers Sisko reads from the manifest are all named after characters from Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22: Daneeka, McWatt, Snowden, Orr, and Moodus.