Greetings, RSers.

Before I begin my addendum to the Dry Run results that ADM Sconn posted a few weeks ago, let me apologize to you for its delay. I had certain expectations as far as time was concerned that, due to other circumstances, were not possible to meet. As a result, I’m going to go “off script” a bit here.

Medals:

The first thing I’m going to do is to announce some medal presentations. The following medals have been awarded for Multiplayer competition:

CMDR Adam Mieter - Operational Development Pin (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
RA David "Heavy" Pasiechnyk - Operational Development Pin (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
CPT Jay Forerunner - Operational Development Pin (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
LCL Kane ''Kid'' Dev Redron - Operational Development Pin (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
LCM Tá'Ré Djo - Operational Development Pin (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
RA David "Heavy" Pasiechnyk - Operational Development Pin (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
LCL Kane ''Kid'' Dev Redron - Operational Development Pin (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
LCM Tá'Ré Djo - Operational Development Pin (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
RA David "Heavy" Pasiechnyk - Valiance Combat Citation (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
LCL Kane ''Kid'' Dev Redron - Valiance Combat Citation (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
CPT Jay Forerunner - Heroic Combat Citation (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
LCM Tá'Ré Djo - Valiance Combat Citation (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
LJG Chad1233 - Operational Development Pin (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
RA David "Heavy" Pasiechnyk - Operational Development Pin (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
CPT Jay Forerunner - Operational Development Pin (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
RA David "Heavy" Pasiechnyk - Operational Development Pin (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
LCL Kane ''Kid'' Dev Redron - Operational Development Pin (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
LCM Tá'Ré Djo - Operational Development Pin (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
RA David "Heavy" Pasiechnyk - Valiance Combat Citation (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
LCL Kane ''Kid'' Dev Redron - Heroic Combat Citation (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
RA David "Heavy" Pasiechnyk - Operational Development Pin (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)
CPT Jay Forerunner - Operational Development Pin (Nominated by ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran)

Now, you’ll see members receiving multiples of the same medals. That is because each instance of that medal was earned for participating in a different Multiplayer competition. ADM Borran has been very diligent in making sure that our membership has been appropriately rewarded for their participation.

Also, no medal(s) have been awarded for mission narratives. This was going to be done on a per-platform basis, but that didn’t work as planned. As a result, I will award an overall RS Mission Report Medal for the best mission narrative. This person is someone that I really wasn’t expecting to see a narrative from, and I’m really glad he sent one in. It was well written and made excellent use of the available resources provided by his fellows without overstepping his bounds. The Mission Report Medal for the Dry Run is hereby awarded to BGN Richo. Congrats, Richo!

The next medal I have is for a guy that I believe has really stepped up lately. He’s been persistent in helping out the Logistics Office. He’s put in a lot of work making sure that Wiki pages about either himself or his units are updated. He has also brought up a flaw in the scoring system used for the Dry Run before HC for discussion. As a result, I hereby award the Alvace Star to CMDR Adam Mieter. Congrats, Adam!

Promotions:

Ok, I think it’s time to get some promotions now. Mainly because I like promoting people.

First off is someone you’re all familiar with. He’s a well-known pilot who’s skilled at both Single and Multiplayer combat. He also works to keep the Logistics Office rolling, at least when he’s not working on our new ITOD reporting system for the IO. For the Dry Run, he not only scored the highest number of points, but he also assisted ADM Sconn in MP scoring for XvT/XWA and in calculating points and determining medals. He was also the most active member across multiple platforms. Based upon his hard work for the club and in helping to promote activity, I hereby promote David "Heavy" Pasiechnyk to the rank of Vice Admiral. Congratulations, Heavy!

The next promotion I have is for someone I’ve already awarded a medal to. This promotion comes for basically the same reasons as the medal: Works hard in the LO. Updates the Wiki. Brought up the scoring system flaw (which I will discuss in a moment, BTW). Plus, he’s an excellent leader, working to keep Red Dragon Squadron flying high. His actions are selfless in service to the RS, making him an asset on High Command. As a result of his excellent activity and dedication, I hereby promote Adam Mieter to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Congratulations, Adam!

Next up, here’s a guy that caught up in Heavy’s Magical MP Adventure for the Dry Run, representing the RS in several BSC competitions. Really, he was crazy active. He also works as an Assistant IO with minor web site updates. Based upon his work, dedication, and loyalty to the RS, I hereby promote Kane “Kid” Dev Redron to the rank of full Colonel. Congratulations, Kane!

This next person is someone that should be familiar to just about anyone that enters an RS IRC channel. Not only does she maintain a presence in the chat rooms, but she also helps out the cadets in the Academy. To top it all off, she flies every flight sim we support and made sure she helped out with the BSC competitions in a very significant way. As a result, I hereby promote Tá'Ré Djo to the rank of full Commander. Congratulations, Ray!

For exemplary activity and club representation during the Dry Run, I hereby promote Jay Forerunner to the rank of Major. Congratulations, Jay!

Finally, for participating in MP matches, even though he wasn’t even in an actual squadron, I hereby promote Chad1233 to the rank of 2LT. Congratulations, Chad!

Executive Office News:

I believe that does it for medals and promotions. There is also a change in the Executive Offices. Due to several factors, including the ineffectiveness of the Academy, I have made the decision to replace BGN Eric Reagan as RS Training Officer. Eric, I know you did your best, and I thank you for stepping up.

Now, please permit me to name his replacement. His replacement is someone that you can always count on to welcome a new face and work to get that person integrated into the RS. Members of the RS, I am pleased to announce that the new RS Training Officer is none other than CMDR Tá'Ré Djo! I look forward to the Academy making some forward progress under her leadership.

News:

I’m sure some of you are wondering about what we learned from the Dry Run. Well, we learned that our current mission reporting setup is insufficient for the RS Reorganization. As a result, Heavy has been hard at work on an updated version. Hopefully, this will be completed soon.

We learned that the RS isn’t dead yet. Despite any rumors of doom and gloom that may be floating around, we had 31 of an approximate 50 active members participate in the Dry Run. That’s 62% activity for those of you counting at home. As far as activity goes, this exceeded my expectations.

We had the first successful integration of console gaming into the RS. While it wasn’t a very significant amount, a few members got together on Xbox Live and had about 8 or so MP matches with each other. I expect to see this increase as time goes by.

People enjoy the freedom to participate in activities as they see fit, regardless of what unit they are in. Many members tried platforms that they don’t normally participate in. Hopefully, this will result in higher activity across the board for all platforms.

The scoring system we used is completely screwed up. This was brought to HCs attention by LCL Mieter as a result of the results being heavily skewed in favor of MP participation. As a result, I have formed a special Scoring Task Force to come up with a viable solution that will then be submitted to HC for further input.

Also, in regards to scoring, we learned that we need to have something that breaks down the scores so that we know what each member is participating in and how those participations affect the mission outcomes.

Finally, I plan on having at least 1, maybe 2, more Dry Run(s) in the near future to make sure that potential issues are as fixed as we can make them before we fully implement the Reorganization. However, before we do that, I need people who have not notified either Sconn or myself of a squadron choice for the Reorganization to do so ASAP. We’re setting up the new roster at http://www.rebelsquadrons.org/roster/fleet.php?id=20. Once everyone’s checked in with a squadron choice, we can fill that out and move one more important step closer to the Reorg.

Conclusion and Closing:

Finally, let me say that I’m proud of how the club handled itself during the Dry Run. Many of you took advantage of your new freedom to report on any platform without having to be in multiple squadrons. We’re working hard to get the problems we discovered fixed, so just hang tight, and we’ll let you know when we think we have things worked out. Until then, your fleets should be releasing new missions either now or in the near future if they haven’t already since we’re back to the original mission reporting methods until either the next Dry Run or the Reorg.

Also, if you see ADM Sienn Sconn, give him a big “Thank You” for scoring the Dry Run. He put a lot of effort into keeping the merit points updated behind the scenes. Sconn, you have my personal thanks for the outstanding job you did for us.

FC’s Minute: Remember, it’s not always about success. It’s more about whether or not you showed up. If we as a club “show up” through this time and stand together instead of letting any petty bickering and grudges come between us, we’ll come out all the better for it.

Thank you all for your patience and support, and have a good night.

Yours in H.I.E.R.,

Lieutenant General Kirghy Lommax
Rebel Squadrons Fleet Commander