Battlegroups Report 9

Greetings and welcome to a new edition of the Battlegroups report! Lots of stuff going on, so let’s get right to it!

NEWS FROM THE BGS

For those of you who’ve been living under a rock, the FO was promoted recently. Congratulations go out to HA Pri! In a related event, Mell, a figure of no small stature in the history of the BGs, was awarded a much-deserved GoE! Please join me in wishing Mell well as he moves on to a tour with the ASF. You’ll be missed, and you’re welcome back in the BGs anytime!

In other news, Wing VIII has a new WC. Please join me in welcoming LC Samuel Shadd to the BGs! This also marks a complete turnover in Flag Staff in the BGs.

Many competitions are in progress, including a very interesting one between the Immortal and Intrepid. It’s a MP competition, and we await the results with great interest.

An update on the impending competition (or exercise): the Colossus is scheduled to finish her refit this week, and the Challenge will take her place in drydock. Colossus will then assume the system patrol duties currently being performed by Challenge. Relentless and Immortal continue to patrol the border sectors, and are encountering rising reports of what may be pirate activity. Unidentified recon fighters have been spotting probing the border defenses, always breaking contact as soon as they’re scanned. There have been no attacks, but Intel believes it’s only a matter of time. As a result, both ships and their Wings have been placed on Condition Two alert. The BG Intel staff is examining all reports from the sectors concerned, and BG 2 (Rel and Imm) should be receiving new orders shortly.

STANDING ORDERS AND PROCEDURES

Just so everyone knows, I’ve decided on the duties and processes surrounding the position of Battlegroups Executive Officer (BGXO). For those of you who don’t know what this is, the BGXO is an unofficial position that acts as the BGs’ second in command. If I’m on leave or out of contact due to RL reasons, the BGXO steps in and acts in my place. The BGXO also has some other duties and responsibilities, and assists me in making sure that the BGs are running as efficiently and smoothly as possible.

The BGXO, like other XO positions, is a way to prepare people for higher command positions. Keeping that firmly in mind, I’ve decided to make the BGXO position a rotating duty. Unless they decline their chance, each COM will hold the BGXO position for a four month duty tour. At the end of that time, they will be replaced with the next COM in rotation. That will allow all the BG COMs to get a feel for what it’s like to be BGCOM.

Normally I’d be starting with the COM of the old flagship, but VA RogueWing is busy enough with his other EH duties. So the current rotation will be ChalCOM, ImmCOM, RelCOM, and ColCOM. That means that, effective February 24, RA Mairin Astoris will begin her tour as BGXO. On June 24, she’ll be replaced by the ImmCOM (unless he declines the posting), and so on.

AND DON’T FORGET: MSES ARE DUE TO ME BY MARCH 5!

RANT FROM THE RANKS

Our rant this time comes from a Flag officer in the BGs. It’s on an interesting topic, so read and decide.

I had an interesting email today from the CMDR of Praetorian, wanting to recruit not one, but four of my hard-earned pilots from Wing X into Praetorian because (and I quote) "It's down to six members and I need to fill it up". In true COM-esque fashion I happily puffed up like a blowfish and told him to back off (politely, before you start panicking).

It suddenly struck me that several of my own squadrons have less than six pilots - was Praetorian going to give me pilots to make up the shortfall for those? No, I didn't think they were. So that just begs the question. Why in the hell SHOULD I hand over my pilots, my boys, the life and soul of my Wing and Ship just to flood out Praetorian's (or any other elite squad's) numbers? Because they're "elite"? Hell no!

I wish the TIE Corps would stop being so anal retentive and realise that no ship is going to appreciate losing their pilots to any squadron - especially not to those that actually have permission and sanction to ASK your pilots in front of you to leave. I have several questions regarding these elite squadrons that have yet to be answered.

1. What's the point? Nobody likes them, nobody cares about them, and they don't do that much to further the TIE Corps as a whole, just leech off the rest of us.
2. Where's the fun? Surely it's far more fun and enjoyable to work hard to get where you are, and appreciate every last one of your pilots because you actually realise there isn't an endless stream of them out there, than to just sit like a fat slug poaching people from their rightful homes. Even worse, where's the fun for the pilot? I always thought a large part of the fun of the TIE Corps was being part of a large group of people, all working in essentially the same direction. I can't see that being something you get in an Elite Squadron, no matter how "good" they are; all they are is a small unit trading on name alone.
3. Why should they be allowed to? Everyone else in the TIE Corps has to struggle and fight over pilots, whereas elite squadrons have the ability and the right to steal, approach, and use means to get, our pilots, which would otherwise be called illegal if used by a non-elite squadron. Why should it be any different to them? Are they really so different and highfalutin' that they shouldn't have to dirty their hands with the Cadets like the rest of us "lesser mortals"?

In short, the knee-jerk reaction is "Piss off" and the considered reaction is a decided DENIED.

And there you have it! A scathing rant from a Flag Staff officer. Some may wonder why I chose to run it unedited. The answer’s simple: it provokes thought and debate. Some of this officer’s points are extreme, but I suspect they echo a lingering thought in many ‘line’ peoples’ minds: just what good are the elite squadrons?

Now, I’ve never served in one, so I can’t speak from experience here. But I happen to support the concept of elite squadrons. Having spoken to some of their CMDRs, and dealt with pilots who’ve served in the elite units, some of these comments are rather off-base. The problem is that, on the whole, elite squadrons do a very poor job of explaining exactly what they do and showing activity that the rest of the fleet can see and appreciate. Some elite squadrons have minimum performance requirements, and come down on those who don’t meet their standards. But they do so in their own world, which we of the line don’t often see.

How do we correct this perception? Simple: we challenge elite squadrons and work with them to the benefit of both units. Many squadrons in the BGs consider themselves something close to elite (or actually elite), and what better way to find out than to challenge Omega or Praetorian to a competition? I’d also encourage those officers invited to do a tour with the elite squadrons to take them up on their offer, with one strong provision: BRING WHAT YOU LEARN BACK TO YOUR HOME UNIT! If you’ve come into contact with the best pilots in the TC (which in theory is what the elite squadrons are supposed to contain), you can bring their tips and tactics back to your squadron. You’ll also help your fellow pilots understand what goes on in elite squadrons. Elite squadrons aren’t going to go away, and the policies surrounding them aren’t likely to change, either. So it’s up to us to find a way to make the situation work for both parties.

And now I issue a challenge to the Squadrons in the BGs: I know many of you are indeed elite caliber. We have some of the top scorers in the fleet serving in our ranks. Each ship, each Wing, has at least one Squadron that dominates competitions every time they climb into their fighters. If you command that Squadron, challenge an elite squadron. If you come out on the short end, at least you know that you were defeated in honest competition. And if you win…well…think of the parties in the cantinas when the BGs learn that you knocked off one of the TIE Corps’ elite units!

CLOSING THOUGHTS

We now have an official Battlegroups Forum! I encourage all of you to make heavy use of it. The ASF’s been using their forum for years to sound off on issues of importance to their entire battlegroup: let’s do the same!

That’s all for now. Keep flying and having fun!

BGCOM/VA Krax Tarnisar/TIE Corps Battlegroups