TCCOM Report # 2 (2009-01-25)

This report was submitted by TCCOM/FA Jarek La'an/SSSD Sovereign


TCCOM Report #2
FA La’an, 11/1/09

Circumstance is a cruel mistress, hence the fact that my second official report as TCCOM falls so far from the second week of the position. The Raise the Flag competition provided an excellent close for 2008 and I reiterate my congratulations for the Challenge and Cyclone in particular.

You all heard far too much from me far too often and the Xmas leave you were granted should have been enjoyed by all. Today is the 10th and thus I am hereby reactivating the TIE Corps and officially ending the Xmas leave. 2009 is hopefully going to be a different year in many respects for the TC as we face several changes to our long-standing structures and background.

The first of these is a timeline advancement that has been confirmed by the XO, pushing the EH to 25 ABY. There is a little confusion over this regarding how role and background will be affected - for the meantime I will say that this will be handled carefully and with detail over the coming months as we re-establish our position. There is also confusion regarding what year we have advanced from, with different people having different ideas that is unfortunately a throwback to earlier problems in charting our timeline. Suffice to say we are now at 25 ABY and have jumped at least 6 years, so this needs to be reflected in at least some way. The shift itself has already started a lot of discussion regarding the EH and its function.

We have in no way ceased fighting the NR, rather as its attention turns elsewhere we are at the cusp of a period of possible expansion in our region of space. Add to this the turmoil to be caused by displaced populations and the breakdown of formerly dominant political and military groups and you have a hugely turbulent situation in which the TC will, more than ever, have to be prepared to stand to and protect the EH's territories, whether from NR, pirate, displaced populations, opportunist warlords, rogue commanders, perhaps even the occasional Vong scouting party.

The EH has always been associated with the Minos Cluster, as it happens falling at the utter OPPOSITE end of the galaxy to the Remnant, so by no means should one Imperial faction dictate the actions of another. At the same time whilst we are at the threshold of the Vong era we are still a long way in months and parsecs from encountering more than odd scouts or the more subtle intrigues that im sure our fellow Groups will incorporate into their own material. The DIR and HF have an opportunity to incorporate elements from the EU and forge a new place within the EH, whilst the DB, with the wealth of Vong/Force material will literally have a field day.

I intend to clarify the EH territories on a starchart and to make sure that everyone is kept up to date as the timeline progresses, we can respond to events rather than randomly or haphazardly arriving at them, to which end I will be looking into a themed weekly/monthly “holonet” email to clarify goings on in the galaxy at largeThe timeline shift has coincidentally fallen at the same time as the TC restructure I proposed and opened for discussion before Christmas.

I will start by saying that I have taken on board everything that was said and tried to incorporate and address the problems and benefits that were identified. Its often hard to make a balanced criticism of something we are so close too so I was very happy with the level of supported arguments and comments, it reflected well on individuals and group alike and was a very promising sign. People still care a lot and people still want the TC to prosper, the very basic feeling we all need to capture and hang onto.

RESTRUCTURE

Discussion with the Flags regarding the particulars has continued until now and the kinks will continue to be ironed out in the coming days. In essence the original proposal of reducing wings to a 2-squad max headed by a single Wing Commander has been approved and will now be implemented. The Sov, Redemption and Sub have either already conformed to this structure or been low enough in numbers to make it academic.

The Chal, by virtue of its strength and high manpower, has thus been divided into two separate wings, one to remain aboard the Chal under Wing X, the remainder to reopen the Collie and Wing VIII. In addition the SSSD Sovereign has been pulled out of active service, I am in the process of clarifying this with the GA so for now it is merely in orbit of Aurora and continuing to host the EHCS.

As the Groups are having their independence pushed to the fore I have thus elected to propose a switch of the TCCOM and associated positions of SOO and DEAN to a new TBC SSD, fresh from the resurgent shipyards of Aurora and built in the gap between our two timelines, the vessel will be christened the SSD Imperator and will thus serve as the TC command ship and host the Elite Praetorian squadron.

With the reduced manpower at our disposal it was a very difficult process to try and gauge what could and could not be saved and what would and would not benefit the TC in the long run.

Maintaining two Elite squadrons feel into the latter category in every scenario - we simply cant afford to funnel that many pilots off from the line wings, whilst the recent performance of most of Omega has far from warranted “Elite” status. For now Praetorian are thus retained, with the expectation that they will be playing a high profile role in the TC and leading by example and justifying their positions.

I am not afraid to change what is broken, but I would prefer that we never reach the point where such repairs are even necessary. My motivation for this roster change gas been part necessity and part an attempt to generate something that I think has been lost from the TC - the inter squad rivalry, the wing identity, and the basic pleasure of being a TIE pilot.

I didn’t join with the intention of dashing through every rank I could in a mad and selfish scrabble, but that’s the way I think my career here has turned out, whether for good or bad. I for one fell into the old trap of looking out for myself and shrugging off squads as soon as the next opportunity came along. This kind of response has gradually broken squads into nothing more than either holding tanks or stepping stones and has killed a lot of the spirit that was so ardent when I first joined and a major motivator when I was shiny new SL.

I am not assuming that with a simple roster change that everything will miraculously improve, what I am hoping for is to create a level playing field for all squads and wings and to give everyone the impetus and kickstart a new attitude. If we don’t then the TC will eventually continue to wither as platforms grow older and fall away and our recruitment dries up completely.

I have no desire to see something I have put so much time into simply wither and die, its my fervent hope that this feeling is unanimous. If it takes cutting out senior positions and downsizing then Ill damn well try, if it fails then I will cede to a successor and we can try again. As Ive rambled over a very important subject I will now summarise the proposed restructure as clearly as possible…

SSSD Sovereign - TC-inactive and EHCS Only
SSD Imperator - TCCS and Praetorian Squadron OnlyISD TBA - Wing VI - Two Squadrons
ISD Challenge - Wing X - Cyclone Squadron, Typhoon Squadron
ISD Colossus - Wing VII - Thunder Squadron, Omicron Squadron
ISD Subjugator - Wing XXI - Fury Squadron, Flayer Squadron
MC80B Redemption - Wing XIX - Blue Squadron, Green Squadron

Thus all wings are two squadrons, headed by a WC, current COMs will either drop to WC slots or follow a pre-arranged and agreed upon reassignment. The position of COM is thus in abeyance until such time as the TC expands enough to warrant its reintroduction.

This of course means that the Admiral ranks will now only be accessible to officers holding the positions of TCCOM, SOO or DEAN. It is my intention to confirm in an updated manual that the entry rank for all three will be REAR ADMIRAL.

It is also my intention to re-emphasise the focus on pilots by raising the rank caps on FM and FL positions to make the entire thing far more rewarding rather than have every pilot sit there for want of a CMDR spot and gaining nothing bar occasional medals.

The rank of GN will also now be available to CMDRs who are good enough to earn it, not simply elites - the TC has always been billed as the best the EH has to offer and our ranks should reflect this accordingly.

Simply announcing all of this is merely a preliminary step, the real changes wont be able to be implemented until the TC website goes online as until then talk of manuals and rank changes and rosters is little more than words.

The TAC has created a full TC site that is only awaiting the database from the IO, at present the estimate for completion is no more than a few days, but as Im sure you can imagine this may expand a little. Until the updated site goes live the restructure changes will not be implemented, so things will carry on a little longer as they are.

This is not as ideal a clean break as I wanted, but this is what we have and we do the best with that before us. This way at least the Flags have extra time to balance the redesigned wing rosters before their final submission and all transfers are made as required. I have no doubt that this will all generate a lot of questions and queries, as ever please utilise the MB’s or email to get in touch with me. I would ask that any particularly fiery responses be kept to private email - I will allow anyone to express themselves freely in private but I refuse to let any public lists become bogged down by argument or the kind of talk that develops in situations such as this where views are varied and many.

OTHER NEWS

On another positive note Im very happy to formally announce that the Subjugator at last has a WC, the A:WC CPT Prower of Viper having proven more than capable of holding the wing together I have decided to entrust him with the full responsibility. He has thus been promoted to MAJ, effective immediately and will act as WC now and post-restructure. I have high hopes from him and the return of one veteran already, thanks to his efforts, is an excellent sign of things to come.

The TC site is finished pending the integration of the database, I will be asking the TAC to prepare a brief on the work she has done as soon as she finished the BSF system she is currently working on. As soon as the site goes fully live the restructure will be implemented, but fear not this will be done with 100% transparency and prior warning to give EVERYONE a chance to adapt, and adjust to the new circumstances they find themselves in.

After 3 pages I think I have said all I need to at this point and will leave everything there, a third report will be issued in a weeks time, as well as additional memoranda as and when the need arises. Please stay tuned to emails from your Flags and mailing lists to keep yourselves fully informed in what will likely be a confusing period of time.

With utmost regard,

FA Jarek La’an, TCCOM

You must be logged in to submit comments.