Firstly, welcome to 2005. This year marks the Emperor's Hammer entering its 10th year of life. It also marks a lot of change.

There have been a number of changes in Command Staff over the last few months. We have a new Communications Officer (COMM), Rear Admiral Joey. Joey oversees our communications media, including the message boards. A new Tactical Officer (TAC) has also been appointed. Rear Admiral Frodo, who has been working in the Tactical Office for some time, has come highly recommended and is already working to get TAC active again. Admiral Khadgar has been appointed President (PREX) of the Corporate Division. Khadgar comes from a long career in the TIE Corps and should do a good job with the Corporate Division. The last major change has been the promotion of myself to Fleet Commander and the reassignment of Grand Admiral Ronin to Princeps, a fitting title for the creator of this club.

With all these Command changes, a number of positions are now open. Internet Officer is still open for applications. Details are available http://mb.emperorshammer.net/viewtopic.php?t=312 Training Officer is also vacant and application details will be posted soon. In the meantime, normal Training Office activities such as test marking and processing of competitions will be taken up by other Command Staff. From these changes, we have two outgoing Command Staff - Mike our long serving Tactical Officer has stepped down to rejoin squadron life, while Drako has stepped down from Training Officer because of increasing committments in real life. They have been awarded the Imperial Cross and Gold Star respectively for their efforts.

There are a range of competitions open to all TIE Corps members at the moment. The new Tactical Officer is running a mission design competition. Full details of this competition are available at http://www.ehtiecorps.org/competitions/details.asp?ID=1719 I'm also running a competition called Off The Record. In this competition, you are a journalist writing an article about the appointment of the new Fleet Commander. There's a wide range of contexts you can write the article in. Full details are available at http://www.ehtiecorps.org/xo/comps/offtherecord.htm

Our message boards have moved to a new location - http://mb.emperorshammer.net The new boards have a more Star Wars-ish feel to them and unfortunately, require you to re-register. It's a quick process and doesn't take much effort. I've noticed a lot of ship, wing and squadron message boards listed on the TIE Corps site are still pointing to the old boards. It'd be appreciated if squadron commanders, wing commanders and commodores updated their relevant message board links as soon as possible. If you need moderator access or have any other issues relating to the new message boards, contact the Communications Officer (comm@emperorshammer.org)

It's that time of the year again - Commendation of Loyalty time. Commendations of Loyalty are awarded twice a year for members who have displayed consistant and excellent service to the fleet. The Operations Officer hasn't put out an official notice about it yet, but it would be a good idea to start thinking about who you think deserves one of these awards. Keep an eye on the TIE Corps news page for an official announcement from the Operations Officer as to how the process will happen.

I think that about covers it. I hope that all of you have a good Christmas (or festive break....) and that this year is productive and happy for you. If you have any questions or queries, let me know. Thanks for your time.