Honorary High Command

Short definition:

A group of people that advise High Command by sitting on the official egroup and giving their opinion when they think it is necessary.

Long definition:

Honorary High Command has a long tradition within RS leadership. The concept originally arose as a means of providing High Command with the insight and opinions of experienced officers who had retired from more active leadership. Originally, and up to 1998 or so, High Command as a group consisted only of the Fleet Commander and the Fleet CO's. The first addition to this list was the Fleet XO's, reasonably added so that they could provide input, opinions, and votes whenever their CO was not present. By 1998, it was felt that certain long-standing Fleet CO's or Fleet Commanders should be allowed to remain on the HC discussion list after their retirement, so that the benefit of their experience and wisdom would not be neglected. These members were known as Honorary High Command members. More recently, the term has become collective (Honorary High Command), signifying the body of membership in High Command that is not there because they vote (Fleet CO's) or because they lead (FC/XO) or because they back-up a voter (Fleet XO's). The Honorary High Command provide experience and knowledge and are sometimes able to provide useful insights to the voting body of HC.