Mike "MacMan" McEwen
Well now, lets see where I should begin. Hmm I suppose I should start from the beginning when I was first tried to join the Rebel Squadrons . . .
During the summer of 1996, I discovered the existence of the Rebel Squadrons X-Wing group on the old AOL Star Wars Fan Forum gaming board. I had tried joining for months by posting in the main RS folder, but I never got a reply from anyone. So I pretty much gave up on the group. In the meantime I had joined another Star Wars club that was to be based on the up and coming release of X-Wing vs Tie Fighter. Weeks after joining this club I was handed command by its leader (Capri Dnai) because I was its most active and driven member. The clubs name was "Jedi Storm". Within a few weeks of my taking command, the club's numbers had topped 50+ members, and everything seemed to be advancing at a steady pace.
Then on June 15 1996 everything changed. I was in the Star Wars Fan Forum cantina, when a person going under the AOL screen name of Shadowblen told me that the RS boards which I had been posting to join in were outdated. They had moved to the flight sim boards months before I had descovered them. So as it turns out this Shadowblen (LGN Shadowblen who turned out to be a good friend) was a member of the RS. After a brief discussion with him, He provided Me with the email adress to the person I needed to email to join the club, which I promptly did. I waited a day or so, and then I was given email confirmation welcoming Me and stating My placement in the Rebel Squadrons. I was so happy. I was placed in Green Squadron (Green 12 to be exact), which was the new recruit squadron for the Justice Fleet (The RS PC based fleet at the time), under the command of Vice Admiral TL66l (Currently known as BGN Dew).
The RS was much different back then. At the time they were primarily based on the Lucas Arts X-Wing game, though they had a smaller section based on the Tie Fighter game as well. There were no flight cadet or flight officer ranks at the time nor was there an RS academy. Rank increase was losely based off of posting board activity. The more active you were, the more likely you were to get a rank increase (tho the upper command didnt want that widely known). I joined at the beginers Rank of 2nd Lieutenant. For the first few weeks the only person I had interaction with was TL66l, as he sent me custom missions which I promptly completed. Soon after I was transfered to Blue Squadron with a few other highly active members (BGN Shadowblen, Ni Ototh, Jedi Solus, and JJ Xentar). Eventualy we all became a core group that started Phoenix Squadron under the New Wing named Ressurection (Lead by RS Granith). Though as we tried to advance our numbers, we couldnt help but notice that there was a severe lacking of active club members. So I started to activly recruit for the Wing as well as promote the club in general. I figured if I had as much trouble of joining the club as I did, then I am sure there were countless others who were in the same boat. The real problem was that the RS had no real presence on the internet other than that which they had on the flight sim boards. My goal was to change that through promotion.
As a result, within a few weeks time I had managed to recruit about 30 new members for the club, not to mention I had become one of the most active members both in Email as well as the posting boards. For that I was given a promotion to Captain (skipping the rank of 1st Lt). Having been promoted drove me to be even more devoted to the RS, and commited to my cause. After receiving that promotion I proceeded to go on a mass recruiting spree which netted the club another 30 - 40 members. In my random emails to various AOL Star Wars gamer fans I sent an email to the screen name of "Matt101a1". This was probably one of the best JEDI KNIGHT "oops" moments I ever made. As it turns out, that Screen name was an alternate screen names belonging to none other than FC Super, (The RS Fleet Commander at the time). He replied stating that he was rather impressed with my intuition in recruiting and devotion to the club, and told me so VIA AOL instant message. In talking further, I ended up telling him about the other club I was running (Jedi Storm), which at this point had taken a back steat to the RS. Seizing the opportunity, I inquired if it would be possible to bring them into the RS as a complete unit (even tho XvT had been delayed for a long period). He informed me that merging them wouldn't be a problem provided they conformed to the RS ranks and regulations. At this time I was so excited for the members of Jedi Storm. They were going to be a part of one of the biggest and best Star Wars organizations on the internet, and I knew they were going to have fun . . .
After consulting with the High Command of Jedi Storm, it was growing rather apparent that they were more concerned about keeping their Admiralty ranks when joining the RS, rather than making sure that the members of the club would benifite from being attatched to a more organized club. This display of arrogance greatly disturbed me. I could not understand how they would call themselves leaders but then put themselves and their own self serving interests before the wellbeing of our members. I confronted my Executive Officer (Capri Dnai) about this fact. After the discussion it dawned upon me that he was only interested in his rank as well. I didn't understand it, because rank was never a concern of mine, I didnt care what my rank was as long as I was having fun. So I made the choice to step down as Fleet Commander of Jedi Storm, so I could fully embrace my Captain Rank within the Rebel Squadrons. With my loyalties no longer divided, I took with me the handful of devoted pilots that wished to follow me from Jedi Storm. At that time I was officially named Recruiting officer For Resurrection Wing/Phoenix Squadron, under the Command Of Commander RS Granith. This wing was quickly becoming the best Wing in the RS Justice Fleet. Unfortunately after a short time, both RS Granith (the wing CO) and his XO Jedi Solus went AWOL. Leaving the wing, lacking any semblance of a command staff and in severe danger of falling apart. Refusing to allow that to happen I assumed command of both Phoenix Squadron as well as Resurrection Wing.
This was around the same time that the Rebel Squadrons became the founding member of a Alliance of Rebel Alliance based clubs which we called the REPUBLIC SHIELD. Fleet Commander Super had also become missing in action, and his XO Cuptoman was nowhere to be found. Luckily Rear Admiral Dialathos (DaT for short) stepped forward, and had been elected as the new FC. First things First. DIalathos wanted to clean up the RS Roster that had been neglected for months by our former roster officer FuryFro (You owld timers wil wemmeber himm fow his bad engwish). Dialathos and the RS command staff decided that responsibility for roster maintinance needed to be handed to someone that they could trust, someone who could keep it up to date. Im not sure how it came to be since I wasnt involved in the upper workings of the club at the time, but it was agreed upon that the job of managing the roster would be handed to me. I was given a promotion to Lt. Commander to go along with the new found position of "Roster Officer". When I got my first hard copy of the Roster it was in complete shambles. Most of the Justice fleet roster was so outdated, it was hard to say who was actually left. Ressurection wing wasnt even listed on the roster which was rediculous. I had to start somewhere, so I decided to email the Fleet Commanding officer (Fleet Admiral Cuptoman) to see if he he could inform me as to what inferstructure remained of the fleets command staff. Seeming disinterested in the subject all together, he shot me down quickly in his reply and told me that the Fleet had become completely inactive. Little did I know at the time he had abandoned us in favor of the EH in our time of need when FC Super had gone missing months before. Shortly there after he officially resigned from the Rebel Squadrons all together due to an unrelated incident brought fourth by Castor Efrata-Landis.
After Cuptoman stepped down, my worst fears were proven true. It turns out the entire Justice Fleet had been allowed to sink into complete inactivity. The once mighty Fleet had fallen. Only a handful of pilots remained out of the numbers it once had. The Liberation fleet had also suffered the same fate with Fireclaw Squadron being its last remaining active Squadron. I reported my findings to FC Dialathos and after careful consideration, It was decided that both fleets would be decommissioned. Their remaining members were consolidated, so that a new fleet could be formed. Resurrection Wing, which under my command was the last intact section of the old Justice Fleet, was placed in the Newly formed "Patriot Battle Fleet", along with "Provider Wing" (Lead by the Legendary Greedo 96) which played host to the Legendary Grey Squadron lead by none other than Castor Efrata-Landis Himself. In recognition of my outstanding job as Wing Leader I was given a promotion to Full Commander.
Shortly there after I was Named the official RS "Recruiting/Roster Officer". Needless to say I continued to recruit for the RS gaining countless members. Eventually I was even able to convince the old XvT group which I had Lead (Jedi Storm), to join the RS as a complete Fleet. Of course Capri Dnai (Still only concerned about his own rank IMO) was given the newly established Rank of Sector Admiral in order to sway him in favor of joining. Jedi Storm joined under the Name of "Defenders of the Force" (DOF) which was later named "Defense operations Fleet" and "Defense Operations Wing" (Which was part of the RgF).
Months passed, and for all the hard work I had been doing I received promos, to Lt. Colonel, Colonel, then Brigadier General. I continued to recruit, continued to manage my wing (Which was up to 50 members) and continued to work on the roster. I was named executive officer of the Patriot Battle Fleet as well (under BANoble). Though he held the title of PBF Commanding officer. He did little with it leaving Me as his XO doing the bulk of the work in the fleet as a wing commander. Having no official fleet orders from above and nothing really to do other than to lead my wing and make sure the fleet remained active it felt as if I was doing the Fleet CO's job. Which I didnt mind doing, but it felt as if my hands were tied in respects to the advancement of the fleet. As Dialathos would later say, I was more promt at getting to "things" while BA Noble would get to "things" when he got to "things". "Things" such as establishing a PBF Website, which was desperately needed. He being the Official RS internet officer at the time should have been able to do with ease. Still, it would get done when it got done. It never did....
Again Months passed. Then one day durning an official RS meeting called by FC Dialathos himself, to discuss the current state of the RS, the FC made an announcement that litterally made My Jaw drop. I have a snippet from the meeting log below. I wish I saved the whole thing, but this was nearly 10 years ago and Im surprised I still have this portion of it. Anyway, here goes....
DialaThos: I need to start spending more time on real life projects... and no longer feel that I can
DialaThos: hold either the FC position, or the Rogue CO
DialaThos: Greedo 96 has already agreed to take over as Roge CO
DialaThos: but what this vote was SUPPOSSED to be about today was to vote on the new FC
DialaThos: to that end, I have a slightly unusual reccomendation to make
DialaThos: Simply put though, I believe this person to be THE most qualified in the RS (no offense to
DialaThos: any of you)
DialaThos: his qualifications in my mind are that
DialaThos: he has an apparently undying love for email, IMs, etc... which frankly is about 99% of
DialaThos: being FC
DialaThos: he also from his current jobs already has a good "business relationship" with Ronin, the AOL
DialaThos: club people, and other club leaders
DialaThos: he's online more than any HC member, and perhaps more prompt at getting to "things"
DialaThos: anyways... my reccomendation (and vote) is for MacManRS to be the next FC
I was shocked. I had never even considered myself a candidate. It was a completely unimaginable senario that litterally dropped into my lap based simply off the fact that the FC thought I would be best for the Job. I was Honored. At the same time I was upset that Dialathos would be stepping down, but still if Dialathos wanted Me to be FC, then FC I would be. However, due to a snag, the situation quickly turned into a debacle. Considering My current Rank, and with My not leading a fleet, My nomination didnt sit well with some of the members of the High Command. Especially BA Noble, who threw in his nomination to be named FC immediately (Which though I didnt voice at the time, seriously offended me considering the state in which he ran his fleet). FuryFro threw his hat in as well (I shudder to think what would have become of the RS if he had won). Despite the opposition, through a majority decision I was voted in as the New Republic Sheild Fleet Commander.
REPUBLIC SHIELD? To think when I had first Joined, the club was always referred to as the Rebel Squadrons. Still somewhere along the line, though it was never intended that We lose our individualism, we stopped calling ourselves the Rebel Squadrons and had embraced the name Republic Shield. My first act as FC was to put our shakey past behind us by marking a new Era for the club. I proposed to completely do away with the Republic Shield idea. While it was a great concept at the time, in my opinion it was outdated and unnecessary given the fact that we were absorbing these groups into our own ranking system and whatnot. In a unanimous discision of the High Command we re-embraced the name of REBEL SUQADRONS.
While I was FC, BA Noble who was obviously dejected and resentful of Me, eventually retired. As its XO I officially took over as the PBF Fleet Commander. Finally I rightfully had the title to match the job I had been doing from the moment I realized that the Justice and liberation fleets were in shambles. I held both of those titles for many months before I was finally forced to retire because of PC problems as well as real life issues in late October 1997. Castor Efrata-Landis upon my reccomendation was then elected as my replacement.
That was only the begning tho. . .
The Problems that forced me to retire in late 1997 were elevated and I again rejoined the club January 1st 1998 reinstated at my former Brigadier General Rank. I continued where I left off devoting myself to the restructuring of the PBF which at the time of my return was on its last leg. I was named the PBF's third in command under Commodore Strider, and his XO Myk Ell. I was also given Command of Green Squadron). Shortly thereafter (Early March 98) PBF Leader Commodore StriderRS who had been out of contact for some time was officially marked as AWOL when his email address went inactive.
Having no other way to contact him I wasnt about to sit back and wait for him to come back. I again siezed the moment and began reform. I reformatted the PBF roster and restructured its command layout including Second Officers as an official position. Having grasped a greater command of html than I did when BA Noble was in charge, I built the PBF's first homepage (which was long overdue). Strider NEVER returned, and I was again appointed command of the PBF and I once again became a member of the RS High Command.
I continued with my restructuring of the PBF, and began plans to impliment a monthly CTOD's. (Competition based tour of duty), the first of which was a series of missions that had been made years before but had never been used. At the same time I implimented a self made idea in the form of the PBF Merits System which would end up the companion awards piece to the CTOD's. At the time I developed the system, I was unsure if I would be allowed to use it, because it dealt with a bunch of new medals that wern't part of the officially recognized RS wide medals system. The stystem contained Badges which were earned based off of the number of preditermined merits pilots earned for flying missions. I also contained the PBF MoE (converted from BA Nobals Award of Excellence), Mission report medal which would be awarded to the pilots that wrote outstanding reports, as well as a Medal of Victory for the TOP Ace Pilot per mission.
I emailed RebelRaptor (Now known as FA Dave Trebonious-Astoris) our Medals officer at the time, asking for permission to impliment the new Medals System. I was sceptical at best, that it would be approved, and as I recall questions of record keeping and matainance came into play (politics) as an issue. I informed Raptor (Whom I wasnt close with at the time) that I would impliment the new system WITH or WITHOUT his consent, and that I would not wait for the buracratic HC approval. To Me it was all about finally giving the PBF members something to enjoy, and a Fleet to be proud of. At the time, no one other than myself, knew what was in store. I knew it would be a success, I just didnt know how BIG it would eventually grow to be.
So I implimented the new medals system without approval, and launched the first mission in the CTOD's for the PBF. Using all the knowledge that I had gained in my time in the RS, and all the intuition that I had learned from others such as Castor and his Grey Squadron, I released the first Major PBF Newsletter with mission 1.01 attactched to it. That month the PBF was reborn into a new age of greatness. The CTOD had been a complete success, and word began to spread of the PBF's activity. Its numbers began to swell, and months after the fact the Merits system was proven to become a GREAT success having been implimented in other sections of the club as well. Through a lot of work and effort with a promo to Lt General and then General in between, the PBF became one of the most stable and enjoyable fleets the RS had to offer.
Many months later due to the hard work and effort of myself, and all the members of the PBF, we still enjoyed the mantle of being the most dedicated Fleet the RS had to offer. I was promoted to Rear Admiral skipping the rank of Commodore by unanimous vote of the RS High Command this is the only other RS rank that I have ever skipped besides 1st Lt and eventually Fleet Admiral. I lead the PBF well into 1999, and through its first full CTOD, but ended up leaving the RS and retiring for all my positions (I was also Gold Leader at the time) after a fall out over issues involving members of the High command.
At that point I had a complete distaste for RS Polotics. I remained retired for a few months and made my return to the PBF in the form of Fireclaw Squadron Leader. This time INTENT on staying well away from the High Command, and sticking with a smaller position. I did so for 6 months leading Fireclaw back into a position of glory in the PBF, but eventually handed the reigns off to my XO late 1999 and decided to hang up my RS carrer for what I thought would be a Final time. In the clubs final action, they awarded me with the Honorary RS Membership Medallion.
Enter Late 2003 Star Wars Galaxies would be released, and little did I know I would have one more RS chapter left in Me. I would once more lead a fleet, and sit on the High Command. But thats a story for another time. . .
":)
Ret. Fleet Admiral MacMan
CIIIIIIIIII=IIIIIiIIID<>-------------------------------------------------------- Former Member of the Rebel Squadrons High Command
Rebel Squadrons an H.I.E.R.* Organization
- (Honor, Integrity, Equanimity, Respect)
Medals
{ ||U|| } - Kessel Kup
{ -oo- } - Golden Eyes
{ \-/ } - RgF Silver Eye
{ -- o -- } - Eye of The Jedi
{ <O> } - CoR Diamond Sun
(MoA) - EH Medal of Allegiance
{ *PBF* } - PBF Medal of Excellence
{ |--->|| } - Gray-Alpha Tour 1 Champion
{ ~||@||~ } (x2) - X-Wing Master Cadet Medal w/Honors
{ ~¤¤!*!@!*!¤¤~ } - Academy Medal of Excellence 2 Bars
{ ~X@X~ } - X-Wing Combat Tactics - Mine Racer
{ <!!!!!> } - RS Excellency of Service Medal
