View source for Reporter Issue 44/What Goes Into Keeping This Fleet Together

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''Lieutenant Commander Tracey Townson, USS Independence-A''

As I write this, it has only been a few days since I received my promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. At almost the moment I received my promotion, my inbox was bombarded with e-mail to take on new responsibilities within the fleet and my ship. I agreed to it all. It was the least I could do to the organization that has helped me in my creative writing skills and imagination, all the while having a great time playing a game and meeting new people.

It brought back memories and put a smile on my face. I remember a few days after graduating University, I began to receive phone calls and letters asking me to contribute to my new Alma Matter. I had just finished paying my tuition with the last of the money I had and I didn't have a particularly good job yet (I was a part-time waitress at a local pizza parlour). Giving money was the last thing I was able to do. However, giving my time to help this group and my shipmates was much easier to say "yes" to.

I have been in and out of the UFOP for the last decade. I started out on the USS Hammond as its HCO and I was a horrible writer. I would get lost easily and I would get frustrated at times. But I stuck with the group, and eventually attained First Officer status on the Starbase with
the help of other group members. It is the senior staff who are there to mentor and help guide the junior officers in this group, in the hopes that one day, they too, will be able to take on those same responsibilities. It is inevitable that some high ranking people in our group leave in time due to various real life reasons.

I remember my first command on board the Phoenix-C. I had some wonderful writers in that group, and without that junior staff, I would not have been successful. I never did complete the Commander's exam due to my leaving the group for personal reasons, and it was always one thing I always regretted from that time. But sometimes real life hits you hard, when you least expect it.

Nevertheless, enough about me, and I am far from an expert as to what it must really entail to run this group, one thing is certain: I am sure
that any help would be appreciated. Whether you are an Ensign or an Admiral, we all bring skills that would be useful to our community. I restarted this newsletter as a Lieutenant (J.G.), for example. Without the new Cadets and new Ensigns, we would not exist. You, the Ensigns,
and Lieutenant (J.G.)s are the future. You too will one day have all new adventures as Captains with your own new Ensigns to take under your
wings to pass off to a new generation of UFOPers.
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