Veterans Affairs Team

The UFOP: Starbase 118 Department of Veterans Affairs is a community-oriented taskforce run by general members to support their colleagues who face issues that usually come up after the ensign phase of the SB118 experience and aren't addressed in the Academy such as burn out, simming career development, LOAs, and reintegration after LOAs. In time, we hope to provide resources and maintain SB118 wiki articles related to these and other issues. We want others to know that these are common issues and that they are not alone when dealing with them. The Department also assists members with particular individual needs or issues as they are brought to the Department's attention.

Overview

UFOP: Starbase 118 is special because of the players we have: skilled, talented writers with whom writing is a joy. It is often asked how do we grow the organization and also improve membership retention. The solution is to support all of our players, both new members and veterans. It is these community ties that make it worth our time to be here.

SB118 currently does an admirable job helping people get into the group and supporting them at the beginning of their SB118 experience. In addition to the Academy, many ships have mentorship programs to help integrate new members and support them through their first few months as ensigns. However, there is a need to address the issues of those who have made it through the ensign phase of their SIM career but are not yet a senior officer or do not plan on becoming staff. The Veterans Affairs department aims to serve the needs of these members in particular, but its forum and resources are open to all members.

Accessing the Department

The main venue for the Department of Veterans Affairs is through its forum. Members are encouraged to create new topics as issues arise. If a member wishes, he or she may also send a private message to the Veterans Affairs facilitator, who will post the topic for the member to maintain his or her anonymity. The forum is for those who have questions or comments about particular issues, want advice, or just want to have a place to discuss a range of topics with other SB118 veterans.

Finally, the Department of Veterans Affairs works to help improve the player experience of our group through special projects. In time, the Department will be creating threads to ask for volunteers who want to write news articles, create wiki articles, etc. that we can add to a list of resources.

	Taskforces