Coming close to another Independence Day, I decided to pledge publicly to my Fleet and the United States Navy SL while sharing how I see the United States Navy role play in Second Life. So to start with, and to make absolutely clear where I stand, I pledge my loyalty to the United States Navy SL and her Third Fleet and my commanding officer, RADM Isaac Levitt Harcassle. I was one of the senior officers who proposed and endorsed his promotion to Admiral and would do it again in a heart beat. RADM Harcassle is doing a great job as our Fleet commander as well as the coordinator of USNSL efforts to bring more and more USN inspired groups into the fold. So my loyalty is first and foremost to the structure I am part of, its command and its members, from RADM Harcassle to the last MIDN to be inducted into the Naval Service Training Center.
We move as a whole, following directives we all in one way or another help put together - from senior officers in command meetings to even midshipmen while taking their classes, we all participate and contribute to establish these directives in different but equally important ways. This means, of course, the directives are in place for the benefit of Third Fleet. Now what does this mean in the global USN role play in SL setting?
So far, and as part of RADM Harcassle vision, USNSL group has been and is still used as both an operational and an informative/formative group. Operational groups are 100% in character groups (ICG) while informative/formative groups are a mix of ICG and out of character groups (OOCG). There is no real distinction at the moment between USNSL and Third Fleet in this vision, however, with the most welcomed incorporation into USNSL group of more and more USN role players from other USN inspired groups from all time lines, this situation poses a number of problems in my view.
So here is how I see it.
Having operations and informative/formative roles in the same group is confusing. Case in point, the separation from USNSL of NSTC. NSTC is a mixed ICG/OOCG however it is confusing enough to have Officer Candidate School (OCS) and Recruit Training Command (RTC) related chatter and notices in other groups. This is a local example of the benefit of separation even between 100% ICG's. When it gets to USNSL and the myriad of USN inspired group members in it it gets even more beneficial. Take USN 7th Fleet. You never see a call to arms, a scramble or any action related communications on USNSL channels, be it group chat or notices, and that is correct. For a LTJG doing OOD duty at NAFA, the fact that a NVA Mig is flying too close to the Kitty Hawk is irrelevant, as it is irrelevant for a Marine pilot about to take off from Phu Yen that the Blue Angels are taking NAS Miramar for practice. Those are local operational matters that do not belong in a OOCG, especially one that aggregates so many different types of USN inspired group members.
We do see USN 7th Fleet related notices and group chat messages in USNSL related to events or classes and that is perfect - the informative/formative role. We also find out when something relevant in operations has happened or will happen in the various groups that justifies a general notification, such as an outstanding action in the line of duty, an event worthy of mention, classes open to all USN inspired group members. That is the "News" aspect of the informative/formative role. And to me that is what USNSL group is for.
Recently I proposed to RADM Harcassle the creation of a 100% operational ICG for Third Fleet. Exactly as 7th Fleet has. That allows us in Third Fleet to have our operations separate from the other USN inspired groups in terms of real time operational events. This will aggregate all unit, station and facility group members in Third Fleet, leaving USNSL group as a pure informative/formative group that gathers all USN inspired groups willing to become part of the USN role playing community in Second Life in an organized fashion, working together towards a common goal, learning from each group experience and sharing more and more common traits as we move forward - from codes to career progression to knowledge acquired and how to learn it.
In a nutshell, operational groups are mainly real time operations with dedicated operational based information and formation, while informative/formative groups are mainly "news groups" where you find general interest matters covered in character as well as out of character but always in a global fashion.
Gathering students and attendees for an upcoming open class or announcing a relevant event like an airshow falls into both categories, operational and informative/formative, while scrambling pilots to search and rescue falls into the operational category only.
So what am I getting at?
Do I believe all USN inspired groups should be represented in a Mother Group such as USNSL group? Yes I do. Is that even possible? No it is not. Should it be attempted in the hope that many like minded people role playing USN inspired parts have access to a global view of what is going on with similar groups? Absolutely. Yes.
This is my view: A large all eras and branches United States Navy inspired group gathering people for informative/formative purposes only, leaving the 100% operational/action roles to the 100% in character groups. Much like the real life navy we portray, ICG's can have directly affiliated sub-groups - Third Fleet has several, like NSTC and NASM. ICG's sharing common or overlapping timelines/eras can have joint operations (CVN-63/7th Fleet era overlaps NAS Miramar's, for example). Others would just have joint informative/formative events (NAS Firespire is WW2 and much as I like the idea of Tomcats fending off the Zeros on their way to Pearl Harbor, that's not a day to day scenario we can role play consistently).
So there you have it. This is how I would like to move forward. It is my view. Of course it would require adaptation and adjustment, but so will any form of cooperative effort that has the purpose of gathering like minded role players in USN inspired groups all over Second Life, no matter what that form is. To end much in the same way I started this open letter of sorts, let me place the emphasis on my loyalty to Third Fleet and its command and members, and remind readers that this is food for thought that hopefully will get us all thinking of ways to better cooperate and act in a United States Navy inspired environment in Second Life. As commanding officer of one of Third Fleet's stations I am bound by honor and duty to my command structure and my path will always follow the path of the Fleet I serve in. Go Navy! Hooyah!
Respectfully,
CDR. Asra "Cougar" Kron
NASMCO
Third Fleet, USNSL
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