Greetings Troopers!
This is my last newsletter as Detachment Leader and what a ride the past 5-1/2 years it’s been. From the start the vision of the 1st Imperial Stormtroopers has been about having a place where we can come together and celebrate the Stormtrooper costume, a place where over caf and cakes we can share what we’ve learned and encourage each other to push our suits just that little bit farther. And always, doing son in the spirit of Troopers Helping Troopers.
Some ask “where do we go from here?†Every year people tell me that there’s nothing new to learn, and every year it seems indeed there is always more that’s discovered than we had thought possible. New makers, new ways of building suits, and new facts about the original suits.
Some people think the Expert Infantryman Badge program is just an award, but that viewpoint is missing the larger picture. There was a time when the TK had the lowest level of accuracy across costumes in the Legion, and people were just slapping them together with whatever came in the box - regarless of how inaccurate it was - and calling it “good enoughâ€. I believe people should be proud of their costumes and proud of the character they portray - we're supposed to be the best troopers in the Legion after all. 
I'm not advocating that every suit needs to be Centurion quality, but EIB is not about the utmost in accuracy for a Legion approvable costume. It’s about taking the next step past the bare minimum. Doing those small yet noticable tweaks that really make your TK shine. The cost and effort to go EI has never been lower or easier actually, with most makers creating suits that are able to get EIB out of the box if built correctly. Even for an out of the box FX suit, EI has never been more than a small cost/effort to bring the suits to a nice standard.
MEPD has 33% of all Legion sandtroopers MEPD deployed – and their jump from CLR to Deployed is higher than ours. Think about that – what would the Legion look like if there 700 EIB TKs? What would *your* garrison look like if 1 out of 3 TK’s were at that level of quality and accuracy? Take a moment and think about that. The stormtrooper is a great costume by itself, but nothing can beat the site of a group of clean white TK’s en masse and the effect they have on a crowd.
My dream is to never again have the TK be the worst costume in the Legion – I hope it’s a dream we can all work on together. If you’re not EI already, it’s a great time to ask for help to get there. And if you are EI already, why not lend a helping hand to others? The better you look, the better we all look, after all. J
Signing off,
Paul C. Hoeffer
TK-8020 "Daetrin"
Detachment Founder
As many of you know, February is election season for the 501st Legion, with elections happening at the Legion, Garrison, Outpost, Squad, and Detachment levels. The “2012 Election Forum†section at Legion has everything you need to know, including nomination criteria, campaign/election timelines, campaign rules, etc. You can also get an idea of how past elections went (and as a result an idea of how this year’s election might go) from looking at past year’s election forums. However, here are answers to a few Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: When does the election period officially start and what is the election timeline?
A: Legion election cycles typically start at 0001 GMT (12:01am) on the first Saturday of February. For 2012, the election period started at 0001 GMT on Saturday, 4 February, beginning with the opening of nominations. Nominations will close on Wednesday, 8 February. At 0001 GMT on Thursday, 9 February, the candidate Question & Answer (Q&A) phase will begin and run for five days, closing on Monday, 13 February. The next 24 hours (Tuesday, 14 February) are reserved for candidate closing statements. Voting will open at 0001 GMT on Wednesday, 15 February. Voting will end at 0000 GMT on Saturday, 19 February. The remainder of February is reserved for transitioning between administrations. Elected candidates will assume office at 0001 GMT on 1 March.
Q: Who gets to nominate candidates and/or vote in elections?
A: You are eligible to nominate and/or vote in units that you are listed as an active member per that unit’s membership rules. For the FISD, that means you must be an active Legion member with a Legion-approved TK. Simply being a forum member does not qualify – you must be a full Detachment member as shown in the Legion database. You can verify your FISD status by checking your profile data within the Membership DB on the Legion board (one of the selectable menu items on the far left of the screen). If you meet the above criteria but your Detachment Affiliation does not say “First Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment (Approved)†please contact the FISD staff immediately.
Q: What FISD positions are open for election, and how do I nominate a candidate?
A: At the FISD the only electable position is that of Detachment Leader (DL), all other positions are considered Detachment Staff who serve at the pleasure of the DL. In order to nominate a candidate for DL, both you and the nominee must be an active Legion member in good standing (i.e. currently not under disciplinary sanction). All nominations are handled centrally by logging into the Legion board, selecting “Legion Elections†from the menu on the far left of the screen, and selecting a candidate from the pulldown menu. If there is a candidate you’d like to nominate but their name is not listed as one of the pulldown options, please contact the Legion Captain of the Guard. Note that you cannot nominate yourself - you must be nominated by someone else, the nomination seconded, and the nominee must accept the nomination for it to go forward.
Q: How do I ask the candidates questions?
A: A Q&A thread will be created in the Detachment Only area of the forum similar to the LCO Candidates Questions thread on the Legion board. This thread will serve as the place for Detachment Members to ask questions of the DL candidate. The DL candidates will copy and paste the questions in their own threads, and respond to the questions in their threads. As is the FISD standard, appropriate decorum is required. Flaming, baiting, prolonged “discussions†in order to bend the candidate to your personal viewpoint, or any other questions designed to harass, humiliate, or otherwise manipulate a candidate will be met with disciplinary action. Nor will this thread serve as a platform simply to make statements promoting one’s personal agenda – any such posts will be deleted. The FISD Guidelines apply here just as they would during any other discussion, if not more so.
Q: What happens if there is only one candidate?
A: If there is only one candidate, then at the close of the nomination period that candidate will be declared the winner by default. No election will take place, nor will there be a formal Q&A period. The candidate is however encouraged (but not required) to create a Q&A thread and field questions, similar to what would happen if a competitive election were taking place.
Q: How do I vote?
A: The voting process is the similar to the nomination process – log into the Legion board, select “Legion Elections†from the menu on the far left of the screen, select a candidate from the pulldown menu, and press the *Vote* button.
Remember, this is YOUR Detachment and elections are your most important opportunity to influence the direction of the FISD for the coming year. Good luck to the candidates, and if you are eligible to participate – do so!
With unquestioned loyalty,
Brian Robinson
TK-2918 "tkrestonva"
Provost Marshall
Greetings fellow troopers,
We have had some great achievements in the EIB and Centurion programs over the last month.
FIrst, I would like to congratulate Graeme Noble (TK-3896) from the UK Garrison for becoming the FISD's 200th EIB recipient!
Great work trooper!!!
I would also like to congratulate Adrian Lighton (TK-4347) from the UK Garrison for being the first trooper to attain ANH Hero Centurion Status!
Outstanding!!!!
Looking back at the history of the EIB program you can clearly see that the program is becoming the baseline for most new troopers. From the beginning of the Expert Infantry program in 2007 to 2010 we had 100 approved EIB recipients. From 2010 to 2011 the number had almost doubled to 200.
With that in mind, I am setting a goal of another 100 EIB's, which will give us a total of 300 recipients by the end of 2012. This may seem like a lofty goal but with the current trend of Troopers making there costumes EIB and Centurion out of the box and with the success of the Attaché program, I can see us attaining this. Sooooo, come on EI and Centurion troopers, get out there and help your fellow troopers reach this goal!!!
Now with the availability of screen accurate armor and better accessories, combined with the information that can be attained from whitearmor.net, going to these levels is easier than ever!! You can see in the photos below how the face of the Stormtrooper costume has changed since the legion began.
Since the Stormtrooper is one of the most iconic and recognizable characters from the Star Wars Saga and since it was the very first costume in the Legion, it should be portrayed in the best light possible. By going for EIB or Centurion you are doing your personal best to improve the appearance and preserve the iconic image of the Imperial Stormtrooper. Let's do it for the pride of the Empire!!!
With unquestioned loyalty,
Mason Carson
TK-4603 "Dashrazor"
Deployment Officer
First and foremost,
Thank you for such a great concept, Vern! And to Brian for heading it up!
I can only hope that every 501st detachment one day has the "Attache" program.
When I first began building my RT kit back in 2010, there really wasn't a person I could go to for TK advice. I did all the research myself and built it myself. With the help of the folks here, of course. I think that may have contributed to why it took me 18 months to finally decide to buy my armor. I was told by SL/CC/TK 585 to do my research and to read everything I could on here, which I did. But, if I had had someone to call or to get advice and ideas from, I would have made the decision sooner.
I take pride in being able to help new guys/gals who are looking to join the 501st with the building process of their costumes. I take even more pride in helping the members who came before me, take their costumes to another level in accuracy.
I had the privilage of having a future prospect, Thalizar, come to my home on December 26th for an all day mini armor party. He had just received his new ATA full kit and was eager to start the build process. He arrived around 9am and after a short introduction we headed downstairs "where the magic happens". He had some parts trimmed and many that he was unsure how far to trim. I must have said "always measure twice, cut once" a thousand times...poor guy. He was really worried about the helmet and didn't want to mess it up. So, I helped by adding 2 rivets to the sides to attach the cap/back to the faceplate, but that's as far as I was going to go. I told him he could adjust the faceplate to get the brow where he liked it and that the rest was up to him, explaining that he would get more satisfaction of finishing the helmet on his own rather than me doing it for him...he agreed. Of course, if he would have insisted that I finish it, I would have, but that wasn't the point. Getting someone to feel comfortable working on their armor is more rewarding than anything I have ever experienced.
The night before, I was asked by TK-5270, if I was available to do a short troop for her family who had flown in from AZ for the holidays. Her cousin's young boys were Star Wars nuts like us and it would make their visit, a memorable one. I asked Dan if he would like to join us as an observer to see "who we are, what we do". He was all for it.
We got suited up in a garage, a 28 degree garage, and proceeded to the front door of the home. We were greeted by the kids with mouths open wide. After a short visit and a round of picture taking, we headed out to change. Dan really liked the experience and thanked me for taking him along. I think we got him hooked!
We got back to armor around 7:00pm and worked until around 10:30pm. We got almost everything trimmed and assembled the shins. I tried to pump him full of confidence so he would feel comfortable working on the rest at home. He lives about 6 hours away and I wasn't able to swing over and help after his visit.
If anyone has seen Dan's, Thalizar's TKC build thread, it looks like he's well on his way to becoming the next TKC Centurion...at least, that's what he is shooting for.
There is another armor party coming up soon where we will work on his strapping and possibly submission photos. I'll also be helping a few others with their builds.
Thanks for reading and thanks for allowing me to be a part of this awesome community!
With unquestioned loyalty,
Brian
TK-5569 "SolderMaster"
Imperial Attaché
Congrats to the Georgia Garrison for helping the Make A Wish foundation make a dream come true! You make us all proud!
http://forum.whitear...showtopic=18478
* Only a few 2012 Calendards are left - don't miss out on the last chance to get the best artwork we've ever produced!
Sale thread: http://forum.whitear...showtopic=18149
* 5th Anniversary Trading cards are now available in 50 and 300 count packs. Get 'em while they last!
Sale thread: http://forum.whitear...showtopic=18487
* Gold 5th Anniversary Coins are still avaialble (EIB only). Once they are gone, there will never be a second run.
Sale thread: http://forum.whitear...showtopic=15729
Don't Forget We're on Facebook and Twitter!
Facebook: www.facebook.com/whitearmor
Twitter: www.twitter.com/@FISD501st
With unquestioned loyalty,
Matt MacNeil
TK-4887 "Shooter"
Public Relations Officer
On behalf of the First Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment Command Staff.
End Transmission.
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