I want to take this time to really focus on something that doesn't often get mentioned: the officers who bust their guts VOLUNTARILY to make TAW a great place and all our activities work so well.

  Let me tell you a little about these people.

 First lets start with our COs.

OldWolf: this guy exudes calm to a FAULT. He is the most solid and stable guy I have ever met. I have NEVER seen him lose his patience and his judgment only benefits from this. Everyone that I have seen from the EU trusts him to administer the battalion fairly and rationally and we could not ask for a better CO there. This guy could be trusted to do ANYTHING in TAW. I will not be surprised if he ever runs for the CiC eventually. I remember back when he and I were the HDIs he always had good ideas that I would quietly take and use in the NA trainings. He is one of the few people in TAW that I have NEVER heard anything bad about, which makes me a bit suspicious because no one can truly be that good right? After losing Crusher as the EU CO, OldWolf more than succeeded him by keeping the battalion running smoothly.

Bravehardt: I knew this guy back when his name was Tull (I liked that better but oh well hehe). As everyone can guess, managing the behemoth that the NA battalion has become is quite a task. Despite the enormity of this Brave still puts in attention to even the smallest details. No REC or PFC escapes his attention. He even goes beyond the CO job description to help with all kinds of extra stuff. I owe a special debt of thanks to Brave for his advice and feedback when I was building a computer for the first time and scared to death of breaking something or not getting the right parts. Despite his bias against ATI he was willing to help me getting my system working and I really appreciate that. I might even buy him a beer @ QuakeCon! He and I have had our differences but I consider him a good friend and always someone I can confide in whenever Hook is giving me headaches from his elbow-locks.

 Next up the XOs.

Kingcheese: what can I say about this guy? He has his hands into everything and anything he touches runs more smoothly and more efficiently. I think you can make a strong case that he could possibly be hardest working guy in all of QW. He works very hard at inprocessing and recruitment and runs a DI staff that is the envy of all other battalions and divisions. When I was the NA XO I ripped off so many ideas and things from him he probably could have sued me for copyright infringement. A lot of our bootcamp manual was changed due to this guy's suggestions. He fundamentally changed the way inprocessing was done in QW for the better. His punctuality is spotless and he is incredibly dependable with anything he is doing. He is truly the power behind the EU throne (is that too culturally-perverse a reference? lol)

LargeFormat: I personally recruited this guy into TAW and did his bootcamp. This is one of those guys that rose straight to the top in rapid fire motion. He was an amazing FL and then PL. I personally mentored him into the NA XO spot and he has done an incredible job there taking over a DI staff that had been fairly inactive due to my personally-overactive efforts in inprocessing. He whipped the DI staff into shape and set up a much more sustainable system. He puts a lot of thought into anything (if you've ever seen one of his emails you'd realize this, they are long but high quality stuff) he's doing and is a good mediator whenever differences among the staff occur. He helped fill in for several training sessions on Thursdays and never gives the impression of being overworked despite how hazardous this may be for him! This is a guy who will go far into TAW.

The SOs:

DogStar: I have known this guy since I joined (he joined right around the same time). He was always up 24/7 so he became a pretty regular fixture at NA practices. I always gave him crap for him being a MAC user and we had VERY long discussions about Apple and all kinds of things. He was dedicated enough to port to Windows until we could find the MAC fix for custom maps on PROmod. He created the MAC teamspeex setup that we use in our bootcamp email. I have seen him go through all the various positions in TAW and he is a great guy who puts a lot into the clan. At one point I was on the EU comp. team with him when my work schedule permitted it and it was a blast. He has worked hard to get a viable T-shirt shop set up for TAW that will be a new source of revenue for us. He is well-suited for the SO job because he is meticulous and pays very close attention to detail. We can trust him to always get that job done.

Apathforgotten: when I first joined Apath was someone who was always talked about but it wasn't until he returned a month later that I understood why. He's a great guy, very friendly and great fun to shoot at. He always has a good attitude no matter what is going on. He was my first platoon leader on Red Dawn and I got to serve under him as a fire-team leader. Despite a lot of stuff going on in his life and a ton of tech. issues he tried his best to continue on as PL for several seasons. Though we've butted heads in the past I have come to consider him a good friend in TAW and when I became Red Dawn PL a lot of stuff I did and used I got from watching him. He is someone who knows the NA battalion inside and out and whose long TAW experience spans a ton of changes that have been made to the division. He is someone you can always go to for perspective. He has done a good job as SO even with the enormous amount of email he must receive from the biggest battalion in all of TAW.

Next the TWSs:

Poutting: One of the first PLs I ever met when I joined. He was awesome. A very strong leader who could turn the tide of a map and re-invigorate his platoon. Although he and I differed in our views on spawn-camping and I always teased him for it, I couldn't think of a better guy to lead the European practices. Simply put, Poutting brooks no resistance and gets practices going fast and efficient. He always has good ideas such as the cardinal direction system which I still have trouble following (every time I catch myself saying "he's coming from the right" I kick myself). When the NA didn't even have it's own official TWS Poutting actually was showing up to both NA and EU practices for several weeks despite the lack of sleep that was probably killing his health. We couldn't ask for higher dedication than that! Poutting is not afraid to voice new ideas and is a source of creativity that the BFE highly benefits from. I still remember his various spreadsheets for the BFE schedule and teams and his willingness to change and re-draft them at a moment's notice.

The HDIs:

Lock: As a DI Lock was always reliable in following every step of inprocessing with precise detail. He often helped out by doing bootcamps for both battalions' recruits. He is someone I would call a team player. Lock is also one of the few people I can count on to always voice his opinion no matter what anyone thinks of it. And yet, he is always respectful and polite about it. I have been to Lock's trainings and they are incredible! The time and effort he puts into our trainings would make drill sergeants in the real military blush with envy. He helps Kingcheese with the EU inprocessing and helps run the DI staff very effectively. Lock is essentially the model HDI. When he first got the position he reminded me of several promises I had made to him about editing the bootcamp manual to include more thorough sections on training, match and brief/debrief etiquette. I can always count on Lock to help keep me accountable as well being an endless source of creativity for trainings. Anyone who has gone to one of Lock's famous 4-5 hour long training sessions would know exactly why people stick around for hours on end.

*************: (space soon to be filled in so I don't give away the surprise of who is becoming the NA HDI!)

 Next up the IT Staff:

Beartooth: this is a guy(formerly known as HeyManNiceShot) who I have thanked many times and more than anyone else, but still I cannot begin to scratch the surface of the amount of praise this guy deserves. With all of our lofty and presumptuous ideas about all the events we'd like to do, it would all be useless pipe dreams without Beartooth to have made them a reality. I cannot recall the endless email chains I had with him on creating all kinds of server functions and configs and never once did he ever refuse. This guy has the patience of a Tibetan monk and enormous experience that we are lucky to have in TAW. In reality he provides us with computer knowledge and experience that most other people have to pay a ton of money per hour to get. He is very innovative and has created all kinds of custom code and applications that have benefited us in ways the greater ETQW community can only dream about.  He is also a great rocket launcher which I grudgingly respect as he is often shooting me out of the sky. Beartooth has also allowed TAW the use of his FTP server which frees up our NA machine from having to download content and improves everyone's connection. Simply put, everything we've managed to accomplish in TAW has been possible primarily by Beartooth. I can say without a doubt that he is the single most valuable member in TAW QW. He is also a great guy to know and a good friend of mine in TAW. We have great fun occasionally playing W:ET. In reality we both live about 15 miles from each other so it is great to have a northwest perspective to turn to and chat with and maybe some day he'll let me buy him a beer @ feierabend or Claim Jumpers as a gesture of thanks for all he's done.  

Crytiqal: I personally recruited him into the clan (he was previously known as Commander). He is one of the friendliest people you will ever meet. His enthusiasm to help you out with just about ANY problem is uncanny. From configs to tips on flying he will simply not stop trying. He is one of those prodigies who understands computers like a fish in water. He can whip up a config to implement just about any idea in 10 minutes flat and can solve any problem presented him. He also has a great sense of humor and is a good team player. You'd notice this if you ever played with him, he always creates a TAW|FT fireteam and works well with anyone on. Despite his amazing skill at shooting and flying, he is very humble and polite and never makes you feel owned even after he has killed you 9999 times. Crytiqal has gone far beyond the call of duty in volunteering to becoming the EU technician DI and to the run the technical stuff on the EU side. He is innovative in many of the things he has coded and created. He even helped re-write the HTML code on the website and clean up our unit pages. He has donated his incredible internet connection and a dedicated machine to run several match servers on and host custom content. I consider him a good friend in TAW and look forward to his future involvement with the clan.

 Shmeecow: last but NEVER least. I have known Shmee since he joined the clan and he has always been a good friend of mine. Shmee's personality is indescribable. The only words I could even begin to ascribe would be a cross between "entaro Adun" and "spider mastermind." Although he may occasionally become impatient with "noobishness" on the pub or in our clan matches, Shmee is one of the friendliest people you will ever meet. He is also one of the best players to touch ETQW. His flying skill is legendary and the standard to beat and his desi skills are on their way there as well. He is someone who can tip a match just by switching teams. His involvement in TAW completely turned around when he became a DI and started getting involve with sharing his skills with others. He did so well that he accelerated to the HDI position and ran some good trainings. Shmee's technical expertise have led him to becoming the NA technician DI and we look forward to him working on servers in that important role. I can always count on Shmee to appreciate my starcraft references and analogies and look forward to showing him the fury of the swarm when Starcraft 2 comes out. 

Everyone please join me in giving a big round of thanks to all these staff and everything they do for us! We would not be TAW QW without them and their hard work!

O.o, Is that available in Tele-type?

Thanks Feanor...ya know everyone can use a pat on the back sometimes so thanks for the kind words. I got that warm n fuzzy feeling again....LOL

Bravehardt:

Thanks Feanor...ya know everyone can use a pat on the back sometimes so thanks for the kind words. I got that warm n fuzzy feeling again....LOL

It's just him getting back at you for all of that "LUV" earlier. 

 Hurrah! And thanks everyone it has been super fun taking an active role and will continue to be. And also my appreciation to everyone else up there, as well as others who didnt make the list, like our good buddies in comp, Rine and Hook. (Hint hint fix it feanor :D)

And congrats to dogstar and the next HDI on their promotions!

 And oh yes, I knew Critiqal was a smurf :D

 I was going to add in Hook & Rine but I decided I probably shouldn't put in my superiors as it would be seen as brown-nosing for which Rine has chastised me before. :P  It would be nice if Sooner could type a few words about them.

I think Hook and Rine know how much we appreciate them.

Feanor:

 it would be seen as brown-nosing for which Rine has chastised me before. :P

 

 Thanks Dude!

TAW is such a fun place to spend time.  I can't think of one person in our division that I don't like.   An amazing feat considering how many guy's we have.  Braveheardt, Rinko, Apath, Feanor and myself text and email each other throught the day, almost everyday.  It's like hanging out with your buddies which makes the tasks we do enjoyable and in an odd way rewarding.

In addition to Feanor, Bravehardt and Rinko have gone out of their way to help me since the day I joined.  The QW division is in good hands because of these guys.  The work they do goes unnoticed most of the time because things run so smoothly.

To give everyone an idea of the quality of your staff I want to tell you about an experience I had about a week ago.  I proposed a question to Lock in one of our group email threads.  He sent me back a great response that really helped me understand a couple of things I was dealing with at the time.  That alone was great.  A couple of days later an email appeared in my inbox from Kingcheese that was completely unsolicited.  He proceed to give me a lengthy and well thought out explination of what I had been dealing with from the XO's perspective and I was simply floored.  It's things like this that allow all of us to enjoy our time here.

Where else can you talk with guys from all over the world on a daily basis.  Cool stuff.

LF likes me the best.  

I agree, you can't talk with everyone aroun the world unless you're participating in the world's biggest confrence call. 

We have an excellent team right now. Discussions run smooth(ish), we have each other backs, we share ideas and debate things in an adult and responsible manner. It's a pity that all of you, except Prototype, have accents...but i put up with you 'cos you're good people :)

I'm going to cry...such touching words.[:'(]

 I thought i was being a royal pain in the..... I guess i must try harder

What I like about TAW, vs other clans, is that you can rely on others to do their bit to make your day more fun. 

p.s. remember training on Thursdays - now we've Prototype as HDi for the NA things are going to hot up for the best sessions!

Been many staff changes since I posted this so I'm going to make some updates for the new staff we have picked up. I will say again, here in QW we are truly blessed to have what I consider the best staff that any division could hope for, and the fact that almost all of them have reached terminal rank is a testament to their character as well as their accomplishments and proficiencies. As Vermguy would say, hats off to these guys, they deserve a big thank you!

DC: COL_Bravehardt: Have to say, it's been a real pleasure serving TAW QW with him. He and I joined about the same time in QW and have been working together ever since, we make a great team and I am glad I have such an awesome DC to report to. Was looking forward to catching him at QuakeCon but maybe next year eh!  Brave and I share a very similar sensibility and though we differ in opinion occasionally on issues, on most everything we are of the same mind. It is great to have someone like Brave to watch your back and we have a great time running the QW Division. A lot of great times together as joint FLs on Wolf Pack, CO & XO and DO & CO and finally as DC & DO. He's done a great job for us and we should be grateful we have such a stand-up guy leading our division. He is a good shooter, great guy, and better friend. My time in TAW has  certainly benefitted from him. Thanks man!

  New COs:

1CO: MAJ_Todbot: This guy was in TAW QW well before I joined and was a staple of our division for a long time. When I first joined he was the HDI and ran some awesome trainings. Most notably he is infamous for teaching me the Quarry Tormentor drop, which has made me the Scourge of the Skies when playing strogg on Quarry, just remember, he is the OG Master! He is a great pilot and amazing shooter. I still remember that BFE season that was solely won due to him, at the last possible second, making a spawn host as a tech. changing class to spawn out of it as a solider and getting the plant to win the entire season. This guy is EPIC. He is also a great friend and I've had the pleasure of meeting him in person. You know what they say, "a friend in need is a friend in deed, but a friend with... is better.”   As CO he truly owns the QW 1st Bn and leads them well as a competent and confident CO.

 New XOs:

2XO: CPT_HolyQ: Also known as the hyper-blaster maniac. This is another long-time member of QW who joined almost on the exact same date that I did. As a PL he was epic and even rivaled Poutting for supremacy. HolyQ's teams have always been the standard to beat and his field leadership is legendary. He is also a superb artist and the proof of this is all over the QW unit pages. He has graced our web pages with art continuously for over a year and his graphics are awesome. I have saved all of them, even the ones we no longer use, they are very high quality. As XO he has done a good job of maintaining the high standards of inprocessing that Kingcheese set and he also helps command the battalion well as well as help organize events and keep the DI staff in line. I am especially impressed with the care and attention that he gives to new recruits and I am grateful to have him as the 2XO. 

1XO: Wiemauler:  This guy applied and joined literally, on Christmas of 2008, you could say he was a great Xmas gift. From the beginning he brought his expertise in clan administration to TAW and hit the ground running. He was a leader in a game called "City of Heroes" for several years and we clearly benefit from his experience. Like Hook, Rinehardt, Todbot, Geppy, Shmee and several others, I have had the pleasure of meeting Wiemauler and he is a great guy and a true gentleman. Like many of TAW's great leaders, such as Sooner, Wiemauler has chosen to make TAW a bit of a family affair and also had his son Kronos join, and he has done well here also. He was a PL for a while and did a good job running AoK. Wiemauler has a great sense of humor and is awesome at getting things done! As 1XO he has whipped the 1st Bn DIs into shape and kept the inprocessing there running smoothly. The QW 1st Bn is the single biggest unit in all of TAW, in fact, it is bigger than most divisions and even most Corps, and Wiemauler is a big part of why that has persisted for over year. 

New SOs:

1SO: CPT_Knine: This guy, is in a word, dedicated. Not many people would jump at the chance of being SO but he did. As 1SO he has done an amazing job and even though he has the biggest unit in all of TAW to keep track of, his records are meticulous and he has turned TAW record keeping into a science with precise spreadsheets and email formats. He is incredibly thorough and can always be counted on to follow up with whatever inquiry you ask of him. When he first started he was not as interested in the command aspects of the position, but I have seen him grow into it and he has no problems at all running matches or taking control. He is a great player and I often find him shooting me out of the air. He is also one of the most positive and friendly people you will ever talk to, I remember when he joined he, Tadjo and LargeFormat were the Triumvirate that ran Wolf Pack and it's awesome to see how far he has gone and how much he has become involved in TAW. We are definitely a better place for it.

New TWSs: 

2TWS: CW2_Lock: This guy is quite literally the Jack of All Trades. I would feel confident in him performing ANY job within TAW. As 2HDI he re-defined the role and set the Gold Standard.  When he had to go on leave for a while it was a real blow to us and it highlighted just how much we relied upon him. We knew we wanted to get him back and involved again as soon as we could. As it happened Poutting had transferred over to found the Aion division so the 2TWS spot was open and we could think of no one better to fill it. As 2TWS Lock keeps trainings running smoothly and keeps everything fun for everyone. He makes sure to keep people feeling involved and well-informed. Lock is a great player in ETQW and he also has a great sense of humor, just ask to see the pic of his hands after he torched them at a bonfire! Nothing phases this guy and I look forward to many more matches under his leadership.

1TWS: WO1_Dochie: Dochie has been a staple of the 1st Bn since late 2008 . He started off in QW when I was still a Platoon leader running Red Dawn and he and I hit off right from the start. We both think and play the same way. This guy was also an epic Platoon Leader winning several consecutive Battle For Earth seasons in a row, his field leadership is rivaled only by that of his protege, Blacklung. Dochie has been an incredible asset to TAW and is extremely dedicated. He puts a lot of extra time and attention into everything and as TWS he has done a remarkable job at helping out anyone who asks for his help or advice. We have been wanting to get him involved in the staff for a long time, he is a no-nonsense dude who embodies the "save the drama for yo mama" to the fullest. A great friend with a good sense of humor, glad he is here with us. He is the cog running a well-oiled 1st bn machine, and the high attendance numbers are a testament to that. 

 New HDIs:

2HDI: GSG_Outlavv (ya, that's two Vs, not a W!): Couldn't ask for a better 2nd Bn HDI.  This guy brings his real world military experience to bear on training and the proof is in the pudding: his trainings are awesome. His work on QW game info manuals is epic and based off the solid foundation that Lock began as 2HDI he has surged ahead with many new badge tests that are of the highest quality. In addition to this he has had a big impact on helping HolyQ with inprocessing and I notice that Outlavv is always doing bootcamps even for people outside of his battalion, he is a true team player. He has taught me a few things I didn't even know about the game and he has helped mold the 2nd bn DI staff into an effective unit of helpful guys. In addition to this he has doubled up and filled in as a PL while still doing his HDI duties in a manner that was always above and beyond the call of duty and our expectations. I am very pleased to have him on board.

1HDI: GSG_Stymy: This guy is also known as Mr. Freeze, Whale-Man or simply Fridge-Face, all in good fun related to his comms, though we still cannot be sure he's not a non-corporeal life form using energy currents to manipulate teamspeak Stymy joined us in March of last year and immediately he became interested in and heavily involved in running teams in QW. He did a terrific job as an FL, SL and as a DI, and I am happy that we have him in place as the 1st Bn HDI. He has helped Outlavv to put out some extremely high quality badge tests and he is thorough and dedicated. He does bootcamps whenever he is asked and you can tell he has a real passion for TAW and for helping out in general. He has a great sense of humor and is a great player as well, often when I see him I pull out my grenades.   He has assisted Wiemauler well with inprocessing and the two make a great team. Also, like Outllavv, he is doing double-duty as a PL. Very glad to have him on board with us. 

New tech. Staff:

FST: CW2_Geppy: Ah Geppy, thou art poisoned by thy infernal taquitos and rancid beer.Geppy is by far one of the coolest people I have ever met. He is very friendly and helpful and despite his great intelligence he is not pretentious or arrogant at all. Many fun-filled nights getting drunk/crunk on TS with him disabling the MCP and putting drones into people's faces. As an FST he brings a lot of professional expertise to us from the real world where he is studying computer science. I had the pleasure of meeting him in person at QuakeCon where we had a hella good time and at one point after we sneaked some booze into the BYOC, he became drunk and ran around the 5000-person LAN trying to create a human wave.  Great times indeed and we are glad to have him on board. I look forward to working more closely with him as time allows. 

tech DI: SGT_Susefreak: Great longtime member with good sense of humor. He is very friendly, polite and helpful. He has helped us out a lot by volunteering servers of his for us to use and also helps run the TAW-ICE Custom Map Nirvana Events and helps us maintain a strong presence on the community forums where he represents TAW very well. He is also my go-to guy for new mods and maps and I can always count on him for the latest news and updates on what is to come, such as tribal wars! Very glad to have him here with us.

tech DI: CPL_Gpitts: Wow! Where to begin with this guy!? He has helped out the QW division immensely not just by helping with our server bills but building two awesome machines that dwarf the one we rent from Hypernia and then hosting them for us in a data center! He is a very friendly a polite guy and he is very competent and thorough. He clearly understands computers in a way that few people I know would measure up to, one of the most knowledgeble tech guys I have ever met. I am definitely looking forward to getting to know him better as time goes by.

tech DI: CPL_Purpose: I don't know much about Purpose as he is somewhat newer to QW but everything I have seen about this guy so far is very positive. He friendly, polite, hard-working and competent. He seems to have a very strong knowledge of QW and how to code inside of it, which is absolutely invaluable to us. He is forward thinking and has a lot of great ideas about how to reform the tech-jungle that is the QW Division. I see this guy's potential as near-limitless and I look forward to getting to know him better as time goes by.

So, everyone please join me in giving these guys a huge round of well0deserved thanks! It is due to them that we have such a great time here! 

Agreed, Although he left one very important person out.

Our very own terror of the skies

COL_Feanor, Division Officer of Quake Wars.

Feanor, or F34 as we like to call him, basically is all that embodies our division. The countless effort he goes through trying to get the entire ETQW community to join us in BFE is amazing. The best PL I have played under next to Rinehardt. He is the master of the Dark Matter Cannon and his infamous tormentor drops on quarry are known world-wide.The best times I have had in TAW were with Feanor late at night while talking with Zirawing for hours about anything and everything. A great personality and an even greater leader and friend. We are blessed to have such a dedicated and determined guy serving as our Division Officer.

So My Friend, I would like to give a huge round of thanks to you, aswell as the rest of the staff for making this division, the greatest experience in TAW!

You guys Rock !! all of you !

Although i'm not in the QW sceen anymore, i can but confirm each word. Thx DeadXOn, for you have added the one very important missing paragraph.

Hmm, when can i convert some of you guys to Aion lol ? I think you are pefectly right Feanor, when you Say QW has been and is blessed of an exelent leadership; what's better proof than having Hook as CiC now eh ?

I really hope to see you FPS guys in either AvP or BbC2 for some new blasting seasons. Who knows where the future brings us.