In-The-Scope: Lucid

ARMA 2, it's currently the largest TAW division in terms of total members. The game itself is thriving with tons of mods and other 3rd party player resources, but the reason the game thrives in TAW is the leadership. Officers like FelixLegion and Lucid have led the ARMA 2 division to become a team play power house within The Art of Warfare. The media team got the chance to sit down with Lucid and have a chat about what makes the division tick.

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Well I'm 33 years old and in the real world I'm a manager at a supermarket. I previously served 8 years in the Air Force Reserve as a Security Forces member at Westover Air Reserve Base. I live is Massachusetts with my with and have 2 children. My main passion in life is Electronic music.

LOL that in a land far far away I had long hair and played in a rock band!

For a long time the only game I played was ARMA. Even though I have a decent sized library of games on my PC. These days I tend to jump around as my mood suits me. I'm really happy playing Napoleon: Total War and Saints Row the Third. But in the past most all of my gaming time was consumed with flight simulators. Even though I have all the DCS sims and many others, I rarely have the time to learn and truly enjoy them.

Before TAW I was in the 75th Ranger Regiment. It was a decent sized ARMA only clan and the first clan I was ever part of. It was such a joy that I had devoted a lot of time to it. The clan fell apart after some political issues and I swore that I never wanted to have to commit time to another clan again......Well when I stumbled across a TAW ARMA server that idea just went out the door. I saw how well organized it was and at the time it worked very well with my work schedule. And the key was that I was allowed to submit excusals and TAW makes it known that real life issues take priority. So for my it was a no brainer.

The one I am most fond of is the Leadership Medal. I earned that back in my days of being the ARMA CO. There were some major changes happening in the battalion when I stepped up into that role from a squad leader. I earned it working with fellow members and building a solid foundation from which we held our weekly practices. I had stepped up in as many aspects of the game as I could learning mission building,server admin duties and developing the new squad leaders in solid leaders themselves.

I have had some exposure to some to some of the other divisions and we all have some of the same issues. I think the ARMA divisions strongest point is it's leadership at all levels. We all do our very best to train the men below to perform to their fullest and as if at any time they would need to step up and fill the roles of someone above them. Every so often there is an "event" in the division that causes a leader or key member to leave or step down for one reason or another. We always have solid people ready to step and get the job done. I think that is the key to any divisions success.

At the division level the most challenging part is personalities. Not only does each member have their own personality but each region around the globe has one also. It can be a challenge at times trying to talk and make decisions with a wide range of people and find a common ground among them.

Again I have to go back to the leadership. Not as individuals but as a group. We always do our best to try and make people at home and all their opinions count. Pushing the members to do their best keeps them chomping at the bit to try and achieve more. This ensures we always have a good pool of solid members and creates a very tight night community.

The people! There was a time about a year ago when the only time I played ARMA was during practices. I had played the game so much that I had gotten a little burnt out. And the one thing that kept me coming back for more and more was the people and the camaraderie. It was similar to when I served in the military.Any one can play a game online with tons of people. But spending time with the same group on a regular basis really cements the bonding.

Serving under my DC FelixLegion. We have been in ARMA since almost day 1 and have rebounded back in forth as each other leaders either as FL,SL or CO. He is a great person to serve with and always inspires me to do better and push the division into places we could have only imagined.

When I joined TAW I never imagined spending two years of my life in a clan. Nor did I ever imagine becoming a DO.It truly is a great organisation and does a pretty darn good job of taking care of its members!