The Vast Empire Stormtrooper Corps has, for many years, struggled to create and perfect a streamline Academy system; and ever since my appointment as the Stormtrooper Corps' Commander of Training, I have tried to the best of my abilities to create new ideas for a better training system.
When I joined in 2000, the application process was as such: you chose your Callsign, the division(s) you wished to join (in those days, the DJO was a division you could 'check off' as wanting to join), any comments as to why you thought you'd be a good candidate/reasons for joining, and checked off any games that were listed in your possession that were supported platforms of The Vast Empire. Once you had submitted an application, you waited until the Commander of Training sent you an email, and you were immediately placed in an active duty squad. In my case, Wraith was my first assignment. From there, I jumped right into stories. There was no character biography to complete, no "specialty" to obtain, and certainly no real Basic Training process.
Once I had been commissioned as the Commander of Training, I learned that many new recruits had similar questions - general questions about the site, how things worked, etc. It was at this time that I realized an Academy of sorts would be greatly useful for those who were searching for answers. This lead to the establishment of Drill Squad - a squad that was solely dedicated to assisting new recruits with site orientation and how to participate. Since then, Drill underwent numerous updates in terms of training methods. However, despite how many upgrades that little squad went through, I never felt like the training process was fully complete. There was always something missing: either I was away for a little while, recruits never posted and faded away into the void - never to be heard from again, or I felt that the training that was being offered was never really satisfactory. For many months, even years, I had been thinking about an entirely new Academy system, but I never put it down on paper. I eventually sent out several proposals for small updates, and some of those updates where met and have made some exciting new changes for The Vast Empire. These changes included the Join Application (Race selection, age-check, and "famous character name" checks to be sure that there would only be one Luke Skywalker in this galaxy. *** BIG thanks goes to Grand Moff Kadann for fixing that up for me ***), and more Army proposals.
(Yes, I'm almost to the point)
For a very , very long time, I have been going through the idea of an entirely new Academy system in my head and have been putting my ideas down on paper. It was very difficult trying to come up with a new system because I had to think of almost every single scenario that we would encounter in terms of new recruits (shortage of new recruits, a huge influx of new recruits, how to streamline the training process, payscale, how this would fit with the Online Roster, the ComNet, etc.)...
I am here this evening to announce that I have finally created an Academy system that I am pleased with - a system that is not only what I had hoped The Vast Empire Stormtrooper Corps would eventually have, but a system that would satisfy both myself as a leader and the recruit. I will post the specifications of the new system below, but first I would like to say that a lot of time and thought has been put into this new method of training, and it has been designed to not only work for the Stormtroopers Corps, but for the Imperial Navy as well (should they choose to use it).
My fellow Imperials, I present to you: The Academy.
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The Academy is no longer a mere squad, but the size of an entire platoon. There are four squads within the Academy:
1st Echelon
2nd Echelon
3rd Echelon
4th Echelon
Each Echelon squad has its own purpose in the training process, and the training provided will be a lot more indepth than what it currently is with Drill Squad. The training process will be as such:
1) The recruit sends in the Join Application
2) They are immediately placed in 1st Echelon
3) They are transferred to 2nd Echelon once their training in 1st Echelon is complete
4) The process of 3) is repeated until 4th Echelon. After their tasks in 4th Echelon is completed, they will be transferred to an active duty squad.
The staff, thus far, will be myself (acting CoT) and possibly 3-5 Assistant Commander of Training individuals acting as "Drill Sergeants" to assist the new recruits with their training. Training will no longer be an "automated process". Each ACoT will be assigned recruits to work with on a personal level in order to give the recruit the feeling that what they're doing matters, is monitored, and that they're questions can be answered right away without having to deal with a possibly fully-automated system in which you can't get a hold of anyone at all.
The length of training will vary from recruit-to-recruit, but I'm thinking an average of 2-5 days before they completely finish the Academy training. 2-5 days may seem like a long time to wait for fresh meat, but this process acts as a filter: seperating those who joined because they truly want to participate and do the work from those that joined for the sake of clicking a Submit button. With this new system, every squad will receive a quality Trooper.
Now on to the good stuff: the curriculum. This current version of the curriculum may be amended sometime in the near future, but this is the fundamental training system for each of the four Echelons:
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1st Echelon: Orientation
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Complete CoC review
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Site orientation
1. Site navigation: http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATCRecLess1 (Detailed explanation on all navigation links: General, Division, Lounge, Logistics, Archives, Resources, Guidelines).
2. Imperial Center Store review (Purchasing items and how to use them in stories).
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mIRC orientation and setup: http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATCRecLess3, http://academy.stormtroopercorps.com/mirc_java.html
1. Inform them of weekly meeting times. Be sure to give them the correct meeting time for the specific time zone.
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Chain of Command orientation: http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Basic_Army_Information
1. Guide to the Online Roster.
2. Who is your superior - who to send questions to.
3. How and why the Chain of Command works.
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ID Lines: http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATCRecLess3, http://stc-manual.stormtroopercorps.com/idlines.html
1. Give examples and explain how they work.
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Weekly Reports: http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATCRecLess3
1. Give examples and explain why these reports are important.
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Evaluation Exam (written)
1. Testing the recruit's understanding of all lessons and orientations mentioned above. Passing grade is 85% correct or higher. (The exact questions can be determined at a later time - we may even be able to use some of Rizzit's Drill Exam questions).
2. Upon successful completion of their exam, they can be awarded a sum of 2500 ICs.
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2nd Echelon: Character Biography Introduction/SW Knowledge Pt.1
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Biography Instruction
1. Help them understand the makings of a good biography: http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATCRecLess4
2. Give them a 2-3 examples of character biographies for them to study - allowing them to check the writing style (these sample biographies will be provided by the staff or specifically-chosen individuals).
3. Explain the differences between 1st and 3rd person styles of writing (3rd person is preferred in this club).
4. Have them start a biography: 2-3 paragraphs (1 page at most - if they wish to go beyond that limit, that is up to them).
5. Give them a taste of "good grammar" by pointing out errors in syntax and grammar in their writing. Due to the fact that this is their first attempt (and taking into consideration age, English being a second language, etc.), don't scrutinize too harshly.
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StarWars Knowledge
1. General Information: Weapons/armor/vehicles - http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Basic_Army_Information
2. Planets and systems we control - http://www.vastempire.com/main/ref/systems/
3. This "knowledge" should just be very general for right now. More in-depth knowledge can come later. We just need to make sure they don't have Tatooine as a large oceanic planet. Allowing them to know what standard weapons they will be using will help them along in their writing as well.
A completed/approved biography and written exam will be required to complete 2nd Echelon. Exam passing results are the same as 1st Echelon (at least 85% correct).
The successful completion of 2nd Echelon will result in the awarded sum of 3000 ICs.
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3rd Echelon: First Mission Assignment/SW Knowledge Pt.2
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First mission assignment
1. Story will be produced by Minister of Development (or whatever name we come up with: CoT Assist #2 :P).
2. The writing assignment should be not stressful to the recruit. This is their first mission, and thus the expected number of pages for approval will be 4.
3. Explain the process to the recruit:
a. Buy an item or two from the Imperial Center Store (ICS) for use in the mission.
b. Look at your mission objectives.
c. Think about what you are going to do in order to reach those objectives.
e. Think about the resistance you might encounter along the way - what obstacles will fall between you and completing your mission
f. Emphasize the importance of being able to elaborate the detail in their writing for any situation (if it was daytime, present to them the themes of a warm or cold day, overcast or clear, humid or normal, etc.).
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StarWars Knowledge
1. Trooper types (Radtrooper, Sandtrooper, etc.) - http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Basic_Army_Information
2. Explanation on our timeline (Thrawn Era) and where that puts us in the StarWars galaxy (No Jedi, 10-15 years after the events of RoJ, and what events have transpired (( http://comnet.imperialnetwork.com/topic/6278/ )) ).
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Introduction into Trooper Specialties
1. Introduction into trooper specialties (splicer, sharpshooter, etc.) - http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:STCspecs
A completed/approved mission-completion and written exam will be required to complete 3rd Echelon. Exam passing results are the same as 2nd Echelon (at least 85% correct).
The successful completion of 3rd Echelon will result in the awarded sum of 4000 ICs.
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4th Echelon: Cooperative Mission/Pre Graduation
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Cooperative Mission: Working as a team.
1. Assign the recruit two more partners (3-party team).
2. Give them their mission and its details/objectives.
3. Have the recruits work together to plan out how they want to post (who goes first, second, third | how do they want to approach/proceed with the mission: what is everyone's role?).
4. Emphasize the importance of communication either via comnet, mIRC, or email.
5. Have them use items from the ICS.
6. Each party member must contribute at least 5 pages to the story.
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Character Biography: Final Draft
1. With their newly-acquired knowledge with writing, the recruit is to edit or recreate his/her character biography with a 1-page in length minimum requirement. At this point, the recruit should have already thought about their character's past, traits, etc., and should be able to write a more thorough biography.
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Trooper Specialty Selection
1. Recruits may choose a specialty they wish to study for when they are transferred to active duty.
Their amended biography and completed cooperative mission must be approved before they can graduate.
The successful completion of 4th Echelon will result in the awarded sum of 6000 ICs.
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Every meeting, there will be an official graduation ceremony held for those who have successfully completed the Academy. At this ceremony, their newly-bestowed ranks and medals will be awarded, and an announcement of which squad each new Private First Class will be assigned.
With this new system, not only will the recruit be challenged in many different aspects, but there will be a reason for wanting to complete the aspects: graduation, an active duty squad, and the oppertunity to use what they have learned in official stories and run-ons. Granted, there will probably be several things that will change during the course the Academy's operation, but these changes are unknown to us right now. The only way to know what changes we need to make to the Academy process will be to see it in action.
Unbeknownst to all of you, there is already a new board located within the Stormtrooper Corps ComNet. It is titled Echelon Training Academy, and it already has its 12 new topics set up for operation. Currently, only myself, Kadann, and the AHC I believe, are the only ones that are able to view these boards. Kadann is currently working on setting up the Online Roster portion of the Academy, and I'm working on setting up the initial email response/greeting for the new recruits. If all goes well, the new Academy will be up and operational within a few weeks, and Drill Squad will be laid to rest.
Within a few weeks time, The Vast Empire will change yet again, but in a new way. The type of quality people the Army will be receiving into their squads will hopefully be (in all seriousness) our new Squad Leaders, officers, Platoon Commanders, Company Commanders, and Army High Command staff. The Vast Empire is a strong organization with amazing people, and my goal was to make an Academy system that would act as a pillar to ensure a successful future.
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I'd like to give a huge thanks to Grand Moff Kadann, who has implemented updates and has given me the oppertunity to share and establish a long-awaited vision.
Grand General Fury, Major Merrick, and Colonel Rizzit - A lot of thanks goes to these people for their support, information, criticism, and resources. Without these individuals, the proposal would've just been another stack of papers stuffed away in a closet somewhere.
I also give a big thanks to all the other individuals who have supported me in this process.
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Cleric "Cosmic" Vor'soth
CoT/MG Cosmic/HCA-3/SL/Drill Squad/Tadath/VEA/VE
[OPE][OTH][OPA][EW1][CDS][IH][GS][LM][SoS][CRoM][CoH][PoC][MSM][SCP][SoA][IOC]
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Cleric "Cosmic" Vor'soth
SL/KPR Cosmic/Lion 1-1/Lopen/VEDJ/VE
[VP][WoS2][KC1][SoY][EoP][OAK]
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