Kishoshima Dragonash

Generally speaking, it's pretty much a well known "fact" or "rule" that the Curia Office (or the offices in general) isnt a place to hang out or what not. We dont mind visitors up there, but it serves three main functions: 1) A quiet place for the Curia Staff to sit and conduct investigations/interviews/audits etc w/o any visual distraction. 2) The very rare (thankfully) Court Martial 3) Curia Staff Meetings Dont misunderstand this as me saying "HEY DONT FUCKING BUG US GO AWAY..." This is just a polite request that you remain out of the office and the "reception" area unless invited by someone in Curia. Given the nature of our job, there are times that we literally just pop in, and sit down so that we can conduct business... we dont want to have to ask someone to leave so that we can conduct a counseling session or discuss issues or even just to pull someone aside to give them a quiet pat on the back for a job well done, (yes, there are ppl in Ordo that dont like to have a big fuss made about what they do, but its still nice to be recognized now and then)it's awkward and uncomfortable for everyone involved. If there are any questions, if anyone would like more clarification, or if youd just like to come up and visit while we're around, dont hesitate to drop me a line in world or on the messenger system here. I appreciate you guys understanding and I hope this clears things up a bit. Respectfully, That big ole mean Curia Consul Guy Kisho

Let's clarify... they were within 3 inches of one another... I slept on the couch.

Portland is DEWWWWWWMED... we're going to be seeing shots on CNN of the heads of heretics on pikes and in a couple years... after Agares has obliterated all the evil, the Ordo Standard will be flying high over the capitol building. Gods have mercy on the souls of Portland.... OK seriously tho, I'll email a couple friends of mine that just moved from Portland see if they can help ya. One of'em used to work for the city council so he might have some insight for jobs, places to live etc.

Herein lies the problem then. There is a difference between personal belief and what is allowed/disallowed. I have friends within Ordo who believe that boost packs are cheap, so they don't use them... But they don't forbid their use when they're OIC. This is why it is -extremly- important that everyone that assumes OIC knows our combat rules inside and out (for both Defense and Offense) rather than instituting their own beliefs. If you feel it's cheap to lay explosives on the objective, dont do it, there's nothing wrong with that at all. By all means play to your ethics as long as they are not -broader- than those of Ordo. If you wish to be more restrictive than Ordo allows, then please play that way... but don't try to enforce your own systems because you're the OIC.... People take the OIC at his/her word because of the trust and the knowledge that is supposed to accompany that position. So if an OIC says "dont put explosives on the objectives" it turns into "Explosives are forbidden to be placed on the objectives." Things evolve. Keep in mind, when I say -you- it's a collective you, not singular, so Im not pointing a finger at you Voncloud, I'm speaking in generalities. What I urge each and everyone member of the Ordo to do, is to find our combat covenant, read it, learn it inside and out. You should also keep in mind that the covenant is what's called a "living document" which means that you read and understand the rules but you apply common sense and interpret the "spirit" of the rule (in some cases) rather than verbatim. A prime example is the 45 and 90 minute Lonewolf rule. We all know that from Midnight SLT until 0800 hrs SLT, Lonewolves are permitted to attack for 45 minutes, but this rule is not set in stone.. it is completely up to the OIC's discretion. Why? Let's take a look at our night shifts here of late... hours upon hours upon HOURS of sitting around bored out of our skulls... FINALLY at like 0315 hrs a single Lonewolf shows up. Now what occurs MOST of the time is that at 0400 hrs everyone in vent is screaming the 45 minutes are up... but at the same time the OIC can hear the entire group laughing, having fun, and enjoying the attack... this lonewolf has broken the monotony, is abiding by our rules and is having as much fun as WE are. Does this mean the OIC or the SOG MUST contact the lonewolf and tell him/her to fuck off and come back at 0800 hrs? No, it's left completely up to the discretion of the OIC. A vast majority of the rules we have in Ordo are set up in this manner because every member of the Ordo is an adult, and should have the ability to use common sense. Basically, what Im trying to say is, don't take these training exercises on Titan as a personal ding to your honor, this is not a "We're the Praetorians, we're here to skull fuck you and show all of Ordo that we're vastly superior to you in every way imaginable muwahahahaha.. kow tow to our will and kiss our feet!!!" In reality, it is just the opposite. The -entire- reason the Praetorians chose to assault Titan was because of the simple fact that WE know that Ordo is the SINGLE toughest, most dedicated, hardest working, well trained and cooperative group in ALL of the SLMC (SL Military Community). The Praetorians chose to attack Titan because we -knew- how hard it would be, we -knew- that we had little to no chance of taking all the objectives and creating a "win" scenario... but we (the Intitiates) needed a chance to face off against a group of people that we knew we had no chance of winning against. At the same time, we also knew that by attacking Titan it would give each and every one of you a chance to test yourselves.. to do what we were doing, and find out what our weaknesses were... where we needed to improve, is our communication weak? do we work well in a group? Can we learn to adapt ourselves to overwhelming odds? I tried to make a post about this yesterday and after an hour of typing out a BEAUTIFUL post... the net gremlins ate it (thanks Nikki.. your roof gremlins have broken out of the Metaverse and have infected the INTERWEBS! They're going to take over the WORLD!!! :P). I understand completely, how frustrating it is to try to communicate in Ventrillo with 40+ people... so let me pull a page out of my personal history and try to relate it in a way we can all benefit from it. Those of you that know me, know that I spent nearly a decade as a United States Marine, my MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) was a Radio Operator. This means my sole purpose in life was to set up, maintain, and operate radio communication systems that spanned the gap from MUX (Multiplexers) to SLF/ULF/LF/HF/VHF/UHF/SHF, Sat Comms, and even in some cases laying down phone cable for encrypted telephones and switchboards. Most of the time I was set up in what we refer to as an "Ant Farm" or Antenna Farm..which is basically an area that has a shit load of antennas set up to transmit and receive radio waves, and sometimes act like a relay to boost long distance signals. Each of those Radios or "nets" had specific units assigned for specific tasks. There were days when 15 or 20 platoons (sometimes more) were all on the same "Battle Net" because their missions overlapped. Now try to imagine four radio operators assigned to each platoon (which consisted of 4 squads).. that's 80 people all trying to communicate using 3 to 5 second burst transmissions, calling in everything from code named troop positions, to CAS (Close Air Support), Arty strikes (Artillary). During the heat of combat, it literally turns into a din of noise and static.. it's organised chaos. The ONLY reason it worked, is because we kept all NON essential transmission to zilch. There wasnt any "Capt McKay this is Lt Dragonash Over." "Roger Lt go ahead" "Roger, hey after this is all over do you and your husband Agares want to go grab a beer at the Officer's Club?" Yeah, no... but that's the types of stuff we hear on Ventrillo ALLLLLLLLLL the time. Hey so and so, did you see me Melee that guy like 10 times in the last 30 seconds, he's a fucking tard!! or you hear "FUCK, GOD DAMNIT THAT FUCKING SON OF A BITCH IS CHEATING, HE JUST SHOT ME THROUGH A FUCKING WALL WTF!!!!" In the mean time, youve got first platoon set up over in the North, they're taking heavy weapons fire and a tank's rolled out trying to squash them, Second Platoon is set up over in the SW and they're catching arty from the HUB, but noone can call for assistance to the OIC because we've got all this extra nonsense going on clogging up the airwaves. Ive been told by more than one person, that part of the reason things got so heated on Sunday was because there was too much bullshit chatter going on, too much QQing over voice, and not enough Pew Pewing. The simple solution to that, is to set your mic up so that you have to physically push a button to talk. THen you can yell scream and rage all you want, and noone will be interrupted. In the military, the term we used was Communications Discipline. Take that extra second to think about what you're gonna say BEFORE you say it, and that's exactly what the PTT offers. You have to consciously push the button to talk. Another major issue Ive heard, is that the OIC at the time, lead a shitty defense. I don't know the OIC personally and Ive never served under him in a defense, BUT I have four lil nuggets to add in on this from my own experiences as Defensive OIC. First... refer up to the communications discipline, that'll help a lot. Second... Assigning an SOG. The position of the SOG exists for this VERY reason, it is the JOB of the SOG to help handle the micromanage aspect of the defense. This frees up the OIC to look at the WHOLE picture and try to figure out WTF the baddies are gonna do. Third... IF the OIC is frazzled and having a hard time, IM him/her and ask if they want you to take over... this mostly applies to the Sr NCOs and Officers as they -generally- have more experience and it's part of their job AS an NCO.. It's also looking out for your own and watching one another's backs. If Im overwhelmed, Id expect someone to offer to help and not take it as an insult. Finally, the OIC/SOG should be assigning specific individuals to go to specific places for a specific job. Call them BY NAME, not "I need three ppl here, a dozen over there, and two medics here." IE Morh, take Kisho, Yoki, Achtai and Xoza, go to the North that's your platoon keep the Forge defended. At this point, We head over there, Morh tells us in IMs or chat or whatever who he wants doing what and he runs his own mini defense with his "platoon." The OIC can do the same for the other positions he needs. IF you happen to see a hole in an area YOU are currently standing in.. dont be afraid to grab a couple ppl and FILL that hole as long as it's still within the area youve been assigned. Just make sure you let the OIC know. It's all about taking initiative, staying in your assigned areas and coordination. If yout ake these four things into account, it makes the life of the OIC SOOOOOOOOOOO much easier, and it makes the defense run a LOT more smoothly. Ok, final paragraph, I promise. Keep in mind that we're all on the same team, that none of us -anywhere- in Ordo are out to make anyone else look bad... seriously, you have my word on that. Those of you who know me, know I dont have a massive ego. Yes I bark, and I snap, and sometimes I drool like a rabid wolf, but 99% of the time I'm laid back, easy to get along with and want for nothing more than the benefit of the group as a whole. I can say this about each and every member of the Guard as well.. we have -two- main jobs... Protect Aryte by any means necessary, and protect the Ordo/Titan. That's it.. everything we do revolves around THOSE two objectives. So I offer this... Those of you who know me, know me.. those of you that don't, I invite you to get to know me. I invite you guys to try to get to know the rest of the Guard as well.. we're not that bad I promise. Once you guys get to know us, you'll see what we're really like, and you'll see that what Ive been saying through this entire novel is absolutely true. We may come across as cold or harsh at times, but that's the job... not our personalities. We're not "out to get you," we're not "out to make you look bad." We're out to improve our own skills, and to train ourselves to protect that which we love most, and to HOPEFULLY inspire each and every one of you guys to do the same.

On 2nd May, 1915, a young Canadian Artillery Officer named Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, was killed by an exploding shell. He was a close friend of Major John McCrae who was a doctor assigned to the same campaign.. The Battle of Ypres. Major McCrae was asked to perform the burial service, and it is believed that the following poem was written for his fallen friend. This poem "In Flanders Field" is probably the single most famous works ever read in the military community. It has been read for fallen Presidents, military Personnel, fallen Police, Fire, and Mobile Medical Personnel (EMTs/Paramedics) killed in the line of duty. Theo was my friend, he was my comrade and I will miss him. I have never made it through this poem without shedding a tear and Im doing so now just making this post. Read the Poem, think back and remember any others who have fallen.

Adapt, Overcome Persever. It happens, no big.

Kisho is missing his. Realized it during my last PRF LOL. Here's the info from the DB. Armatura E: Final Raid and Graduation Excelled 2010-12-05 Acheron Gloom

Name: Kishoshima Dragonash Rank: E-4 Decurionis Phase||||Mon---Tue---Wed---Thu---Fri---Sat| ---------------------------------------- 1st ---|A----------------------------------------> 2nd ---| 3rd ---| 4th ---| Edit: Need to reschedule Tuesday A class for D, all else should remain the same for this week. Dentist Appointment.. teeth cleaning ftw, yay.

Then there's your issue Kyn. There's an old addage "The reason he's called a leader and not a follower, is because he's at the lead end of the column." In other words, you lead from the front. If youve got your Sr Personnel, especially Staff NCOs, not following SOP or directives, then why the hell are the Jr Ranks going to? They're not, they're going to follow suit. All that's required, and this isnt bullshit... All that's required is for the NCOs, and the Officers to set the example. Period. Humans, for the most part, are pack animals. We're not all that different from Wolves or from a Lion Pride, we have many of the same instincts. Ever watch pups or cubs play? Things get a lil rough, one of the adults.. not necessarily the parents... steps in and gives whoever's involved a nip to the back of the head, or the nape of the neck, the ears, the tail.. whatever's handy and they knock it off. When those pups grow up, guess what they end up doing? Exactly the same thing. Why? Because it works, thats how they were taught. The same situation applies to Ordo. How many of us actually know what discipline is? How many of us are capable enough, mature enough, to exercise a bit of self discipline? Were this a RL Military Organisation then Id guess roughly 85 to 90%, there's always going to be that 10 to 15% that dont.. not much you can do to get around it. Given that this is somethin we do for fun in Secondlife, you can PROBABLY take that to 50/60%, +/-. Given that the groups 330+ strong, and given that SL's done for recreation, those are pretty astounding odds, in a positive sense. Now of that 50/60, how many are NCO or higher? Just looking at the group, I think I counted 25 Tribunus, roughly 100 or so Principales and 10 Praetors. So 135 or so of the 330ish we have gives you roughly 39-40% of the total group that are NCO or higher. Keep in mind this is looking strictly at the Ordo Group, not taking into account leave/inactivity etc. So, let's call it 40%. That means that of the 60% total that have self discipline, 40% of those SHOULD be NCO or higher, that leaves 20% that are non NCO and the other 40% of the rest of the group that have little to none at all. See how it adds up fast? Now take a look back up at what I said at the beginning... all that need be done is for the NCOs and the Officers to set the example. It WILL trickle down. This is also not to say that the Jr Members arent responsible either. General Charles C Krulak, the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps instituted an ideology that was summed up like this: This doesnt give Carte Blanche for one of them to be a complete dick and push the other around. What this means is what I referred to earlier, leading from the front. Discipline needs to be approached from both ends. It needs to be taken as lead from the front and taught from the rear. Over all sight picture for this? Take that extra minute or two and self correct, dont argue in public with anyone.. ESPECIALLY if there are Jr Ranks around. If there's any kind of disagreement, and I mean more than THIS gun is better than THAT gun.. nu uh.. this one is better than THAT one, take it to IMs. NCOs, Officers and Praetors should be speaking as one solid voice... period. They should be seen as one solid individual, all speaking for the Imperator and carrying out his will. Food for Thought. Kish

BWolf, for Meleeing a freakin tank to death during a Kampfland raid against SK. Was both hilarious and wicked at the same time. And Winterz for being one of the best instructors Ive had, along with Corsi, and Ron.

Name of Applicant: Kishoshima Dragonash Rank/Division: E-2 Discens / B-III Current Positions: Grunt Qualifications: August 98 - May 06 Active Duty/IRR USMC Primary MOS: Communications (2531/2532/0621) Secondary Training: Intel/Counter Intel interrogation techniques Minor Training: Military Law (Clerk for NJP, Office Hours, Command Level Tribunal before Court Martial) BN Training NCO June 04 - Present: Physical Security, Primary Contact/Interviewer of detainee Sept 07 - Present: GM/Admin for multiple Sims, Primary Incident Investigator for Nar Shaddaa. Ok, so let me break this down into plain and simple English. My primary MOS (military occupational specialty) was Radio Communications, but given the training philosophies of the Commands I served with, cross training in different fields was almost mandatory (and I enjoy learning). The secondary training listed above was obtained during my assignment to 3rd Intel Bn, Okinawa Japan. Id made some friends in the Intel/Counter Intel office just around the corner from S-3 where I was redirected to fill the T/O (table of organisation) for the Battalion S-3 needed a training clerk, I was the ranking FNG NCO so I was voluntold, turned out to be one of the best gigs I had. As a result, I got to be known around HQ and was asked to attend a few classes and participate in training. I didnt realize at the time how indispensable that training would turn out to be, the techniques I picked up have since been incredibly useful in real world applications.. everything from de-escalation of high tension situations, to obtaining information from individuals that had been placed under arrest and were awaiting the arrival of local law enforcement. These same skills have been an invaluable asset here on Second Life as the techniques I picked usually seem to be easier to implement. How does this apply to the position in question? Simply put, investigations of incidents, individuals, and applications, Interviews with individuals both internally and externally and the ability to remain completely unbiased in the process are all skills that will be required in order to fulfill the requirements listed above and to ensure the position is executed to the utmost.

Yes Sir, that's correct. I made the account prior to being given direction. /laughs "Thanks Pat, I appreciate the warm welcome. - .... --- ..- --. .... / - --- / -... . / -.-. --- -- .--. .-.. . - . .-.. -.-- / .... --- -. . ... - --..-- / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . / .. ... / .-. .- .-. . .-.. -.-- / . ...- . .-. / ..- ... . -.. / - .... . ... . / -.. .- -.-- ... .-.-.- / - .... . / .-..-. .--- --- -.- . .-..-. / .-- .- ... -. .----. - / .-.. --- ... - / .- -. -.. / .. ... / .- .--. .--. .-. . -.-. .. .- - . -.. .-.-.-

I realize I should have made this post a long time ago, but Im not really one to talk about my self very often. There are a few of you here in Ordo that know me, or have met me.. for those of you who dont know me my name is Kishoshima Dragonash, but I also go by Kishoshima Kohime, Squishy Kishy, Kish, Kishface (Thanks Xoza :P) or "hey,, you stinky" (Thanks Achtai). I spent nearly a decade as a United States Marine Radio Operator. I tend to be fairly open, open minded, and I like to joke n kid around, doesnt mean I dont take things seriously... just means Ive found that levity and being silly now and again tends to break down barriers and makes people more open to conversation. I dabble with textures and screw around a bit with building in SL, other than that I just try to keep my head down, my mouth shut and "reach out n touch someone" now and again when they make the mistake of getting moving lining up with my front sight post. LOL. Thats really all there is.. if you guys have any questions or anything, feel free to drop me a line here or in world. Kish