On Overcoming Adversity

[Aryte]

The opportunity has arisen to detail events and remind the collective membership of the Ordo for the good of all. The nature of occurrences may be jointly described under the topic of meeting and overcoming adversity. Nevertheless, the two examples that shall be underlined here are on two ends of the spectrum: one internally and one externally related.

Foremost, let us approach the internal affair--the matter of adjusting with the times, whether it be accepting punishment or recognizing a necessity for making individual efforts to evolve to maintain a position of authority. The former of which specifically describes a situation in which a member of the Ordo violates regulations and is prescribed punishment other than ejection. Let us be certain: any punishment that is not ejection is an opportunity for improvement. It is an act of mercy. The latter describes situations in which personnel maintain positions or membership without any sense of commitment or ability to perform.

In the matter of punishment, let us first consider the purpose of issuing reprimand (or punishment, as it were). It is, without exception, an act of conditioning with intent of shaping an individuals behavior to conform with the group norms. Punishment should not, nor shall it ever have any other goal under my leadership. That said, it must be reiterated: when an individual receives any form of punishment other than an ejection or banishment from the Ordo, he or she is being provided the opportunity to demonstrate fortitude and the willingness to improve. Individuals whom bear justified reprimands well and summarily demonstrate the capability to grow beyond the event are often hailed as mature and worthy of reward more readily in the future. This is directly rooted in the fact and understanding mistakes occur-- however a mistake is neither malicious nor a continued error if the individual in question acts to correct that mistake.

On the topic of evolving to maintain positions of authority, we must first differentiate the act of being ineffective from the act of breaking a regulatory bound. It must be noted that, in many cases, individuals who maintain positions (or membership in elite stations) are certainly violating a regulation of some sort by lack of performance, but the culpability behind violations are rarely malicious-- as such, it is not the same as, say, purposefully engaging in friendly fire. That said, individuals in an ineffective status are treated a bit differently.

In the Ordo, it is my goal and driving mandate to coach and provide career advancements. As is, every officer will or has already received a one on one session of discussion. These are career centric feedback sessions, in which areas of success and failure are detailed to build an action plan for the future. This same general theme permeates throughout the group, in the form of PRFs, IAC interviews, office hours, unit reports, et cetera. However, there are times in which feedback is either ignored or not executed. It is in these times that an individual is deemed ineffective in their role.

At the officer level, it is my responsibility to handle ineffective membership. Over the last month, we have dramatically cut back on members of the Tribunus. It must be stressed that said reassignments are in no way punishments: some individuals are simply inactive with real life, others are more fit for enlisted service. Of the some . . . I believe, twelve reassignments, only one has opted for total retirement.

At other levels, it is the unit command or divisional command’s responsibility to handle ineffective or inactive members. They do so routinely, via assignment to inactive rosters or coaching individually to encourage meeting of minimum criteria--such as the raid necessity for elite squads.

In the very least, every individual is provided a fair chance at obtaining a role they so desire, maintaining that role, and coaching if performance in that role proves to be lacking. However, I bring this up to note: no amount of coaching shall ever inspire any performance unless the individual in question has the desire to perform and the commitment to step up. The Ordo shall provide the tools and the means to succeed, but it shall always be in the hands of the individual to take those tools.

Now let us turn our attention to the external element. Specifically, I speak of interactions with other groups and separating anxiety from combat. There is a general sensation of fear that, if a battle does not end favorable, that some sort of repercussion shall follow. That is hardly the case. What I expect is only that operational mandates, which are specifically designed to enforce excellence and make an unfavorable outcome unlikely, are followed. Such as: proper raid approvals, proper use of skills (such as ART) during combat of any sort, escalation of arms, and use of reinforcements.

With certainty, I can assure everyone that provided there is no gross negligence on part of the participants, no sort of repercussion will be brought upon any Ordo combatant if a battle ends unfavorably. Simply be very sure to use your tools, expend your resources, and fight valiantly.

Our enemies are very “win/loss” centric. Our common foes as of recent thrive upon attempting to exploit areas of weakness. In short, if this were a hypothetical battlefield in continuum: our enemies are attempting to attack our convoys and lightly defended outposts. They take cheap shots to score some level of sense of “victory” on their part. Head to head, we would annihilate them without recourse--and often do.

Think of combat in that perspective. Let us use Chaos for an example. Last night, Chaos hit us hard with a large force, utilized banned technologies to gain the upper hand, and captured all of our points before Ordo reinforcements arrived. I could sense the frustration and the sense of “we lost, this is terrible.” Frankly, we did not lose anything.

From a tactical standpoint: the enemy took territory, we retook it upon reinforcements. That is not a loss. Look at it from a historical lens. At the Battle of the Bulge, the German army took a whole lot of territory and made headway. The Allied forces were pushed back temporarily. But the Battle of the Bulge certainly did not spell Allied defeat. The German army, at the end of the day, lost huge amounts of men and material, ultimately expediting their total defeat.

The Allied forces fought and made the Germans pay for every piece of ground, until reinforcements and reorganization permitted a total repulse of the attack. I expect the very same from the Ordo and view it very much the same. Make the enemy pay for every piece of ground they take, fight valiantly, muster reinforcements, and then crush them utterly.

From an objective standpoint: sure, we lost our points. That is unfortunate and we should certainly strive to maintain our objectives. At times, that really isn’t possible. When we are faced with huge odds and no ability to mitigate enemy abuse of our rules (tracking missiles and flak on infantry, in this case), it relatively mitigates and sours any enemy success with a giant blanket of evidence in the necessity of the enemy force to be underhanded.

Should we let the aforementioned perturb us? Not at all. Nor should we get into a habit of sullying combat under the pretense of “X group did Y to win, and can’t win otherwise.” We should simply focus on fighting hard and fighting to the best of our ability. We can not expect our foes to respect us or respect our rules. But we can expect Ordo members to be the absolute best, at all times. We can expect Ordo members to defend the homeland tirelessly. And we can expect Ordo members to decimate our foes abroad with unmatched zeal.

My ultimate point: Chaos (and other groups) are hardly winning by relying on taking pot shots at us. Sure, destroying our “convoys” or engaging small pockets of troops can give the enemy a sense of “victory.” But at the end of the day, they are only poking a monster far greater than anything they could possibly handle. At the end of the day, we will dominate them on the field of battle and will continue our existence years after they dissolve into rabble. We have all seen this before. We all know it to be quite true.

The Ordo is, for all intents and purposes, unbeatable. Because our members are unbeatable. So as long as we stick to that, we have nothing to be concerned about. Ever.

[Skojare]

Very moving. And very inspiring as always Boss. Hi5!

[George Reisman]

A good read.

[Ookamiwulf Lemton]

Interesting and very inspiring.

[or10nsharkfin]

If they strike us down, we shall become more powerful than they can possibly imagine.

[Jeffery Worbridge]

Wise words, very insightful. Should be necessary reading for all entering Ordo Personnel.

[Skojare]

If they strike us down, we shall become more powerful than they can possibly imagine.

NO BAD KURAMA

[Ghost Quihoxil]

Solid material, Aryte, very insightful.

[Bizcut Vanbrugh]

Once again I am reminded of why I decided to join Ordo. I can remember giving a very similar speech to troops that I had lead. I sit with a warmness in my heart for the organization I have been part of and for the moral high ground that we stand on. We as a group are what all good people strive to be they just do not know it yet.

[Nightfall Foxclaw]

<3~

[confiuzer Thor]

I like the part where says "they are only poking a monster far greater than anything they could possibly handle"

When i read it, it comes to my mind the image of a tiny person poking a sleeping giant with a stick :P

Loved the reading, realistic and motivating.

[BlackSergal]

We crushed Erebus after their repeated 2am raids.

Crushed AN after various insults... So too fell others.

We will crush these as well and outlive themlike the hundreds of others.