MAY - JUNE ‘07 VOLUME 16, NO. 3

THE NEWSLETTER FOR REGION THREE

F L E E TCHANNELS

INSIDE RC REPORT STAFF REPORTS VESSEL REPORTS FLEET & REGIONAL NEWS TREK NEWS NASA NEWS UPCOMING EVENTS

F L E E TCHANNELS

GIGI & TEEGAN JACOBSONENJOY ORLANDO

& THE 2007 REGION THREE SUMMIT

SUMMIT2007

WRAP-UPEDITION

SUMMIT2007

WRAP-UPEDITION

FLEET CHANNELS2

DISCLAIMER

Fleet Channels is the official electronicbi-monthly publication of Region Three.This newsletter is written solely for theentertainment of the Regional staff, themembers of Regional Three and as-sorted friends. This publication is not in-tended to infringe on the copyrights ortrademarks of Star TrekTM, as held byParamount Pictures Corporation. FleetChannels is copyrighted as an originalproduction. Permission is hereby grantedto anyone who wishes to reproduce theoriginal material herein, provided that thesource of the material is included. Allother copyrighted material, trademarks,and/or service marks cited herein are reg-istered to their respective owners.

Certain uncredited material may be writ-ten by the editor. The opinions presentedin this newsletter are not necessarilythose of Region Three or STARFLEET:The International Star Trek Fan Associa-tion.

Address corrections, Letters to the Edi-tor, articles and/or artwork are stronglyencouraged and should be sent to FleetChannels, P.O. Box 1756, Coppell, TX.75019. Unsolicited submissions will notbe returned unless accompanied by aS.A.S.E. Deadline for submissions isthe first of each month prior to the nextissue.

Submissions are respectfully requestedin the form of an ASCII Text file or Worksfor Windows v4.0 that can be sent viathe INTERNET toFleetChannels@region3.org. If you can-not upload a file then send it to me at theabove address on a returnable 3.5" floppydisk compatible with IBM or carfully typedon white paper with at least one and one-half spaces between the lines in a san-serif font (i.e.: Arial). If you cannot typethen carefully hand print -- incursive willnot be accepted under any circum-stances! Reports and/or submissionsneed to be 500 words or less.

Published items become the property ofFleet Channels and Region Three.

CONTACT LIST / DISCLAIMER

REGIONAL COORDIANTOR

ADM Brad Pense ............................................... rc@region3.org

VICE-REGIONAL COORDINATORS

VRC (North): COMM Robyn Winans ................. vrcn@region3.orgVRC (South/Senior): ADM Michelle Fanelli ........ vrcs@region3.orgVRC (West): VADM Sam Black ......................... vrcw@region3.org

REGIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Chief of Staff: VADM Raymond Ford .................. cos@region3.orgDeputy Chief of Staff: COMM Jeff Webb ............ dcos@region3.orgOperations: RADM Stephanie Izard .................... ops@region3.orgCommunications: VADM Mark A. Vinson ........... comm@region3.orgShuttle Operations: RADM Dave Walker ............ shoc@region3.orgComputer Operations: MGN Aaron Murphy ....... compops@region3.orgSenior Enlisted Advisor: CMCPO Randi Spears . sea@region3.org

REGIONAL SUPPORT STAFF

Awards Coordinator: RADM Billie Clifton ........... awards@region3.orgCounselor: COMM Kat Sweeney-Richards ......... counsel@region3.orgFinancial Officer: RADM Heather Ford ............... finance@region3.orgJudge Adv. General: FCPT Emilio Martinez ........ jag@region3.orgQuartermaster: CMDR Reed Bates ................... quartermaster@region3.orgSpecial Forces Officer: BDR Jeff Schnoor .......... specialforces@region3.orgSpecial Projects Officer: RADM Heather Ford .... specialprojects@region3.orgYouth Services Director: COMM Robert Ybarra .. cadetcorps@region3.org

REGIONAL DEPARTMENT CHIEFS

Operations: FCPT Alex Trevino .......................... vops@region3.orgEngineering: VADM Bill A. "Mac" Schwab .......... engineering@region3.orgCommunications: FCPT Evan Richards ............. vcomm@region3.orgSecurity: BGN Bryon Flynt .................................. security@region3.orgScience: FCPT Bill Downs .................................. science@region3.orgMedical: LT Terrie Thomas .................................. medical@region3.org

REGIONAL E-MAIL ADDRESSES

Monthly Status Reports ...................................... msr@region3.orgShakedown Status Reports ................................ smsr@region3.orgPromotions Requests ........................................ promotions@region3.orgFleet Channels .................................................. fleetchannels@region3.org

REGIONAL MAILING LISTS

There are currently two mailing lists: R3list@region3.org, the general informationlist for Region Three and shoclist@region3.org, for all prospective and current ves-sels taking part in STARFLEET's Shakedown Operations. To subscribe, send e-mail to majordomo@region3.org with "subscribe <maillist>" in the body of the mes-sage (where <maillist> is the list to be joined). More information can be found at theRegion Three Web Page (http://www.region3.org).

FLEET CHANNELS 3

RC & SVRC REPORTS

TTTTThrough through through through through the Eyeshe Eyeshe Eyeshe Eyeshe Eyes

of a Redneckof a Redneckof a Redneckof a Redneckof a Redneckby: ADM Brad Pense, Regional Coordinator

Regional Coordinator@region3.org

SOUTHERNSPACEDOCK

Senior Vice-Regional CoordinatorVice-Regional Coordinator, South

by: ADM Michelle Fanellivrcs@region3.org

Howdy,

Let me start by saying that we now haveour 11th successful Summit behind us.With that, it is time to provide you withSummit ’07 follow-up information. Butfirst, I want to thank everyone who at-tended or had a part in making Summit’07 as successful as itwas.

During Opening Cer-emonies at Summit ’07,I had the honor of rec-ognizing members fromacross Region Three asthey received RegionThree IndividualAwards, ’06-’07 AnnualAwards and variousPromotions to the rankof Captain and above.

I want to congratulatethe following members/groups from RegionThree who received rec-ognition at Summit thisyear.

Promotions to Captain/Colonel: Lloyd Batesand Scott McKinlay; to Fleet Captain/Brigadier: Cami Houser and Jeff Schnoor(Brigadier); to Commodore/BrigadierGeneral: Karon McLain and Robert Gra-ham; to Rear Admiral/Major General:Billie Clifton; and to Vice Admiral:Raymond Ford.

Annual Awards: Newsletter of the Year:USS Aurora Vulcanus’ Aurora’s Glory(Volume 15, Issue 3); Junior Member ofthe Year: Remmington Shugart, USSRegulator; Enlisted Member of the Year:

Clint Hill, USS Ark Angel; Chapter of theYear: USS Trinity River; Officer of theYear: Mark West, USS Regulator; Mem-ber of the Year: Sam Black, USS LoneStar

Our next major event this year is the re-turn of the Pool and Darts event in Killeen

at the Harker HeightsMoose Lodge on Satur-day July the 21st. TheMoose Lodge is locatedat 125 West VeteransMemorial Blvd in HarkerHeights, TX. Next is theBiennial Region Threetrip to the Space Centerin Houston, TX. that isset to take place in Sep-tember. And we wrapup the year with the verysuccessful annual Re-gion Three Game Dayto be held in RoundRock, TX. during No-vember. Events beingheld during the week-end will include opengaming, the third Bri-gade Fall Muster andmuch more.

Until more information is announced onother Region Three events you can keepa watchful eye on the Region Three website http://www.region3.org for more up-dates.

In service to the Fleet,

ADM Brad Pense,Commander, Third Fleet

Howdy, Howdy,

As I write this, I amnot sure what tosay about Summitand the afterw e e k e n dpostings. Manyspoke with their

emotion and pain. I hope one day thehard feelings will be less returning to ourmore family connections. In the past weexperience disagreements, say ourpeace and then go back to having fun. Itwould be a shame, if we let things changethat.

I want everyone to remember what isimportant: the fun and the activities wedo as a region. Those are still happen-ing. The financial is being handled andwe will be better for it. We have otherthings on our plate; the new Trek movieis coming out, hey a hook to get newmembers. We have new groups addingto our family. We will deal with whatcomes our way as we always have.

I want to thank Robyn and the Trinity Rivercrew plus everyone who had anything todo with summit. Yes, I did have a greattime. The panels were fun, loved the din-ner and I even got a table decoration. Ichatted with folks I haven’t seen in years.That is what the weekend was truly about.

Of course our groups are gearing up forthe summer. The Firebird is taking a tonof Academy courses. The KED-TV auc-tion had support of the Joan of Arc mem-bership. The Renaissance and what willbe the Corsair group at teaming up forAugust’s Babel Con. The Ark Angel ispreparing for their first fan film and willbe doing a casting call. I can picture itnow - a star is born.

continued next page

RC Brad Pense gets hauled inby the Fashion Police at

Summit 2007

FLEET CHANNELS4

VRC REPORTS

NorthernLIGHTS

Vice-Regional Coordinator, Northby: COMM Robyn Winans

vrcn@region3.org

Go WestYoung Man!

Vice-Regional Coordinator, Westby: VADM Sam Black

VRC-West@region3.org

This was a mostlyfun and very inter-esting summit.There were defi-nitely memorablemoments, andsome of those mo-ments are the kindthat keeps on giv-ing. I was totally

shocked to be chosen as the Member ofthe Year. It is an honor of which I neverthought I would ever be the recipient. I’mjust a humble servant of the members,on all levels. I have never been here tofurther any agenda other than that of put-ting the members above all else. I guessthat’s the advice I would give for all youout there with ambitions of any kind.

There are a few things coming up for themembers to keep on their radar screens.Coming up in July is the return of Pooland Darts back to standing on its own,and its return to Killeen, as well. We alsohave the trip to Space Center Houstoncoming up later this year all the way downsouth in H-town. The IC in Denver is justaround the corner in August. It’s rarelytoo late to jump on the bandwagon andhead to the Mile High city to enjoy theweekend with Tim Russ and all the restof the merry band of ‘Fleeters. Addition-ally, I’m proud to say that our chapter willbe welcoming home, albeit temporarily,one of our newer members on leave fromservice in Afghanistan in July.

One of the most important things that weas members have as a duty is to remem-ber to stand up and vote in the upcomingCS elections. There are many issuesfacing STARFLEET and who we, as themembership, choose to lead us into thenext decade is very important. In the lastfew CS elections, only about one-third ofthe membership took the time to let their

Well Summit washere and now it’sgone. The USSTrinity River hopesthat everyone had agood time whilethey were here.We’d like to thinkeveryone formaking the trek to

Dallas for the 2007 Summit. I wouldlike to again express my thanks to theCrew of the USS Trinity River for the hardwork they did in preparation for summitand all the behind the scenes activitiesat summit. Thank you to the Crew ofthe IKV Melota for helping and making ita true Federation event. Thank you toeveryone who helped out with summitfrom around the region from our panelmoderators to Sound crew to the 3rdBDE and those at the registration tableand everyone in between. Also thankyou to those of you that stepped in at thelast minute when a few challenges arose;Mary Webb, Sam Black, TJ Gordon andKris Winegar.

As we relax from Summit hear in theNorth, there are still ballgames to be hadfor the Rangers and the Fort Worth Cats.We’re still celebrating Star Wars 30thAnniversary with an exhibit at the FortWorth Science Museum. Dallas ComicCon 9 will shortly be upon us (June 30and July 1) and one very special mediaguest is none other then Robert Beltran,Chakotay from ST:Voyager

Several of us will even be making treksaround the region for Science FictionLiterary conventions such as ApolloCon(www.apollocon.org), Conestogoa (http://www.sftulsa.org/conestoga/) andArmadillocon (www.armadillocon.org)where we’ll meet old friends, new friends,and talk with authors from around the US

continued continued

Next regional event is July’s Pool andDarts. The steaks are back along withthe fun we always have at this event. Wealso have Space Center Houston andGame Day coming up, so try to join in onthe fun when you can.

And may the good news be yours.

Admiral Michelle FanelliVice - Regional Coordinator, South

such as Elizabeth Moon and Laurell KHamilton. If you’d like to join us drop mean Email and we’ll work out a plan!

Keep those feet on the ground and keepreaching for those Stars.

Robyn

voice be heard. I would hope that eachand every one of you out there would takethe time to become educated voters.Study the platforms and issues. Quiz thecandidates. Send in that ballot when itcomes to your mailbox.

I’d also like to take a brief opportunity tobid an early welcome to a soon-to-benewly formed chapter out here in thewest. Last I heard the paperwork is onits way around the cycle for the USS ElDestino up in the Panhandle to enter theShakedown program. Great news forgrowth here in the west!

One last thing before signing off, if any-one would like a copy of the slideshow Iput together for this year’s summit, feelfree to contact me. It’s fully rendered andthere are no known technical glitches yetto be found.

Until next time,

Black, out.VADM Sam Black, VRC West

VRCS -- continued from page 3

VRCW -- continued

VRCN -- continued

FLEET CHANNELS 5

STAFF REPORTS

Fifely Yours...Deputy Chief-of-Staff Report

by: COMM Jeffrey Webbdcos@region3.org

Ops CentralRegional Operations Reportby: RADM Stephanie Izard

ops@region3.org

Greetings:

I’m the Deputy Chiefof Staff. At Summitlast year, we in-cluded a momentduring the awardsceremonies that ex-plained to the Re-gion what each

person’s job on the REC was. This year,we deleted that part because it wasmostly being talked over in the excitementof watching all our regional friends recievetheir recognition. I’m going to take amoment to explain precisely what my jobis according to the manual, and then letyou know what I feel is unwritten but justas important about the job I do.

The Region Three Handbook says:1.) The Deputy Chief of Staff (DCoS) willserve as an assistant to the Chief of Staff(CoS) and2.) Will be responsible for coordinatingthe activities of the Regional SupportStaff. The DCoS3.) Will receive monthly reports, asneeded from the RAC, RCC, RJA, RQM,RSFO, and RSPO then compile thesereports and provide the CoS with a syn-opsis, as needed.4.) The DCoS is also responsible for as-sisting the Chief of Staff in the directionof committees, task forces, boards anddepartments assigned by the RegionalCoordinator.

Okay, so I assist Vice Admiral Ford, andI hear from the Support Staff. I hear fromour Awards Coordinator usually ‘roundSummit time, preparing for our yearlyawards. Youth Services I hear from oc-casionally. JAG? Not unless there’s aproblem going on. Quartermaster? Well,CDR Bates has that pretty well squaredaway most of the time. BDR Schnoorstays in contact with Brigade matters, and

Hello Region Three!

Once again we havehad a very …interesting … Summit.I don’t know who onthe Trinity River cameup with those bagsfrom the National

Space Society, but those were a GREATsummit perk. Most everyone was thrilledwith them.

I was thrilled that I actually got to go to acouple of the panels. I usually don’t havethe time, but this year everything just fellinto place. It was nice to just sit and enjoythe panels for once. I also had a greattime just watching the Klingons and theirjail. They were quite a group; we mightneed to invite them back for next year.

The Charity Auction did very well thisyear. I would like to thank everyone thatcontributed items for the auction. Wehad some incredibly nice things this yearand did very well for the North TexasFoodbank.

Our next away mission here in theRegion will be Pool & Darts in Killeen onJuly 21st. It should be fun for all and asteak dinner to boot.

Hope to see you all there.

RADM Stephanie Izard,Regional Operations Officer

continued next page

REED'S SHOP Onthe PROMENADERegional Quartermaster Report

by: CMDR Reed L. Bates

Hello fellow Region3-ers. Summit upin DFW was prettyuneventful with thequartermaster’s of-fice, at least as faras sales went. I didsell over $150 inmerchandise and

had one new offering that sold pretty well(please read on for more info about that).Nevertheless, with everyone in unplannedmeetings all day, I really did not see asmuch action as I was hoping to see. Ihope things will pick up at Pool & Darts,NASA, Game Day, and on and on.

Polo Shirts

On the polo shirt front, I am down to onlyhaving three black polos left (1 small, 2medium). That’s it. I will be ordering morevery soon. I would like to know if youwish to own a Region Three black polowith a pocket and what size. If you tellme soon, I can order your exact size andI can bring them to Pool & Darts or theNASA Trip, etc. In addition, all Stafferswho need a maroon-colored staff shirtplease email with your size and the quan-tity required. I will also endeavor to orderthe staff shirts and bring them to the vari-ous regional events upcoming or I canplace them in the mail if there is an ur-gent need or you are not going to be atany of the regional events.

The New Web Site

In my Fleet Channels article a while back,I stated that I would have a web site upand running by Summit. Well, I had itworking but it is not up to speed totallyyet. By the time this edition goes to print(pdf) and distributed, you should be ableto see the new R3 Quartermaster website at home.grandecom.net/~razcer (nowww in front). I will work with CompOps

continued on page 7

FLEET CHANNELS6

STAFF REPORTS

I have dinner with Special Projects Of-ficer RADM Heather Ford at least twiceper month. We, the support staff, are insome ways the Maytag Repairmen of theRegion. Many of the jobs on the SupportStaff are only active a few times a year,around major events.

The most important part of my job, in myopinion, stems from being a member ofthe Regional Executive Committee. Aspart of the REC, I feel it is my duty to actas an advocate for the Region as a whole.There’s a lot of stuff going on right now,some controversy, some scandal, and Ithink it’s my duty to look to the moraleand welfare of the Region as a whole asmuch as I possibly can.

Right now, what we need in Region Threeis not another polarizing scandal. We’vebeen at the eye of the IC2005 hurricane,and when IC2006 came into focus itbrought us back in with the ghosts of 2005being dragged into the discussions.When ADM Pat Spillers was replaced asCFO, eyes were once again on RegionThree. The latest Communiqué even hasarticles about both the IC debacle andthe CFO replacement. Now, we have theissue with the Comptroller’s Office to dealwith -- and this one will be far -- reachingas it’s not just the Region that’s affected,it’s STARFLEET. Who is to blame forthese heinous crimes against our orga-nization?

My answer? It’s not important at this time.“Punishment” if necessary will come fromthe peers of these individuals once thingscome to light. Right now, we need to fixthe PROBLEMS, not the BLAME. Am Iangry that someone felt so strongly aboutsomething that they called the mundaneauthorities to deal with problems internalto Region Three, and that the falloutthreatens the very financial stability ofSTARFLEET? You bet your sweet bippie.But right now, at this time, we don’t needa Witch Hunt, folks. What we need is toget back to the business of having fun.That’s what STARFLEET is all about,right?

As a member of the EC, I’m going to

make a request of each and every per-son reading this, up the chain and down.I want you to do your best, your absolutetop effort to clear your calendar for 21 July2007. Come to Killeen and join us at Pooland Darts. When you get there, leaveyour politics at the door and have somefun. Let’s compete with darts and cuesticks, a little friendly rivalry that at theend of the day will be forgotten oversteaks and drinks. Let’s get back to thebusiness of enjoying our hobby. We’re aRegion, a team, a family.

I have four Godchildren. Their parentsare shipmates. If not for STARFLEET, Iwould never have met FCAPT CamiHouser, MGN Aaron Murphy or his wifeKris, and I would not have the opportu-nity to play with and love these four beau-tiful kids. I’ll bet if I were to ask aroundthe Region, there would be quite a fewfolks who have met friends, spouses, andall sorts of important people throughSTARFLEET. Thanks to connections Imade in the Fleet, I’ve met actors andcrewmembers, gotten autographs, evenposted the Colors and traded salutes withAdmiral Forrest.

My job description doesn’t say anythingabout morale, event promotion, or reten-tion. I’m concerned about these thingsbecause I strongly feel that Job NumberOne for any member of the Regional Ex-ecutive Committee no matter what theirposition or rank should be the continuedwell-being of Region Three. This meansmorale. I received a phone call from aCO telling me that a long-standing mem-ber, XO, and fellow Marine has decidednot to renew his membership becauseeverything he hears from Region andFLEET is scandal after scandal with noend in sight. That shows me that moraleis low in some parts of Region Three, andit’s up to your leadership to fix it. We needto retain all our members, as each andevery one of you are a vital and impor-tant part of what we do. The Region isbuilt of Chapters, and Chapters are builtof members- every single member, fromCrewman on up, is vital and important toRegion Three. Retention of those mem-bers is part of the mandate of the Re-gional Executive Committee. Fun - that’s

why we’re here, right? This is a hobby!We’re supposed to be enjoying it. EventPromotion is part of that. *I*, personally,as a member of your REC and as yourfriend, want to see each and every oneof you at Pool and Darts. There will beboard games and card games in addi-tion to the P&D, and you can be certain agood time will be had if you let it. So letit! Let’s get back to the basics of havingfun as a Region.

Mary and I are trying to adopt a child. Iwant there to be a strong, vital RegionThree around when that child is oldenough to enjoy it. I want there to bechapters and events for that child to takepart in, if he or she chooses, and Godwilling to help organize and run. Thefriends, the fun and the family are thelegacy we’re trying to create and protect.Every family has arguments and issues,and I’m making it my priority to try andhelp pull this one through our rough patchin my own small way.

My virtual office door is always open.Please feel free to e-mail me at any timewith questions, concerns, and anythingelse you’d like to send my way. I want tosee this Region continue to prosper, andthat means growth, recruiting, retentionand most of all having fun together. Youknow what they say, we’ll hang togetheror we’ll hang separately. It’s a slipperyslope STARFLEET is facing with all thisturmoil and finger-pointing. With thisbeing an election year, it’s probably go-ing to get worse before it gets better. Let’shave some fun- some real fun at Killeen,NASA, Game Day, or anywhere else --to remind us all of why we joinedSTARFLEET in the first place.

In Service,

Jeffrey A. WebbCommodore, SFIDeputy Chief of Staff, Region ThreeCommanding Officer, USS Ark Angel

DCoS -- continued from page 5

FLEET CHANNELS 7

STAFF & VESSEL REPORTS

to see if we can upload this to the region’ssite and I can access to make changesas needed or see if there can be a “redi-rect” where you can go to it like,qm.region3.org or something.

Please note, all prices for Region Threemerchandise include applicable sales tax.I know there was some stink at Summitabout this subject, but the Region has aSales Tax Permit and has paid state taxeson the merchandise that has been sold.The Region will endeavor to make surethat we comply with the laws and rules ofthis state and the United States.

I also talked with a few people at Summitwho might have special R3 items for saleoccasionally through the web site. Thedetails have yet to be worked out, but ifwe do, we’ll have some one of kind itemsfor you to own. With the web site going,I plan to have monthly sales, polls for newitems, and have an ordering system witheither PayPal or maybe just a simple formto fill out and mail (email) to me.

Get Your Calendars Before They SellOut!

The latest and greatest, newest item isthe new Region Three Calendar. It ismade to the size of the Region ThreeCalendar Covers and is in black andwhite. Included in the new calendar areevent happening for the Region as wellas some Star Trek birthdays, along withsome pictures of some of our RegionThree friends from Retreat -07 and GameDay ’06. The prices for the calendars andcalendar covers are:

1.) $3 for R3 Calendar “Refill” (just thecalendar to be inserted into the R3 Cal-endar Cover);2.) $4 for the R3 Calendar Cover; and3.) $6 for both the R3 Calendar “Refill”and the R3 Calendar Cover.

The dates for this edition run from June2007 through January 2008. Since theRegion’s events are set at Retreat inJanuary, I will wait until then to do a newcalendar, which should run at least Feb-ruary 2008 through January 2009. You

should be able to visit my web site to viewa sneak peak at the calendar. If you haveany questions or if you would like to or-der a calendar, please email me atqm@region3.org. If ordering a calendar,please include your address if you wish itto be mailed to you and I will email youback with the cost of the postage.

Contact Me

Please send me a line to let me knowwhat you think and stay tuned to your lo-cal bat channel.

I am at your service,

Reed L. Bates, CMDRR3 Quartermasterqm@region3.org

QM -- continued from page 5

USS Aurora Vulcanus, NCC-1888Fleetwide Correspondence Vessel

CO -- ADM Michelle Fanelliauroravulcanus@region3.org

XO -- CAPT Catt FanelliCommissioning Date: July 4, 1983

Motto: "Creatively Sailing inExploration of the Imagination"

The chapter published the second AG ofthe year and for once before the summitpacking. We have added more columnstying into character’s departments and anew con section. Steve Burchett will beour new layout editor and plans are be-ing discussed to change the format.Steve has also started a project to savesome of our older issues. The chapteris excited about the idea.

Due to computer problems, command isfavoring using tin cans to communicate.As an older ship, we do have our techproblems. Smoke signals were ruled out.

The 321 our Marine Unit published theirnewsletter The Grips of Death with a funusage of color

An away team was sent to the Minneapo-lis Creation Con and gave the weekendrave reviews. Lucky.

Members attended the Houston Prix, twodays of fun midway activities and racing.

The command team of Michelle and TheCatt, plus BJ made the Dallas Trek forthe Region Three Summit. They reporthaving a great time and did make a stopat the Half-Price books mothership. Theyalso touched base with Joyce Fink whilein the area. And Catt almost left Shellbehind, proving that rule – The Catt waitsfor no one. They thank all who madethe weekend fun.

Until Next Time,MCPT Jared K. Fielder

Greetings to all from the crew of the USSJoan of Arc:

The newly installed program of “Trekkingaround the Coastal Bend” seems to be asuccess. April’s event was a part recruit-ing part fun event out in Padre Isles.

First the crew, plus one, gathered for abirthday/poker night party at the VanCleave’s house. Here we celebrated Aprilbirthdays with her own personal sized“tribble cake”. This is an individual cakecovered with many long strings of frost-ing giving it a fuzzy look. This also helpedraise operating funds for the chapter.Poker night is where the crew membersplay poker plus snacks for about an hour,

USS Joan of Arc, NCC-73289Sector 6 -- Corpus Christi, TX.CO -- FCPTRobin Van Cleave

joanofarc@region3.orgXO -- LCDR Tahnya Abbott

Commissioning Date: January 6, 1994Motto: "Legends Endure"

continued on pages 9-10

FLEET CHANNELS8

Space Station Maverick, SFR301Sector 8 -- Lubbock, TX.CO -- FCPT Margi O'Neill

maverick@region3.orgXO -- CAPT Doug Hogan

Commissioning Date: July 2, 2005Motto: "Honor, Courage, Committment"

USS Regulator, NCC-73337Sector 1 -- Fort Worth, TX.

CO -- BDR Mark Westregulators@region3.org

XO -- MCPT Kyle SchugartCommissioning Date: October 1, 1992Motto: “Defending the Final Frontier”

VESSEL REPORTS

USS Lone Star, NCC-73628Sector 8 -- Lubbock, TX.CO -- FCPT Lisa Pruittlonestar@region3.org

XO -- LCDR Darrell CareyCommissioning Date: March 2, 1996

Recommissioning Date: July 20, 2002Motto: "Coming Together . . .Reaching Out to Others . . ."

As usual the USS Lone Star has beenvery busy during April, May, and the firstpart of June.

April began quite busily with the chapterhosting an Easter party for the childrenstaying at Women’s Protective Services(the South Plains battered women’s shel-ter). We had games and Easter baskets.Prizes were given to the top performers.The blizzard that rolled in did hinder theplanned egg hunt, but didn’t deter theEaster Bunny from making an appear-ance, much to everyone’s enjoyment.This was followed with members deliver-ing filled Easter baskets to the residentsfor one of the organizations who rungroup homes in our area. We followedthis with our crew meeting, hosted onceagain on Skype. We were glad to haveattendees from across the state tuningin to our meeting. When the meetingwound down, we tossed in a DVD andenjoyed Harry Potter 3 on the viewscreen.

The next week, the CO & JAG hosted achili cook-off. Two entries made it to thetable and it was too close to call whichwas better. We had scratch cornbreadprovided as part of the last few visits by apair of our members preparing for a moveto the northern edge of the country. Oc-tober Sky was chosen as the movie forthe evening and the Game Cube in theother room got a good workout as well.Our area Klingon visitors joined us again

Our chapter is a unique group of individu-als, with many interests. We all love dif-ferent aspects of Trek, but also have veryfull lives with work, hobbies, and familyactivities. Besides Trek, some things weall have in common are we never takeourselves too seriously and we all love toread.

As part of our community service, ourchapter wanted to reward a local highschool senior who has plans on attend-ing some form of higher education,whether it’s a junior college, a college, atechnical school, or a graduate schooland reach out to those in the communitythat aren’t members of Starfleet. It’s achance to assist a worthy kiddo, and it’sanother way to get the word out aboutStar Trek. We have fundraising activi-ties throughout the year and our expen-ditures are very small since we all pitchin when it comes time to eat out or docommunity service activities (We don’t dipinto station funds very much at all, butinstead, pay for things out of our ownpockets. We pay our own way to Re-gional activities, have potlucks, sharemovies, go Dutch at dinners, etc.). Myson has gotten Fleet scholarships forTexas Tech and I thought we’d pass alongthe “good thing” to individuals that aren’tin SFI (and also not compete with SFIscholarships).

We do the award as an essay contest.This year’s prompt was: “Please explainhow principles of Star Trek can relate tomodern life and a positive future.” That

This has been an interesting month.While getting ready for Summit (our Ca-dets are participating for the first time)nothing else seems to have gotten done.And with all this rain, it’s a wonder wehaven’t started building an ark. I don’tknow about the rest of you but it seemsto dry up long enough to mow the lawnand then here we go again. But we didneed the rain badly!!

We are still planning for Quark’s Casinothe first part of October so be sure andmark those calendars. Our members arecanvassing the area and getting someinteresting items for the auction. We’vebeen offered a different location for thisyear’s event but haven’t completely de-cided on it yet. But there will still be plentyof room and lots of food. I’ll let you knowby the next issue what the menu will befrom our resident chef.

Try and stay dry and we’ll see you aroundthe galaxy.

Liz Goulet, FCPTCommunications OfficerUSS Regulator

continued on page 10 continued on page 11

Alan Gouletaccepts

Mark West'sOfficer of the

Year Awardduring

openingceremonies atSummit 2007

FLEET CHANNELS 9

VESSEL REPORTS

USS Trinity River, NCC-6425Sector 1 -- Dallas, TX.

CO -- COMM Robyn Winanstrinityriver@region3.org

XO -- FCPT Elizabeth WeberCommissioning Date:

February 12, 2004Motto: "One and Indivisible"

It’s been a busy summer for the crew ofthe USS Trinity River. Months of work andplanning paid off with a fun and success-ful Region Three Summit in Dallas inJune.

On behalf of Summit Chair and USS Trin-ity River CO Robyn Winans, we’d like tothank all of the TR crew and the manymembers from other ships, far too manyto name here, who made Summit pos-sible. Special thanks to the Rhyanna crewfor their usual excellent job handling reg-istration.

In addition, we’d like to thank all of thepeople outside of Region Three who alsohelped make this event a success. Wecan’t forget the Klingon crew of the IKVMelota, Tim Miller of the Dallas FutureSociety, Pastor Rawd from HillcrestChurch, and of course the staff of theRadisson. Plus we give special thanks tothe National Space Society for donatingthose cool totebags.

It hasn’t all been work this summer. We’vemanaged to work in game days, movienights, and a few other fun and fellow-ship activities as well. Just after Summitwe celebrated the fourth anniversary ofour launch with our annual Crew Picnic.Weather forced us inside but we stillgrilled, feasted, and celebrated as a crew.

Thanks also for giving the crew some-thing extra to celebrate as we shared thenews that we’re the Region Three Chap-ter of the Year with our members whowere unable to attend Summit. That’squite an honor to live up to but we’ll try

then using their accrued chips bid onthings other members have donated tothe ‘house’. This is where most of thefun is since there are usually several ‘hot’items. Many things changed hands andall went home happy with new treasures.Steve Gordon, the Captain of the USSVictory, joined us as special guest. Stevemade out like a bandit with all the ‘new’stuff he won to take home to S.A.!

As I previously said the April Trekkingevent was closer to home. We went outto play mini golf in Padre Isles, a smallcommunity located on the island itself justpast Flour Bluff. Eight of the crew madeit to this event wearing our uniforms. Atfirst some people just looked at us butfinally a few brave souls asked “Is therea Star Trek Convention in town?” Thisled to an explanation of why we werethere, where and how often we meet. Bythe time the evening was over, we hadgiven our cards to four different groupsof interested people. The group had afun evening with three of the golfers mak-ing a hole-in-one.

May is usually a busy month since this iswhen we have one of the largest com-munity service events of the year. Ourlocal public television hosts a tele-auc-tion and this will be the 13th year the clubhas manned the phone bank, displayedbid items, provided runner duties, andassisted with multiple Fire Sales. Thisyear we were asked to please come tofill the late night shifts on both Friday &Saturday nights. These shifts were from8: 30 p. until close shortly after midnight.Revenue from this auction helps the sta-tion cover expenses as well as purchasenew shows. My favorite part is whennew volunteers arrive to see the clubdressed in persona and then take a stepback when Robert walks out of the stu-dio in FULL KLINGON!!! After the lastitem is sold there is a door prize drawingbut only those who stayed all night areeligible for. This time on Sat. night therewere TWO club members who wonprizes: Klingon Robert & myself.

May’s Trekking event was held here inCorpus Christi as we had 4 birthdays to

celebrate. A beach bonfire was plannedbut the weather nixed that idea as wedidn’t want to fight washed up sea weedall over the camp site. We did have asmallish bonfire in Robin’s backyard.There we roasted turkey, chicken, home-made venison sausage for the maincourse. This was followed by many sidedishes finished off with birthday cake &roasted marshmallows for dessert. Pre-sents were presented and all went homefull and happy.

Three valiant crew members journeyedup to Region three Summit this year, tobe joined by a fourth member Saturdayafternoon & evening. The weekendpromised to be full of fun, meeting oldfriends, making new ones & learning newskills. There were many interesting pan-els offered this year. Among the three ofus (Kris Dobie, Tahnya Abbott and Mar-garet Branstetter), we managed to attenda good many of the panels.

Friday evening has always been devotedto arrival, registration, & CHOCOLATE,massive amounts. This year was no dif-ferent — In the hosting club’s rooms sev-eral yummy treats were laid out. I alsohad an entry in this traditional feast. Icreated ‘Counselor Troi’s 5 star choco-late chip cookies’. It was a variation onthe usual Chocolate oatmeal cookie witha small twist: I used 5 types of chocolateto make them. We ate chocolate, visited

JofA -- continued from page 7

continued on next pagecontinued on page 11

Members of the "Lady J"at a recent charity event

FLEET CHANNELS10

VESSEL REPORTS

with friends and ate more chocolate allevening. YUMMY!!!

Saturday began with Opening Ceremo-nies, Roll call of the Region 3 ships &other ceremonial type things. Finally itwas time for the awards. The winner ofthe Chocolate contest was announcedbefore the R3 promotions and awards be-gan I was TRULY surprised to hear myname called there. Finally all the awardswere given out & it was lunch time. Ev-ery one left to find food since breakfasthad been early in the morning. Panels ofone type or another filled the afternoon,and as I stated earlier, between the threeof us we covered a good many.

One member provided rescue service forour resident Klingon from his ‘mundanefamily’ to his Fleet family. She droveacross Dallas to 6 Flags get him. Heshowed up in FULL persona speaking inKLINGON when questioned!! RobertShaver is always a hit wherever he goes.Dinner was interesting because of thelooks we got when we went to the Chi-nese Buffet just down the street. Wedined with the USS Victory as it was theonly time we could get together due todifferent schedules at the event.

The auction was next followed by theCasino night but we passed up the Ca-sino night since it had been a long dayfor all..

More Business meetings (CCO), thenClosing Ceremonies finished Sunday.The most enjoyable part of Sunday wasthe slide show. People cheered whenthey recognized themselves or a crewmember. After hugs & kisses were givenaround we hit the road. Almost 9 hourslater we pulled into Margaret’s drive way.Both of us hauled ourselves plus suit-cases, upstairs found beds then crasheduntil late Monday morning. This is anabridged version of our trip. Stay tunedfor the update on the Texas Treasure Boattrip...

FCapt Kris Dobie, RVAUSS Joan of Arc

JofA -- continued from previouspage for a fun-filled evening.

The 21st brought highs and lows. At Fox& Hound, we gathered and enjoyed eachother’s company and practiced our pooland darts skills. Additionally, we also hada new member join us for the first timewith lots of enthusiasm. On the flip side,while on the way home, we received wordthat Tulia had been hit by a devastatingtornado. We have a contingent of ourcrew there with their families. We werevery relieved to hear from all of them thatthey, very luckily, were spared. Many oftheir friends and acquaintances weren’tquite so lucky with their homes, busi-nesses, and possessions. Tulia contin-ues to go through the cleanup and re-building process and we continue to standready to lend a hand, even from afar.

To bring the month to a close, we held asend-off party for our pair moving upnorth. Lots of home-cooked favoriteswere available for all to enjoy. The JAG,who was supposed to spend a little timeat the beginning before heading off tochaperone his school’s prom, arrived lateand just stayed after returning from spon-soring a trip with his students to the statecomputer programming contest whobrought home a 10th place victory out of70 teams in attendance. The group brokeup after around 1am and a good time wasdefinitely had by all.

The month of May began with the regu-lar crew meeting. Afterward, we fired upthe grill and tossed on a variety of good-ies provided by various crew members.Games topped off a fun-filled evening.

The next weekend featured sausage potluck. Never knew there were so manydifferent kinds of sausage and dishesmade with sausage. We even had somegreat side dishes to round out the spread.The evening included watching “Déjà Vu”and playing games.

The next week found the Lone Star crewpreparing and serving dinner at the localRonald McDonald House. The menu in-cluded baked ham, green bean casse-role, coleslaw and potato salad. After

cleaning up the kitchen, the crewcaravanned across town to the local Foxand Hound for pool and darts and lots offun and fellowship.

The last Saturday of the month the crewgathered at the JAG’s home for Mexicanfood pot luck. One of our crew makesenchiladas to die for. The evening fea-tured games and watching a couple ofvideos.

The following night the crew gathered atour drive-in movie theater to watch thelatest Pirates movie. Besides being lessexpensive than a walk-in movie theater,you can converse with friends and notdisturb other movie goers.

The first Saturday in June was time forthe regular crew meeting. Once again ittook place at the CO’s home. Pot Lucktheme for the evening was casseroles.We had every thing from chickenFettuccine Alfredo to green Chile casse-role. The highlight of the evening waseveryone playing the Star Trek interac-tive video game and the DVD Star WarsTrivial Pursuit game. It was like a liveMystery Science Theater 3000. A greatevening was had by all who attended. Itwas great having the area Klingons joinus for the evening.

The next weekend found part of the crewtraveling to Dallas for the 2007 RegionThree Summit. It was great to get to seeour crew members that live in Irving. Wealways enjoy seeing old friends and mak-ing new ones. Highlight of the weekendwas having our JAG officer Sam Blacknamed Region Three Member of theYear. Way to go Sam!!! Three of theUSS Gunslinger members joined our trekfrom Lubbock to Dallas. It was greathaving them as traveling companions. Allarrived home safe and sound.

For those of you that haven’t heard, theUSS Lone Star not only has a face to facemeeting, but it is also setup using Skypeso our out of town members and friendscan also attend. If anyone would like toattend any Lone Star meeting via Skype(or in person), contact Sam to get set up

Lone Star -- continued from page 8

FLEET CHANNELS 11

VESSEL REPORTS

information. The door and “subspacecommunications” to the Lone Star arealways open.

Commodore Lisa Pruitt, COUSS Lone Star

way it is open-ended and they can be ascreative or organized as they want. Wethen look over the submissions and de-cide on the best one. This year we re-viewed all entries during a cookout and itwas easy to pass around and read whilewe ate and discussed. We followed upwith emails and phone calls and decidedon a winning entry.

Last year I offered that we’d make thepresentation in uniform or incognito, de-pending on what the winner wanted. Oneof the high school counselors replied,“That would be a blast!” While that schooldidn’t win, there’s always next year! Thisyear’s winning entry was submitted byJanice Rainwater, of Monterey HighSchool, here in Lubbock. She plans onattending Colorado State University andmajor in Electrical Engineering. Whenpresented with the scholarship certificateand check, she was gracious and verythankful. I asked her if what she wrote inher paper was true and she replied, “Yes.My mom helped refresh me about someof the things about the original show andeverything is true.” You’ll notice in herentry that she and her brother werenamed after some famous people andher holidays are probably similar to manyin Fleet. See her award winning entry in

this issue for more information.

If any other chapter would like to spon-sor their own scholarship I’ll be glad tosend you a copy of our packet. It’s easy,fun, and, as Quark would say, “It’s worthit!”

How old were you when you discoveredStar Trek? I was 7 and watched it on abrand new color TV in 1967 but I reallystarted getting into it with reruns in the1970s. I’ve been a teacher for 15 yearsnow and still find ways to expose Trek tonew generations - and try to convincethem that Star Trek beats Star Warsanyday!

We recently had our last school day. It’straditional for teachers to have it as a fun,calm day to pass out any papers, cleanout lockers, and show a movie. As partof their cultural heritage, I expose my el-ementary students to Star Trek through-out the year. They hear lots of phrases;from “warp speed,” to “shields,” to “Is thatlogical?” They know that it isn’t anythingweird, its part of my personality, and it’spart of their history as Americans. I don’toverdo it, but they know it’s an interest ofmine.

This year on the last day of class, I treatedmy students to two episodes from TOS.I picked out two I thought they would en-joy (“Miri” and “Arena”). I set up the showsfirst, showed the episodes and then wediscussed the main points and charac-ters. The kids watched the shows withincredible attention and I realized that theyhadn’t seen them before. Can you imag-ine growing up without Captain Kirk,Spock, or Dr. McCoy as heroes or evenknowing the wonderful drama and adven-ture of this piece of television history?One student came up to me and said, “Iget what the colors [of the uniforms] standfor: the yellow is for captains, the blue isfor scientists, and the red is for the po-lice.” Not bad for a 9 year old’s view of atelevision series that was filmed 30 yearsbefore he was born and 4 subsequentseries ago.

As we grow older, keep in mind the char-acters and episodes of the various se-

Maverick -- continued from page 8

Janice Rainwater accepts the SSMaverick scholarship from CaptainDoug Hogan (XO, S.S. Maverick) atMonterey High School in Lubbock.

Trinity -- continued from page 9our best to continue to serve with distinc-tion.

Next up for the ship is Dallas Comic Con9 in Richardson, Texas, where we’ll havea recruiting table and serve as volunteersto help the event run more smoothly. Thisshow, to be held June 30-July 1, will fea-ture Robert Beltran from Star Trek: Voy-ager as well as Kristy Swanson,Futurama star Billy West, and MaryOyaya from the Star Wars prequel trilogy.You can get all the details on the DCC atwww.dallascomiccon.com.

Yours in service to the Fleet,

LCDR Ed Dravecky,Communications OfficerUSS Trinity River

ries that you enjoyed. If you can, sharethem with others of younger generations.We may have to be the ambassadors ofTrek for awhile, until the next seriescomes out. If we share what originallyexcited us about the show, we might beable to “pass the tricorder” on to anothergeneration - the Next Generation.

Doug Hogan, XOS.S. Maverick

Fleet Channels

Deadlines

The following is a list of the upcom-ing deadlines for Fleet Channels:

July/Aug. -- Aug. 11, 2007Sept./Oct. Issue -- Oct. 13, 2007Nov./Dec. Issue -- Dec. 8, 2007

ALL e-mail submissions should besent to: fleetchannels@region3.org.

Note: Reminders of approachingdeadlines will be posted on the R3list.

pix from Summit 2007

pix from Summit 2007

FLEET CHANNELS14

F L E E TF A C T S

FLEET AND REGIONAL NEWS

On Saturday,July 21st wewill see theresumption ofR e g i o nThree’s An-nual Pool and

Dart’s Sector vs. Sector Parrises SquaresTournament in Harker Heights TX.! Inyears past this has been one of the bestloved and most looked forward to events.After a few years off we are once againgoing to invade en masse the Kileen/Harker Heights Moose Lodge (125 WestVeterans Memorial Blvd., Harker Heights,TX. 76548) and enjoy the cash bar andsteak dinners. Oh, and we will throwdarts and shoot pool. Come one, comeall and let make some more memories!

Here is the Schedule:

11 A.M. Lunch: PLACE TBA12 P.M. Sign-up / Practice1 P.M. Darts Tournament3 P.M. Pool Tournament7 P.M. Steak Dinner *8 P.M. Finals (if needed)

* The 3rd Saturday of each month is theMoose Lodge’s Steak dinner night and itis open to everyone attending our Pooland Darts Tournament. The meal in-cludes a steak grilled the way you like it,a baked potato, a salad and a dessert.Cost is $8.00 per dinner.

Those of you interested in taking advan-tage of this GREAT meal need to e-mailVADM Mark Vinson

(comm@region3.org) NO later than July1st so the Lodge has an idea on howmany of us will be eating that evening.

Pool and Darts Tournament

Rules

Following are the rules that will be usedfor the Region Three Darts and Pool Tour-nament; these rules are from the pub-lished ADO rules.1. Each Sector will have one four (4) per-son dart team and one four (4) personpool team.2. If enough cadets show up ... each Sec-tor can have a dart and pool team also.3. Each tournament (Darts and Pool) willbe played as Single

Elimination events

Darts

1. A match willconsist of agame of cricketand a game of501.2. Dart teamswill be two (2)people to throwin the 501

game and two (2) people to throw in thecricket game.3. A tie breaking game will consist of ateam 801 game in which all four teammembers throw.4. Example: Sector 1 wins the cricketgame; sector 3 wins the 501 game. The

two teams will then play a tiebreaker game of 801.5. All darts will be thrown frombehind the throw lines inplace already.6. Scoring is as fol-lows: outer ring isDouble value,big sections aresingle value, inner ring is triple value andbulls are outer ring single inner circlesdouble.7. To close a number you must hit thatnumber with either three (3) different dartsor with a double and single or just a triple.8. Remember ... the SCORE KEEPERin each game is NOT a target!

Pool

1. Pool tournament will be played with atwo (2) person team for the 8 ball gameand a two (2) person team for the 9 ballgame.2. If a third game is needed, it will be de-cided on by a flip of the coin.

Final Rule

Come out and ENJOY

Recommend Hotel (just a few blocksfrom the Lodge):

Heights Inn: 410 West Veterans Memo-rial Blvd., Harker Heights, TX 76548,Phone: (254) 690-8700

Rates: 1 Bed $45 (tax included), 2 Beds$52 (tax included)

Call NOW for your reservations ... theywill fill up fast.

Let's Play!Resumption of Region Three’s Annual Pool and Dart’sParrises Squares Tournament in Harker Heights, TX.

by: VADM Mark A. Vinson

FLEET CHANNELS 15

FLEET AND REGIONAL NEWS

Region Three held its Eleventh AnnualSummit, "The Captain's Table," June 8th-10th at the Radisson Hotel and Suites inDallas, Texas.

The USS Trinity River was the host chap-ter for the weekend's activities. In addi-tion to the Usual Regional Suspects thatwere in attendence, members ofSATARFLEET's Executive Committe andCandidates from two different slates forthe upcoming Commander, STARFLEETelection were present.

The following is a list of the award win-ners and promotions handed out at theSummit to members of Region Three andthe Third Brigade.

Congratulations to all winners.

CHOCOLATE CONTEST WINNERS

The evening’s Grand Prize went to KrisDobie from the USS Joan of Arc for her“Counselor Troi 5 Star ChocolateCookies”!

The Judge’s Prize went to DanStokelman of the USS Trinity River forhis “Devil’s Food Cake Falls”.

The People’s Choice Award went toElizabeth Weber for her “Devil’sAdvocate”.

ANNUAL GOLD PRESSEDLATINUM TOURNAMENT

Joshua Holman of the SS Freedeom III

R3 COMMENDATION

USS Ark Angel, USS Aurora Vulcanus,USS Bexar, USS Firebird, SS FreedomIII, USS Gunslinger, USS Joan of Arc, SSMaverick, USS Panther City, USSRhyanna, USS Spirit Wolf, USS Tejas,USS Victory

Alvina Bryant, Austin Clarke, Del Davis,Joshua Earl, Justin Earl, Daniel Evans,Robin Grace, Michelle Goulet, AshleyHeedly, Cameron Houser, RaeleighKessen, Jack Norman, Pat Power, JeffSchnoor, Robert Suttles, Beau Thacker,Neil Traplon, John Tuttle, Mary Tuttle,Tony Walker, Jacque Williams, Mary FayeWebb, Cody Wyatt, Norma Ybarra

PURPLE HEART

Joshua Earl, Justin Earl, TJ Gordon, DixieHill, Clint Hill

IRON STAR

Chris Bailey, Angelita De Luna, ByronFlynt, Joy Flynt, Blackhawk Fornelli, Rob-ert L Houser, Jr., Jeff Molzow, KiraNorman, Chanda Norman, KennethNorris, Remmington Schugart, ChrisShort, Dan Stockelman, Lee Vitasek,Alexis Williams, Norma Ybarra

SILVER PILLAR

Jan Agee, David Bailey, Matt Brinkley,Raymond Ford, Alan Goulet, JohnHalliday, Jessica Hench, Matt Hill,Cathleen Fanelli, Karen Kessen, NorbertKessen, Kristi Long, Dan Long, JohnMontgomery, Cindy Norris, DanStockelman, Don Shanks, ChristinaShort, Sarah Takahashi, Beau Thacker,Dorothy Tuttle, Don Williams, KrisWinegar, Joe Wisdom

GOLD PILLAR

Alice Carey, Darrell Carey, BrentChapman, Ed Dravecky, Steve Gordon,Dixie Hill, John Johnston, ChandaNorman, Lisa Pruitt, Kyle Shugart,Nathan Taylor, Mariena Taylor, Joe White

LEGION OF MERIT

Heather Ford, Liz Goulet, Kyle Shugart,Elizabeth Weber, Mark West

CRYSTAL STAR

Lloyd Bates, Reed Bates, Billie Clifton,TJ Gordon, Sharon Lambert, ScottMcKinlay, Beau Thacker, Kristie Halford-

White

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

Clint Hill, Kira Norman, Jeff Schnoor

SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT

Angelita DeLuna, Michelle Goulet, AngelaHardy, Ashley Heedly, Robert Houser,Charles Pense, Veronica Pense, SaraPense, Rachelle Phifer, RemmintonSchugart, Randi Spears, CameronThacker, Cody Thacker, Alexis Williams

VOLUNTEER AWARD

Angelita DeLuna, David Fanelli, NicoleGreen, Kenneth Norris, Cathey Osborne,Conell Osborne, Jeff Schnoor, BeauThacker

ANNUAL AWARDWINNERS

NEWSLETTER OF THE YEARUSS Aurora Vulcanus’ Aurora’s GlorySeptember 2006 issue (Volume 15,

Issue 3)

JUNIOR MEMBER OF THE YEARRemmington Shugart – USS Regulator

ENLISTED MEMBER OF THE YEARClint Hill – USS Ark Angel

CHAPTER OF THE YEARUSS Trinity River

OFFICER OF THE YEARMark West – USS Regulator

MEMBER OF THE YEARSam Black – USS Lone Star

SFMC ANNUALAWARD WINNERS

CROSS OF VALOR1LT Mor’taH veStai-tSepeS (KennethNorris)-308th MSG

Summit 2007:

by: Mark A. Vinson

continued on page 16

FLEET CHANNELS16

FLEET AND REGIONAL NEWS

S.S. Maverick’sPool Team Racks up

Wins!by Doug Hogan

Maverick Pool Team from left toright: Tommy Thomas, Doug Martin,

Eric Sharp, Gene Adams,Doug Hogan and Dawne Franks

SATURDAY ATCAMP MABRY

by: Jess Naumann

War. It’s a small word, but one with a bigimpact. It’s a path to victory and a pathto defeat. In a battle, no one knows withabsolute certainty as to the outcome, notthe generals on down to the soldiers whocarry out their orders. Regardless of whowins and who loses, one can hope thatlearning from history continues to be avirtue rather than a burden in order toavoid repeating it. Such is the case atCamp Mabry and its G Company.

This Memo-rial Dayweekend, GC o m pa n y,which is theLiving His-tory Detach-ment of theTexas Mili-tary Forcesand theTexas Na-tional Guardat CampMabry inAustin, heldan eventc a l l e d“Close Assault: 1944” which featuredweapons and tactical demonstrations aswell as a brief but informative historythroughout the years of World War I andWorld War II.

Visitors who attend are treated to a vari-ety of demonstrations that includedAmerican, German, and Japanese weap-ons, as well as a bit of show-and-tell oftheir uniforms. In one case, a young vol-unteer was shown first hand the amountof equipment that a soldier might be typi-cally required to carry into battle. Onething is always stressed throughout thedemonstrations: that war is not a goodthing, that it’s a nasty business. But itmay be necessary at times. This is what

G Company excels at, that it’s not just torecreate a battle, but to remember whatit was like 65 years ago during a war thatmight have had a different outcome weresome circumstances changed.

To this effect, they recreated a battle ofthe Sigfried Line which is on the Germanborder during WW2. A German machinegun nest was the target of the infantry.An M4 Sherman tank, all 35 tons of it,was used in the demonstration of thisbattle, and one round was fired. Eventhough blank rounds were used, the loudexplosion from this heavy vehicle is enor-mous, but the real thing would have beenfar louder. A “Half-track” vehicle was alsoused. The entire battle lasted about 7

minutes, butI daresay inreality’s his-tory, it mighthave beenlonger thanthat. In themovies, wesee somebattles thatlast for a fewminutes in ascene, butsome battleswill last fordays in reallife with ab-solutely noidea as tothe out-

come.

By seeing this demonstration, one can ap-preciate in a small way what our soldiersof all branches must have gone throughduring World War II and any other battleas service to our nation. Seeing this rec-reation on this Memorial Day weekendwas one way of honoring those service-men and women who fought for ourcountry’s freedom. As someone oncesaid, “Freedom isn’t Free.” It never hasbeen, and it never will be.

Members of the Ark Angel at Camp Mabryphoto by Jess Naumann

continued on page 16

What our friendly team knew all along isnow in the record books – our membersare trophy winners! Through weeklypractice sessions, strategy, and determi-nation, the Robbin’s Nest 8-ball leagueteam tied for first place this season. Wethen went on to sweep the playoffs withdown-to-the-last-shot wins in some keymatches. Team Captain, and excellentstrategist, Gene Adams led our intrepidmembers to their trophies and toastedthem with Saurian brandy (or was itAndorian cognac?).

Since we won the playoffs, we were theninvited to play in the Lubbock - Las Ve-gas tournament; with the top two teamsearning all expense paid trips to competein the National Tournament in Las Vegas.Visions of Star Trek: the Experiencedanced in my head as I tuned up my poolcue. “Don’t count your tribbles beforetheir born,” I told myself because the best28 teams in the city were going to be atFast Eddy’s for the weekend event. TheLubbock tournament was double elimi-nation where strategy and stamina playeda large part in who won and who wenthome. We started the competition at

FLEET CHANNELS 17

FLEET AND REGIONAL NEWS

A Financial

Matter Facing

STARFLEETby: General Mark H. Anbinder

Vice Commander, STARFLEET

Good evening, STARFLEET! I’m writingon behalf of Commander, STARFLEETFADM Les Rickard and Chief FinancialOfficer COMM Liz Woolf and the rest ofthe EC, to inform the membership of anissue that hasarisen.

Last weekend, at the STARFLEET Re-gion 3 Summit in Dallas, a woman askedto meet with Liz and R3 RC Brad Pense,who were joined by the other membersof the EC who were on hand, and identi-fied herself as an Enforcement Officer forthe Texas State Comptroller’s office. Sheinformed us that they had received ananonymous tip into their Austin headquar-ters about the event and thatSTARFLEET and Region 3 might not bein compliance with tax law.

The Sales Tax Issue

A meeting was held with the enforcementofficer, the aforementioned EC members,CS Chief of Staff Greg Trotter, Region 3Regional Coordinator Brad Pense, andat times, Pat Spillers, former CFO, formerQuartermaster, and the chair of the 2005STARFLEET International Conference(which was held in Texas).

She brought to our attention that Texasstate law requires collecting and remit-ting sales tax for merchandise, Summitregistrations, banquet fees, and charityauction sales. In addition, she informedus that in Texas, memberships are tax-able if processed in Texas for Texas resi-dents who submit memberships by mail.(Internet-purchased memberships, andmemberships for those in other states,aren’t taxable.)

Also, STARFLEET Quartermaster saleswere handled in Texas by Pat Spillers forsome time, so all Quartermaster sales to

Texas residents during Pat’s tenure aresubject to Texas sales tax. STARFLEET’s1998 and 2005 International Confer-ences, both of which occurred in Texas,also came up.

Though I was traveling on Saturday af-ternoon en route to California for work,Greg and Liz reached me and briefed meon the situation. We have since informedLes and the rest of the EC, and the Ad-miralty Board, and have had a few valu-able discussions on the subject.

What’s Next?

Our first order of business shall be toopen a dialogue with the state to clarifyour responsibilities and any liabilities. TheTexas Comptroller’s office is offeringamnesty through August 15, 2007 forremedy of past-due taxes. Thus, if wecan have any amount due paid by thatdate, we should be able to pay no penal-ties or interest on our late filings. We planto work with a Texas-based CPA or taxattorney to assist us with this task.

In addition, we’ll have to determine thesales tax equirements for all states inwhich we do business. For example, inNew Jersey memberships are not tax-able, nor are items of clothing. BecauseLiz is an officer of the corporation andresides in New Jersey, however, we maybe considered to be “doing business”within the state, and it is likely that non-clothing Quartermaster purchases aretaxable to New Jersey residents, regard-less of how they are ordered. These de-terminations will have to be made in ev-ery state in which STARFLEET operatesespecially those housing operations cen-ters (such as Membership Processing orthe Quartermaster) or those in which cor-porate officers reside.

The events of this weekend also bring intoquestion the tax status of our InternationalConferences. We will be working withIC’07 organizers to communicate with theState of Colorado, and most likely,STARFLEET will obtain a “special event”sales tax ID in Colorado for the IC.

Task Force

To deal with these many questions wehave established a task force of knowl-edgeable STARFLEET members who arewilling to do the leg work and research tohelp STARFLEET come into compliancewith these regulations. The task forcewill be run by Steve Halber, and will in-clude Brad Pense, Tammy Wilcox,Chrissy Killian, Emmett Plant, and LizWoolf.

My thanks to these folks for agreeing toshare their time and expertise withSTARFLEET as we figure this out. Whilewe don’t plan to expand the task force,please let Liz or me know privately if youhave specific expertise or knowledgepertaining to the relevant sales tax lawsin your state.

What Should YOU Do?

We have asked the STARFLEET andSFMC Quartermasters to stop sellingmerchandise until the sales tax require-ments facing them can be clarified. Lizand I would caution all regions and chap-ters to be very careful in selling merchan-dise or collecting funds for any reasonuntil we have some more answers. Oursuggestion is that you cease all sales andother activities involving taking in fundsuntil the situation can be clarified. (Notethat sales via separate organizations suchas CafePress can continue; they are sell-ing the merchandise, not you, and they’reresponsible for collecting sales tax asneeded.)

STARFLEET will continue to processmemberships. We believe we have apretty good grasp of how this affects us.

Staying Focused

It’s very important that STARFLEET actand speak with one voice in this matter.Please DO NOT contact authorities inyour state on STARFLEET’s behalf, andplease DO NOT contact the TexasComptroller’s office to request more info.Please DO NOT begin your own inquiry

continued next page

FLEET CHANNELS18

FLEET AND REGIONAL NEWS

Maverick Pool -- continued frompage 14

about 10 o’clock Saturday morning andour members won match after match,sending some very qualified teams to thelosers’ bracket. Our day (or rather night)finally ended at about 1 o’clock the nextmorning. On the second day, our runended after about three hours. Maybe itwas the weak coffee, maybe it was theexcellent competition, but no matter, bythe end of the match we realized we hadgone farther than ever before. Our groupfinished the event in 8th place. And doyou know what? Eighth out of the doz-ens and dozens of teams in the city is apretty good place to start our climb. Lookout for next year – is that Elvis I hear?“Viva, Las Vegas…..”

SWORD OF VALORMCAPT Chanda Norman - 325th MSG

SHIELD OF VALORBDR Jeff Schnoor - 347th MSG

STAR OF VALORLCPL Sarah Takahashi - 342nd MSG

PROMOTIONS

Promotions to Captain/Colonel: LloydBates and Scott McKinlay; to Fleet Cap-tain/Brigadier: Cami Houser and JeffSchnoor (Brigadier); to Commodore/Brigadier General: Karon McLain andRobert Graham; to Rear Admiral/MajorGeneral: Billie Clifton; and to Vice Admi-ral: Raymond Ford.

Summit Recap -- continued frompage 13

into these matters.

We expect to be able to provide informa-tion that will help individual STARFLEETchapters and other subgroups of the or-ganization to determine what their re-sponsibilities are with regard to sales tax.If we’re not able to provide informationrelevant to you, we’ll encourage you tocontact your local authorities solely foryour own local needs.

While some of the reactions I’ve heardthis week have tended towards shock ordismay at the realization that someone,presumably within STARFLEET, reportedthis issue to the State of Texas rather thanattempting to bring it up within the chainof command. I must urge all of you toremember that, while that might havebeen a preferable approach, it’s stillsomething that simply needs to be ad-dressed. The important thing is to deter-mine the right thing to do to fulfill our le-gal obligations to Texas and the otherstates we operate in, protectSTARFLEET, and ensure there is a clubto go on. Yes, this could sharply affectour finances, but we will survive this andcontinue.

Financial Matter -- continued frompage 15

Witch Huntsby: General Mark H. Anbinder, VCS

Good afternoon, friends. I’m saddenedand stunned to have learned that amember of STARFLEET has called theComptroller ’s Office of the State ofTexas, and told them that we haveformed a task force to find out whoinitiated the original sales tax complaintthat I outlined to you a week and a halfago. These dire insinuations of a witchhunt could not be further from the truth.

As everyone here knows, STARFLEET’sChief Financial Officer has formed a taskforce of volunteers willing to give of theirtime to help STARFLEET come to a clearunderstanding of its obligations to Texasand to other states in which we dobusiness, so that we may be more fullycompliant with sales tax laws in thefuture. This task force has absolutely nomission to determine who initially raisedthis issue, and there is no other task forcewith that mission.

We have no interest in finding out whooriginally reported STARFLEET’sunwitting lack of compliance to the Stateof Texas, and I don’t even want to worryabout who placed the more recent callwith baseless allegations ofSTARFLEET’s non-existent plans forretaliation. This isn’t something we havethe time or energy to worry about, andthat’s not how STARFLEET operates,anyway.

STARFLEET is not interested in findingor punishing the person or persons whohave contacted the State of Texas toreport the true information that we werenot meeting our obligations with regardto sales tax in Texas, or the untrue andhurtful disinformation that there is a Fleet-sanctioned witch hunt.

If the person or persons responsible arereading this message, I would urge youto find something better to do with yourtime than lying to a state agency to raisea false specter of conspiracy.

**************

A Further Note from FADM LesRickard, Commander, STARFLEET

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me be clear on one thing regardingany perceived or actual “witch hunts” intowho, what, why and etc on the report tothe Texas State Comptrollers Office.

There will be none sanctioned by Fleetanywhere, at any level at any time.

We are moving forward with fixing aproblem we have. Regardless of themethod, intentions or otherwise we willnot retaliate in any way. We will fix theproblem and move forward...a betterFleet.

I hope that is plain and clear enough foreveryone.

FLEET CHANNELS 19

D AT E L I N E :S TA R F L E E T

NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF TREK

Comic writer David Tischman isworking on completing the originalEnterprise’s five-year mission,though he said he wonders whetherStar Trek: Year Four, which will bepublished in July, might be his ownpersonal Kobayashi Maru.

“The Kobayashi Maru is a testStarfleet cadets take, a no-win situ-ation. It’s a test of character,”Tischman explained to Comic BookResources. “I’m working hard - andthe writing’s been harder than Iexpected - but I think the storiesare better because of the extrawork.”

Tischman recently completed theminiseries Star Trek: The NextGeneration: The Space Betweenfor IDW Publishing, which hasposted images from the sixth andlast comic book in the set. But heremains focused on Kirk, Spockand McCoy. “Kirk is the ultimateadventurer. He’s Tom Sawyer andBuck Rogers and Allen Quartermain allwrapped up in one...Spock is the adoles-cent geek in all of us. Too smart for hisown good...[McCoy] lets his emotionsguide his conscience. It’s a good lesson“more people should listen to it.”

Though he considers “A Piece of the Ac-tion” and “The Cloud Minders” to be must-see episodes, “Balance of Terror” isTischman’s favourite. “I actually have ahuge fondness for the lesser-used char-acters,” he said. “Nurse Chapel and Com-manders Kyle and Riley.” As far as the

films go, “Star Trek II is my favorite...I stillbelieve Montalban should have beennominated for Best Supporting Actor”Unfortunately, he will not have an oppor-tunity to write any Khan stories for theminiseries.

Tischman believes that comics “allowthese fan-favorite franchises to live on,to explore the worlds created in TV andmovies and to add to the existing uni-verses.” He is also writing a comic forVertigo and for Moonstone he will adaptJohnny Dollar, based on a 1950s radiodrama.

Comics Boldly Returning ToOriginal Five Year Mission

by: Michelle TrekToday.comJune 6, 2007 - 11:27 PM

Star Trek flatsold on eBay

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

T o n yAlleyne,the StarTrek fanw h ot u r n e dhis flatinto areplica of

a Star Trek ship has sold it.

Alleyne, 54, spent two years and £30,000turning his one-bed studio flat in Hinckley,Leicestershire, into a detailed copy of thestarship Voyager’s flight deck.

He put his flat up for sale on internetauction site eBay a month ago with aguide price of £130,000 - £50,000. It soldfor five times that amount -- £425,000 --when five fellow Trekkies began abidding war.

The winning bid was made by amillionaire Birmingham businessman.

Mr. Alleyne started work on the flat twoyears ago after his marriage broke down.

The flat has molded wall panels, bluelighting and a “transporter room”.

Last February Mr. Alleyne filed forbankruptcy after running up debts of£166,000.

He spent more than £30,000 convertingthe flat as well as £100,000 on marketinghis firm, 24th Century Interior Designs.

But, despite going bankrupt, he refit theflat using income support payments.

FLEET CHANNELS20

TREK NEWS

Terminator WillBe Back,

Without Arnoldby Gina Serpe

Thu May 10, 5:44 AM ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) - The Terminatoris making good on its coming-back word.The Governator, not so much.

The Halcyon Company has announcedplans to revive the cyborg-battling movieseries with at least three more films, afterthe production company purchased allrights to the dormant franchise for anundisclosed, though likely eight-figure,sum.

But while Halcyon founders VictorKubicek and Derek Anderson are lookingto begin preproduction on Terminator 4as soon as possible, they will do sowithout a leading man. Or man-machine.

Plot details for the fourth film have beenkept under tight wraps, though are saidto pick up with John Connor, heir to therebellion, in his thirties, leading theremainder of the human race in its ever-worsening battle against the machines.As the film will mark the beginning of anew trilogy, rather than a continuation ofthe previous three installments, itsunlikely that the Terminator himself,Arnold Schwarzenegger, will even takepart in the film reinvention, other thanperhaps a cameo.

Of course, there are other reasons whythe Ah-nuld won’t be featured on the bigscreen. He has a bit of a schedule conflictdue to matters of a more gubernatorialnature.

T4 has already been fast-tracked forproduction, with Halcyon looking to getthe installment in theaters by summer2009. As it is, Schwarzenegger will beleading the state of California through2011.

While a spokeswoman for the governorasserts that “no law says he couldn’t” star

in ther e i m a g i n e dflick if hewanted to, theproject wasnonetheless“not even onhis radar.”

Stil l, thef r a n c h i s e ’ snew minders aren’t worried aboutextending the brand beyond Arnie.

“With T3, we included many incidentaldetails and plot points that, along with theain narrative, set the stage for an entirelynew set of inter-related stories coveringthe future adventures of John Connorand the Terminators,” producer MoritzBorman said. “This new Terminatortrilogy will build upon the already hugeworldwide Terminator fan base, whichwas both revitalized and expanded withthe global success of T3.”

In fact, T3, along with T2 and, well, plainold T, have grossed just over $1 billionworldwide since Terminator was firstreleased in 1984.

“The Terminator franchise represents byfar the most popular and successfulfranchise not owned by a major studio,”Kubicek said. “We see this globalfranchise as a cornerstone of Halcyon’sfuture business plans.”

In addition to the big-screen cyborg saga,the company snapped up all futuremerchandising and licensing rights to thefranchise, future revenue generated byT3: Rise of the Machines and a portionof the rights to an almost guaranteed TVseries based on the films.

Warned Bros. has already filmed a pilotfor The Sarah Connor Chronicles, anhour-long show based around theTerminator character and mythologysurrounding the movies. According toVariety, Fox has already expressedinterest in the project, and could opt topick up the series at next week’s upfronts, when the fall prime-timeschedules are unveiled.

2007 Star TrekHallmark Ornaments

by: Doug Hogan & Mark A. Vinson

H a l l m a r kG o l dC r o w nstores hasannouncedi t sChristmas2007 StarT r e kornaments.This yearthey are

again featuring three different selections.The first is the Next Generation's FutureEnterprise with three nacelles and lignts.It's MSRP is $32.00. The secondselection is from Star Trek II: The Wrathof Khan. In this one Kirk and Spock areon the bridge looking at the viewscreenthat is filled with the Reliant. Theornament also includes Sulu at hisconsole and features sounds and lights.It's MSRP is 28.00. The final is the lovelyUhura at her bridge console in TOS outfit.It's MSRP is $16.00.

The Uhura ornament will be available forsale on ornament premiere weekend,July the 14th -15th.

Check them out online atwww.hallmark.com. Goto KeepsakeOrnaments and choose the links to the“Movie and TV” section and choose "Outof this World". Click past all the StarWars and you will be able to see thepictures.

It is advisable to go your favorite HallmarkGold Crown store and get on their waitinglist. It’s worth it!

FLEET CHANNELS 21

TREK NEWS

STAR TREK’S SCOTTY’SASHES LOST & FOUND

Reuters

After a three-week search, they found therocket that had carried ashes of “StarTrek” actor James Doohan briefly intospace.

The remains of Doohan, whose “StarTrek” character Scotty inspired the tele-vision catch phrase “Beam me up,Scotty,” were blasted off to the edge ofspace from New Mexico on April 29, twoyears after his death at the age of 85.

The payload also included ashes of as-tronaut Gordon Cooper, who first wentinto space in 1963, and another 200people.

But the UP Aerospace Spaceloft XLrocket carrying the capsules with theashes back to Earth got lost in ruggedterrain and the search for it was ham-pered by bad weather.

“Now we can all say ‘mission accom-plished,”’ Rick Homans, executive direc-tor of New Mexico’s Spaceport Authority,said on Friday.

Organizers said the rocket and the indi-vidual capsules containing the asheswere in good condition and would bemounted on plaques and returned to thefamilies.

Canadian-born Doohan played thestarship Enterprise’s chief engineer Mont-gomery Scott in the original 1966-1969“Star Trek” television series.

continued on page ??

GEOCACHINGby: Heather Ford

Hi. My name is Ronin’s Gal (aka HeatherFord), and I’m a Geocacher.

OK, I’ve admitted it, and that’s half thebattle to overcoming the addiction. Ornot! I blame Doug Hogan. He sent tothe list a while back a link to a really coolgeocoin showing the Enterprise on it. Ihad already heard of geocaching before,having seen an article on the “Fit for Fri-day” segment that News 8 Austin does.But looking at all the geocoins on that sitemade me remember how fun this gamereally sounded! So I had to check it out.Then I informed Raymond that he wasbuying me a GPS unitfor our anniversary. (Ithink I got him a com-puter game. Doesn’tseem very equitable,does it?)

First off, this is a game.The game started May3, 2000, with the hidingof a black bucket con-taining some video-tapes, etc., in the woodsnear Beaver Creek, Or-egon. It is, specifically, a high-tech scav-enger hunt using a GPS unit to lead youto the latitude and longitude of the cacheyou are hoping to find. The game is aworld-wide adventure, so you can keepplaying on your summer vacation, winterski trip, family reunion, etc. I even playedon my way up to Summit. Raymond pa-tiently waited in the car with Grace (akaRonin’s Ayame, who only plays when themood strikes her), while I lifted lamp skirtsin the parking lot of the Hilton Garden Innin Temple. The cache was called “Paris’Home Away From Home,” and I left ageocoin there that I had picked up inRound Rock 2 weeks before. If I everget to Japan to meet some of Raymond’sfamily, I’m gonna hunt down the cachenear Fukuoka airport.

Are there always prizes? No. Not all

caches are created the same. Many ofthe “park and grab” caches, such as theone I just mentioned, are nothing but a35mm film canister or an Altoids tin withpaper in it for logging your visit. Others,such as one called “Bedrock” in RoundRock’s Old Settler’s park, are larger,much more elaborately hidden caches,and capable of holding trade items a smallnotebook for logging your visit, and a pen.This was the first physical cache Graceand I found. She traded out a stretchygreen alien toy that we brought along fora ring left by a previous visitor. Somecaches have themes - “Have a Ball, Y’all”,also in Old Settler’s Park (we haven’tfound this one yet - it’s on a creek bankin a forested area of the park), is for trad-ing out bouncy balls. One in Bryan has atheme of Saturday morning cartoon char-acters, and was launched with, among

other things, comicbooks inside. Often,caches like these willoften become the tem-porary homes of thegeocoins mentionedabove, or travel bugs -also called hitchikers -items which havetrackable dog tags at-tached to them andwhich have a mission alltheir own. A great ex-ample of this is one that

a first-grade class in San Franciscoplaced in a local cache, with a mission tobe moved along to the Iditerod race inAlaska. The kids were in the 4th gradeby the time their bug found it’s way there,but they got lucky and the previous year’swinner carried it along with him during therace. He then sent it back to them with anice letter about how it came to be in hispossession. My Brownies will be placinga cache this fall, and launching a travelbug from it. Hmmm.... this could be a po-tential “Council’s Own” badge in the mak-ing..... uh, never mind.

There are also “virtual” caches - usuallyinvolving historical markers. A great wayto learn a little local history. Grace and Ihave checked out 3 so far, and downtownAustin is just loaded with these. Some-

FLEET CHANNELS22

TREK NEWS

GeoCaching -- continued fromprevious page

times the regular caches will teach yousomething, too. Anybody know fromwhere TAMU recruited it’s first profes-sors? Look up the information on thecache “TMI Castle” (located in Austin),and find out.

So, sound interesting? There are a fewrules, the first and foremost being GETPERMISSION BEFORE PLACING ACACHE ON PRIVATE PROPERTY!! Wedon’t want anyone shot or arrested. Fol-lowing closely is rule number two, do NOTplace a cache in alocation or in a man-ner in which thecache could be mis-construed as abomb! (Corollary:Ammo, knives,drugs, etc., are notappropriate tradeitems - geocaching isa child-friendlysport). You all prob-ably remember therecent problem Car-toon Network hadwith their AquaTeam: Hunger Force ad placements upnorth. There is even a town in New Jer-sey that has an ordinance againstgeocaching because of the confusion apoorly-placed cache can cause. Thatsaid, the McDonald’s in Hutto has a cachein its drive-thru, in plain site of the sur-veillance cameras, and all with the per-mission (and to the great amusement) ofthe management. They are becoming ac-customed to grown men, often in groupsof two or three, skulking around theirdrive-thru at 3 AM. Which is because ofanother rule - try to avoid the muggles.Yes, that’s right. You, reading this rightnow, with the known exceptions of DougHogan and Ed Dravecky, are muggles,and we aren’t really supposed to do thisstuff in front of you, out of fear that youwill come up afterwards and mess withthe cache (or get paranoid and call thecops on us!). Muggles often do find theseaccidentally, though, so if you ever do runacross one, feel free to sign the log, andthen please place it back exactly as you

found it.

Don’t have a GPS unit? Check out yourlocal Craig’s List. I’ve seen them for aslow as $40, with software (for loading/tracking waypoints from your computerto the unit). Worried about using up a lotof gasoline? The caches are all aroundyou (like the one near my favoriteFreebirds in Austin’s Hancock Center).Don’t have a lot of spare time? I’ve beendoing this since March, and only have 17finds so far. Some folks have thousands.But then, some folks pay for pager notifi-cations and go running off at 1 AM to try

and be “First toFind.” I’m not thatcompetitive. And youdon’t have to be, ei-ther. I still haven’tfound that one at theMcDonald’s (not forlack of trying, but forlack of height, I sus-pect), and I only live0.7 miles from it.Last excuse - what ifthere aren’t any inmy town? Non-sense. A quickglance at some cities

around R3 reveal[search limit is for allcaches within a 50 mile radius] :

Abilene - 401 cachesAlexandria - 255 cachesAmarillo - 247 cachesAustin - 1,827 caches (a bunch of theseare in the Killeen/Harker Heights area -including 1 within a mile of the MooseLodge)Baton Rouge - 287 caches (includessome in MS)Bossier City/Shreveport- 512 caches (LA& TX)Bryan-College Station - 246 cachesCorpus Christi - 259 cachesDallas - 5,394 (one of which is at the AMCtheatres that were right near the Summithotel, btw)El Paso - 331 caches (includes many inNM and 2 caches in Juarez)Fort Worth - 5,086 (many, but not any-where near all, overlap with the Dallascaches)Houston - 2,417 caches

Lake Charles - 258 cachesLaredo - 34 caches (all in Texas)Lubbock - 205 cachesLufkin - 722 cachesMidland - 175 cachesNew Orleans - 552 (includes some in MS)San Angelo - 428 cachesSan Antonio - 1,484 cachesTexarkana - 279 (includes TX, AR, & LA)Waco - 1,421 cachesWichita Falls - 185 caches (including OKcaches)

These stats came fromwww.geocaching.com, where you cansearch any country in the world forcaches, read recent news articles aboutgeocaching, and find geocaching eventshappening in your area. You can also findlocal geocaching groups via Yahoo!Groups and other websites of that ilk.

So, who’s gonna keep me company atPool & Darts (c. N 31 05' 25" W 097 39'55")? I have GPS, will travel, and can fit3 other adults (with or without their ownGPS) in my car..... and I promise not totake you to the caches just placed at theKilleen landfill last week.

AT PRESS TIMESchwab's Celebrate

Anniversary & Son'sWeddingby: David Hubbard

I just wanted to spreadthe word that formerRC, VADM Bill MacSchwab and his brideEllen, will be celebrat-ing thier thirty-secondwedding anniversary inAugust and a double

joyful event the wedding of thier young-est son (and my nephew) Zachery J.Schwab!

Those of you who care to send cards hereis thier mailing address:

Bill A. & Ellen Schwab3114 Persimmon Ct.Rowlett, TX. 75088

FLEET CHANNELS 23

NASA NEWS / UPCOMING EVENTSCALENDAR

July

Wednesday the 4th: Independence DaySaturday the 21st: Annual Pool andDarts Tournament at the Kileen-HarkerHeights Moose Lodge

September

Monday the 3rd: Labor DaySaturday the 15th: Biennial NASA/Space Center Houston tripSunday the 23rd: Autumnal equinox

October

Monday the 8th: Columbus Day (ob-served)Wednesday the 31st: Halloween

November

Thursday the 1st: All Saints DaySunday the 4th: Daylight Saving TimeendsFriday Night thru Sunday the 9th-11th:GamedaySunday the 11th: Veterans DayMonday the 12th: Veterans Day (ob-served)Thursday the 22nd: Thanksgiving Day

December

Wednesday the 5th thru Wednesdaythe 12th: Chanukah (Jewish)Thursday the 20th: Eid-al-Adha (Is-lamic)Saturday the 22nd: Winter solsticeSunday the 23rd: FestivusTuesday the 25th: Christmas Day(Christian)Wednesday the 26th thru Tuesday theJan 1st: KwanzaaMonday Night the 31st: New Year's Eve

NASA Mars RoverReady for Descent

Into Craterfrom NASA.govJune 28, 2007

WASHINGTON - NASA’s Mars roverOpportunity is scheduled to begin a de-scent down a rock-paved slope into theRed Planet’s massive Victoria Crater.This latest trek carries real risk for thelong-lived robotic explorer, but NASA andthe Mars Rover science team expect itto provide valuable science.

Opportunity already has been exploringlayered rocks in cliffs around Victoria Cra-ter. The team has planned the descentcarefully to enable an eventual exit, butOpportunity could become trapped insidethe crater or lose some capabilities. Therover has operated more than 12 timeslonger than its originally intended 90 days.

The scientific allure is the chance to ex-amine and investigate the compositionsand textures of exposed materials in thecrater’s depths for clues about ancient,wet environments. As the rover travelsfarther down the slope, it will be able toexamine increasingly older rocks in theexposed walls of the crater.

”While we take seriously the uncertaintyabout whether Opportunity will climb backout, the potential value of investigationsthat appear possible inside the crater con-vinced me to authorize the team to moveforward into Victoria Crater,” said AlanStern, NASA associate administrator,Science Mission Directorate, NASA

Headquarters, Washington. “It is a cal-culated risk worth taking, particularly be-cause this mission has far exceeded itsoriginal goals.”

The robotic geologist will enter VictoriaCrater through an alcove named DuckBay. The eroding crater has a scallopedrim of cliff-like promontories, or capes,alternating with more gently sloped al-coves, or bays.

A meteor impact millions of years agoexcavated Victoria, which lies approxi-mately 4 miles south of where Opportu-nity landed in January 2004. The impact-created bowl is half a mile across andabout five times as wide as EnduranceCrater, where Opportunity spent morethan six months exploring in 2004.

The rover began the journey to Victoriafrom Endurance 30 months ago. Itreached the rim at Duck Bay nine monthsago. Opportunity then drove approxi-mately a quarter of the way clockwisearound the rim, examining rock layersvisible in the promontories and possibleentry routes in the alcoves. Now, the roverhas returned to the most favorable entrypoint.

”Duck Bay looks like the best candidatefor entry,” said John Callas, rover projectmanager, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labo-ratory, Pasadena, Calif. “It has slopes of15 to 20 degrees and exposed bedrockfor safe driving.”

If all of its six wheels continue working,engineers expect Opportunity to be ableto climb back out of the crater. However,Opportunity’s twin rover Spirit lost the useof one wheel more than a year ago, di-minishing its climbing ability.

”These rovers are well past their designlifetimes, and another wheel could fail oneither rover at any time,” Callas said. “IfOpportunity were to lose the use of awheel inside Victoria Crater, it wouldmake it very difficult, perhaps impossible,to climb back out.”

”We don’t want this to be a one-way trip,”said Steve Squyres, principal investiga-

tor for the rovers’ science instruments,Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. “We stillhave some excellent science targets outon the plains that we would like to visitafter Victoria. But if Opportunity becomestrapped there, it will be worth the knowl-edge gained.”

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