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Attention to Orders.

During the month of January, 22 recruits fulfilled their requirements and became full members of the Company at the rank of E-2. HighPlains_Drifter has shown himself to be dependable, levelheaded and forward thinking. In the short time he has been here, he has made an impression upon a number of C&S for his attitude towards BWC and his workrate and willingness to help this community, as well as his camaraderie to his fellow gamers. With not even a year to his name within Black Widow Company, he has made an impact that can be felt heavily within what was once considered a waning game here.

His work began as an Operations NCO for the Jolly Rogers, within MechWarrior Online Regiment. He extended his billet there, putting in time and effort to make sure our players had regular events and motivation to work together. When MechWarrior Online joined Vanguard, HighPlains_Drifter was Jolly Rogersâs NOIC, and pushed forward despite losing his billet in the restructure. Undaunted, he carried on running events, dropping with his teammates and towing the line. Always upbeat; always ready.

Once things had settled with the transition, I sat down with various members of MWO C&S and spoke regarding several people who I thought would be a good fit to bring in some new ideas and fresh eyes. HighPlains_Drifterâs name kept cropping up, and the more I found out about his work, the more I was certain that he was the man for the job.

Today, MechWarrior Online is growing at a pace that has rarely been seen. HighPlains_Drifter has a team that is motivated, closely-knit and passionate about what they do, and I feel it is in no small part to the way that he works within BWC.

In the time he has been with us, HighPlains_Drifter has run a total of 64 live fire operations and 6 FTXs. In less than a year, that works out to more than 1 event a week. His workrate is second to none and it is plainly obvious he cares for everything he does and everyone he works with. He has received a glowing Leadership Ribbon write-up from the previous MWO OIC, who even then could see the NCO potential in this man. There has been nothing but good feedback from everyone who has ever interacted with HighPlains_Drifter in any capacity, and I feel a sense of relief that I continue to have him within the Battle Division moving forward. He is a trailblazer, and a prime example of how NCOs should operate, both on and off the field.

I have no hesitation whatsoever in putting HighPlains_Drifter forward for E-5.

- Phalanx // Battle DXO NuclearMessiah has been with BWC for two years now, and has been an E-4 for just over 600 days. In that time he has forged a reputation for a no-nonsense style of doing things. Whether he is playing a game, occupying and executing on a billet or simply offering help and advice to people, his MO is the same. He has had numerous billets in those two years, making his time here feel like he has been around a lot longer. His original work started as a Fleet Trainer for Star Citizen, which he extended due to his great workrate with training newcomers. He was then promoted to 2nd Battlegroup Commander, where he worked to keep on top of the administrative task of monitoring and maintaining a group of people who were waiting (sometimes not so calmly) for the next major update to Star Citizen.

During this billet, NuclearMessiah was approached to spearhead Overwatchâs arrival into Vanguard. He was (and still is) an avid player of the game, and his passion for it was evident from the moment the game was even mentioned on our forums. With the blessing of Star Citizenâs regimental team, NuclearMessiah took control of and built the foundations for Overwatchâs presence within BWC. 6 months later, he had helped to stand up and cement two teams--1 competitive and 1 ranked--within BWC, which saw one of those teams arrive in the top 500 ranked within the world. He also developed a basic training of sorts for newcomers, allowing them to understand the often complex mechanics of the game.

NuclearMessiah wanted to extend his billet, but personal reasons stopped him. It was clear to all involved that he was very reluctant to let go of what he saw as his âbabyâ, but he did so with a heavy heart. But it wouldnât be long before he stepped up once again after sorting out other issues first. He was approached to head up the S-3 department within Vanguard Regiment last year, and took the role on with the vision of making a smooth, streamlined process of what had become an overly administrative, disjointed system to developing trainings. This he completed within the first 3 months in billet, astounding pretty much everyone in the C&S team. From there on, trainings came through with minimum issue and maximum speed, allowing people to receive them in a timely, efficient manner. His work in creating a brilliantly working system was noted and has been used multiple times now when designing new trainings in games that used to be under the old Vanguard system. His legacy there is very much going to stay.

NuclearMessiah isnât just here for the billets. He plays. A lot. His time here has been spent in games such as Star Citizen, Overwatch and a whole load more of both supported and unsupported games. He not only plays them, but leads throughout, with 84 operations, 27 trainings and 11 FTXs. He is a tireless workhorse within BWC, looking to help and motivate those around him at every turn. He understands what level of friendship, mentoring and camaraderie is needed at every turn and has proved himself time and time again when it comes to his love for this community.

It is my immense honour to put NuclearMessiah up for E-5. Operations, please give the man his dues. Thank you.
 Travco has been a BWC member for nearly 3 years now and has served as the A3 S-6 Lead Mission Curator for nearly a year and a half. ARMA 3 is unique among BWC games in that our missions are 100% created by the dedicated work of the S-6 department. The A3 unit lives or dies based on how enjoyable these creations are, and Travco and the rest of the dedicated S-6 staff have been knocking it out of the park since. It takes a supreme amount of effort to create missions and campaigns weekly, and while I do not wish to diminish the work done by the rest of S-6, Travco's leadership in the billet has led to countless enjoyable and creative operations for the entire unit. Without him and the S-6 department, there is no ARMA.

If I had to pick a single word to describe Travco it would be "perseverance". Travco's dedication to his billet and to the regiment takes a huge amount of time. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of units and ARMA 3 terrains which allows him and the rest of the S-6 department to craft challenging missions that are still achievable and logical. This knowledge does not come free, it can only be attained through hours of trial-and-error, reading up on scripting and Zeus (what ARMA 3 calls the mission control mode) tools, and being flexible enough to react on the fly if something goes wrong due to the frequent bugs and strange AI behavior that occurs in ARMA more often than not. Travco has put the time in to master his craft and the unit has benefited greatly from it.

I would not say S-6 is overlooked, but it is a thankless job. People tend to be far more vocal when things are difficult and perhaps less complimentary than they should be when things go well. Travco has taken criticism in stride. He&nbsp;has never had a strike or a negative SitRep filed against him in 3 years. He is professional and cool-headed, even in the face of the occasional grumbling after a difficult operation.

A good NCO leads from experience and also knows how to correct problems that crop up. Travco pioneered the use of Google Forms to collect feedback after operations starting with the Red Havest campaign to keep his finger on the pulse of the ARMA 3 regiment to ensure that missions are enjoyable for all. He is not afraid to solicit feedback and make changes as needed, but also possesses the good sense to know when to put his foot down and disregard invalid complaints. He has done a great job of separating valid feedback from frivilous or self-inflicted complaints and the ARMA 3 missions have only been improving for it.

In addition to his work with S-6, Travco also was instrumental in developing the ARMA 3 regiment's air trainings for helicopters and strike aircraft. ARMA is at its best when all assets are in play, the combined arms missions are always a unit favorite and without Travco's contributions to the air doctrine the regiment would not be able to use aircraft effectively. Travco is also one of our most skilled pilots, a role that again requires a huge amount of time spent practicing and fighting through ARMA's often-flawed implementation of flight. Again, perseverance. Travco is also an excellent soldier in operations. He frequently steps up as a leader in operations, with 63 significant leads and 40 squad leads. He has also led entire ops, being responsible for many of the Tour of Duty campaign operations which he both planned and Zeused. Frequently acting as an assistant curator for other S-6 members, he is never afraid to handle the grunt work as well as the leadership roles. Travco can always be counted on to step up when needed. With over 400 ops attended or led, Travco is a very dedicated BWC member. With 656 days in grade as an E-4 at the time of this writing and for his perseverance, dedication, and loyal service to the BWC ARMA 3 regiment, it is my privilege to recommend him for promotion to E-5.

- Paintcheck // ArmA III RSM

Xzenocrimzie, Ops 2IC
BWC Operations
Black Widow Company BWC Historical Naval Campaign: the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)

The Russo-Japanese War was a military conflict for dominance in Korea and Manchuria in which a victorious Japan forced Russia to abandon its expansionist policy in the Far East, becoming the first Asian power in modern times to defeat a European power. During the war there were three key naval battles fought out: the Battle of Port Arthur, the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the Battle of Tsushima. For the first time these battles demonstrated the power and long range of battleships, and its consequences changed naval warfare for the modern era.

BWC's Warfare division is proud to present a three-stage campaign, reenacting the naval battles using the training room in the WoWS client, recreating the scenarios as closely as possible. BWC WoWS players will engage in a series of four sorties per operation. Teams will be determined prior to the launch of the first sortie and teams will be switched between attackers and defenders for each sortie. The campaign will contain a full historical account of the events that occurred.

Low tier 2-3 ships, preferably of the nations involved, are required to join. Participation will be awarded by unique ribbons and upon completion of the full campaign, a medal. The first operation will be held on the 8th of February coinciding with the 113th year anniversary of the battle. The following operations will be held on the 11th of February.

These Naval Legends Operations will demonstrate BWCâs commitment to excellence in gaming by showing our focus on teamwork, proper communication, and tactical play while allowing us to have fun and honor all military service personnel involved by reenacting historical naval battles and operations in the Training Room feature of World of Warships.