Sgt. Phaserman

Noone knows for sure when Santa will drop by your house. Well, almost noone.

NORAD, the North American Air Defense Command, a joint command between the United States Department of Defense, and their Canadian Counterparts, make it a point every year to track Santa. Since 1998, they have posted their tracking data online, at http://www.noradsanta.org/en/default.php]http://www.noradsanta.org/en/default.php[/url], where you can keep track of Santa's progress on New Years Eve.

NORAD uses 4 methods to track santa. a series of 47 radar stations, located way up north, track him when he takes off from the north pole. As Santa leaves the range of these stations, orbiting satelites, the same ones used to track missiles for the Missile Defense System, use infrared radar to track Santa. They lock onto Rudolph's nose, which provides a solid lock for the satelites, allowing them to follow Santa's progress across the world. The third method is called the "Santa Cam". these are strategically located cameras, linked to the internet, that will capture pictures of Santa and his Reindeer, through video and still photos. The final method, used primarily over the Continental US and Canada, is fighter aircraft. As Santa enters Canadian Airspace, CF-18 Fighter Jets from Newfoundland scramble to intercept and escort Santa. Once in the US, the Canadian pilots turn the escort mission over to US Air Force pilots flying F-15 and F-16 jets. Rumor is, Santa's sleigh is so fast that even the F-15, one of the fastest jets we have, has trouble keeping up. Each fighter is also equipped with it's own Santa Cam.

On December 24th, link up to NORAD and track Santa live!

This message brought to you by the US Marine Corps Reserve, who asks you to donate to Toys for Tots this christmas!

Where do I enlist to man the station?

I can't give you a deck location, but I do believe that the shuttle bay that the Captain's shuttle in Insurrection launched from was shuttle bay 2. The main shuttle bay is CLEARLY visible both in the MSD and the external (aft) shots at the stern of the Engineering hull, but I would speculate, based on a relative size comparison of the Enterprise E and Enterprise D, that it is Deck 10 or Deck 11. I could, of course, be totally wrong.

Babysitting, and just got back from doing a Toys for Tots appearence. Ooh Rah!

My first thought on waking up: I'm still here? if the answer is yes, then I am good to go.

"They're songs about me, songs about who I am. Songs about lovin' and livin' and good-hearted women and family and god." THAT to me is what Country is. I don't connect with any other form of music the way I do Country.

 

And with the possible exception of god, this also describes folk music, independent label rock, hip hop and rap (outside of mainstream booty lyrics), jazz, blues, soul, even gospel (which would include god). So, if that's what country is to you, then all these are country.

I have listened to Rap, Jazz, Blues, Soul, Gospel, alot of those, but like I said, nothing quite connects with me like Country. And I really can't stand alot of the hard rock/Metal/Industrial stuff. with that I can't tell where the noise stops and the music is supposed to start.

Me? Watch Barney? Only if I absolutely had to. and Yesterday, I managed to avoid watching Barney without losing focus on my objective.

Joe Nichols is pretty good, BB. He has a good voice, and alot of very good songs.

Alright, Classic Country folks, name the song this line comes from...

"There only two things in life that make it worth livin'

That's guitars that tune good and firm feelin' women.."

The thing about Country for me is, yeah, maybe it's not the same style as Buck Owens or Johnny Horton, but it's like Trace Adkins said. "They're songs about me, songs about who I am. Songs about lovin' and livin' and good-hearted women and family and god." THAT to me is what Country is. I don't connect with any other form of music the way I do Country.

David Allen Coe, and the perfect Country Song...definately good.

Kiss an Angel Good morning, wise words to live by.

T.K. definately. He rocks. Big and Rich are also awesome.

I also like Lonstar, Brooks and Dunn, Garth, King George, Clint Black, Hell, I like 'em all. Cowboy Crush actually has a pretty catchy tune out, haven't heard it on US99, but I've heard it on Music Choice.

And of course, Joe Nichols. A man who's not afraid to tell you that "Tequila Makes her Clothes Fall off" and that yes, contrary to popular believe, "Size Matters".

They should get a medal. My daughter is too young, she won't remember when I was in the Marines, but I'm sure at some point, she'll see all the pictures of me, and ask me about my time.

"Size Matters", Joe Nichols

Black slacks, black shined shoes, a nice white shirt, and a black tie. No weapon today.

Sitting here being pissed at Krissy for calling me a dirty old man...........

Hey, Kor, at least she's nice when she picks on you. You don't get the special Older Brother treatment...

Oddly enough, babysitting for Krissy and Gary. Got them either doing homework (the twins) or watching a Barney video (The younger ones)

A 1 Liter bottle of Coke, cus I'm a balla, and I roll like that...

Wow...that just sounds bad from me...

If we have to go Canon, I'd say Excelsior Class in Star Trek and TIE Interceptor in Star Wars. Non-Canon, though, it's the Valderan Conquerer class (I'll get you a picture later) for Star Trek.

I've often wondered about these questions myself.

 

I know in my fan fiction, Starfleet tends to be far more military than in the canon.

In one of the TNG novels I have ("Encounter at Farpoint"), I recall Picard being uncomfortable when Data (was it Data or Yar? :angry: ) saluted him. He felt it made the 'Fleet feel military, when he preferred to think of it as scientific.

 

Starfleet's lack of enthusiasm for it's military role probably was responsible for the 1st Class butt kicking the Dominion handed the Federation early in the Dominion War. You'd think after the various Borg incursions and Dominion Conflict (not to mention counter-terrorism ops against the Maquis), Starfleet would be just a shade more militaristic by the 2380's.

 

If I were a Starfleet officer, I'd probably go on a power trip and make my subord's salute me. :(

If I were the Secretary of Starfleet, or the equivelent, I'd have pressed the council to make some sweeping changes after the Dominion War. I'd have seperated Starfleet into two different parts: A more Military part, to defend the Federation, a part more similar to the Coast Guard (Which is what Starfleet is like already), and a Marine Corps.

Okay, some of you have probably simmed a fleet battle in a trek sim before. How do you sim it? Do you actually plan a strategy, or just throw your ships into the fire and hope your crews outfight the enemy? In the sim I am in, we have an overabundance of Military personnel, so tactics get thought out, and episodes from DS9 will even be reviewed if need be.

THE SARGE'S THOUGHTS...

My thought on Starfleet battle tactics is that you can do the "throw 'em to the dogs" idea, where you commit your forces en mass, essentially in a ship-wave kind of attack, and cause a general Melee, or you can actually plan your battle. While space battles do take place in 3 Dimensions, I've noticed alot of words more associated with ground combat in battles such as Operation Final Assault (DS9: What you leave behind), words such as outflank and breakthrough. Outflanking your enemy requires a bold commander and alot of tough crews. Outflanking means sending forces on a menuever similar to a sweep play in American Football. you're sending forces around the outside, to hit the weaker sides of the opponents forces. However, rather than keep going once your around the enemy as you would in football, you turn in and attempt to turn their flank, and catch them in a crossfire. If you are really successful, you can almost repeat what General Stonewall Jackson did at the battle of Chancellorsville in May, 1863, and get into the enemy's rear entirely. Here's how that would look, taken from the view of the Eros Sim (http://www.usseros.com) during the Federation Civil War.

In a situation like that, the enemy fleet has two choices: Stand and fight, and probably lose, considering that his main force now has to contend with ships attacking his front and rear, or he can turn about, plow through your ships to his rear, and run. If he chooses to run, you have strength enough to press him. Retreating in this manner means that he's turning his main force towards a very fresh set of guns. For the opposing commander, this is a lose-lose situation, unless he has overwhelming numerical superiority. In this draw-up, though, the forces are evenly matched. The appearence of your ships in his rear may also convince him that he's facing an enemy force far larger than it really is, especially if your main forces fight hard enough for the first part of the battle. 90% of the battle is mental, so if you can force the enemy to THINK he's been overmatched, then he IS overmatched.

Anyone else have any tactics that might work to one's advantage?

I read in a book somewhere that NCC stood for Naval Construction Contract, but in another thread Odie says Starfleet is attempting to not be TOO military, so Naval Construction Contract wouldn't work.

Good points, Odie. And it does appear that starships in Starfleet spend alot more time deployed than In port anyways.

Running isn't an issue now. I'm at around 90-95%, but because of the nature of the leg injury, I may never get back to 100%. Unfortunately, the way it happened meant that I did not recieve a purple heart, since it was a Non-Hostile injury. It was, I guess, a Career-ending injury, but non-hostile.

from http://www.purpleheart.org/explain.html...

The PURPLE HEART is awarded to members of the armed forces of the U.S. who are wounded by an instrument of war in the hands of the enemy and posthumously to the next of kin in the name of those who are killed in action or die of wounds received in action. It is specifically a combat decoration.

If I had to choose to join the Corps again today, knowing what I know now (About the possibilities of actually going to war, not that I would suffer such an injury, you never know that kind of thing), I'd probably still join, and probably still as Infantry. I keep in touch with all my buddies. We are, in a very real sense, a band of brothers. you go through what we all went through together and it forms a bond that is stronger even than the bonds of actual family. I know it sounds wierd, but I feel closer to those guys than I do really to my own sister, but that is saying something, considering how close Krissy and I are.

If any of you kids out there are considering joining any branch of the Military, and want to ask me any questions about it, all you have to do is send me a PM, and I will try to answer your questions in a way that no Recruiter will do.

Alright, one thing I've noticed only since joining the Military is that in Star Trek, they never salute. I've always wondered why this is. A salute is a time-honored tradition of showing respect for a superior commissioned officer, yet Starfleet, based on a Military organisation, does not salute. Even the Coast Gaurd of today, the closest service to Starfleet in mission, salutes, so why not Starfleet?

One reason that may be stated is a lack of covers (Hats). Normally in the Military, if covered or under arms, a junior person salutes a Superior Commissioned officer when passing. In Starfleet, there are ways to work the saluting regulations to make it work.

And another thing, why is it we only see a UFP flag in places like the Academy or HQ? Shouldn't there be a flag in each Transporter room, and set up near the primary docking point when a ship is docked (EI Establish the Quarterdeck), and in the Shuttle Bay? Navy Regulations state that when a person comes aboard a vessel, they salute the Flag, then the Officer of the Day, and say "Request Permission to Come Aboard, Sir", yet this formality is also ignored. I just can't help but wonder why...