Rogue Squadron

Day 3,051, 13:39 • Published in USA USA • by Tyler Bubblar



It has been a long time since I have written an article. There have been a few times that I nearly sat down at the computer to put digital pen to digital paper, but for whatever reason opted to forego bloviating on the events of eRep. Recent happenings however, have conspired to overwhelm my literary reticence. I speak of the much debated org that had been assigned to Rogue Squadron an MU that was a branch of USAF.

Time, circumstance, and coincidence have given me a rare perspective into the Rogue Squadron org. In late 2013 (November/December) it was decided under then President NewAzazel that the MU Rogue Squadron, (a then branch of USAF) would be dissolved and dispersed into two other Branches of USAF. For whatever reason this task was not accomplished under NewAz and fell to the WildOwl administration to complete in early 2014 (January/February), this is where I enter the picture. For most of my erep life I have been a member of SHIELD. However, I was asked by WildOwl to join Rogue Squadron and assist the CO Hale26 in the task of disbanding RS.

Time has fogged the details of the how and why, but things quickly changed from me joining RS in a support role to becoming the CO. On January 14th 2014, after a week or so of continued prep work done by Hale (who in spite of his demotion stayed on to oversee the administrative aspects of finding new homes for the members of Rogue Squadron), I sent out the following missive to the Soldiers of RS:


Subject: RS Disbursement

RS Soldier,

There is no easy way to say this so I will just get down to it. For some time now the Executive has been discussing the fate of Rogue Squadron. It has been decided that this Branch of USAF will be disbanded and its soldiers will be folded into either SF or UM. This is the last week supplies will be distributed to Rogue Squadron.

Over the next several days the roster will be sorted in an effort to determine who is going where. This is a difficult situation, there is very little time to get this move accomplished. Hale and I will work to make this transition for you as smooth and pain free as possible. We will try our best to keep you updated and get you your final destination as soon as we possibly can.

Understand that informing an MU I just joined of their disbanding is not a task that I relish. I thank you for your service to the USAF in Rogue Squadron and ask that you bear with us and continue to serve in the UltraMarines or Special Forces.

With Respect and no small amount of regret,

Tyler Bubblar





Not long after sending this message I was approached by Brave Fighter a player I knew because of our mutual time in the Federalist Party. Brave Fighter informed me that a small core of players wanted to make an attempt to keep RS alive as a private MU. After consulting with WildOwl, I agreed to pass the MU once we had finished sorting and directing the outgoing soldiers to their destination Branch. This agreement to pass the MU did not encompass the org assigned to RS by the executive in order to aid them in running the unit.

It is highly probable that Brave Fighter did indeed pass the RS org information to Iranian friends of his before he took his leave of the game. However, he did not have the authority to do so. As stated above he was granted use of the MU after it was finished as an official branch of USAF, but this did not extend to the org assigned to RS. The eUS government has always jealously guarded and protected its orgs. This is both out of nostalgia for better times, and in the hopes that one day Plato may restore these orgs to their former status of useful.

So it is that I can say with certainty that the eUSA did not have any type of agreement to lend, lease, or giveaway this org to an Iranian MU. That said, it is my belief that this situation with the org and the confiscated funds has been handled poorly. The much discussed and oft maligned WildOwl Doctrine is in my view summed up as the following: “Wherever possible the sitting CP should not leave their successor, and by extension the country a mess to clean up.” This has been our governing philosophy in a near unbroken chain since the TWO invasion was negotiated to a close.





There is a reason for that. In May of 2013 President Artela invaded Serbian holdings in France. We combined with our Allies in CoT (Circle of Trust) harassed and whittled away at Serbian colonies until Serbia cut the border with the eUS by RW. We ended the month and Artela’s term with much sought after rubber in Aquitaine, and bragging rights. We had just embarrassed our arch rivals and seized a key bonus material. That sounds like success all around doesn’t it? In a bubble absolutely. However, things don’t exist in a bubble. Time, events, and consequences flow inevitably on. Serbia, no doubt embarrassed and angry, gathered approximately 7 of her closest friends and invaded the eUSA en masse.

The next 4 Presidents (Tenshibo, Paul Proteus, Oblige, and Josh Frost) would deal with the fallout of Artela’s Serbian expedition. Before that invasion began we were considered a first tier nation, had an active population in the thousands, and were in the top 5 in damage. After 4 months of war and wipe our population had dropped dramatically and our damage with it. Here is a quote from the eUK MoFA paper regarding our situation that summer:


USA
It's been a month now since the beginning of the compulsory purging of Dioist pretenders, with the USA being wiped several times in the space of a month. The longest they've been off the map for ever occurred in the last four weeks but it was unfortunately for a few days. TWO forces will continue to purge them from the game for the time being, given a history of hostile relations between the former United States (now just simply New York) and our allies, Serbia and Hungary.

Mexico
While their northern "brethren" are facing subjugation, they too have a similar crisis on their hands. It should be noted that the only reason the Republic of China is against CoT is because of the USA's invasion of them earlier this year and late last year for purposes of "fun". Hence, why they have become our good friends and ally. It should be noted that Thailand has vacated from the Mexican region and Colombia is beginning to take their place in the reconquest of Mexico.


The full article can be found here. Now this is an article from a government paper of a then enemy nation and early participant in the invasion, so of course what they say should be taken with a grain of salt. However, from the article it's clear the intent of the invasion was to punish and decimate our nation. In no small measure they succeeded. Some have argued that we were already on the decline pre invasion. While the numbers say they are correct in this I firmly believe the invasion hastened and deepened our decline. In short May of 2013 left our nation with a mess that we deal with in some way or another to this day. Only time will tell if the decision to seize 3 million cc and then publicly humiliate the Iranian MU it was taken from will have a similar impact.