Posted by Joe P in Questions for the Candidates - FComms
This set of very open ended questions is for everybody, and is about Fleet Commanders.

1. Please demonstrate your minimum competence to be President by explaining for us where the role of Fleet Commander is actually defined, and what its formal duties as written are, in as close to your own words as possible (but please cite any sources you use in forming your answer).
   

The role of the FComm, and the vast majority of the FComm’s duties, are found in the FCOMM bylaw (Fleet Command and Other Mundane Matters Bylaw).

FComms should also be familiar with their duties regarding GMs in the OGRE bylaw (Omnibus GM Revisions Edict Bylaw).

An FComm’s formal duties include (and I may not have every listed here because they are all clearly stated in those two bylaws):

• Recruiting COs for their ships and making recommendations to the President
• Making recommendations to the President regarding the removal of a CO
• Making sure a ship is meeting the requirements for a healthy ship and if applicable complying with its charter</li<li>Making sure there are no TOS violations on the ships
• Resolving certain types of disputes on a ship
• Approving XO appointments
• Approving promotions to Commander
• Approving GM appointments and/or addressing certain aspects of a ship's GM status in OGRE</li</ul> >2. Regardless of what you wrote above, what do you think Fleet Commanders *actually* do? Is there anything that they do that isn't captured in your answer above as a formal requirement that is important to the part that they play in the club? If so, what would that be? > They should be mentoring the ship's command crew and helping the ship be a healthy ship and assisting with resources available to the FComm. They should be on the lookout for potential issues on a ship before they blow up and help a CO with resolving those issues. They must hold a CO accountable to the health of the ship and the requirements of a CO not just make a final decision if a ship is unhealthy. They should be the link between the needs of the ship and the needs of the club and ensure the ship is part of the club as a whole. They should be reading all their ships and be aware of all of these responsibilities (or splitting the ships between FComm and AFComm). >3. What, if anything, do you think Fleet Commanders *should* be doing, but aren't quite doing right now? Feel free to go on about this at length, in any way you'd prefer. Some possible ways you could respond could include normative suggestions for how you'd like members of your cabinet to act, or to describe whatever sweeping reforms you'd like to implement (if any), or simple statements regarding what formally required things they aren't doing right now, or anywhere in between and beyond those parameters. > Hmm... not sure exactly how to answer that. I honestly don't know if all of my points in answering question two are in fact being done. In an upcoming platform post, Nathan and I will be sharing an idea we have next term for working with FComms to mentor their COs, including addressing issues of institutional knowledge, a larger understanding of the role of the ship within the overall success of the club, addressing any lingering issues over admin issues (both on the tech side an on the FCOMM side), and helping those ships that need a bit of a hand with good RP habits. We'll certainly be asking potential FComm candidates how they see their role, as well as answering some general knowledge questions about the role, and making sure their understanding and vision of the role is consistent with what I have said here. There are no sweeping reforms we envision for the FComm role. Instead, we want to focus on making sure everyone's institutional knowledge and understanding of the role is well understood - something we'll be addressing in our next platform post. >Thanks in advance, >Joe Hope I was able to answer your questions, Joe. FComms can be a tough one. Daniel Daniel and Nathan: STF Rock n Roll!