Greetings to all!

As Sidney already mentioned, we’ve given you an overlook of our thoughts on the next term. But who are we? Sidney was able to share a bit about himself and now it is my turn to do the same for me.

My name is Tony and many of you may know me as the Tiger. I’ve been in STF for about 12-13 years. I’ve held quite a few positions in the past (including AFLO, FComm3, AFComm3, CO Dresden, XO OP42, and many DH positions throughout). To be fair, back then, some of those positions were a bit difficult for me to handle as I hadn’t had any formal training in them. Everything sort of fell away though when I got married and life became way more hectic then I had imagined. After a year or two, I came back as I really missed the people and the writing here in STF. I came back and decided to slim things down, take things nice and easy. I started back as the CE aboard the Athena and slowly worked my way back into things. Not long after that, I applied for the Governor position of Oed V. After a lengthy application, I was accepted and Oed was going to be home for a bit.

I hold the positions of AFComm6 (Black Fleet), CO Oed V, and CE on the Athena. I used to be all about the positions, the titles, what would get me more rank. These days though, I’ve realized its not about any of that. Writing means so much more to me now than it ever did. I’ve taken time out to study writing of different people and to learn from people who really understand the craft. For me, writing isn’t just a hobby. Its a central, integral part of my life. And its a real passion of mine to see others excel in what they do.

Outside of STF, I still do a lot of writing of my own. I’m actually ready to really iron out a manuscript this year of a fantasy novel (the first of hopefully three). I also have a wife and 3 children (all under tha age of 4!). And I work in a bathroom ware factory. We make toilets, sinks, toilet tanks, etc. You get the idea. My job, specifically, is to cover anybody in the department who may be absent, give everyone breaks, run my own work on a seperate bench, and lately fill in for any leaders who are called elsewhere to do something in the department. Its a very physically demanding job, and with my recent training, I now get to the enter the arena of ‘mentally demanding’ as well. I also am a leader in my local church. I’ve been involved in a leadership training program for a several years now, and I’ve always had a fascination with what it takes to be a leader. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in learning about it since I was a teen, but I’ve never made the same mistake twice.

I’m sure there are many people here who probably didn’t know all of that, so I wanted to be able to share that. Feel free to ask me questions or leave comments as you please. I’m open to your thoughts and I look forward to getting to know you all even better from here on out.

Thanks folks! Enjoy your day!

-Tony the Tiger