Message posted on Stardate 99021.8 at 0430 hours
Posted by Mike Bourdaa (STF President).
And, in all likelyhood, the final edict of my term…
For several years, STF has gone through different Presidents, different BB homes.. even now, a different system altogether.
Ships have been added.. decommissioned.. and added yet again.
Some have come.. others have gone.. many in the time frame I speak of have done both.
One thing has remained relatively constant. Commodore Mike Ballway has been here.
During this time, he has served under every STF President, (with the possible exception of Julie Larsen.) He has, in recent years, usually been found running the second fleet, and often contributing to the Engineering Department that he helped to create, and keeping members informed of current happenings via the massive Starfleet News Network. He has been, for a very long time now, a club elder.. one who could give insight to this club’s past, because he lived it.
STF’s very first elected President, Jim Midyette, promoted Mike Ballway to his current rank, and if I’m not mistaken, his current ship and fleet command as well. While the ship was not always constant (but usually), and the fleet even spent time in other competant hands, the rank remained the same.
It was said that Mike Ballway ushered in the “Admiralphobic” era, by refusing a promotion to Admiral, insisting that he would go no higher than Commodore. That was at least four years ago now.
The Admiralty of STF, in the old days, was an elite clique. A mere “captain” was a nobody. More than anyone else, Mr. Ballway helped to dismantle that eliteism, by his refusal to join in it. Similar personal decisions in the past by critical members have molded this club’s history, more so than any acceptance ever has.
Today, the Admiralty however, I believe, is a new entity, free from the nagging past it suffered from. Certainly, it is a status symbol of personal accomplishment, but more important than this is the duty it now carries. A responsibility to live up to the highest standards of this club, and to act selflessly in its best interests. For many years, Commodore Mike Ballway has maintained this ideal.
Despite not holding the highest possible rank (other than Prez/Veep), he served as the highest ranking non-elected member for many months, outlasting the last of the old admirals by a mile. Until my own promotion to Admiral 8 months ago by President Hertzsch, in fact, he had served a continuous stretch as the ‘highest ranked non-elected officer’ - a string which was broken by me for less than one day, then renewed for the first 6 1/2 months of my Presidency, until his recent agreement to accept the Vice Presidency - his first non-emergency direct participation as an executive of this club.
Yet, it is not the first time Mike has found himself in charge, of course. Leadership crisis in the past have forced him into the acting Presidency in the past, and it was he who was the core of the group that restored the club to proper functioning during the OC Crisis of early 1996.
Many of the facets of STF we now take for granted were based, in large part, on the leadership of Commodore Ballway, who has become our quasi-official historian, and sometimes, our conscience. The Engineering Department, the Office of the Election Coordinator, and the rules of sucession in a Presidential crisis, are innovations we can credit him with.
As many other STFers who have had the pleasure of working with him have found, he is more than just a survivor. He is a dedicated traditionalist, easy to get along with, and remains one of the pillars of our shared history. His insight into the workings of this club are second to none, and he has no great fear of expressing himself in this.
No person is perfect, of course. However, I felt that, for the highest promotion one can recieve in STF, a full explanation of my reasons was called for now.
While he is free to decline it, as he has once before in the past, I am officially granting Michael J. Ballway a long overdue promotion to the rank of Admiral, with all the privledges, and duties, that come with that rank.