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State of the SFMC December 2012

Greetings to all Marines

Very shortly we herald the end of another year for the SFMC and hopefully, bring with it the promise of an improved 2013.
Thus it is once again timely to continue to remind all those involved in the Commandant’s Campaign, that this year’s campaign will
come to close at the end of the month, and you will need to ensure you have your activities reported through the Chain of Command (CoC).
You have the February reporting cycle to ensure this is done
The 2013 Commandant’s campaign will commence as of 1 January and will this year include the following:
* United States Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program (or its equivalent elsewhere in the World)
* Special Olympics
* March for the Disabled
If there are other worthwhile activities that you feel should be reviewed for inclusion, please get in contact with me – quickly
In review, 2012 has been a disruptive year for this General Staff (GS). The impacts of having to deal with the our real lives had seen
the resignation of the Deputy Commandant and the CO InfoCom, as well as the shuffling of other GS staffs bought about as a consequence
to the movement of these senior people.
All of this has created small waves of interference to plans and objectives as we have had to establish new personnel with new ideas
and new goals and objectives, making it a little difficult to maintain solidified consistency of outcome.
But despite these interruptions we have also managed to put together several excellent incentives that have proven worthwhile and of value
to Marines, including a range of uniform accoutrements and a reincarnation of the Recruiting Award. We have also recently seen the release
of a new website and the continued focus of attention to our many, most important NCO’s, by the SFMC SGM.
We have seen the celebration of the commencement of our 30th Anniversary year an achievement that not many other international fan
groups can lay claim to, especially any group similar to ours
And we look to forward to the expectation that in 2013, this GS will certainly take some value from the two previous year’s experiences
gained and be able to throw out some fun and motivationally-valued ideas to lead us through the next year
We started this year with a membership base of around 1,103 Marines , spread over 147 Units and, at time of writing, look to end this year
with a net membership gain of an additional 50/60 Marines and 15 new activated Units. In terms of continued growth a 5% increase must
be considered not too shabby at all!
We will obviously need to continue to keep growing and expanding and every effort that can be made to add just that “extra Marine” to any
roster will certainly help to ensure the SFMC continues to move forward.
But the age-old issues that have always flowed about the SFMC still continue to haunt us and like any fan organization, the means to motivation
and improve inter-action with members is always difficult. Apathy can most definitely kill and we must all take every possible measure we can
to keep interest; value; services; fun elements and rewards for effort, as high as we possibly can.
We might be reflecting continued growth but we must make sure that the shadows of apathy are keep at bay. The GS needs your help to identify
areas of interest that can be expanded and built upon so that we can all work together to keep the Corps right at the top, exactly where it should be.
We will always value your input and ideas that may help the Corps to continue to grow
No doubt there will be many messages of Seasonal goodwill that will soon swirl amongst us all, but such greetings can never be said too often and with that,
all of us within the SFMC General Staff and our own staffs, wish that every ounce of happiness and pleasure that can be derived from the Christmas Holiday Season is passed amongst you all,
and that we look forward to a happy, healthy, safe and most prosperous 2013.
Bruce O’Brien
Brigadier General, SFMC
Commandant, STARFLEET Marine Corps
dant@sfi-sfmc.org]]>