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State of the SFMC January 2013

Greetings and welcome to 2013 to all marines

Our third year of office is already well underway, with each of the GS Commands locked into progressing with those objectives and goals they had set for completion by December this year.
There is much we wish to accomplish even ‘though a fair bit of the work is behind the scenes in terms of amount of time and energy involvement -but all is geared towards adding value to the Corps one way or another, overall.
We wish to finish this year having at least made some points of difference and I suggest therefore that each GS Command will find the next 11 to 12 months very busy indeed
COMMANDANTS CAMPAIGN (CC) 2013
A reminder first that your 2012 CC activities MUST be reported within this next cycle (due 1 February) as this is the last and only chance you will have to be able to put forward for the CC Award for 2012.
You should make sure your Unit CO has reported your activities and Unit CO’s should make sure their reports have been passed up the line with accurate detailing as required.
Battalion and Brigade OICs must also ensure that they have included all detailing with their own reports and it would be prudent to suggest that any BN or BDE OIC who has knowledge of either individual Marine, Unit etc activities that go toward the CC Award, that they check to make sure this has been reported by those responsible.
Moving to this year, I repeat the announcement made last report (December) that this year’s CC will include the following:
•United States Marine Corps Reserve Toys For Tots program (or its equivalent program anywhere in the World)
• Special Olympics
• March For The Disabled ( a program that runs in March and is activated through the office of the SFMC SGM)
If you wish to know any more of these programs, or have queries in regard to these volunteer activities, please get in touch with your direct senior officer
COMMANDANTS CAMPAIGN POLICY
We wish to better clarify and identify the policy surrounding the CC and specific Commandant’s Campaign Policy has now been revised and approved by the General Staff (GS) and is detailed below.
All those wishing to participate in the CC should make note of this Policy to ensure that they meet the necessary criteria for the award for presentation in 2014. (This policy will be posted to website and SFMC Policy manual which is currently undergoing a make-over. It should be noted that this is not a change to policy surrounding this award, but simply a re-write to ensure important criteria are clearly identifiable to those participating, specifically detailing/highlighting the volunteer participation elements required)
Commandants Campaign Award Criteria
Every year the SFMC Commandant selects one or more charitable causes for Marines to dedicate their time and energy. Historically, charities designated by the SFMC Commandant for purposes of this award have been the United States Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program (or its equivalent elsewhere in the World): Special Olympics programs around the World – and a range of others put forward for inclusion by the end of the previous year.
To qualify for nomination, it is required that the Marine must donate at least 4 hours (cumulative) of their time and energy in support to the charity/charities.
(PLEASE NOTE : simply giving cash or donating items does not count for purposes of this award)
The involvement is to be reported in the Unit’s bi-monthly report and the nominees are presented to the SFMC Commandant by COForceCom or their designee.
The award is issued each year in late February/early March
CORPS LEVEL STAFF VACANCIES
I am regularly approached by Marines looking to volunteer for any Corps-level staff vacancies.
While any such vacancies as they appear within the GS subordinate staffing structure are advertised through various media, it does make it easy for us if we are already aware of certain individuals skills and expertise, or simply know of their willingness to volunteer their time and services
If you are interested in registering your particular interest as a volunteer to the GS, it is prudent that you do so by contacting the DCOForceCom (dcoforceome@sfi-sfmc.org) who holds a register of interested personnel
When vacancies appear and are about to be advertised (remembering that all positions will be openly advertised fr application first), you can then be advised directly of the vacancy as appropriate, thus making sure you don’t somehow miss the advertised role
SFMC SCHOLARSHIP FUND
While this Fund is administered by the office of COTraCom, it is appropriate that I advise that we are currently reviewing base criteria to application to the Scholarship
While it is openly recognized that the Scholarship Fund has not been given anywhere near as much exposure and promotion as should have been the case over the last couple of years in particular, it is also felt that he Fund languishes for need of a criteria that may be more conducive to uptake than has been the situation thus far.
The Fund currently stands at some $2,700 and it is indeed unsatisfactory and disappointing that these monies have thus far not been put to the use for which the Fund was originally designed. With only a single application in five years, it is obvious that action needs to be taken.
Look for updated and revised criteria policy to be announced as soon as the GS has completed its review – which is being assisted by a wide-range of marines and other personnel within STARFLEET International
SFMC MEMBERSHIP NUMBERS
While usually something to be reported by ForceCom, I just wish to touch on the numbers of marines we had at year end, December 2012.
Over the previous twelve months, we had seen a rise in numbers by some 50 Marines, providing an increase in SFMC membership over the twelve months by some 4.5%
Activated Unit numbers also rose from 146 in January 2012, to 162 by December 2012. We also evidenced a significant increase of Active Marines over Reserve Marines throughout the year, showing that many more of STARFLEET International members are choosing to role-play “full time” as Marines than has been the case previously.
We can all hope that this is a trend that continues right throughout this year as well by supporting recruiting and retention needs, as well as looking to find ways to help make membership to the SFMC of even more value than it is.
I will close this report with a reminder on SFMC dress code, to make sure everyone is aware of what is required in terms of uniform wear.
The STARFLEET Marine Corps has a wide variety of uniforms authorized in the MFM, suitable for any ‘Trek era, as well as designs whose primary value is that they are relatively inexpensive and consist of components widely available through a variety of commercial sources.
Remember that at no time is any uniform required, but if a STARFLEET Marine Corps uniform is worn, it should be one of the designs authorized in the MFM and the uniform should be worn “correctly”.
The MFM contains a caution that bears repeating often : Uniforms should not be worn to functions where the majority of attendees would not recognize it as some type of fan uniform.
The Mess White and Class C uniforms are not readily recognizable as a non-military uniform. Marines should avoid wearing the uniform in any context where is may appear paramilitary or intimidating to the public.
Bruce O’Brien
Brigadier General, SFMC
Commandant, STARFLEET Marine Corps
dant@sfi-sfmc.org]]>