The South Pacific

Resentine for Minister of the Army: <Insert Catchphrase Here>


Me!
Hello Everybody! For those of you who I haven't previously asserted my opinion on, I'm the ever progressive and resilient FederationoftheRK/Resentine! I came to the South Pacific in Early March of this year, after having moved my first nation here shortly after I created it, and stuck around after immersing myself into the RP Community. I spent a month getting nice and settled in with the RP community, making plenty of good friends there, but, it was the first two weeks of April that really had a major affect on me and my participation here.

For those of you that don't know, It was in that first week of April that the New Pacific Order, the ruling group of The Pacific, took over and "Colonized" the region of Lazarus. To say the least, the moment that happened, NationStates itself was completely shocked. It was also where my story and involement here took a huge change in direction. If you have read through my CoI form, you probably read that I used to be associated with The Pacific, so, to say the least, I was shocked when they did this, and I immediately became active in the assembly campaigning for us to do something about it. And that's when Henn approached me about SPSF. At the time, I had only seen it as a separate forum on the site that was relatively inactive. But, knowing it was the only way I could hope to help Lazarus fight my former home, I signed up, and was immediately directed to the Lazarus Liberation Army IRC, and my career as a member of SPSF began. Two, almost three weeks later, and much to the astonishment of everyone, Lazarus was free, with the help of SPSF, and countless other regions.

In the months after Lazarus, I participated in several other operations, including operations in Warzone Sandbox, A Blank Canvas, and several ongoing operations. I've seen the SPSF grow from just me and a few others to an extremely active and outgoing organization, where someone always has new ideas on what we can do, be it an operation, or reopening the Mess Hall. My intention as Minister of the Army would be to continue upon this precedent, and seek to improve the SPSF to make it bigger, better, and stronger. And to continue that, I've decided on four main points SPSF will need to focus on over the next term. These are all based on my experiences with SPSF, and on how we need to grow as a group.

1. Increase Recruitment Campaign for SPSF

Over the last term we have done a great job with increasing our numbers, and even better, most of those people have stuck around and stayed active in SPSF. But, we still aren't large enough yet. As of right now, we have only been able to take smaller regions during raids and doing Detag and defensive operations in small numbers, by comparison with other regions. My objective would be to promote SPSF on a larger level. This would include larger recruiting efforts, having reports on our operations shared with people of the South Pacific, both on the site and in the RMB, and would include the creation of cheesy promotional posters to help promote our causes. The Cheesy Posters would be the most experimental of all the ways listed, and is the one I am most determined on doing. Even if we do not succeed here, our experience with this instance of rerouting would help us find new and better ways in the future to help increase the numbers of the SPSF.

2. Increase current operation execution to One Operation or Training Operation a Week

While the SPSF have been extremely active as a of late, especially in this last term, this would help establish a constant level of activity, and keep the momentum going. We would preform operations as planned by members of SPSF to do every week, and we'd schedule a time where as many members as we can get could participate. This would still be amoung the several normal operations that we do, but, it would help keep a constant level of activity going for SPSF, and help give members the motivation to stick around and improve their skills as a soldier.

Training Operations would be set up by members of the Jeneralship and the Minister of the Army to help get the newer members, and even some of the older members, to improve themselves at time when there wouldn't be much needed raiding or defending, to help keep our troops at the top of their game. The Jenerals and/or the MoA would discuss with the members about what times they were available, and they would then proceed to set up regions which would simulate different types of missions like raids, detags, or defenses. This would become a part of the SPSF's regimen, so our soldiers would continue to improve their skills, even when we aren't actively engaged otherwise.

3. Enact a Rebuilding Program for Inactive regions that we raid

This is a very unique topic that I also argued for when I got my Jeneralship. In my time in SPSF, we have raided several regions that were just dead. No, there isn't a better way to put it, because that's what they were. Some of them still had links to sites that were inactive for over a year. It honestly made me sad that these once vibrant and active communities were allowed to fall to nothingness. In this rebuilding program, should the SPSF raid or defend any regions that are inactive, but still contained active members, it would be our objective to put those members in contact with each other, and help rebuild the communities that these regions once were. This would include assisting them with inter-nation communication, helping them set up fair elections for the region's WA Delegate, and anything else they may need to help bring back their region. If there is one thing that I have learned, in both SPSF and life, helping others back on their feet will almost always pay off in the long run. Instead of those regions seeing us as another band of raiders, they will see us in a greater light, as the ones who helped them, and, one day, maybe they will help us in return.

4. Improve Communication with Foreign Affairs

There has, thought the last term, been an extreme drop in communications between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Army. This is absolutely critical and needs to be restored as soon as possible, because both ministries rely on each other in an almost symbiotic way. It is the duty of the MoFA to set up alliances and treaties with other regions, so the SPSF knows who they can count and rely on to help in our operations. And it is also the Duty of the MoA, to work closely with the MoFA, to make sure these alliances benefit not just SPSF, but the South Pacific as a whole. Both Ministries play a strong role in how TSP is viewed by the rest of NationStates, so it is their job to make sure they present us in light that shows everyone who we really are. Communication between these ministries is essential, so, we should set up a permanent line of Communication, whether it be through PMs on the site, or otherwise. Since this requires cooperation from both ministries, I can't exactly give you a concrete plan on what will be done, but, I can assure you that I will try my absolute best to make sure that there is a line of communication there, and open, so both ministries can do their jobs to the best of their abilities.
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Well, there's my campaign. Please, ask as many questions as you can, I am absolutely interested in anything and everything you have to say, and eager to show how I can help The South Pacific!

Another clear campaign platform for the MoA! I particularly like ideas 3 and 4.

Hi Res! First off, let me wish you good luck in this race!

I have two questions at the moment:

1. When you outlined your new approach in (3), have you considered its pragmatic nature yet? How many resources will be wasted through "rebuilding" such communities? What if natives do not wish for a foreign military to set up a quasi-government for them? I minored in history and I can see how TSP and the SPSF could be accused of neo-colonialism, which is basically what this is: "we'll rebuild for you in return for future favors." Will there be concrete standards in determining how active natives are?

2. You recently were one of the soldiers to object to the SPSF's participation in helping the Osiris delegacy transition. What do you believe a GCR military, such as the SPSF, should be doing? In other words, what is on the SPSF agenda, and what goals should we be striving for?

Thanks, and good luck again!

(07-16-2015, 10:59 AM)Alisa Wrote: [ -> ]I have two questions at the moment:

1. When you outlined your new approach in (3), have you considered its pragmatic nature yet? How many resources will be wasted through "rebuilding" such communities? What if natives do not wish for a foreign military to set up a quasi-government for them? I minored in history and I can see how TSP and the SPSF could be accused of neo-colonialism, which is basically what this is: "we'll rebuild for you in return for future favors." Will there be concrete standards in determining how active natives are?

Yes, I am aware of how pragmatic and idealistic it is. I knew that from the very second I brought it up in my Jeneralship. I know that it will take a lot of effort on our side, but, I wouldn't consider it interfering with other operations, or wasting, as you so nicely put it. We honestly wouldn't even have to be in the region, just communicate and stay in contact with the locals, and try and push them in the right direction of establishing something together. As a GCR Military, It shouldn't just be our job to go around and rather roboticly raid regions that everyone's forgotten about, and then move on. We should be making NationStates a better place for everyone, not just us. If you get more players involved in something in their region, and not just the day to day decisions of their nation, we could do some real good, and even make a few friends along the way. Also, Like I said, " maybe they will help us in return." I think it's nice if they help us one day, but, we may not get anything in return. We may not even hear from them after we're finished helping them rebuild. All we need should be to know that we've done some good. That should be enough. And yes, there will be some standards, I'm not so entrenched in this to assume "Oh, that guy's been gone for 29 days, maybe he'll come back tomorrow". To say what those standards exactly are, however, is something I have not yet determined.

As for the idea of this being "Colonization". This isn't that. This isn't us forcing a new government upon the active members of a region. It wouldn't our job to stick around to defend them all the time. It is what it is, rebuilding. It's helping the locals be responsible, and helping them establish a system that they approve of. I wouldn't allow it to be otherwise.

(07-16-2015, 10:59 AM)Alisa Wrote: [ -> ]2. You recently were one of the soldiers to object to the SPSF's participation in helping the Osiris delegacy transition. What do you believe a GCR military, such as the SPSF, should be doing? In other words, what is on the SPSF agenda, and what goals should we be striving for?

I believe we should be doing military operations. While it may had been marked as a "Operation", us working on the delegacy transition in Osiris was nothing more than a Political Scheme, and that disgusts me. We have treaties with these people, it should not be our job to speed up their delegate's transfer of power for the sake of a few extra political points. Militaries should not be a "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" deal. There are reasons we have treaties, and that is because we can expect them to help us when we need it, and us-them. We should not have to preform Political favors to gain the help of allies, as it sets a poor standard for MoAs in the future, and it is not the duty of the Army. We are a military organization, not a political one.

As for an Agenda, we should, of course, help our allies in military operations should they require it. We should continue to promote the ideas of being Independent, and the idea of Democracy. I don't necessarily define myself as a raider, defender, or independent, but, Independence has worked for TSP in the past, and I believe it will continue to do so in the future. Otherwise, you have the rest of my agenda sitting in front of you as my campaign.

Good Luck! May the best candidate win.

(07-16-2015, 02:35 AM)Hopolis Wrote: [ -> ]Another clear campaign platform for the MoA! I particularly like ideas 3 and 4.

Thanks! I like those the most as well!

(07-16-2015, 11:54 AM)FederationOfTheRK Wrote: [ -> ]I believe we should be doing military operations. While it may had been marked as a "Operation", us working on the delegacy transition in Osiris was nothing more than a Political Scheme, and that disgusts me. We have treaties with these people, it should not be our job to speed up their delegate's transfer of power for the sake of a few extra political points. Militaries should not be a "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" deal. There are reasons we have treaties, and that is because we can expect them to help us when we need it, and us-them. We should not have to preform Political favors to gain the help of allies, as it sets a poor standard for MoAs in the future, and it is not the duty of the Army. We are a military organization, not a political one.

I have two things to comment here:

1. We have not had a treaty with Osiris since late 2013.
2. It is common to help our fellow regions with their delegacy transitions. We have done that with Osiris, with the North Pacific, with the East Pacific, to name a few, and they have also done it for us; off the top of my head, I am still thankful for the way Europeai helped during the transition between myself and tsunamy. It is not just a political thing, it is a show of support, and there is nothing wrong with it. Our military won't suffer simply because we gave a few endorsements to a new delegate, and we have much to gain. That delegate might notice our help, appreciate it, and see that we are there for them; that's a new relationship in the making, or a stronger one if it already existed.

(07-16-2015, 11:54 AM)FederationOfTheRK Wrote: [ -> ]As for an Agenda, we should, of course, help our allies in military operations should they require it. We should continue to promote the ideas of being Independent, and the idea of Democracy. I don't necessarily define myself as a raider, defender, or independent, but, Independence has worked for TSP in the past, and I believe it will continue to do so in the future. Otherwise, you have the rest of my agenda sitting in front of you as my campaign.

We dropped the Independent label last year. It is more accurate to define us as non-aligned.

(07-16-2015, 12:06 PM)Kris Kringle Wrote: [ -> ]I have two things to comment here:

1. We have not had a treaty with Osiris since late 2013.
2. It is common to help our fellow regions with their delegacy transitions. We have done that with Osiris, with the North Pacific, with the East Pacific, to name a few, and they have also done it for us; off the top of my head, I am still thankful for the way Europeai helped during the transition between myself and tsunamy. It is not just a political thing, it is a show of support, and there is nothing wrong with it. Our military won't suffer simply because we gave a few endorsements to a new delegate, and we have much to gain. That delegate might notice our help, appreciate it, and see that we are there for them; that's a new relationship in the making, or a stronger one if it already existed.

1. Didn't know that, which also continues my point on why we shouldn't do it, especially since we don't have a treaty with them.
2. That is exactly why I disagree with it. We shouldn't have to make a show of support to our allies newest leaders. It very simply isn't our job. They were elected by their people, it's not our job to show our approval of them. It should be our job to show them that we can be reliable for military operations with them, and only that. The Military should not be used as a political pawn. While it is a duty of the Military promote TSP's foreign policies, It shouldn't be the job of the military to show support for Foriegn Leaders. That belongs to Foreign Affairs, especially because it is a Foriegn Affairs issue, and not a Military one.

(07-16-2015, 12:06 PM)Kris Kringle Wrote: [ -> ]We dropped the Independent label last year. It is more accurate to define us as non-aligned.

To be honest, in the conversations I've had with Henn, It certainly didn't seem that way, though your statement is true.

You just said the military should promote our foreign policy, but not through military support. That makes absolutely no sense.

(07-16-2015, 12:28 PM)Kris Kringle Wrote: [ -> ]You just said the military should promote our foreign policy, but not through military support. That makes absolutely no sense.

No, I said It is the Military's job to promote TSP's Foreign Policy, not to support Foriegn Leaders. Should I bold the part of the post so you can read it better?

Supporting the democratic election of a foreign leader might well be in our foreign policy interests. It is not, nor will it be, your job to unilaterally determine what is or isn't our foreign policy.

(07-16-2015, 12:32 PM)Kris Kringle Wrote: [ -> ]Supporting the democratic election of a foreign leader might well be in our foreign policy interests. It is not, nor will it be, your job to unilaterally determine what is or isn't our foreign policy.

It may very well be, however, as I debated with my comrades about doing this in Osiris, it does hinder other operations. And since they elected their leader, s/he would be getting into power anyway, so I don't really see the point because we could be doing other things with our assets. I honestly see it as, "Oh hey! We're happy you got elected, so, we're just going to throw a few troops in to speed you along and you can help us later". While you may see it as otherwise, in my opinion, that's corruption at the highest mark.