American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

Under Club Rule 3.3.4.3, Campaigning, this thread is provided for Presidential Election Candidate Brigadier General Walt Dortch

_________________
General Ernie Sands
President ACWGC -Sept 2015- Dec 2020
7th Brigade, 1st Division, XVI Corps, AoT
ACWGC Records Site Admin

"If you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there."

Who is Walt Dortch? I am 67 years old. Born and raised in Indiana. Got my first wargames for my 12th birthday, Avalon Hills Gettysburg and Waterloo. Played board games and painted some 500mm French Napoleonic miniatures. Graduated from Indiana University in 1978 with degrees in History and Political Science. Migrated to Oregon State University and graduated with a degree in Forest Management in 1981. Left wargaming behind when I took my first job with the US Forest Service on the Darrington Ranger District of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, due to the arrival of children and lack opponents in the small little logging town of Darrington, WA in which the Darrington Ranger Station is located. I now have two grown children and 8 UNgrown grandchildren. Came back into gaming when I bought an on-sale copy of Sid Meir’s Gettysburg at Costco in 2006 and have been at it again ever since. I finally bought the HPS Gettysburg in 2015, then discovered JTS and via the JTS Website was led to the ACWGC which I joined in November, 2017 primarily because of its promise I would find human opponents I would quite likely get to know as friends. My expectations have been exceeded. I have served as the DC of the -/2/V AotP and now am commanding the -/-/V AotP. I am in the Instructor Cadre for the UMA and have now trained 3 new guys who are learning to whip and be whipped by some talented and very well trained new Reb guys. I retired from the US Forest Service in 2010 and own a very small environmental consulting company. My wife and I now live on 5 off-grid acres about 16 miles SE of Darrington.

Why do I want this job? Well for starters, it appears the Club is run on a day-to-day basis by maybe up to 8 guys (many wearing several hats) and they could use some help. I have the time and a keen interest to do it. I think there are some things that can be done to revitalize the Club which I explain a bit below. I enjoy collaborating with motivated people to achieve commonly held goals. Jim Boling is a lifelong friend of mine and since my joining the Club I have come to consider Scott Eichelberger as a friend as well. We share a common desire to make a very good Club THE Club of choice for PBEM ACW gaming, comradery and non-politicized rivalry. I have gamed and worked with Nick Kunz (the wily fox), Loren Drummond and others developing and implementing the presently “ad hoc” recruiting effort and consider them as colleagues as well. I have worked with Scott Ludwig to make modifications to the Club website to enhance its accessibility and increase its appeal to potential applicants for membership. I will enjoy working with these folks and other officers who wish to step up and help sustain and revitalize a Club we all very much enjoy.

What do I want to achieve? I want to get to work making the Cabinet a more proactive and visible leadership force aimed at achieving 4 overarching goals:

1) Continue to improve the level and refinement of the Recruiting Effort—planning for a future rather the staving off a collapse are two totally different things. The low key “ad hoc” effort presently is paying off. Establishing a Club Recruiting Officer to lead a volunteer team tasked with making this effort more effective and intensive will likely increase further the number of applications for Club membership. We have experts in our midst who are looking into using social media to broaden awareness of our Club to new generations of gamers. Consideration should, I think, also be given to running a test advertisement for the Club in a periodical such as Civil War Times paid for by donations not dues.

2. Re-connect the Clubs Civilian and Military Organization with itself and Club members That means the Cabinet with Line Officers, it means Line Officers with their men on a real time and regular basis. Effective up and down communication that emphasizes mustering, mentoring and monitoring. Evidence that responding to mustering (which should encourage (but not require) more than just an “I am alive” kind of response) has some meaning to a club member should be provided. The Cabinet should coordinate with Line Officers to clearly establish the expectations of who does what with respect training (basic and advanced), mentoring and monitoring of new members to maximize retention and participation.

3) Identify a realistic action plan for the Cabinet and Line Officers based on a survey of all members (what they want, what attracted them to join the Club, are they satisfied with their Club experience, etc.) and the capacity of existing resources (how many people with what skills are now willing and able to work/serve in pursuit of the various goals) to deliver outcomes. This assessment should be kept current by regular surveys and outreach to identify the Clubs leadership/management cadre. This plan should be sent to all members (or posted on the website) and an annual (with perhaps monthly or quarterly progress reports) accomplishment report produced by the Cabinet that would include a request for members to identify new goals for the coming year.

4) Rightsizing the organization and services of the Club based on current and projected membership and a realistic assessment of the current capability of the Club to perform as organized and advertised. The Clubs website serves as great example. It was built in the “heyday.” I think of it as a hotel with lots of rooms that were often filled 10 years ago. What does it take now to clean and maintain all those rooms? Is it necessary or even desirable to maintain all these rooms today? Does it serve current and projected memberships needs? Training—how much of it can be accomplished with club-wide tools such as a website accessible Club manual that describes how to create your avatar, promote yourself and procedures for entering games on the DOR and so on? What are the key side specific goals which should animate the side specific training in the UMA and VMI?

In summary, my basic goal is to collaboratively identify a prioritized list of tasks that will become the heart of an action plan that will be grounded in a realistic assessment of what resources are available to achieve the tasks. As capacity increases, so can the scope and pace of implementation of such an action plan.

And last, the uniform comes off if and when I sit at the President’s desk. What is best for the Club is where it is all at.

I am happy to answer questions about me or my platform. Post them here in this thread or send me an email at waltdortch@gmail.com and I will respond them promptly.

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Walter A. Dortch
Commanding -/4/V AotP
UA Cabinet Secretary
UA Operations Officer
UA Wolverine Team Leader

As always I like to ask a few of the same questions to each candidate and then a few different ones based on what they have written.

I have known Walt for just a few months but since meeting him have found him to be a very dedicated Member of the Club and someone who whole-heartedly believes in the future of the Club. Walt seems to always be thinking of how to grow the Club rather than looking back and focusing on what was. He also has actively embraced and encouraged different ways to connect with other online Civil War Groups and has supported our recent forays onto Facebook and YouTube. I think he would make a fine president and would be happy to have him at the head of the Club! That being said I also have known DW Mallory for a long time. He was in the Army of the Mississippi when I joined in 2010 and was one of the most reliable and responsive officers in what, eventually, became my Army. As president he was always honest and gracious and when he left office in 2012 it was to me he handed the executive washroom keys to and made the transition an easy one. Over the years he was someone I could feel comfortable emailing about any topic knowing that he was a good confidant and someone who would give you a balanced opinion on any topic. I honestly can say that were he to serve again as Club president I would be just as happy as I would be if Walt were elected.

It's a rare win/win situation as we have two solid candidates! Huzzah for the ACWGC!

That being said there are a few questions I have for both candidates:

1) What role should the President and/or the Cabinet play in the promotion of the Club and in its recruitment efforts? Is this better left to the individual members to do as they see fit or should we have a Club-sponsored approach to the effort?

2) [The wording of this question was difficult – hopefully I didn’t butcher it] We live in a different world than existed in 1997. I have always found the Club to be a very welcoming and accepting place where all are welcome. Yet the Club has no official declaration of the fact that we do not condone any sort of racism or prejudice and will not tolerate any member, ever, using our boards in any way to promote any hurtful or hate-filled messages. Our use of the Confederate flag is to both honor our ancestors [for us southerners] and because it is a relic of the period we portray. We do not display it as a symbol of intimidation or hate. The Blitz Wargaming Club has a very blunt message on their site that they do not tolerate any racist remarks or actions by their members using the forum. Do you think it is time the ACWGC state officially what we have always taken for granted? That all are welcome and while we do portray a historical period many find uncomfortable and painful to remember that we are a group of online gamers who treat others with only courtesy and respect.

3) If you could accomplish one major goal while President what would it be?

4) What is the best non-war movie you have seen?

5) If you get “one final meal” what are you ordering?

Now for the specific questions for each candidate based on their earlier statements:

Walt:
1) Your second point seems to be directly attempting to get the Cabinet involved in the monthly mustering of officers on both sides of the Club. Is this not better left to the individual CoA’s? How could a collaboration of Cabinet Members improve mustering practices when it is, I think, better left to the CoA’s? Monitoring and mentoring are, again, the roles of the CoA and his chosen subordinates. How do you see the Cabinet improving those aspects without invading the “states rights” of the two sides?

2) I was confused by point 4. I believe you mean that you feel there should be a Club-wide, Cabinet-sponsored, guidebook to how to be a Club Member and what things each member should know, right? Again, isn’t that the role of UMA and VMI? Part of each school should be to educate new recruits on the basics of Club Membership. VMI has numerous tutorials on these issues and ideas always on our website and in the CSA-only forum. I imagine UMA does as well. How can this be improved upon then by a Cabinet committee?

David:
1) I think there are two types of ways to be president – you can let the Club bring issues to you and then work with the Cabinet to address the proposals and concerns that come to you. Or, you can take the reins and try to lead the Club in a certain direction and see if the members fall in line behind you. Either way has its advantages and disadvantages. Do you favor one style over the other or do you have a different philosophy in mind for the role?

2) Walt seems to be favoring a much more “hand-on” approach to the role of President than we have had in a while. Do you have any opinion on the role of the Cabinet in the recruitment or retention of members or is this better left to the CoA’s as the leaders of their individual sides?

Thanks to both candidates for reading all this and for the answers I trust both will give. I wish both the very best of luck and appreciate them running for one of the most thankless and time-consuming jobs in the Club!

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Gen. Blake Strickler
Confederate General-in-Chief
El Presidente 2010 - 2012

I'd like to offer my enthusiastic support for Walt Dortch as Club President. I'll touch briefly on just two of the areas that he has already proven his leadership value to our Club -- member Retention, and new member Recruitment.

1) Member Retention: It was my happy experience to have had Walt Dortch as my first Division and Corps Commander, and to get to know him as one of my first friends in the Club. Walt actively involved himself in mentoring me from day one as a new club member, patiently answering my myriad of questions, even organizing multiplayer games for me to participate in with him. Those things definitely fostered a sense of belonging and team camaraderie for me within the Club, and allowed me to quickly get to know other members on both sides. Walt has the creativity and skill sets to increase those kinds of activities and renewed interest across all layers of our Club.

2) Member Recruitment: What I’ve come to appreciate so much about Walt is that he not only sees potential areas of improvement in our Club, but immediately plunges in with creative and effective solutions to solve them. He saw two years ago how our attrition rate in the Club was outstripping our recruiting efforts, leading our membership numbers into an alarming death spiral. He became the genesis behind the “ad hoc” recruiting effort to reverse that decline. What Walt modestly calls a “low key” effort actually produced one of the largest influxes of new recruits we’ve seen in the Club – on both USA and CSA sides of our Club. For example, in the past four years, the Union never saw more than 6-7 new recruits walk through the doors of UMA, and almost no returning officers. This year – largely due to the efforts of the ad hoc team Walt formed and led – the UMA has already graduated 20 new officers, as well as welcoming back 11 returning officers. Nick Kunz reports a similarly dramatic increase over at VMI – all attributable to Walt’s unflagging efforts and leadership.

It’s awesome to two outstanding leaders like General David Mallory and General Walt Dortch willing to lead our club for the next term. I’m throwing my support (for what it’s worth behind Walt, but either way our Club wins. Great time to be in ACWGC! <SALUTE>

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General Scott Eichelberger, ACWGC
Commander, 1/1/I/AotP
"The Iron Brigade"
UMA Superintendent 2020-2021
Union Cabinet Secretary 2020-2022

El Capitan Blake <salute>

My answers to your questions are shown it italicized text.

1) What role should the President and/or the Cabinet play in the promotion of the Club and in its recruitment efforts? Is this better left to the individual members to do as they see fit or should we have a Club-sponsored approach to the effort?

To start with, I think the Cabinet should play a day-to-day role in promoting the Club, monitoring membership trends and data about new applicants, encouraging and supporting efforts to increase membership satisfaction (such as tournaments) and among other things providing prompt responses to recommendations for promotion and so on. The composition of the Cabinet makes it a natural place to consider ideas for improving the Club or dealing with issues in a collegial way that may brought to it in various ways, including proposals made by members of the Cabinet itself (President included), recommendations from Line Officers, and of course members. I strongly believe that the Cabinet should not simply wait in the office for proposals to arrive but get out and “walk the virtual streets” of the beat. I believe, too, that Rule 3.3.1.2 does not establish a ceiling for the work the Cabinet can take or should take but a floor. Does this mean the Cabinet assumes authority it does not have or force its way into the Army HQ’s? No. In the case of the recruiting matter, the need to consider it came up years ago and there was great and thoughtful dialogue in the Forums twice about its importance but nothing happened. In my opinion the Cabinet should have taken action to deal with this issue including the President bringing a proposal to the Cabinet to address it.

2) [The wording of this question was difficult – hopefully I didn’t butcher it] We live in a different world than existed in 1997. I have always found the Club to be a very welcoming and accepting place where all are welcome. Yet the Club has no official declaration of the fact that we do not condone any sort of racism or prejudice and will not tolerate any member, ever, using our boards in any way to promote any hurtful or hate-filled messages. Our use of the Confederate flag is to both honor our ancestors [for us southerners] and because it is a relic of the period we portray. We do not display it as a symbol of intimidation or hate. The Blitz Wargaming Club has a very blunt message on their site that they do not tolerate any racist remarks or actions by their members using the forum. Do you think it is time the ACWGC state officially what we have always taken for granted? That all are welcome and while we do portray a historical period many find uncomfortable and painful to remember that we are a group of online gamers who treat others with only courtesy and respect.

The short answer is yes. There is some language that gets to this in various places in the rules, in the Forum headers and in the Club Philosophy Paragraph that used to be on the home page. But that language is not emphatically clear nor is it front and center. ACW Talk has a similar declaration as you describe for the Blitz. I think a short and clear declaration that the Club is a place for gamers and historical discussion related to the military aspects of the ACW is what the ACWGC all about and should also include a statement such as yours that the Club will not “condone any sort of racism or prejudice and will not tolerate any member, ever, using our boards in any way to promote any hurtful or hate-filled messages.” This declaration should be displayed on the Website Homepage. A good place to for this to land would be right under the “How to Apply” button on the homepage.

3) If you could accomplish one major goal while President what would it be?

Increase club membership by 200 new members by January 2023.

4) What is the best non-war movie you have seen?

To Kill a Mockingbird

5) If you get “one final meal” what are you ordering?

Fresh caught ling cod, right out of the pot Pacific prawns, couple of oyster shooters and several ice-cold gin and tonics.

Now for the specific questions for each candidate based on their earlier statements:

Walt:
1) Your second point seems to be directly attempting to get the Cabinet involved in the monthly mustering of officers on both sides of the Club. Is this not better left to the individual CoA’s? How could a collaboration of Cabinet Members improve mustering practices when it is, I think, better left to the CoA’s? Monitoring and mentoring are, again, the roles of the CoA and his chosen subordinates. How do you see the Cabinet improving those aspects without invading the “states rights” of the two sides?

Well first and foremost, I have no interest in turf wars nor to implant the Cabinet in matters which are clearly side specific. The Club rules state that the COA’s call the shots with respect to military matters. In my mind there is no question that army management, organization, assignment of Officers to Line positions and such is CoA all the way. Muster is a good example however, where that demarcation is not so clearcut and should not be. The rules (2.4) state that muster is required to maintain membership and should occur “not… less frequently than once per quarter.” My understanding is that the CSA side did not require any muster at all for several years and has recently reinstituted it. And in the process learned their paper strength was a lot higher than field strength. I am a strong supporter of monthly mustering for the very important purpose stated in the rule of knowing what membership trends are. There is more to it than that, however, which is to use that process to engage member regularly and encourage them to report on their gaming, satisfaction (or not) with how things are going in the Club, what could be improved (timely response to promotion recommendations is something I have seen now several times in responses I have received in V Corps muster responses) and other things. It is a great way to secure a lot of information that is important to the Club as a whole. So, I believe the Cabinet has a duty to take action when a Club rule is being violated (not simply for the sake of it but because of its practical implications) and further to collaborate with CoAs to make the process serve multiple Club purposes.

As to mentoring and monitoring, I think this is clearly part of army management. My take here is that the expectations of what this actually means should be added to the “Position Descriptions” in Section 3.1 of the Rules and a potential Line Officers’ commitment to fulfill that expectation be made part of his selection for line command. Again, this is a practical consideration that bears directly on the retention issue.

2) I was confused by point 4. I believe you mean that you feel there should be a Club-wide, Cabinet-sponsored, guidebook to how to be a Club Member and what things each member should know, right? Again, isn’t that the role of UMA and VMI? Part of each school should be to educate new recruits on the basics of Club Membership. VMI has numerous tutorials on these issues and ideas always on our website and in the CSA-only forum. I imagine UMA does as well. How can this be improved upon then by a Cabinet committee?

You are right. Yes, I think a Club “owner’s manual” that addresses non-side specific matters applicable to all members should be considered if for no other reason than its efficiency. Now maybe there is something side specific about how to self-promote, create an avatar, log onto the DOR and enter games but I am missing it if so. Surely this does not require a committee to produce a draft of such a manual. This is simply another practical matter that has nothing to do with “states rights” as you put it. Why should two guys have to deal with updating such a manual and training people on such subjects when it can be accomplished more efficiently and, by doing so allow more time be invested in side specific training? What this is all about is simply addressing the realities of a downsizing organization. When I started work for the Forest Service, every Ranger District had a Personnel Officer (PO) 10 years later there was 1 PO for each Forest, when I retired there as a PO officer zone established to serve multiple Forests in my Region. (21 Forests, nearly a 100 Ranger Districts). Personnel actions were being quickly and efficiently by this zone when I retired.

The primary point I want to make here is that the Cabinet is comprised of people whose overall duty is to support or taken action that will benefit the Club as a whole based on a demonstrated need to do so. And of course, that Cabinet has CoA members with a powerful veto power if the Cabinet gets too imperial. But if the actions or lack thereof by the CA or UA are contrary to the stated interests and welfare of the Club, the whole Cabinet needs to take action to address that, too. I know of no such need to do this presently.

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Walter A. Dortch
Commanding -/4/V AotP
UA Cabinet Secretary
UA Operations Officer
UA Wolverine Team Leader

Brig, Gen. Dortch, what are you thoughts concerning the subject of alternate identities; that is, one member registering in the club, secretly or not, with two or more different names and e-mail addresses?

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General Jos. C. Meyer, ACWGC
Union Army Chief of Staff
Commander, Army of the Shenandoah
Commander, Army of the Tennessee
(2011-2014 UA CoA/GinC)

I am concerned about the above answer.

In the short time I have been a member of ACWGC I have seen nothing that is offensive in a racial or other context. I have read all posts that have appeared since my membership commenced in addition to many earlier ones. If anything offensive had been posted then existing club rules have been sufficient to have either discouraged it in the first place or to have it removed after it was posted.
I am worried that should a statement be instigated as proposed it could be seen as aligning the ACWGC with the mobs that deface and destroy historical monuments who originally targeted Confederate monuments but have moved far beyond such structures. I believe that the issue of such a statement could inhibit honest debate and lead to the prohibition of any symbol that relates to the Confederacy. I have heard from members of this club that in their personal life they have had to remove such things as the Confederate flag from their own hones as it may give offence to some in addition to other instances where they have had to hide hide their identity because of any perceived allegation of racism because they are members of the CSA side of this club. In other forums I have heard of similar stories: you mention CWT Talk and I know of one new member there who had to remove books from the main part of her home because some visitors may have taken offence to their presence - that member has recently left CWT Talk because she was a person who described herself as not "confrontational nor controversial" and felt that truths could not be discussed openly. Indeed although she was someone who, as part of her job, informed people on various aspects of the Civil War, felt she was unable to openly discuss truths on that forum, And this was from a women who had an in-depth knowledge of the Gullah Geechee (a black people who I had never heard of before) and introduced me to who they were/are. A number of her posts were removed (censored) because they merely made mention of the name of a well-known protest group in connection with statue desecration and destruction as well as other posts that mentioned 'Uncle Remus' stories from her childhood.

I do not want to be aligned to any current PC movement and am concerned that such a prominent statement by the club may be pandering to those PC movements: existing rules seem more than sufficient to discourage offensive behaviour as I have seen no such thing in that regard. Such a statement as proposed may lead to any Confederate symbology being deemed as racist and requiring removal. I do not want such a thing to occur here.
It can occur as evidenced by HR7608https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/7608 where in section 442 it proposes:
"Notwithstanding any other provision of law or policy to the contrary, within 180 days of enactment of this Act, the National Park Service shall remove from display all physical Confederate commemorative works, such as statues, monuments, sculptures, memorials, and plaques".
In other words, any thing seen as having anything to do with the Confederacy will be removed.

On a personal note I thank Walt Dortch for being the one who bought the ACWGC to my attention and led to me joining this club. For that I am grateful as I have seen nothing but camaraderie and lighthearted banter and have enjoyed my time here because of same.

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Paul Swanson
Lieutenant-General
First Division
First Corps
Army of Northern Virginia

General Meyer <salute>!

While not explicit to the particular circumstance you describe, it appears to me that Rule 2.64 could be employed to expel a member who uses two profiles if his doing so has been found to be detrimental to the functioning and good order of the Club.

I can think of no justification that would defend a member's use of two active profiles simultaneously.

Best regards,

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Walter A. Dortch
Commanding -/4/V AotP
UA Cabinet Secretary
UA Operations Officer
UA Wolverine Team Leader

Thank you for your response, Brig. Gen. Dortch. Based upon your answer, do you think would it be acceptable for one individual to leave the club for any reason under one identity and then attempt to rejoin later under a different identity?

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General Jos. C. Meyer, ACWGC
Union Army Chief of Staff
Commander, Army of the Shenandoah
Commander, Army of the Tennessee
(2011-2014 UA CoA/GinC)

General Meyer <salute>

You asked this: "Based upon your answer, do you think it would it be acceptable for one individual to leave the club for any reason under one identity and then attempt to rejoin later under a different identity?"

My answer is yes and here's why.

Lets say I joined the Club 15 years ago as Walt Dortch when I was 30 and resigned 5 years ago because of real life issues. In the intervening 5 years being associated with anything Confederate has become a liability. I want to rejoin the Club but am not (unlike me presently) retired and/or otherwise in a position to not give a damn about who knows about or thinks about my associations with a Club like the ACWGC.

I just now "googled" walt dortch.

Here's a snip of what came up:



As you know, clicking on this particular link takes the viewer to the OOB for the AotP which could be then used to view other information , etc. If I were on the CSA side it could take the viewer straight away to a page which prominently displays the Confederate flag.

In my example, there are good reasons I may not want to have someone researching my background reach this destination.

So I rejoin the Club under an alias because of this real life situation we are presently in.

I must ask you sir what is the intent of your "line of questioning" to David and myself on this matter?

Respectfully,

_________________
Walter A. Dortch
Commanding -/4/V AotP
UA Cabinet Secretary
UA Operations Officer
UA Wolverine Team Leader

Walt,

I really appreciate your answer. I will confess that my name is not really Tex McSwain. I have a high profile job at a major university and there is no way that I would have joined this Club using my real name. Thus far I have met fantastic people and the facade I use is not a funny game for me but a professional necessity brought on by the times we currently live in. If any person, or persons, in this Club do not understand that we live in a vastly different world than we did even a year ago than they are, to be blunt, fools. I have many friends and colleagues of Color who would be genuinely hurt and appalled that I would dare to "join the Confederacy" even in a simple gaming Club. My students reaction would be equally as strong and vocal.

Because of the layers of security I have on my account I feel comfortable enough to join this Club, and others, using false names and emails. I do not believe I am a bad person but one who simply desires to relax, and game, in privacy.

Walt understands the times we live and I appreciate that. Further, he is defending the privacy of the Club's Members which is an issue I take extremely seriously, as all of you should as well. It might have been less risky for me to join the Union side but I have always appreciated the challenge of playing as the outnumbered Confederates and so chose that side. Part of me regrets that decision but it has led to me meeting some very fine friends in the CSA.

If my resignation is requested it will be given and I will continue in the other online gaming clubs where one's identity, be it true or not, is not investigated.

_________________
LtC Thomas "Tex" McSwain
Kansas Raiders

I think that is totally out of question.
The point brought up was about persons joining the club with more than one identity and this likely on both sides, in my opinion this is some sort of cheating as the person gets access to areas he shouldn't have.

_________________
Lieutenant General Christian Hecht
Commander I Corps, Army of the Potomac

"Where to stop? I don't know. At Hell, I expect."

"I must ask you sir what is the intent of your "line of questioning" to David and myself on this matter?"

These are frank, open questions delivered to explore each candidate's mind set. I have other questions coming later.

_________________
General Jos. C. Meyer, ACWGC
Union Army Chief of Staff
Commander, Army of the Shenandoah
Commander, Army of the Tennessee
(2011-2014 UA CoA/GinC)

I'm very sorry to see that people are discriminated against because of some virtual association with the CSA: ridiculous PC nonsense. [I do, however, appreciate that there are real world consequences and that is sad.]

I see no need for the ACWGC to have anything to do with it. No need for the club to make any statement that may be seen as aligning us with any particular side in that debate that seems to result in the desecration of of numerous statues and monuments which had progressed beyond those related to the Confederacy [although confederate ones remain as the primary target).

The focus of the ACWGC should be on wargaming rather than pandering to any contemporary movement, I shall soon be in possession in of titles other than the one I currently own (Campaign Shenandoah) and will be seeking opponents as there is my need in the wargaming world to stop the violators of southern homes and firesides.

_________________
Paul Swanson
Lieutenant-General
First Division
First Corps
Army of Northern Virginia

Lt. Col. Swanson<salute>

Thanks for you very thoughtful replies. In many ways your messages sum up the political and cultural dilemmas we face today.

You state in your first post: “I do not want to be aligned to any current PC movement and am concerned that such a prominent statement by the club may be pandering to those PC movements.”

I agree, and what I missed in my suggested wording for a disclaimer is that the Club will tolerate no politically motivated posts or language related to past or present politics. I think the disclaimers seen on many pages these days have arisen because of current left vs. right political issues. Our situation is perhaps more complicated because we are individually and collectively forced to deal with both present political issues (such as reflected in HR 7608 quotation) and with past political issues associated with the American Civil War that can quickly become red hot. Our club must honor and acknowledge history without seeming to promote or condone racism or slavery. This is a delicate balance.

Our website is the first point of contact or exposure for people who may be interested in the Civil War for any number of reasons including “political trollers” looking for fodder for today’s political warfare. These individuals can, of course, come from the left or the right.

I believe an open and up-front disclaimer displayed “over the door” so to speak that racists and political agitators are not welcome in our Club is an important message to convey when such people think about knocking on our door.

I believe that a plain-spoken statement of the clubs apolitical and anti-racist nature will deflect any potential future criticism of our continued use of confederate flags and other symbols. Without such a disclaimer, we are perhaps open to public censure over the purely historic graphics that we use. I will always support the right of Club members on both sides of the MDL to continue using historical flags, symbols, etc. without fear of repercussions within the Club.

_________________
Walter A. Dortch
Commanding -/4/V AotP
UA Cabinet Secretary
UA Operations Officer
UA Wolverine Team Leader