Gents,
As Mark has noted I have stepped down from the Cabinet after almost 6 years of service. The reasons are numerous both Club and non-Club related, but I wish not to focus on that.
I’d like to take the time to acknowledge and thank a bunch of people whom I have worked with over my 6 years on the Cabinet & 9 years in the Club. People who have supported what I was hoping to do in my tenure and that was mainly to add all the new non-John Tillers games to the Club and expand the armies available for members to join. I accomplished both those side by side with the help of the other Cabinet members. This past year made it evident to me that it was time to pass along the responsibilities of growth and involvement in the Club to a younger (membership wise) generation of Club leaders. The Club is filled with many great new people and personalities that make it dynamic and fun, with many folks willing to step up and lend a hand, which is great. There were times when we were desperate for that. I will enjoy watching the Club develop under these new officers and will support all efforts to continue to make the Club better.
Now for the thank you session…
First and Foremost to John Corbin for appointing me to the Cabinet, I have always been grateful to John for this, but even more so for his leadership and tenure as Club President, bringing a lot of stability to the Club and growth. A lot was accomplished in that time to better the Club and what we did.
To the other Cabinet members I have served with over the years, specifically Gary McClellan for his unparalleled support of my ideas and thoughts during the time he was Coalition CiC, Yann Lamezec during his time as French CiC, who always offered a cautious counter balance to my ideas, Chuck Jenesen for his more recent time as French CiC, for supporting my ideas of expansion of the games we play and offering up critique to help better the scoring involved in that, asking critical questions that helped balance the focus of discussion on a variety of topics and for his support to my accommodation requests for when I closed down the iNWC and mass mailed the members to come join the NWC. You are a good man Chuck and I appreciate it, even if we did bump heads a few times. I am glad we are both having a better year now.
Mark Jones whom despite my own desires, I backed for Club President last year, which it is good to pass off leadership to a new generation. Eugene Gulyaev for his views from another side of the Club. The others and the Army Commanders for the work they perform as well.For other members like Phil Roubuad, the first person I ever met when I joined the AAA those 9 years ago, he was my trainer and Commandant of the RMA at the time. He, Gary McClellan, Jim Pfluecke and I have had a lot of laughs poking fun at each other in the great Prussia vs Austria debates..
You guys are great fellows and good friends.To Dominik Derwiński and Geert van Uythoven who managed the Club records for their respective times in the Club. I helped manage for a few months in the in between time, I’ve managed records elsewhere, the Club would not be functional or happen without your dedication, time and long hours spent creating the spreadsheet and systems. You guys are top notch!
My opponents whom many I have gamed with for many years, especially for my constant opponents and good friends Pete Russo, Roy Purcell, Al Kling, Devon Hill, but also to John Corbin, Dierk Walter, Cliff Seeney, Thomas Borling, Jim Hall, Andy Moss, Jeff Bardon, Paul Wakeman, Jim Dobbins to name a few…
To some of my good friends in the French Army, that were not opponents but I have had the privilege to work with or get to know over the years, Sam Dodson, Mike Haley, Jon Thayer, Rich Hamilton, Pete Dawson, Ernie Sands , Michael Hoedl, Tony Malone, George Meyer, Hakan Han, Robert Noftz, Dean Beecham, Andrew Shore, Colin Knox, Stewart Stiles, Mark Oakford who are all still active. To those retired ones Rick Motko, Raymond Bursch, Maurizio Raiola, Christian Rizo, Andrea Rossi, Stuart Wilson and my good friend who is no longer on this earth Armando Russo.
With the Coalition folks like Anton Kosyanenko, Alexandr Zaytsev, Antony Barlow, Tom Phillips, Al Amos, Maarten Roggeveen, Ed Blackburn, Juergen Kraut, Sellick Davies, Chas Dewar, Daniel Armenta, Patrick McCarthy, Mark Nelms, Rich White, Ken Jones, Dale Lastowicka, Roland Lenzi, Klaus Kuhlmann, Scott Clawson who are still active. Those who are not include Eugene Renna, Jon Graswich, Colin Riley, Peter Ewer, Glyn Hargreaves.
New guys making a difference like Todd Schmidgall, Stephane Lelievre, Andreu Olmo, Warren Bajan, Christophe Sarazin, Bill Cann, Vincent Maddis and Mike Peccolo.
To all other members of the Club, I thank you for your time and service, without it, the Club would not be as nearly what it has become.
So that leaves us with two places, Austrian and my beloved Prussia, both very dear to my heart and mean more to me than anything. These are my guys and my home, these fellahs are what I do this for, the pride I take in the work I do. It is worth it for even just them alone, beyond the Club at large. I have come to appreciate each and every one of you!
To the line officers - Martin Huschka, Kirk Hutzel, Michael Fredel, Bill Drakert, Steve Real, Rustem Riza, Mark Crawford, Zach Bogue, Dani Cohen, Harold Lajoie, Thomas Whitfield, Mike Petro, Sergio Doncel, Liviu Dudas for Prussia.
For Austria - Pete Keller, Andreas Kyriakou, Stefano Ciampoli, Bohdan Remeta, Clay Shurts, Clint Hill.
For Sweden - Set Karlsson
To the senior commanders in Prussia - Ludwig Schmidt, Ian Hames, Robert Caldwell and in Austria – Joe Alberti and Jeff McDonald.
To my very close and personal friends Cela Noftz, Walt Moehle, Bill Peters, David Stotsenburgh, Oliver Kreuels, Alan Hartwick, Phil Chimara, Garret Fitzgerald, Jerry Butley, Richy Duggan and Steve Kitchen (from the AAA) as well as many I list in other places on this post. You guys have made these years thoroughly enjoyable!
To the Grandfather's of Prussia: Andreas Naujoks, Simone Tombesi, Michael Wolf Gjerde, Rob Hamper, Bram Steijn, Brett Schulte, Sam Orlando, Dallas Gavan and Iain Thompson.
Finally last but certainly not least to our Beloved and Great Generalfeldmarschall, Stefan Reuter, GroßPrinz von Wahlstadt, my superior and good friend, who has allowed me for close to 8 years take my imagination and what I thought Prussia could be and make it happen. Standing with me 100%, I have always been grateful for your support. You set the tone early in your career with Prussia, it is marked in the Prussian Dispatches over the years, and I only chose to follow it. The best thing I ever did was switch to Prussia after being in the Club just nine months at the time.
I fully support my friend Andy Moss’ appointment to my old position and I could think of no one better for it. I advertised the heck out of the Club over the years and will continue to do so, but Andy has the ability to tap new members by playing them in different venues, that is a great thing and he has brought so many people here because of it. I will support him to the fullest!
So that is it! Thank you everyone, it is a great place to be. I will now assume a quieter role, slowly stepping back and see all the great new ideas that folks have and fun unravel before us all.
Drinks for the whole Club on me!
