With all the attention given to the Army these days thanks to the HSC and the Squad Features done by my colleague I felt the need to put some of our top Navy Commanders. First on the docket is 1st Lieutenant Trevor Evenson, Squadron Commander of Nazgul Squadron. Welcome Trevor.

Howdy.

First off, the Navy has seen a burst of activity in the past couple months mainly due to an influx of new recruits, a number of returning veterans and the recent squadron realignment. Do you have any predictions as to how the activity levels will look over the next several months?

I feel that over the next few months we should see a slight rise in activity. The recruits we have coming in are great, and if we can find ways to keep them active and interested in the organization, they’ll definitely stick around and continue to be active. The squadron re-alignment definitely was a bit of a curve ball, as in some cases it took away good team work, but in other cases it gave the opportunity for better teamwork and increased activity because of it.

We’ll probably see the regular dip in activity as the holidays approach and people start to spend more time with fmaily and friends, but as a group we’ve come to expect this and can compensate for it by finding new ways to provide interest in writing through the holidays.

You mention keeping the new recruits active. With “burnouts” a common phenomenon in the VEN, are there any specific steps you take to avoid this in your squadron? Is there any advice you can give the new pilots on this matter?

Personally, I try to avoid pilot burnouts by not pushing too hard for a new post from every pilot, day after day. I do encourage longer posts, but at the same time I don’t force them out of my pilots. As for advice, I’d definitely say that they should try to make their posts enjoyable to do, and not a chore. I’ve been told that many times myself when I’ve felt burnt out, and sometimes changing your attitude towards a post or a story in general can make posting on it much easier. If you find that you’re wanting to post but can’t seem to muster one, take a break and read a good book, or try listening to music that relates to what you’re writing. something up-beat for an action-packed post, something a little calmer for character development. Music can work wonders with the mind.

Any particular music choices you turn to for such inspiration?

When I’m writing a post that’s climatic or action packed, I tend to listen to rock bands like ACDC or Twisted Sister. Whatever I can find that’s got good guitar and can get me pumped to write.

You will be coming up on two and half years of service in a couple weeks, what would you say your greatest achievement would be thus far in your time as a pilot?Well, I personally think that my greatest achievement within my two-odd years here have been the Top Writer awards in the ESC, although working my way up to Nazgul commander and remaining in that squadron my entire career has been pretty fulfilling too.

With the position of Squadron Commander under your belt, what would your ideal position be in the Navy?

My ideal position in the Navy, well, that’s probably right where I am. I feel that i can accomplish a lot as Nazgul SC, and personally I love being able to write as much as I can when I’m in a squadron. I might be able to help out in other areas or positions in the Navy, but my heart is at the squadron level.

Alright almost done now, it obviously took some hard work to get where you are today. What advice can you pass on to those recruits looking to climb the position ladder?

The only thing I can say there is do your best and try to have consitant activity. Although a burst of posting and other activity over a few days looks really good, It’s not nessicarily going to help your chances of moving forward if you can’t sustain that kind of activity for long periods of time. Work at making quality posts, not a huge quanitity of them. My experiance has taught me that a commander will pay more attention to a two page post with no spelling errors then he or she will to a post that’s five pages long but filled with spelling and grammatical errors.

Thank you for your time, Trevor. One final question. With all the initial excitement of the squadron realignment, things were changing and moving along quite quickly. Now that that things have calmed down a bit, do you find yourself missing your old executive officer?In all honesty, I kind of have. He was a good man to have around and handle things for me when life got too busy to be doing the things I needed to be doing in the Navy. I see him doing a good job with Viper now though, and wish him the best for his future career in the VEN.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for another feature on another of your favourite commanders in the near future.