As many of you are aware, I have spent the last year and a half trying to gain entrance to the United States Army Officer Corps as an Intelligence Officer. At times it seemed that I would never get in, or that it would take an eternity to finally finish processing an endless series of forms and waivers. During this time I have continued working a variety of low-paying civilian jobs, supporting Driftwood Publishing, and staying heavily involved in the Association for Renaissance Martial arts as a student, researcher, and instructor.

A short time ago my paperwork finally processed and I made it to boards for consideration. Knowing that nothing is a sure thing I waited until a contract was on the table before making this knowledge generally available. That day was last Monday, July 12, 2004. At 2:45pm (hereafter 1445, heh) I signed that contract and was sworn in as a Cadet/Officer Candidate in the US Army. This is an exciting time for me, as at the age of 26 I’m finally moving in the career direction that I have long desired, but seemed to find constantly unattainable. As with all silver linings, however, there is also a cloud.

It was requested that I report for training on August 2, a month prior to my stated availability date, as the Army has a tendency to do. I objected on grounds of important prior commitments (ARMA seminars to be taught, Gen Con for promoting The Flower of Battle, which itself would be completed in the early weeks of August, and a family vacation, to name a few), and an alternate shipping date in late October was offered. After some deliberation with my own multiple personalities and those of my family, I decided that four months of relative unemployment could not be justified by these other hobby-based projects. I chose August 2, only three weeks away.

In my remaining civilian days this month I will be moving, preparing Driftwood Publishing for a 6 to 18 month hiatus, and completing a few promised articles for the ARMA, in addition to spending a few uninterrupted days with my incomparable wife.

What does this mean for The Flower of Battle, specifically?
We are currently preparing a sort of trial/playtest version of the book, rough, mostly unedited, and somewhat incomplete, which will either be posted as HTML on a “TFOB Project” page at www.theriddleofsteel.net, which itself will continue to run (albeit without regular updates) during my absence. Other incomplete projects will also be made available in a like format. The plan is to re-work and complete all of these projects in the future, when real life isn’t interrupting my hobby life to the same degree. Due to the amount of time required from a young lieutenant, however, things will probably not be getting faster any time soon.

I know that this is contrary to previous announcements only last month that TFOB would be out for Gen Con. This is the downside. The upside, for TFOB and you, is that everyone will get to pick what we’ve done apart as ruthlessly as I know you can, which will result in a tremendous final product. And for now, it’s free.

This also means that reaching me by PM or email starting Wednesday of next week is futile. I will be incommunicado. Sorry. Brian will still be around to answer questions. Customer service issues need to be sent to woody@tundra-sales-org.com. Thanks so much for understanding at this time.

Jake

Good luck, Jake, and try to have fun with it. Next few weeks are going to sorta suck, but I know you're the type that'll handle it just fine.

Actually I'm betting that you'll be back in the swing of publishing on the short end of that range, given your dedication to things. So see you soon. :-)

And, oh yeah, git Bin Laden for us while you're out there!

Mike

Ouch, just read this

Well, good luck with things you shall be missed!

When should TFoB be up for review? What will be the best way to provide feedback, straight through this forum? I'm afraid messages might get buried.

-Bracken

I'll be "vacationing" for about 4 days or so in Chicago, during which I'll actually have time to put together the webpage and an email address specifically for TFOB feedback. Anything that I can get done in that time will be available. The rest, well...

Jake

Good luck Jake! Too bad you can't be at GenCon...

Congrats Jake. Best of luck in making it thru OCS.

Hope to hear updates on where and what you are doing.

Best of luck Jake.

That's it.

We won't hear from Jake in any serious way for the next six months at least and thereafter only in fits and starts for the next year or so at least. The road to becomming a competent officer is a long and hard one involving many sleepless nights and many more with only four hours of sleep. And where Jake is going, it's best not to ask him what he's doing, as all his e-mails and correspondence shall be monitored.

So Jake, keep your head up and arse down, look both ways before crossing the street and try to swing an M1911 (instead of an M9) as a side arm, if at all possible. Oh! I almost forgot, Dolchfechten and knife fighting are eerily similar... :D

Best wishes, Jake!

Oh, and you're 26? Urrgh...

Congrats Jake, and good luck for the future!

good luck with your career :)

It takes a great deal of courage and character to sign up in the Army during a war with no projected end. I admired your cleverness and knowledge before. Now I admire your real life Spiritual Attributes.

Good luck. God watch over you. Study hard.

Gene Ha

Gaah. Just 26 y.o.!

Good luck, Jake. I'm glad you have achieved a goal that is important to you.

Rock on.

I'm happy for you Jake, though it is a bit of a disappointment for RPG fans in general, more specificaly TROS fans.

Too bad you blew those millions you made from TROS! (wheres my smiley face moticon when I need it?).

best of luck

Safe Journey my friend, and may peace be with you.


-Claymore

Thanks for all the best wishes and congrats, guys. It does mean something, and I see you guys as a sort of (really broadly) extended family.

And how old did you think I was?

Jake

Jake Norwood wrote: Thanks for all the best wishes and congrats, guys. It does mean something, and I see you guys as a sort of (really broadly) extended family.

And how old did you think I was?

Jake

Best wishes and stay safe Jake.

Good luck. Maybe Army Intelligence will actually have some intelligence in it now!

And FWIW, I thought you were closer to my own age, early 30s or thereabouts.

Good Luck! The Army is what you make of it. Take care and God Bless.

Best wishes, Jake. Your balanced priorities are a welcome influence.

Best of luck man!

Best of luck, Jake!

Holy crow! I just saw this thread....

I never even knew you were interested in the military Jake! Congratulations on getting accepted! Good luck with it! You be careful and make us all proud!

Ah hell, we're all proud of you anyway! Lookit you, being all that you can be!

Take care of yourself - we're all counting on your safe return!

Brandon

Congrats and Luck!

Good luck Jake

DB

Congratulations and Good Luck!

Congratulations and best wishes to you Jake. I know you'll go far as it is quite apparent to me that you pursue excellence in everything you do.

Take care.

Well, at least I'll have a chance to gripe about apostrophes.

Keep your head down, yank. Good luck.

Vagabond Elf wrote: Well, at least I'll have a chance to gripe about apostrophes.

Keep your head down, yank. Good luck.

Jake Norwood wrote: And how old did you think I was?

Best of luck to you and I wanted to let you know you've created a roleplaying game that many of us have been waiting for for years. Unfortunately you probably won't get much time to play it. I'm just about to finish up four years in the Marine Corps, and I've gamed about a dozen times during that period, if that. The last few were TROS. ;-)

Maybe I'll run into you somewhere down the line. I intend on returning to college when my enlistment is up, and then on to Veterinary Med School and hopefully on to the Army Veterinarian Corps.

Hopefully, between raising my son, keeping my wife happy, working, and returning to college I'll find time to enjoy seeking the riddle.

Also, I thought you were older as well. It kind of shocked me to find out you were 26. That's only a year older than me. Your age will definitely help you in the military. I was 21 when I went to Parris Island, and the three years I had on most of the guys in my platoon helped me in many ways. You'll have about the same age gap between you and most of the guys in your OCS class.

Semper Fi

Silentounce