An initiative to fight content theft

You may have heard about it but not known what it was all about. Its quite simple really, C.A.D.U.S.C. serves as an informative shield against content theft. Its main purpose is to create awareness and warn member militaries against threats and copybotters.

Titus Valerian: So what exactly is C.A.D.U.S.C.?

Lurdan Huszar: C.A.D.U.S.C. is the Coalition Against the Distribution and Use of Stolen Content. It’s an initiative that was launched by the Iron Symphony about six months ago to directly combat content theft within the means available to members of the community. When a serious case of content theft is reported by one of the participating groups, we arrange a meeting that’ll occur usually within the week of the incident to discuss the issue. We’ll take a look at what sort of evidence we have and decide what sort of action is necessary and appropriate to take. What’ll often end up happening is that we’ll determine who the offender is, we’ll send abuse reports in and then ensure that both the individual responsible for the theft and the content in question is banned from the territory of all member factions. We’ll also ban/report distributors in addition to those who actually copybot or leak the content.

Titus Valerian: So who is part of C.A.D.U.S.C. and whom may join this project?

Lurdan Huszar: At the moment, the Merczateers, Ordo Imperalis, Phoenix Embers, Vox Aeron, Proxima, Aurora and New Jessie are members. Any group in good standing can join, and we hope that as many groups as possible do join, because the effect of being banned from multiple combat sims obviously becomes more deincentivizing as it slowly grows towards a potential ban from the entire community for involving yourself in content theft.

Titus Valerian: Has C.A.D.U.S.C. proven its efficiency so far?

Lurdan Huszar: Thankfully we haven’t had to meet often, but when we do, I know that the right decisions are made and that it’s a step towards a community where content theft is rarely an issue. It also sends a message to potential content thieves that the community won’t just sit complacent when an act of theft occurs.

Titus Valerian: Thank you Lurdan, is there anything else you would like our readers to know?

Lurdan Huszar: Yeah, if you’re a military leader and you’re not involved in C.A.D.U.S.C. yet, there’s no reason not to be. Our ultimate goal with the initiative is to have the entire community involved, which would no doubt make any content thief seriously think twice before he decides to steal something. That’s something everyone will benefit from. Just drop myself or Anthony Lehane an IM anytime and we’ll get your group all set up.

Titus Valerian: Thank you Lurdan.

________________________________________

From the C.A.D.U.S.C. Protocol & Obligation Charter:

A. Introduction

- C.A.D.U.S.C. represents a shared effort by community leaders to defend and work against the use of copybotting and the distribution of stolen content. Member groups of C.A.D.U.S.C. will not allow the use of stolen content in their simulators with no exceptions.

- Known content offenders (theives and distributors alike) will be barred from accessing sims under ownership of C.A.D.U.S.C. members, effectively deincentivizing content theft for the average SL military member. C.A.D.U.S.C. militaries will engage in meetings and use group notices to establish known content offenders and stay on the same page in regards to current threats in our community.

- C.A.D.U.S.C. members acknowledge their efforts do not completely wipe content theft off the face of the grid, but we must do what we can to protect our work and our community.

- C.A.D.U.S.C. is an Iron Symphony initiative, however any and all militaries are invited to take part in C.A.D.U.S.C. and all it has to offer.

B. Protocols & Obligations

- Meetings will be held in response to content theft complaints. The meetings will be announced ahead of time, and may be adjusted to fit everyone’s schedule.

- Whenever significant content theft appears in our community, a C.A.D.U.S.C. meeting will be held. All issues are handled on a case by case basis, and the participants at the C.A.D.U.S.C. will decide what action will be taken.

- When content theft threatens a C.A.D.U.S.C. military member, they may send a notice in the C.A.D.U.S.C. group detailing the offense, with a notecard attached including evidence and proof. Member groups can then use the evidence and come to a decision of how the case will be handled in their own sim.

- The use of stolen content will not be tolerated in C.A.D.U.S.C. sims – If someone is using stolen content, they may not be a content offender, but they will be asked to remove the item and will be informed that it has been stolen. If they do not comply they will be banned.

I hope everyone will realize the importance of such projects, in order to stop the use and distribution of stolen content we need to work hand in hand to expose those who steal from our content creators.

- Titus Valerian

The Battle for Caine’s Seaside Villa

This is a lulz article and not to be taken seriously. The participants in this lulz event do not necessarily support anti-Furry beliefs. The individuals involved in this were not acting on behalf of their respective factions and the said factions will not be held responsible for anything that has been said or done.

Like a distress call I received a Teleport from Caine Constantine just as I was about to sip some Priman Champagne. I dropped my glass and found myself in Blake Diego, surrounded by Furries, Caine’s friends and Sturm Korps personnel. It is not clear what was going on but it is clear that Dark Svenska was brutally abused by furries whom even though they almost lost the battle managed to humiliate and traumatize Dark Svenska for the rest of his life.

I rezzed inside a house which, according to Caine Constantine was surrounded by Sturm Korps troops whom had locked him in his room and vowed to free his property of all furries. Mr Constantine as a respectable landowner and a lover of furries never asked them to take any such actions but as a prisoner there wasn’t much he could do other than to stare at his telephone bill.

Surprisingly, Bruno Ziskey had already popped out of a Chaos Portal to rescue Caine and the other hostages. What was the motive behind this act of generosity?

None as we soon found out! Bruno was a supporter of the Sturm Korps and had only infiltrated the house in order to kill all the furries inside!

In the mean time Dark Svenska had made huge progress and while planting Sturm Korps banners and eliminating the last of the furries he made an attempt to breach inside the house which was no longer controlled by his troops but rather by the Furry Protection Fund!

A well placed bomb destroyed one of the walls and made it possible for Dark Svenska and his troops to charge at the house! However inside a determined furry was ready to take them on…

Svenska was hit by a bottle of Jack Daniels and the said furry literally jumped on the occasion and raped Dark Svenska with her crotch, humiliating him for the rest of his life. Not only had he been raped by a furry but she was also female. That’s right, Dark Svenska was raped by a girl.

Very soon a second bomb detonated and those who were still alive fled! I managed to shortly interview both Svenska and Corsi:

Dark Svenska: i’m Dark Svenska bitch

Titus Valerian: Do you have anything to say to the furry protection fund?

Dark Svenska: Burn them all.

Dark Svenska: I believe in the Dark Gods

Dark Svenska shouts: VICTORY

Dark Svenska: SEIG HEIL!

Titus Valerian: What is your say on the matter of the furry god?

Dark Svenska shouts: SEIG HEIL

Dark Svenska shouts: SEIG HEIL

Titus Valerian: Someone suggested to me that you may have been abused by a furry when you were a child. Care to comment and tell me whether this is true or untrue?

Dark Svenska: WEll.

Dark Svenska: It all started when I was in a furry disguise in furnation with Pattehphox Katsu.

Dark Svenska: Pattehphox introduced me too the furrys and their ‘roman baths’

Titus Valerian: Any comment on what happened between you and Dark Svenska?

Corsi Mousehold: I DID NOT HAVE SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH THAT WOMAN

I soon found myself alone covered in SK blood and Furry hair thinking about what had just happened. It seems that while Svenska managed to burn a dozen furries at the stake with his Sturm Korps friends the furries scored a great victory by annihilating the SK troops, raping Dark Svenska and pillaging their U-Boot. Land owner Caine Constantine does not wish to be associated with what happened here today and would like to report that one of his garden dwarves was stolen during the battle. If you know where it is please dial 666JESSIE.

- Titus Valerian

[Guest Article] Where did we stray?

More than five years ago I came to SL and founded what was to become the grid’s first example of what we now know as the modern combat group. 

We found ourselves on the shores of a world over which we had no control.  The sandboxes were a harsh place for a group to grow up, especially in those days.  Every day was a slog through waves of griefers – real griefers with orbiters and shields, not just trolls with annoying gestures and tired memes – and the constant, unending attrition of our memberbase whether it be from the constant attacks or turncoat officers (those of you who remember the old group system know what problems I’m talking about).

The majority of the modern combat community has become spoiled with private islands, and their ability to completely control their home field.  There are so few of us left who remember the horrors of mainland warfare; the dangers of using civilian buildings as a backstop, the ever-present threat of safe land, inter-sim artillery strikes, your enemy having a secret outpost within a few sims of you (I of course refer here to ANTAC, which remained a closely guarded secret until the end of the Adscita Merczateers), and the fact that you could be attacked from anywhere without warning.  But, by far the most impactful aspect of mainland warfare was that guns were the only way to defend land.  Banning, in that era, did not stop objects from coming through and – aside from being tantamount to surrender – simply invited your enemy to sit on safe land and fire in.  Militaries had no choice but to defend their interests to the bitter end, the length of the attack completely at the mercy of the enemy’s schedule, and the only way to survive was to kill for the right to.  Those days saw many a group rise on a whim, and fall by the sword of another.

In no way am I suggesting that we should go back to the mainland, though its chaotic elements and grand scale did add a certain flavor to combat.

But what was it that made so many groups topple?  None of their members were really killed, and none of their vehicles were really destroyed.  The enemy could sweep over the gates, spawn camp you, rape your women, and then disappear without a trace.  A number of such crushing defeats could easily reduce a group to nothing, while not actually causing any quantifiable material damage.

We sought for a long time to find a term for this type of warfare.  In the end it is not the destruction of anything physical that kills a group, it is the destruction of its morale.  Because the human species has such a grand capacity for bouncing back from emotional blows (We were honorable, they cheated, they outnumbered us, etc), only the slow, brutal, and unending carnage of successive failed attacks and defenses can destroy a group in SL.  We dubbed this “Entropy Warfare”.

It is common knowledge now that only this kind of soul-crushing, eye-deadening emotional warfare can wreck a military in Second Life.  Taking their base is a small setback, as is pushing back their assault.  These things alone cannot bring a group to its knees, because at the end of a battle in SL nothing is truly gained outside of bragging rights for the winner, and maybe a bit of shame for the looser.

I look around the “community” today and I see weakness.

After reading the logs from one of The Anvil Coalition’s meetings posted in the Merczateer announcement my observations are proven to be well founded.  When asked to assault an enemy sim for even relatively short periods of time every day, numerous leaders among the Coalition suggested that it was “harrassment”.

As much of a scumbag as Christoph is, he is right.  You are military groups: you are here to fight for your survival.  TAC and the Iron Symphony are huge alliances with previously-unfathomable resources at their disposal, be it personnel or technology.  Most of the time, with some notable exceptions, they sit in their sims and twiddle their thumbs.  The waste I see should be a crime.

Militaries in Second Life today are much akin to the friendly professor who teaches your philosophy class.  All of his students love him, and will write him letters after they graduate to tell him how much he changed their lives.  But, he’ll never make department chairman because he’s not willing to kill for it.

Militaries today are not here for a challenge.  They are here to play single player in an MMO, where they always win.  Defenders have a natural advantage, as anyone who’s studied tactics will tell you, and in order to effectively assault a defended position you usually need three-to-one odds in your favor.  Todays rules are sculpted in order to compound the defender’s natural advantage exponentially.  Some sims even prohibit attackers from having a number advantage over the defenders (or they must stay within a certain ratio), defeating the thinking of military strategists for generations with the stoke of a key, essentially turning many sims into a shooting gallery for the defenders.  Even with all the odds stacked in their favor, some groups further impose time limits on attackers, shielding them from the possibility of battle fatigue.

Perhaps the greatest offender is the affectionately named banhammer, the extension and glorification of which is the “blockade”.  Ignoring the fact that the word is used completely incorrectly, blockades and bannings are the cancer that is killing SL combat.  You are here to play a game, and unless you’re still in kindergarden or a special-ed class where “everyone’s a winner!”, that game must have a loser.  Losing is part of games, and it happens to everyone eventually.  If you don’t like to lose, and no one really does, well…practice makes perfect.

- Mazer Ludd

Community Update (October 2010) / Polaris

Many things happened since the last community update, emerging militaries such as .Net and New Rome are now officially dead and old parties are rising from their ashes. As some of you may have heard Proteus Hand left the Merczateers and is bringing back his Norse themed Military, the Fabled of Arkhein. Dark Svenska, the old foe has been getting in an out of armies like a cock in and out of a cheap whore. Vanguard seems to be facing both internal and new external problems as voices within TAC grow louder and louder to have them kicked out. And at last but not least new armies are starting to pop up, one of those being Polaris.

- Ever Lasting

Another new military has come into view. Polaris, located in the simulator Snowflake, has recently begun materializing onto the grid’s military scene. Lead by 1ic Account Phenomena and 2ic Varthaer Darkmatter, they boast their own weaponry and already completed armour. I teleported in to Snowflake to talk to the Emperess herself.

Arc Vyper: Alright, so I just have some questions to ask about your military. Firstly, what are the main goals and themes of Polaris?

Account Phenomena: Uhm, honestly: To become one of the main big armies, without being douchey and braggy, and such.

Arc Vyper: Could you tell me a little bit about Polaris in general and why you chose to start it?

Account Phenomena: Well, Polaris was created, under the priniple, of a long living army, that, as I said earlier, will not become overwhelmed in power.

Arc Vyper:  Do you guys have a set theme for Polaris, like futuristic or another universe?

Account Phenomena: Modern, but Developing. Post Nuke.

Arc Vyper: Do you guys plan on joining any alliance groups, or military like-mindeds such as TAC or the IS, when you open?

Account Phenomena: No.

Arc Vyper: Before I go, I have two more questions that I would like to ask. Does the sim have any set goals you have to acheive in order to claim victory?

Account Phenomena: Yes, capture all 5 flags for 1 minute.

Arc Vyper: Nice. Do you guys have any set date when you plan on opening?

Account Phenomena: 2 weeks from today.

As stated by Account, Polaris plans on opening in a very short time. Their sim (shown below) is looking almost complete, and will no doubht be finished by her announced opening time. Mark your calendars, gentlemen.

- Arc Vyper

The Battlefield Gazette needs you!

Lately there has been a drop in interest from our reporters to write for the Battlefield Gazette which resulted in less frequent publications and perhaps a drop in journalistic quality. This is why we need your help! If you would like to write on a permanent, semi-permanent or occasional basis just drop Titus Valerian an IM inworld. We’re counting on your help to make this the publication YOU want!

The Battlefield Gazette will always be around but now its your turn to make it better. I’m on a hunt, and today I’m looking for keen journalists, reporters and Lulzers. And as Moby said… I’m gone find my baby… Woooh! Before that sun goes down!

Furries & the Community

Disclaimer: The Editor loves furries, the opinions expressed by an outsider within this article are not necessarily shared by the Battlefield Gazette staff or the Editor. Thank you!

Lets take a look at this fascinating group of individuals.  As we’ve seen since their introduction to second life, furries have invited themselves to literally everywhere on second life, and are accepted members of, at least this community.  So lets take a minute, to look back, and see how the world views the teeming masses of human animal hybrids.  Currently, as many of you know, furries have a staggering population, of what would be genetically improbable, or even impossible beings living among humans.  In the military, this population seems to have been accepted among us, as brothers in arms, and as friendly foes.

What then of other communities?  Does the rest of the metaverse view these bizarre creatures as comrades as well?  I went to find out, and to explore, this puzzling question.  My first stop, was in a predominantly human group, often criticized for their low tech devices, and poor attitudes towards women.  I’m speaking of course about the combat, and sexually charged environment of gor.  So, I asked a gorian I saw their thoughts on these human animal hybrids.  Though, to my dismay, I hardly got much of an appropriate answer.  The person I asked seemed to think me insane, declaring no such thing could exist.  Perhaps this was just one place the furries were unwilling to venture to.  A few steps into such a place, and I could hardly have blamed them.  So I moved on, to try another community, from the backwards society of gor, to the fast paced, and combative world of role play.  On my early arrival I was greeted by a set of rules.  Among one of the first on the page read quite simply, no furries allowed.  My answer was clear, human animal hybrids are not welcome in role play.  Having such an answer I moved on to another place, the dreaded, and utterly despised freebie sex sim.  Though I dreaded being there I had to make a complete and full assessment of second life, and it’s opinions.  The first few people I spoke too hardly seemed much interested in anything beyond humping animations between their avatar, and others.  Though I finally did receive one, delicately well put answer.  “They not as hot, but they might still good fucks.”  Well, I guess you could assume then, furries would be welcomed in a freebie sex sim, though, why they would want to go  to such a terrible place is beyond me.  And thus I moved on to the next location, dance clubs.  These laggy places always gave me headaches, and a severe sence of confusion as to their appeal, but none the less, I could see that there were many clubs fulled with nothing but humans, and others filled with nothing but furries.  It seems they are welcome in this bizarre situation, but remain segregated from human society under such situations.  I am not willing to call this the same level of acceptance the military has for these people.  To, very small surprise, the same seemed to apply for shopping as well, many places catering to either furries or humans, but not both, XStreet excluded of course.  At this point, I couldn’t help but think I was missing some community on second life.  Some small, or even potentially large overlooked pocket of people across the metaverse.  Though, it’s a large metaverse, I believe I received enough of an answer to not brave the horrors that lie within much further.  In short, it would seem the military on second life, the only place fully willing to accept such bizarre creatures.  At least enough to full integrate their masses without question.  perhaps then, it’s a mostly unwelcoming metaverse that gives the military it’s appeal to them, or perhaps it’s the right to fight back here, against the oppression against the lack of skin they show beneath their fur.  Perhaps, the military is the only place where we don’t ask, don’t care.  Maybe, just maybe, we’re the only decent enough people to see past their strange, impossible forms, just to let them carry a gun, don some armor, and fight for our freedom as comrades.  maybe, as the horrible places across the metaverse would show, war is the only decent place to be anyway, because the people here can talk, and if they can’t it just doesn’t matter, we’re gonna shoot them anyway.

- El Animal

About “Frumentarii”, the Comic…

Dear Readers,

Unfortunately Titus Valerian is now too busy to finish these comics and believes that he is lacking both in skill and imagination. Since Olympia has now left us a while ago, the future of the Frumentarii series has been compromised. We intend to finish the series in the future and have gathered a great deal of snapshots and useful scene captures for this purpose. The Frumentarii comic was meant to tell the story of how the S.H.I.T. treaty failed and everyone ended up blaming the Frumentarii for it. Diverse characters such as the perverse Chaos Primus Kanakashi whom escaped an assassination attempt because he was having cheap sex encounter highly intelligent people such as Friedrich Sauerkraut, a Vanguard intellectual whom confuses Frumentarii with Futanari. The comic was meant to tell the story of Christian Cat, a high ranking Frumentarii agent whom is ordered by the Imperator to find out who framed the Ordo Imperialis and to castrate him. At the end Cat receives the Imperator’s Star and a hug from Liana Prada. The comic was supposed to include brief scenes of censored sexual intercourse between a man and a cow, a shark, two shemales and a masturbation scene featuring Darth Saska. Blood and Gore were also on the menu with a lot of torture scenes, executions and brutal Mercz Training in cold and snow covered Badnarik. We hope you understand why we can not finish this comic at this time. If you would like to make comics for us then please do get in touch, we will gladly accept your help!

Sincerely,

- The Battlefield Gazette Team

 

An Interview with Herbert Feldmann

I wasn’t sure whether to publish this in the Lulz Section or not. Earlier today an avatar contacted me and all of a sudden I was confronted with the unpleasantness of a man whom probably belongs in an Asylum. I muted him shortly after he started insulting me and sending me sex toys called “Buttplug”. I am not usually a critic of people and try to remain as neutral as possible but well, let’s do Mr Feldmann a favour just as we do ourselves a favour when reading this lulz packed statement. And did I mention that the guy was wearing a Hitler avatar with emo hair? Oh, well… I forgot to take a picture but this is quite the man.

[10:12]  Titus Valerian: What can I do for you?
[10:12]  Herbert Feldmann: A statement must reach the populace, my name is Herbert Feldman/Amory Gears but some people call me the Tyrant. I was the Dictator of the Dominatium, slayer of the Echelon Union and a victim, true martyr of the evils of the Iron Symphony and their sbires.
[10:13]  Titus Valerian: Lovely… Why are you IMing me today?
[10:14]  Herbert Feldmann: First of all I want you to replace my name afte when you have the chat log so that it doesn’t show my new name, promise?
[10:14]  Titus Valerian: Sure, if that’s what you want. What happened to your old avatar?
[10:14]  Herbert Feldmann: sexaul hrassmnt
[10:14]  Herbert Feldmann: *Sexual Harassment by furries. I blame it on Lurdan and his Ordo friends, “uh”, “uh”, surfer dude, destroyer of worlds.
[10:15]  Titus Valerian: So what is your statement about.
[10:15]  Herbert Feldmann: Ok, shut up and don’t interrupt when I explain ok, right; “I am the Tyrant and I have come back to burn a scar into the ground which once held Echelon’s base. I have come to dance over Roo’s grave and laugh at his misery.
[10:16]  Herbert Feldmann: Hear my words oh community for I have come as an avenger, a slayer and a murderer. My spies have infiltrated every Iron Symphony army and while our enemies are still weakened we shall strike into the heart of this monstrum of evil and purge them through fire. You will either conform to the Dominatium or be destroyed.
[10:18]  Herbert Feldmann: We will rise and burn all those who don’t fit our expectations!
[10:18]  Titus Valerian: Didn’t Hitler say something like this…?
[10:18]  Herbert Feldmann: Yeah, I said don’t interrupt please, this is very important.
[10:19]  Herbert Feldmann: So in short, while the Dominatium is not coming back, I am going to strike.
[10:19]  Titus Valerian: Against EU?
[10:19]  Herbert Feldmann: no no no
[10:20]  Herbert Feldmann: Against the IS. My spies have got important jobs and they are going to destroye the IS. Plus I am going to organize a EU flag burning party.
[10:20]  Titus Valerian: Are you serious? :O
[10:21]  Herbert Feldmann: absolutely, Yes! Their memory is an insult to ours
[10:21]  Titus Valerian: But what’s the point, you think anyone is going to care?
[10:22]  Herbert Feldmann: Roo Tenk will be mad as will be his sbires of evil.
[10:22]  Titus Valerian: Uh, okay… Was that all Mr Feldmann?
[10:22]  Herbert Feldmann: You will call me Dictator or Tyrant.
[10:23]  Titus Valerian: What?
[10:23]  Herbert Feldmann: Show me some respect you faggot.

[Newsflash] New Jessie under Alien Assault!

Cubitars have rezzed among us in New Jessie today, running about and killing the populace while laughing in the most sadistic manner and flashing their wood. The main invasion force came in two hours after a total failure of all communication devices. Yes, I was there and it was a shocking experience, even more when Liana Pera, the newly elected mayor of the American Side and formerly a McDonalds employee was kidnapped under my eyes!

Titus Valerian: So Liana, panic and rumours spread as the radios and TVs in New Jessie ceased to work. Could you please confirm the rumour of an alien invasion of the American side?

Liana Pera: We are unable to confirm any suspicious activity near the border. You’d be better off keeping this to yourself, Mr. Valerian. Don’t need none of you reporters goin’ off sellin plane turds as alien drop pods.

Liana Pera kidnapped!

Just as Mayor Pera finished her sentence a horrible Cubitar creature jumped out of a window and kidnapped her! I decided to talk to Mr Luukkanen, the Janitor of the New Jessie primary school.

Titus Valerian: Mr Luukkanen, what exactly did you see?

Sami Luukkanen: Well I was just about to take a good crap when I heard a whistle blow and somebody yell “They’re comin’, they’re comin’, oh man!” so I ran out of the shithole cabin, my pants still around my ankles and what I saw froze the blood in my veins son, just as you were taking a picture of Mayor Pera one of those horrible creatures jumped out of a window and pushed her over the balcony! At first I thought they’re gonna die and fuck, who’s gonna have to clean that up again but they didn’t. They was a flash and suddenly they were gone.

Titus Valerian: What do we know about those aliens?

Sami Luukkanen: I’ll tell you once I finish taking my crap, I ate one of those burgers today, uah…

It is unknown where those invaders came from or what they are here for, all we know for the moment is that their intentions aren’t to deliver the milk or the candy. We will try and keep you up to date about these terrible events. In the mean time we would like to advise the populace to lock all the doors and windows and to wait for help which T.A.C. and the I.S. have promised to deliver. Unfortunately they are currently killing each other over whom should should save Mrs Pera’s Cat whom happens to be stuck in a tree once again, one party claims to have longer ladders while the other party insists on the solidity of its ladders… Anyway, we will keep you up to date!

- Titus Valerian

OP-ED “Command and Control”

While previous missives have been limited to such finite topics as Leadership, Honor, and discipline – concepts which at best may be internalized and processed individually – a subject that touches upon all three and is far more esoteric forces the individual to look inside for what is seen and is driven by others.

Let’s examine for a moment the concept of ‘control’. Firstly, let’s define ‘control’ as we apply it here. The dictionary interprets it, either as a noun or verb as coordinating, dominating, commanding or some derivative thereof. It also goes on to define the word as a control measure, as in ‘to control a fire” or to keep in check (such as emotions). I concur with all of the definitions provided, and believe that control in the sense in which we apply the term is a convergence of each of those. For me there are two important sub-classes and they are not mutually exclusive, though I feel they are unidirectional. I am speaking about control itself and the perception of control.

While it is possible to have both control and the perception of control, one does not signify the automatic application of the other. It is plausible, and I would argue in the vast majority of cases here in the SL military landscape, to be in control and not be perceived to be such; one who is perceived to be is almost always actually in control. Let me explain using the following example.

A leader may command through many different methods, and while it is true that not every method is effective for everyone, a good leader will be adept at employing the proper methods at the appropriate moments to ensure a greater number of contented subordinates. However, a poor leader employs few, and does not inspire those under his or her command to excel; rather they are merely contented to seek their own way within the confines of the proposed policies. In this, a leader is in ‘control’ purely from a technical aspect, in as much  as one can be employing procedural doctrine. However the perception of the masses is a distinct lack of control, which further disillusions the subordinates, causing a cascading effect. This may be stemmed by middle management if they themselves are effective leaders, but they are subject to the dynamics of the over-arching leadership tier as well; eventually even their efforts will succumb.

In this, we have leadership with control, but not perceived control. This is a dangerous situation and nearly always causes discontent. If you are a senior leader and your subordinates seek counsel outside of their chain of command, or even outside of your organization entirely… the problem is a lack of confidence and faith in the management tiers. This must be rectified.

The example of perceived leadership is such that the subordinates clearly understand and are inspired by the senior leadership. They employ the chain of command and they seek advancement through actions and approval. Their counsel is limited to their own tier, not because they are repressed however… quite the contrary. Their leadership engenders such feelings of accomplishment and confidence they are compelled to remain transfixed within their own organization. How does one increase perceived leadership? That is a far more difficult question than one might anticipate, however the response I would offer may be found in the previous writings I have posted. If a leader embodies the qualities espoused by said documents and understands that leadership means instilling trust especially in difficult scenarios, that sometimes employing a bit of intuitive reasoning to arrive at a conclusion is more important when that conclusion is reached in a timely fashion. Mistakes will be made, but they become tactical miscalculations when one is decisive. A leader defines purpose… that is made more difficult when one refuses to stand for anything, much less apply basic principles to their own life. If you wish to inspire, you must be inspirational. You must embody confidence.   Know the answer to the question before it is asked, be decisive and above petty things. As stated previously… always, ALWAYS follow your own policies. 

Is it possible to have perceived  control but lack real control? Yes and no. Typically, if one is perceived to be in control by one’s subordinates, they then possess actual control by those employees. There is an exception to the rule of course. I call this the ‘friend factor’. 

A leader for whom the concept of friendship with his subordinates is vastly more important that disciplined leadership will find that a subset of subordinates will perceive the leader as being in control. This is however, a phantom. The perception lasts only as long as the friendship does; if for whatever reason more is expected from said subordinate than previously required or if said subordinate is abjectly denied special treatment which had been previously the norm, a leader will find this perceived control to vanish. This is why I wavered and waffled with a noncommittal ‘yes and no’ above – while it appears to be real it’s merely a combination of smoke and mirrors; not even an accurate perception.

In fact, the argument could be made that this sort of phantom control is indeed more detrimental to the whole as it creates splinter factions within the entirety of the organization. Rather than bringing people together with common goals and aspirations it conversely causes rifts to form and fragments the organization into separate operating entities each with their own agenda. Often that agenda is focused on the other sub-groups rather than the common good.

A good leader will nip this in the bud; a great leader will never permit such a situation to happen; not when it can so easily be avoided by simply avoiding the temptation to play favorites, or be perceived as such. 

No one ever said the mantle of leadership was a light burden to bear; sometimes it can be quite the heavy yoke. It requires a great deal of personal sacrifice; sacrifice that many will not understand, at least in the short term. In time, they will come to appreciate and perhaps more importantly understand the rationale that perpetuated that forfeiture on their behalf.

“The soldier is a man; he expects to be treated as an adult, not a schoolboy. He has rights; they must be made known to him and thereafter respected. He has ambition; it must be stirred. He has a belief in fair play; it must be honored. He has a need of comradeship; it must be supplied. He has imagination; it must be stimulated. He has a sense of personal dignity; it must be sustained. He has pride; it can be satisfied and made the bedrock of character once he has been assured that he is playing a useful and respected role. To give a man this is the acme of inspired leadership. He has become loyal because loyalty was given to him.”  – General George C. Marshall

- Judge Hocho