We did Awardapalooza. And we did Recordapalooza. So why not Commandapalooza? This post is all about our amazing Commanding Officers and everything they’ve accomplished up through the end of 2025. This is one caveat, however: We only have command records for Jul 2001-Dec 2003, Oct 2010-Aug 2018, Nov 2018, and Jun 2019-present. A few years ago, former Fleet CO Jeremiah Griffith gave us records he had saved that cover January 2004 through September 2010. However, they are incomplete and have not yet been integrated into our official record book. Until that happens, we have had 150 unique Independence Fleet Commanding Officers who have guided 58 different sims. And here they are…
They have led 2,361 ship-months, won 207 posting titles, and commanded through a whopping 64,387 posts!
By Sim:
Active sims in bold.
By Commanding Officer:
Commanding Officers currently in command are in bold.
Only the top 25 and active COs are tagged.
What a history! What a legacy! What a group put outstanding role players and leaders do we have! There certainly is a lot I can say, but I’m going to let the numbers speak for themselves. But please do feel free to post your own observations, thoughts, and memories in the comments section below!
A very well written, authentic feel to a story that is drawing you into something gingerly–setting a tone for the mystery and where the story may lead.
Best Post (Joint Post)
Capt. Rhenora Kaylen & Cmdr. Jennifer Baldric & Cmdr. Jenna Ramthorne & Cmdr. Dean House & Lt. Cmdr. Thriss Kla’ren & Lt. JG Jacob Rosen & Lt. JG Rowan Hale & Lt. JG Olivia Voight & Lt. JG T’Lar & Lt. Cmdr. Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell & Lt. Cmdr. Rynn Upland CO / MA / CFCO / 2O / CEO / COO / CMO / MO / C / CSS / ACEO USS Sunfire
A classic start from a classic Captain. Let the games, or should I say, let the writing begin with a wide array of directions their mission can go. It’s going to be a good one.
MVP
Lieutenant JG Rowan Hale Chief Medical Officer USS Sunfire
Twenty-two posts in just his second month onboard. He has also been a driver of several consequential joint posts.
Most Posts
Commander Jenna Ramthorne Chief Flight Control Officer USS Sunfire
For writing 24 posts.
Most Improved
Ensign Janelle Barett Strategic Operations Officer USS Washington
The young Strategic Operations Officer had a wonderful month and showed real growth as she tied for for the ship’s lead in posting and was part of two other nominations.
Rookie of the Month
None this month.
Recruitment
Marine Captain Emily Janeway Marine Commanding Officer USS Albion
She recruited a new crewmember who is already posting!
Rear Admiral Aurther Winters Director of Personnel Independence Fleet
We recently had one big post on community awards from outside IDF. Why not another big post on awards from within Independence Fleet? That’s what this is! We’ve crunched the numbers for everything from our July 4, 2001 founding through the end of 2025. In that time, IDF has issued 1,248 monthly awards to 599 unique characters, representing 52 different sims. Wow, what a history! Since a table with 599 people would be too big for this article, we decided to narrow it down to the 25. On a separate note, we’ll be celebrating our 25th anniversary later this year! Awards were presented Jul 2001-Oct 2005, Oct 2010-Jul 2013, and Mar 2020-present.
Here we go with our monthly awards records…
Active or recently active member Hall of Famer
Active members of the fleet are now 1-10 on the all-time leaderboard, and include 18 of the top 25 spots. Hall of Famers make up only 6 of the top 25 today. It seems we likely have A LOT of future Hall of Famers in our midst! Also, Jenna Ramthorne has (barely) overtaken Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell for #1, with Jonathan Grayson not too far behind at #3. Long-time sims USS Chuck Norris, USS Sunfire, and USS Washington dominate the list when looking at the primary sim of characters:
USS Washington: 4 of the top 10; 8 of the top 25
USS Sunfire: 3 of the top 10; 7 of the top 25
USS Chuck Norris: 3 of the top 10; 5 of the top 25
Breaking it out by sim:
The Sunfire leads the way with 236.5 total awards, with the Washington not too far back at 220. Active sims claim spots #1-4 (the USS Liberty is at #3 overall with 96.5 awards) and 6 of the top 10–the more recent addition to the fleet USS Firebird lands right in that 10 spot with 42 awards. The USS Wayfarer is #6 with 52 awards, and the USS Albion and USS Montana sit just outside the top 10 at #11 (26 awards) and #12 (23 awards), respectively.
Breaking it down further to awards issued since they were reinstated in 2020 (546 total awards):
The Washington leads the pack this time with 155, and the Sunfire is in second place at 118.5. The Washington also has the longest streak of winning at least one monthly award, dating all the way back to May 2021 for 57 months in a row if you count January 2026. I can’t find another streak that even comes close. If the W can make it through April of this year, that would make it an astounding five full years with at least one award each month!
Speaking of the W (and a few others), here is the list of sims that led the fleet in awards each year since 2020:
In case you happen to want to see each year fully broken out, we have that too:
Since they are mentioned throughout, let’s also not forget about our other two outstanding sims: USS Churchill & USS Eminence.
Finally, I would like to thank Rook Mirtoh and Arthur Winters, each whom has served as our Director of Personnel, which is the role primarily responsible for selecting the award winners (Mirtoh, March 2020-September 2023; Winters, May 2024-today, with Ken Gillis and me filling in a few times here and there). It’s more tedious than you might imagine! Thank you for making one IDF’s enduring legacies possible!
With that, let’s keep these amazing awards coming!
Happy 24th Anniversary, Independence Fleet! These anniversaries seem to be happening quicker and quicker these days! Continuing a tradition we began a few years ago, we again have a video message from a very special guest:
“This was one of the funniest things I’ve read, although I may have found it even funnier if some of the context wasn’t lost on me.”
“I liked the differentiation between the real characters and the fake ones.”
Congratulations to everyone, and a special thank you to our judges! All three judges expressed to me how much they enjoyed reading the 10 posts. They were all highly entertaining while showcasing the unique personalities of each sim. I hope the Captains and crews had as much fun writing them!
Happy 24th anniversary, Independence Fleet! Thank you for all you do to make our community what it is!
Happy 23rd anniversary, Independence Fleet! For anyone new and not aware or simply not wanting to do the math, this club was founded all the way back on July 4, 2001. Continuing a tradition we began a few years ago, here is a message from a special guest:
What else do we have for this year? You might remember the 20th Anniversary Almanac that we published three years ago. Well, we got the cover page signed by none other than Star Trek legend William Shatner:
In case you were wondering, the cover photo at the top is indeed based on the greatest Star Trek selfie ever taken by LeVar Burton. Thank you to Captain Misaki for creating our header image two years in a row.
I almost forgot, we have a second message this year too:
Cmdr. Mira Rodale & Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Lance & Lt. Awal Kronnelti & Lt. Tracey Walker Jr & Lt. Betaras K’ner XO / CFCO / CSTO / CEO / CMO USS Chuck Norris
Lieutenant Commander Kevin Lance Chief Flight Control Officer USS Chuck Norris
What can I say, he went from being one of the USS Chuck Norris’ best writers to stepping up and taking the acting XO position to heart both in the story and leading the crew. He has since taken hold of the permanent XO position as if he has been doing it for years!
For writing 53 posts. Commander Rodale has since been promoted to Captain and assumed command of the USS Chuck Norris.
Most Improved
Lieutenant Inara Senn Chief Science Officer USS Washington
The Washington’s Science Officer continues to improve with excellent plot details and interesting ideas for all, which allows the whole crew the opportunity to participate in new and exciting ways.
Rookie of the Month
Lieutenant Imik S’Niohun Chief Security/Tactical Officer USS Washington
The Washington’s new Chief Tactical/Security Officer came in like a breath of fresh air and already the enabled the crew to views at things from new angles.
Recruitment
Commander Jonathan Grayson Executive Officer USS Washington
The Washington’s XO wisely directed a player to our ship who has integrated well thus far.
Admiral Ken Gillis Chief of Technology Independence Fleet
And yet another year of IDF is in the books with our 22nd Anniversary today. To remind you of how old we really are, here’s a quote from last year’s anniversary post:
“On our 22nd Anniversary, we will be further removed from the premiere of the 2009 Star Trek film (May 8, 2009) than IDF’s launch was from the premiere of The Next Generation (September 28, 1987): 14 years, 1 month, 26 days vs. 13 years, 9 months, 6 days.”
Well, here we are! For this year’s celebration, each of our 12 sims created a movie poster to capture their unique essence and feel. We are also very fortunate to have Amanda Rose from RPG Writing, NX-1701-G from Zodiac Fleet, and Beth from Sim Central to judge the entries in three categories: overall image quality, how much does it look like an actual movie poster, and general creativity/originality. Before we get to the posters themselves, we first have an announcement from a special guest:
“I’m impressed by the technical skill and originality that went into this poster.”
“If you’re familiar with Anime movie posters, this is spot on.”
“Having anime Trek characters in the mirror universe with the crack showing the Federation and Terran emblems on different sides was brilliant.”
“Of all the posters shared this was the one that actually made me want to join the game in question.”
“Image expertly merged the dinosaur imagery with clear Trek imagery without making them appear distinct.”
“This poster screamed movie poster. I would expect to see this on the wall in some theater. A starship with dinosaurs and big lettering. Well done!”
“I’m not typically a fan of the starship and character posters, but this one spoke to me.”
“I kept wanting to rate this poster higher in my rankings. There’s a lot to like with the faded facial imagery and ship…
…[including] ‘Coming Never,’ which was mildly amusing.”
Congratulations to all three winners, and a special thanks to our judges! However, to quote Kirk from Star Trek III, we’re not finished yet! Here are superlative awards for our other nine games:
Best poster for Seinfeld/Trek crossover USS Albion CO: Captain Dick Sprague Poster by: Akeno Misaki
Some bold judges not to pick this one! USS Chuck Norris CO: Captain Aurther Winters Poster by: Bonnie Durnell
Best poster for past meeting the future USS Churchill CO: Captain James Stewart Poster by: Akeno Misaki
Best poster if you actually watch Picard USS Eminence CO: Captain Alex Shepard Poster by: Akeno Misaki
Best poster for a random trailing light USS Ganymede CO: Captain Dyllon McMahon Poster by: Akeno Misaki
Best poster for a low Earth orbit view USS Liberty CO: Captain Kaylia Strenvale Poster by: Akeno Misaki
Best poster for the IMAX experience USS Montana CO: Captain Jackson Adams Poster by: Bonnie Durnell
Best poster for “Aft torpedoes, fire!!!” USS Washington CO: Captain Shran dh’Klar Poster by: Akeno Misaki
Best poster that could double for Dune Starbase 80 CO: Captain Kathleen O’Shea Poster by: Bonnie Durnell
While we’re on the topic of movies, we are now further removed from our July 4, 2001 founding than it was from the premiere of the first Star Trek film Star Trek: The Motion Picture (December 6, 1979): 22 years vs. 21 years, 6 months, 28 days. Feel old yet?
Continuing last year’s tradition, we again have a second video message:
Whoah! Nice post with rich description and a chilling enemy. Very well done!
Best Post (Joint Post)
Capt. Akeno Misaki & Cmdr. Mashiro Munetani “Shiro” & Lt. Cmdr. Raelyn Mckenzie & Lt. Cmdr. Mark Johnson & Lt. Luna Eclipse of the House of Martok CO / XO / CSTO / CMO / CFCO USS Wayfarer
In only his second month, he tied for the second most posts on the sim and worked diligently to further integrate himself both in game and behind the scenes.
Great post that pushes the plot forward that also could have won a Funniest Post.
Best Post (Joint Post)
Capt. Akeno Misaki & Cmdr. Mashiro Munetani “Shiro” & Lt. Cmdr. Raelyn Mckenzie & Lt. Cmdr. Mark Johnson & Lt. Luna Eclipse of the House of Martok CO / XO / CSTO / CMO / CFCO USS Wayfarer
With 2022 in the books, it’s high time we checked in with the latest version of the IDF Record Book over on our About page. As it turns out, we have a new all-time leader in monthly awards. Lieutenant Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell of the USS Sunfire now has a grand total of 29.83 awards, passing the previous leader, Jenna Ramthorne (of a prior version of the Sunfire), who has 24.83. What’s even more incredible, is that both characters are played by the same person!
Best Post
Funniest Post
Genesis
MVP
Most Posts
Most Improved
Recruitment
Total
Durnell
5.05
5.78
4
14
1
29.83
Ramthorne
4
.83
4
15
1
24.83
Prolific across multiple award categories, the two stat lines seem to mirror each other. However, the difference is clearly Durnell’s five plus Funniest Post awards to Ramthorne’s zero. See what adding humor to your game can do! Congratulations to Lieutenant Durnell on this incredible accomplishment!
As it turns out, we have quite a few current or recent members who have moved up leader board since we brought the Awards back for March 2020:
Active Member — received an award within the last year or confirmed to currently be on a sim Hall of Famer
All characters with five or more total monthly awards
In addition to all those who’ve won awards, I also want to thank each of our sim Commanding Officers for submitting nominations month-in and month-out and to Rear Admiral James “Rook” Mirtoh for running the program and selecting winners. Without their tireless efforts, the awards simply wouldn’t be possible.
I’ve long been of the opinion that the monthly awards are one of the absolute best features of this fleet, and they’re a key bonus that really distinguishes us from other groups out there. The numbers speak for themselves: Through the end of 2022, we have 969 total documented awards presented to 506 different individuals through 1,226 different award records. Each one is permanently part of our continuing history, starting all the way back with the five original awards presented for our very first month of July 2001 going up through today and beyond.
