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!
What a post! It’s always good to remember that these are characters, and writing them more relatable and realistic can be just as, if not more important than techno-babble or explosions.
Best Post (Joint Post)
S’thenosis Gorgox & Cmdr. Jenna Ramthorne & Lt. Cmdr. Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell & Capt. Rhenora Kaylen & Cmdr. Savar cha’Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Cmdr. Dean House & Lt. Cmdr. Thriss Kla’ren & Lt. Cmdr. Aurora Vali & Lieutenant JG Jacob Rosen & Lieutenant JG Micheal Stevens & Lieutenant JG T’Lar & Lieutenant JG Olivia Voight & Lieutenant JG Rowan Hale & Ens. Kitiuas Thenis ie-Jia’anKahr & Cmdr. Jennifer Baldric & Lt. Cmdr. Rynn Upland & Lt. Sarah Wilson Guest / CFCO / CSS / CO / XO / CTO / CEO / CC / COO / CRO / C / MO / CMO / SO / MA / ACEO / ACMO USS Sunfire
This is a great scene that encompasses a balance between the main characters, the villains, and even the ship herself almost feels like a character as everything comes together to centre the whole story.
Funniest Post
Ensign Ozai Y’zyr & Petty Officer 1st Class Fhiri Tactical Officer / Computer Systems Specialist USS Firebird
The absurdity of everything happening in this post, as well as the dialogue, harkens back to some serious classic Trek with a few homages here and there that make it delightful and well worth the read.
A nice start to a story that could go anywhere. Will there be repercussions for the actions of her Captain? What mystery does the Klingon ship hold? Does the crew have the answers or more questions? Hope we get to find out!
MVP
Commander Jenna Ramthorne Chief Flight Control Officer USS Sunfire
She is the Sunfire’s power player: A consistent high poster, with humorous, dramatic, and whimsical writing, plus everything inbetween.
Most Posts
Commander Jenna Ramthorne Chief Flight Control Officer USS Sunfire
For writing 26 posts.
Most Improved
Lieutenant JG James Phoenix Tactical Officer USS Washington
He did excellent work with some interesting collaborative posts, putting forth a strong showing from the beginning to the end of the month.
Rookie of the Month
None this month.
Recruitment
None this month.
Rear Admiral Aurther Winters Director of Personnel Independence Fleet
It’s always hard to start something new, and Starfleet Academy is no exception. This post has everything you want in a character driven arc, from start to end, the situation, the dialogue, and character feel real and grounded.
Best Post (Joint Post)
Cmdr. Dean House & Capt. Rhenora Kaylen & Cmdr. Jenna Ramthorne & Cmdr. Savar cha’Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Lt. Cmdr. Thriss Kla’ren & Lt. Cmdr. Aurora Vali & Lt. JG Micheal Stevens & Lt. JG Jacob Rosen & Lt. JG Rowan Hale & Lt. JG Olivia Voight & Lt. JG T’Lar & Ens. Kitiuas Thenis ie-Jia’anKahr & S’thenosis Gorgox & Cmdr. Jennifer Baldric & Cmdr. Rosa Coy & Lt. Cmdr. Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell & Remal Kajun 2O / CO / CFCO / XO / CEO / CC / CRO / COO / CMO / MO / C / SO / Guest / MA / ACFCO / CSS / C USS Sunfire
The somber beginning of this post, and the sudden gear shift when crisis arrives shows both a creative story and how when you have enough cooks in the kitchen, you can create something great.
Funniest Post
Ensign Aidan “A.J.” Reid & Ensign Kevin Mitchell & Lieutenant JG Benjamin “Ben” Dalton IS / IS / ACIO USS Washington
A great duality, when you should be professional, and you can be professional, but when you also know people’s internal monologues, it adds both great insight and humor as well.
An interesting atmosphere to start a very interesting mission, with some cloak and dagger.
MVP
Commander Rhiana t’Aegis Chief Security & Tactical Officer USS Firebird
The Security and Tactical Officer continues to be a rock for the sim despite personal loss, showing extreme range in creativity and collaboration. She is the backbone of the Firebird.
Most Posts
Commander Jenna Ramthorne Chief Flight Control Officer USS Sunfire
For writing 25 posts.
Most Improved
Lieutenant Imik S’Niohun Chief Security/Tactical Officer USS Washington
Another Chief Security/Tactical Officer really showing her range with highly varied contributions, with great plot twists and openings for other players.
Rookie of the Month
None this month.
Recruitment
None this month.
Rear Admiral Aurther Winters Director of Personnel Independence Fleet
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!
Commander Jenna Ramthorne Chief Flight Control Officer USS Sunfire
She has been an absolute powerhouse this month with a great mix of solo and joint posts while simultaneously wrapping up one mission and setting up the next.
Most Posts
Commander Jenna Ramthorne Chief Flight Control Officer USS Sunfire
For writing 11 posts.
Most Improved
Lieutenant JG James Phoenix Tactical Officer USS Washington
Coming off a non-stop action month, he somehow still found a way to step it up with some truly outstanding posting.
Rookie of the Month
Ensign Fiona Flores Communications and Operations Officer USS Montana
She jumped right into joint posts with multiple crew members, improving both the quality and quantity of the ship’s posts. She has just the right recommendations to improve the story–a welcomed addition!
Recruitment
None this month.
Rear Admiral Aurther Winters Director of Personnel Independence Fleet
Ensign Emilynn Dove Operations Officer USS Firebird
The Ensign is a dynamic presence in and out of the story, writing truly outstanding posts while constantly helping others. She is the type of player the who raises up everything about the sim.
Most Posts
Commander Jonathan Grayson Executive Officer USS Washington
For writing 11 posts.
Most Improved
Ensign Kitiuas Thenis ie-Jia’anKahr Science Officer USS Sunfire
The Ensign returned from LOA with a bang, complete with excellent posts and plot twists. It was as if she had never left.
Rookie of the Month
Lieutenant JG Thalek zh’Vareth Chief Medical Officer USS Sunfire
New new CMO dove straight in with complex medial storylines. An amazing entrance–that’s how it’s done.
Recruitment
None this month.
Don’t worry, we’ll be back to your regularly scheduled host next month.
Beam up to our Discord Server this Saturday, July 26th at 1:00 pm EDT (-4) / 6:00 pm BST (+1) for our anniversary webcast celebration. In addition to spinning the awards big wheel to see who will win real prizes this year, host Ken Gillis has a few surprises this round. See you there!
For the second year in a row, it appears that we didn’t publish a recap following the last anniversary webcast:
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!
A great post, well written with a very heavy introspective look at the situation of diplomacy.
Best Post (Joint Post)
Lt. Ayana Hillis & Cmdr. Jonathan Grayson & Lt. Cmdr. Callie Raven-Grayson & Lt. Inara Senn & Lt. JG James Phoenix ACSTO / XO / CC / CSO / TO USS Washington
This gag and trope has been used many times before, and probably many times after, but a piece of equipment that we know, but no idea what it does is going to get a laugh out of me every time.
Genesis
Capt. Rhenora Kaylen & Cmdr. Jenna Ramthorne & Cmdr. Dean House CO / CFCO / 2O USS Sunfire
Ensign Gordon helped bring the Firebird’s last mission to a close. She’s also been finding her way around the ship, writing well, and has plans to add new NPCs to the complement.
Rookie of the Month
None this month.
Recruitment
None this month.
Rear Admiral Aurther Winters Director of Personnel Independence Fleet
