The
WILDCARDS were formed by a great group of people at the end of the
FA2.5 era, which had the same ideas as to what a squad should be
about. In one word, we agreed that FUN was more important than squad
or individual statistics. The statistics will follow if you continue
to have FUN. We refuse to become a militant organization hell bent
on becoming the number one squad in Fighter Ace at the cost of said
FUN.
The
WILDCARDS are made up of pilots who have been around since version
1.0 of Fighter Ace, and have over 3 years of commitment to this
game and the friendships we have found as a result of it.
The
following rules and CoC have been put in place to help avoid the
problems encountered in the past. They are not suggestions. Violations
of any of the following can and will result in immediate action
by the command staff. We cannot allow the actions of any member
to jeopardize the reputation of the WILDCARDS within the community,
or cause other members to think twice before logging on.
The
WILDCARDS SQUADRON
Articles of Association, By-Laws, Code of Conduct/Rules and Regulations
As amended through August 10, 2003 and revised August 24, 2006
THE
WILDCARDS SQUADRON ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION
Be
it known that we, the members, do hereby associate ourselves, as
a body politic without capital stock and the following are our Articles
of Association.
Article
1: The name of our association shall be The WILDCARDS SQUADRON.
Our association commenced its existence as The WILDCARDS SQUADRON
upon the release and beginning of FA3 in August of 2001. The original
articles were subscribed by WILD-CO-LIVING, WILD-XO-WIRED, WILD-XO-JD,
WILD-SO-SHEET, WILD-TO-MERCY and WILD-PR-WOLF. The affairs of the
association have since that time been continuously governed by the
Command Staff of the WILDCARDS SQUADRON.
Article
2: The WILDCARDS are a diverse group of men and women from all walks
of life, occupations and ages. The WILDCARDS SQUADRON was formed
by a great group of people at the end of the FA2.5 era, which had
the same ideas as to what a Squad, should be about. In one word,
we agreed that FUN was more important than Squad or individual statistics.
The statistics will follow if you continue to have FUN. We refuse
to become a militant organization bent on becoming the number one
squad in Fighter Ace at the cost of said FUN. The WILDCARDS have
pilots who have been around since version 1.0 of Fighter Ace, and
have over 5 years of commitment to the game of Fighter Ace and the
friendships we have found as a result of our commitment. Our purpose
is to continue to have FUN as a group, to promote interest in The
WILDCARDS SQUADRON and the game of Fighter Ace, to assist new and
old members of the Fighter Ace community in the playing and playability
of the game through our involvement in the game and through our
various means of communication. No part of any assets or income
our association shall inure to the benefit of or be distributable
to the members, the officers, or any of them, or to other private
persons except that our association shall be authorized and empowered
to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and to make
payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposes set forth
herein.
Article
3: A Command Staff consisting of at least five members, each representing
a position as defined in the By-Laws, shall govern the affairs of
The WILDCARDS SQUADRON. Command Staff members to fill vacant positions
and new Command Staff positions shall be elected upon as deemed
necessary by the Commanding Officer and/or Command Staff at meetings
held by the Command Staff. The Command Staff shall meet a minimum
of once per month to conduct ongoing business regarding the Squad,
and upon notification of Special meetings of the Command Staff called
by the Commanding Officer upon written e-mail request of at least
one-half of the membership of the Command Staff as then constituted.
Article
4: Election of Commanding Officer shall be administered by the Command
Staff from within the members of The WILDCARDS SQUADRON in the event
of the Commanding Officer vacating his/her position, and that election
shall be called at a special meeting, no later than one month from
the date of Commanding Officer's departure and that position shall
be deemed vacant upon the death, resignation or failing to have
an active subscription to Fighter Ace.
Article
5: Upon the vacancy in the Commanding Officer position, as outlined
in Article 4, the First Executive Officer shall proclaim it, and
thereafter the duties of Commanding Officer will be assumed by the
First Executive Officer, until such time as elections have been
held as outlined in Article 4, and his/her position as Commanding
Officer are ratified, or a new Commanding Officer is elected. The
First Executive Officer shall serve as the Commanding Officer at
any meeting of the Command Staff, which the Commanding Officer is
unable to attend. The Second Executive Officer shall serve as Commanding
Officer at any meeting of the Command Staff, which the Commanding
Officer and First Executive Officer are unable to attend, and so
on down the Command Staff roster.
Article
6: The Officers of The WILDCARDS SQUADRON shall be a Commanding
Officer (CO), Executive Officer(s) (XO), a Strategic Officer (SO),
a Tactical Officer (TO), a Public Relations Officer/Treasurer (PR),
a Recruitment Officer (RO), Communications Officer (COM), Flight
Leader(s) (FL) and any other officers deemed necessary by the Commanding
Officer and Command Staff. (i.e.: Bomber Group CO and XO's, Tight
Wing CO and XO's, etc.)
Article
7: These articles may be amended by a three-fourths vote of all
Command Staff, or, provided due notice of the proposed amendment
has been e-mailed to each Command Staff member at least fourteen
days in advance, by a two-thirds vote by members in attendance at
a Command Staff meeting. The Command Staff may from time to time
adopt By-Laws not inconsistent with the Articles and applicable
Statutes. By-Laws may be amended by a three-fourths vote of all
Command Staff, or, provided due notice of the proposed amendment
has been e-mailed to each Command Staff member at least fourteen
days in advance, by a two-thirds vote by members in attendance at
a Command Staff meeting. Notices shall also be posted to The WILDCARDS
SQUADRON message board, when available.
Article
8: The membership of The WILDCARDS SQUADRON shall consist of (a)
Full members who shall be entitled to all rights and privileges
of The WILDCARDS SQUADRON except as otherwise provided in these
Articles, in the By-Laws, or in the Rules and Regulations/Code of
Conduct of The WILDCARDS SQUADRON, and (b) Inactive members who
shall be entitled to attend open Squad meetings, receive Squad related
news, be entitled to e-mail address if desired, but, will not be
allowed to vote on Squad member voting issues, or hold a Command
Staff position. The Command Staff shall by appropriate By-Laws specify
the requirements of each membership class, provided, however, that
the Command Staff shall not terminate or reduce the rights of any
member except for the lapse or termination of a condition now required
as precedent to the exercise of such rights. Nothing herein contained
shall preclude the Command Staff from expelling a member upon good
cause shown and after notice and opportunity to be heard.
Article
9: No person shall be eligible for the office of Command Staff who
has not been a Full member of The WILDCARDS SQUADRON for at least
one month immediately preceding nomination
BY-LAWS
Members
1) Pursuant to Article 8 of the Articles of The WILDCARDS SQUADRON,
the following membership categories are established.
a)
Full Membership. To be eligible, an applicant must be at least 18
years of age, unless he/she is a member of a WILDCARD member's family,
and must have an active subscription for Fighter Ace or be “sharing”
active subscription of family member. Notwithstanding, a member
who by reason of illness allows subscription to lapse will be maintained
as a Full member until such time as that member is able to return
to active duty.
b)
Inactive Membership. Any member, who takes leave of absence by virtue
of not having an active subscription to Fighter Ace, will be deemed
Inactive if subscription to Fighter Ace is not activated for a period
of one month, or, has not flown with The WILDCARDS SQUADRON for
a period of one month without contacting a member of the Command
Staff.
c)
Probationary Membership. An applicant who has applied for Full Membership,
shall be given probationary member status as outlined in Section
3 of the By-Laws below and provided he/she has fulfilled Section
1, sub-section a) above
2)
Applications for membership shall be submitted to the Recruitment
Officer and/or members of the Command Staff by means of The WILDCARDS
SQUADRON web site application form or through contact with the Recruitment
Officer who will forward a copy of said application to members of
the Command Staff or to a member of the Command Staff who will forward
a copy to the Recruitment Officer and other Command Staff members.
3)
Upon receipt of an application, members of the Command Staff shall,
at the first Command Staff meeting following the date of application,
determine whether to grant petitioner probationary member status
of three to four weeks, at which time, upon acceptance or rejection,
the Recruitment Officer will notify the applicant of the Command
Staff decision, and if accepted, the date of acceptance of the pledge
shall be deemed the date that the application was submitted. Upon
acceptance of an applicant and his/her preferred NICK, the Recruitment
Officer will inform the applicant and all WILDCARD SQUADRON members
and will remind applicant of protocol for NICK setup, as outlined
in sections 21, 22 and 23 under the Rules and Regulations/Code of
Conduct Section.
General
Provisions as to Officers
4)
Every Officer shall serve and continue in office until the Command
Staff shall have elected his successor. One or more honorary officers
may be elected.
5)
All Officers shall serve without compensation in any form.
6)
No member shall be Commanding Officer of the WILDCARDS SQUADRON
unless at the time of nomination, he/she has reached his/her 21st
birthday.
7)
The members of the Command Staff shall be the Commanding Officer,
First and Second Executive Officers, Strategic Officer, Tactical
Officer, Public Relations Officer, Recruitment Officer and at least
one member of the Bomber Group and Tight Wing Group.
8)
Recognizing the importance of liaison between other Squadron's in
the Fighter Ace Community and/or members of Ketsujin@FA, the Commanding
Officer is authorized to invite the Commanding Officer of another
Fighter Ace Squadron and/or a member of Ketsujin@FA or their designated
representative, to attend and participate in meetings of the Command
Staff, without the right to vote there at.
9)
Each member of the Command Staff shall keep himself/herself informed
as to conditions and activities in the Squad and Bomber and Tight
Wing Groups and as to the needs and desires of the members therein
in order that he may faithfully and intelligently represent the
true interests of such members. He/she shall attend all meetings
of the Command Staff and if unable to attend, give reason to a fellow
Command Staff member.
10)
A majority of the members of Command Staff shall constitute a quorum
at any meeting of the Command Staff
11)
A minimum of five Command Staff Officers is required to form a quorum
at a Command Staff meeting as per Article 3 of The WIDLCARDS SQUADRON
Articles of Association.
Officers
12)
The Commanding Officer shall preside over all meetings of the Command
Staff. He shall, with the assistance of the Executive and Public
Relations Officers, represent the Squad in its relationships with
Ketsujin, individuals and Squadrons in the Fighter Ace community
and shall be the official spokesman for the Command Staff in regard
to all matters of The WILDCARD SQUADRON policy. Any vacancy occurring
from time to time by death, resignation or incapacity of any member
of the Command Staff may be filled by appointment made by the Commanding
Officer until such time as Command Staff has voted on a replacement
for the vacant position.
13)
In the absence or disability of the Commanding Officer, the First
Executive Officer shall preside at meetings of the Command Staff
and in general act in his stead. Should the First Executive Officer
be also absent or unable to act, the Second Executive Officer shall
succeed in assuming the position.
14)
The First Executive Officer shall record the proceedings of all
meetings of the Command Staff and if he/she is absent or unable
to record the proceedings, the Second Executive Officer shall record
the proceedings. He/She shall promptly furnish copies of the minutes
of these meetings to all Command Staff and make them available to
members
15)
The Executive Officer(s) shall work directly under the Commanding
Officer and will assume the position of Commanding Officer during
the absence of the Commanding Officer.
16)
The Strategic Officer shall be responsible for collecting data on
the most effective means of triggering scenes, locations of targets,
score counts for targets, best planes for achieving elimination
of targets.
17)
The Tactical Officer shall be responsible for keeping the squad
informed of threats to scenes being used by the squad, best case
targets for attacking and suggesting plane types for mounting attacks.
18)
The Public Relations Officer shall be responsible for assisting
the Commanding Officer in Public Relations liaison and shall be
responsible for co-ordination of intra squad matches/challenges.
19)
Recruitment Officer shall be responsible for responding promptly
to new recruits, explaining the Rules and Regulations regarding
NICKS and compliance with our Code of Conduct and ensuring that
all Command Staff are aware of the recruit's application before
the next nearest meeting to the date of the application, and, upon
acceptance of the new recruit to the probationary cycle, inform
applicant and the Squadron members of the new applicant's probationary
acceptance. Upon completion of the probationary period as voted
on by the Command Staff, he/she will again contact the applicant,
giving information on “turning on his/her tags” and
will also inform the Squadron of the applicant's Full Member status.
20)
The Communications Officer (Comm Officer) is responsible for making
sure new pilots are properly equipped with Communications applications,
etc. The Comm Officer is also responsible for communications between
the Wildcards and other squads in events.
21)
The Flight Leader(s) are for specialized tasks and smaller missions
within missions of the regular squad operations. Also, a Staff Officer
with leadership capabilities when other Officers are absent
Rules
and Regulations/Code of Conduct Concerning WILDCARD SQUADRON Members
22)
Membership in another Squad is NOT permitted
23)
FLIGHT NICKS Members of the WILDCARD SQUADRON shall:
a)
Use the Squadron “Jacket” _WILD_ preceding their personal
NICK i.e. _WILD_NICK
b)
Not use underscores to separate their personal FLIGHTNICK i.e. FLIGHT_NICK
but may use a dash (-) for this purpose, i.e. FLIGHT-NICK…..NOTWITHSTANDING
Section 21 Subsections c and d.
c)
Attempt to limit number of characters in personal NICK to a maximum
of 7 characters. (This will ensure that in the event of the member
becoming part of the command staff, that additional command staff
characters may be added without a complete change of name. Ketsujin
has a limit of 16 characters allowed for a FLIGHTNICK i.e. If a
player with the name of _WILD_IRONING became a command staff member,
he/she would be able to amend their nick to _WILD_XO_IRONING retaining
IRONING as their personal nick, whereas, a flight nick of _WILD_IRONINGS
(IRONINGS having 8 characters) would not be able to use _WILD_XO_IRONINGS
as this would put the number of characters used to 17, and thus
be over the limit allowed by Ketsujin)
d)
Be permitted use of another squadron's name only if that name is
included as part of a personal NICK and may not be separated from
the personal NICK in any way i.e. another squad name of IRON could
be used in the NICK as _WILD_IRONNICK.
e)
Not use profanity, sexual or racist references in their flight nick.
f)
Have only one _WILD_NICK unless otherwise authorized by Command
Staff.
24)
Use of profanity, sexual or racist references, or violations to
the Ketsujin CoC is forbidden.
25)
Any concerns about a probationary member shall be relayed privately
to a Command Staff member as soon as is possible. (Even though the
Command Staff members conduct the final vote on a probationary member,
they depend on the feedback from within the Squadron members to
reach informed decisions.)
26)
Disciplinary action against a member of The WILDCARD SQUADRON will
be decided and voted on by the Command Staff and will be a majority
rule as stated in the Articles Section 3 and in the By-Laws Sections
10, 11 and 12.
27)
Warnings for violations of conduct are not necessary.
28)
Members of the WILDCARD SQUADRON will not use foul language, or
make offensive remarks in open arena chat.
29)
Members of the WILDCARD SQUADRON shall always attempt to give other
squadrons and players the same respect that we also expect. Should
a member of another squadron, or another player begin behaving in
a way that is offensive to you and/or other players contact a sysop.
DO NOT LOWER the WILDCARD SQUADRON to the standards of others.
30)
Disagreements will always happen with a large group of people. We
will NOT start flaming wars via e-mail or open chat wars that will
disrupt other members of the squad. In-squad fighting will not be
tolerated and violators will be dealt with quickly and very firmly.
We are all adults and expected to handle ourselves as such. Complaints
and/or disagreements should be handled in private with one on one
e-mail, and if that is not successful, a Command Staff member should
be contacted to arbitrate the disagreement. In squad fighting can
ruin an entire evening for all those online, and violates the principle
on which this group was formed FUN.
31)
Members will conduct themselves with Honor at all times. (Shooting
chutes is left up to the individual)
32)
WILDCARDS will ALWAYS fly for the same country if in the same arena,
with the exception of special events.
33)
WILDCARDS will NOT shoot down another member, with the exception
of practice sessions, special events and private FFA rooms.
a)
If a WILDCARD chooses to fly in a hider nick they should know beforehand
that shooting down a WILDCARD while in that hider nick is a violation
of the above rule. While flying in a hider nick all responsibility
for complying with this squad rule falls on the person in the hider
nick.
34)
WILDCARDS are expected to be on voice communications when at all
possible. Hardware/software issues do come up, but with a little
work we have been very successful at overcoming those issues in
most cases. Voice communication is essential to victory and coming
back alive and has proven itself in helping to keep the group together.
35)
WILDCARDS will NOT engage in racist or sexist remarks on voice communications
or in game play chat
