Being the first isn't what Fleet Two is about, though -- it's being the best. Today, Fleet Two is up there among the leaders as part of what can confidently be called the best roleplaying organization on the Internet today. The history of the Fleet is long and, since it mimics in length the history of the club itself, intertwined with the tapestry of STF.

This page is divided into two sections: GWF on the WeBB, which catalogues the Fleet's current situation and progress since August 1998; and The Prodigy Years, which contains information on the GWF's origins on the Prodigy Online Service in the years 1992 through 1998. There are probably a few errors in this recounting; few records exist and most of this page is based upon memories. If you think you've found an error, please drop me a line and let me know. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.


=/\= Hello, WeBB! (1998-present)
Constancy was slowly sapping the Fleet into a shadow of its former self, though. The final nail in STF2's Prodigy coffin was struck when Mike Ballway lost his Prodigy access in August 1998. Preparations were made as early as January of that year to move STF2 to the WeBB, a web-based Bulletin Board that housed (at that time) three other STF Fleets. In August, the move was made. The Victorious transferred to the First Fleet, the first time in three years that a ship had moved Fleets while still in active service. The WeBB would be home to the newly-recommissioned Connie and Trin, each commanded by an STF2 old-timer with a WeBB expert in the Exec's chair. The USS Constellation got FComm Mike Ballway and XO Seamus Hughes, and the Trinitron launched with recently-returned AFComm Mike Barclay and XO B.J. Phillips. Additionally, the USS Nautilus debuted with WeBBster duo Mark Longanbach and Bill Gunty at the helm.

While the Nauty would be a rock of consistency in its first few months, the Trin went berserk when Mike Barclay went AWOL in November; eventually, after an acting Captaincy by Mark Longanbach, Seamus Hughes got the job -- only to swap positions with Adam St. Clair, an F6 CO. Mark Wilson was hired to take Seamus' XO Connie spot. In March 1999, Adam was declared AWOL; Jaret Hargreaves, a Connie officer, was promoted to take his place.

April 1999 was a special month for STF2: The commissioning of its fourth ship on the WeBB, proof that its "slow-fleet" mission was a success. Returning STFer Mike Bowman was granted his old captaincy -- the Arleigh Burke.

The GWF stands today on much more solid ground. Neither Ballway nor Bowman nor Hargreaves nor especially Longanbach shows any signs of budging. We look to an active and story-filled future with the fine crewmembers of the Great White Fleet.

Sadly, altough STF2 had enough membership to support this configuration in early 1993, the next year would see membership decline from this peak and some ships would be decommissioned. In mid-1993, President Jim Midyette faced the prospect of having to retire one of the GWF's ships. As a gesture of good faith to crews around STF -- who would soon feel the heat on their own bridges -- and a sign that he would not be biased in his decisions, he chose to decommission his own former captaincy, the USS Constellation. Unfortunately, it would not be the last ship in STF2 to get the axe. By 1997, all of the ships mentioned above would have been taken out of service.


=/\= Glory in Decline (1994-96)
More ships were decommed later that year. The Lexington and the short-lived USS Sierra both fell to the axe. Even these two decomms weren't enough, though: In mid-1994, the bulk of STF2 followed them. USS Apparition CO Jason Brocklesby made a stir about his ship's recall and resigned. Small crews around STF consolidated into larger ships. The Ark II, Arbie, and App all exited the Fleet Two landscape, although the "Renegade-Constellation" protest by former Connie officers Mike Ballway, Churlsan Han, and Brian McGee guaranteed the only bright spot in that late '93-to-1994 -- the recommissioning of the former Flagship. A much smaller Fleet, consisting of the Connie, Trin, and Surv, weathered Jim Midyette's Presidential defeat that July and the Jerry Phelps months that summer. Adrianna West, David Brown, Scott Vandehey, and Mike Barclay would lead ships during these uncertain times in STF2.

When Midyette retook the Presidency in September, Matt Wolff was offered the FCommship. He did not respond, and Mike Ballway got the job. Later, in 1995, Midyette disbanded Fleet Three and moved two of its ships -- the Dresden and the Victorious -- into the Second Fleet. Unfortunately, membership demand coulndn't support five ships in Fleet Two, even with the influx of F3 personnel. The Survivor and Dresden were decommissioned during the FCommship of Mike Barclay in 1995. Midyette resigned in mid-'95 and took the CO Connie job, with Mike Ballway as his CE.

The "Command Crisis" of 1996 snuck up on Fleet Two and stabbed it in the heart: Jim Midyette left; Mike Barclay left; acting FComm-2 Becca Juarez resigned; and acting-acting FComm-2 Den Hannigan, primarily a Fleet One leader, disappeared. A new generation of leaders tentatively took charge, acting not from the executive offices of FComm or Prez, but from the legislative body known as the Officers' Council. These officers included Ken Marklan, Nick Oven, and Mike Ballway.


=/\= Crisis Weathered but Prodigy Declines (1996-98)
STF2 entered STF's "modern era" -- which started with the "new guard" ushered in by Randy McCullick's inauguration -- with a stronger FCommship of Mike Ballway and, in him and Vice-President/AFComm-2 Nick Oven, two strong voices in Command (incidentally, McCullick was also the first STF President since 1992 never to have served on a Fleet Two ship). Ken Marklan, who had CO'd the Trinitron until mid-'96, had unfortunately resigned. He was sorely missed, but Oven and Phil Bishop filled the void he'd left on the Trin. Adam Steiner, Alan Felts, and Owen Townes, meanwhile, held down the fort on the Victorious.

STF2 gradually lost members through mid-1997. By that time, Rebecca Juarez had rejoined and was roleplaying alongside Emily Braunstein on the Connie and Mark Wilson had joined the Trin but activity levels had dropped Fleetwide. President Hertzsch, who had ascended to replace McCullick in early 1997, made the shocking but not-so-stunning announcement that both the Connie and Trin would be decommissioned and merged into the Victorious. Nick Oven led what instantaneously became a fast -- though by the WeBB's standards very slow -- ship. STF2 remained simply Vicky until it moved to the WeBB in 1998. A few changes ocurred: Braunstein and Juarez never joined the Vicky and left STF in '97; Oven and Bishop eventually left; and Greg Hertzsch joined the Vicky crew. But all in all, under Mike Ballway's and Mark Wilson's leadership, STF2 remained relatively constant.