The Royal Manticoran Navy: The Official Honor Harrington Fan Association is an international group that celebrates the Universe of Honor Harrington, a series of books written by David Weber. On top of celebrating the Universe of Honor Harrington, we also take part in a variety of activities. The international organization's main charity is the Big Cat Rescue, and some of the local chapters have charities that they support. Here in the Twin Cities Metro Area, we have supported the MS Walk, the AIDS Walk, and a number of other health-related charity walks.
Currently, I am the Deputy Commander of Second Fleet and the Commanding Officer of Task Force 21. That means that I am the second-in-command of the region that contains MN, WI, IL, IN, OH, KY, & MI. Task Force 21 is comprised of all of the chapters in MN, WI, and the UP of MI. I hold the rank of Commodore, which I have earned through a combination of Time in Grade, leadership exam testing, and holding positions of leadership. Also, the awards that I display have been earned through volunteering - on top of being a fan organization, we support and encourage community service and outreach.
Here are some helpful links if you would like to know more about the organization:
The Royal Manticoran Navy: http://www.trmn.org/portal/
David Weber's Website: http://www.davidweber.net/
On Basilisk Station, the first book in the series: http://www.baen.com/on-basilisk-station.html
Introduction to the Honorverse
In 2002, I had been a member of the Science Fiction Book Club, where I received a copy of War of Honor. Not having heard of David Weber or the Honor Harrington Series at that point in time, I had planned on returning the book. Fortunately, I was extremely busy and forgot to send it back.
Several months later, after it was too late to return the book, I noticed it on top of one of the boxes that I was using to move out of I apartment. After reading the glossary of terms in the back of the book, I decided that it was worth a read. Once I read the first several pages, I was confused by the writing style - it took me a moment to realize that War of Honor was the 10th Book in the main series. I then set out to purchase and read On Basilisk Station.
Joining The Royal Manticoran Navy
On 5 August 2011, I had noticed that a friend had been added to the Facebook Page for the RMN Twin Cities (now the Second Fleet Facebook Page), and I became very interested and requested to join the page. After learning about tRMN, I signed on at trmn.org as a Spacer Third Class. John Neitz, who was working on forming a crew for his ship, brought me into his plans to create HMS Merlin, the first local chapter for the fan association. After John got the required number of people and selected his executive officer and bosun, HMS Merlin was launched and I was promoted to Spacer Second Class.
After deciding that I wanted to start my own ship (with encouragement from John), and recruiting Jill McTavish and Cole Sterling to join me as my executive officer and bosun, respectively, I was promoted to Fire Control Mate First Class as I and my tactical team continued to recruit new members. After a month of recruiting and planning, I was promoted on 20 November 2011 to the rank of Commander and was placed in command of HMS Samurai.
Leadership and Changes
HMS Merlin, having been the first ship in second fleet, consistently was the forerunner in organizational structure. Being the first ship to have a second ship form in the same city, creating the Twin Cities Station, and helping form other chapters, the goal of creating a full Cruiser Division was set in motion. After Captain (Junior Grade) John Neitz was promoted to Captain of the List and given command CruRon 211 and of the battlecruiser HMS Invincible, I took command of HMS Merlin. As the crew of Merlin continued to grow, we changed chapter sizes and I took command of HMS Athena and BatCruDiv 212. The chapter continued to grow, leading me to command HMS Intrepid and BatDiv 212, and eventually Battle Squadron 21. I am currently the Deputy Commander of Second Fleet and the Commanding Officer of Task Force 21.
Interested in learning more about tRMN or collaborating with one of our local chapters? Feel free to reach out to me, and I'll email you back as soon as possible or connect you with the right person.