Inspired by @Muppet 's recent necropost, I began thinking about our thing here.
I was an early joiner to the site, not the first member certainly, but one of the first. My profile says I joined in 2006. That means ShadowSpear is, or soon will be, 20 years old.
Wow.
A lot has happened in the last 20 years. We lost a few wars, fewer, certainly, than @AWP lost moderator elections, but still a notable number. Many presidents, good and bad, have come and gone. Good (and bad) members of our site have come and gone. The site has undergone upgrades and changes, and somehow we ended up with the gayest possible "love" emoticon. We even have our own site coins.
I've made good friends here, most of whom I never would have met otherwise. I co-wrote a book about the Ranger Regiment with a former site member. I've been on @amlove21's podcast, and he's been on mine. I've seen numerous members at linkups and in combat zones around the world. Several of you have been to my various houses. @Teufel was on a panel I hosted at AUSA just last week. The list goes on and on.
I've used our site as a sounding board, and a test bed for ideas. Over more than 15,000 posts, I've spammed the sites with my thoughts, ideas, stories, articles, and yes, case studies. I'm on the page almost every day, often several times a day. This site, and the community we built together, means something to me.
Like many of the site's OGs, I came here because I was turned off by the general assclownery inherent in other SpecOps sites where I was (and still am, I guess) a member. This site allowed me--allowed ALL of us--to be ourselves, and to be a community. I've always appreciated that.
Thank you @ShadowSpear and all of you, and many who are no longer here, for building this into something important and useful. Not just for us, but for current and future warfighters. Although it was established long ago, on a site far, far way, that I am "neither funny nor witty" and "will never make it in SOF," I've always appreciated what went into setting up this site, and what goes into maintaining it.
Thanks, everyone.
A few questions:
Do we want to do anything special for ShadowSpear at 20?
Anyone else have reflections on their time at ShadowSpear that they want to add?
I was an early joiner to the site, not the first member certainly, but one of the first. My profile says I joined in 2006. That means ShadowSpear is, or soon will be, 20 years old.
Wow.
A lot has happened in the last 20 years. We lost a few wars, fewer, certainly, than @AWP lost moderator elections, but still a notable number. Many presidents, good and bad, have come and gone. Good (and bad) members of our site have come and gone. The site has undergone upgrades and changes, and somehow we ended up with the gayest possible "love" emoticon. We even have our own site coins.
I've made good friends here, most of whom I never would have met otherwise. I co-wrote a book about the Ranger Regiment with a former site member. I've been on @amlove21's podcast, and he's been on mine. I've seen numerous members at linkups and in combat zones around the world. Several of you have been to my various houses. @Teufel was on a panel I hosted at AUSA just last week. The list goes on and on.
I've used our site as a sounding board, and a test bed for ideas. Over more than 15,000 posts, I've spammed the sites with my thoughts, ideas, stories, articles, and yes, case studies. I'm on the page almost every day, often several times a day. This site, and the community we built together, means something to me.
Like many of the site's OGs, I came here because I was turned off by the general assclownery inherent in other SpecOps sites where I was (and still am, I guess) a member. This site allowed me--allowed ALL of us--to be ourselves, and to be a community. I've always appreciated that.
Thank you @ShadowSpear and all of you, and many who are no longer here, for building this into something important and useful. Not just for us, but for current and future warfighters. Although it was established long ago, on a site far, far way, that I am "neither funny nor witty" and "will never make it in SOF," I've always appreciated what went into setting up this site, and what goes into maintaining it.
Thanks, everyone.
A few questions:
Do we want to do anything special for ShadowSpear at 20?
Anyone else have reflections on their time at ShadowSpear that they want to add?
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