SAS Memories

SAS_Cpl_Spidey01, a personale history.

The first time I set foot in the ol’Training Grounds I remember following a SAS_Rct_Raptis around, A SAS_LCpl_Hollow and another LCpl_R some one where also on the server. That was roughly two years ago. I played on/off until I got serious maybe a few months before my Rct Tryout. I wasn’t yet sure if I liked RvS.

The next time I started playing on TG#1 I remember JB the cool guy with a AK47, Adze as ether LCpl or Cpl and a few other members. Bronco, DM, Count, Cobra, Blade, En4cer e.t.c. Some regular on the server by the name of Grayfox I think, thought me a few simple basics when we where on another Missions server. RvS was getting cool but I made friends in another game.

Later on I pop’d in when we had TG#1 and TG#2 going with RvS and one server was running Force on Force training (Advers HR/Pilot/Bomb). I hung around epecially amazed by SAS_Cpl’s Adze, Blade, and JB. Put in an app some months later, dropped away to join friends in another game awhile later. By this time I had an app in and was the only Non SAS member activly posting on the forums lol….

One day, I’ll never forget it no matter how hard. I remember Random and Coop were in the server. I was so excited to see how the LtCol and 1st LT played. They worked as a 2-Man element, other SAS and my self joining in from time to time. I was simply astonished by the way these two members played together so well. I started trying to mimic what I saw Coop do as #2 Cover man and it set my favorite duty. I’d usually try to find some one to give cover to and do my best. Awhile before I met Leon. Soon after I met Recon when Allystrike wa son the rotation. Not but least Matsuro 🙂

My next hop several months later, I remeber meeting a SAS_Trp_Wiz and SAS_Rct_Rand out of the blue. Wiz eventially got me and felt (Python) into some uber basic training. I spent a fair bit of time along side Rand who showed me a few things. I enjoyed very much when Rand and I did a tough map together working our way through the mud and tangos till we did it without rasing any alarms. I dropped for awhile for some league matches in MW4.

After some time I returned to RvS and Swat4 when it came out. At SAS_LCpl_Wizs’ advice I sent in a new app, I had cancled my origenal one b/c I had stopped playing RvS. I worked to improve my skill in hopes of being a decent applicant. The young SAS_Trp_Rand took me under his wing one day, showed me the basic training that I would need for passing a tryout. V-Coms, Movement, e.t.c. and helped me learn some Common Sense better then others did. During this time I spent most of my time training on TG#2 Iron Wrath with Rand, JB and Wiz and others hanging around. I played a good deal of S4 but I switched mostly to RvS so I could join faster. Blade got his Comp fixed and Wiz gave me TS Privs. British accents are nice. I soon got to know the members voices, ahh I remember wanting to strangle JB and Blade at first for confusing me. I wasn’t yet used to playing RvS with TS2 and there was plenty of jokes here and there at funny happenings on the server. Felt changed his name to Python and became a Rct.

Thanks to the fatherly guidence of a good Trooper and the faith of a new Cpl I took my troopers tryout and passed on the second try. Relish conducted it, Adze Soon the new Trooper Python was the perfect example, SAS_Cpl soon SAS_Sgt_Wiz a watchful mentor, SAS_Cpl_JB a nudging shadow when I needed guidence, SAS_Sgt_James my corrector, SAS_SSgt_En4cer a man of tactics, SAS_Cpl_Relish my Dynamic Instructor 🙂 I played more S4 and got to see alot more of CO Random but still kept around RvS and trained. SAS_Rct_Rasa and SAS_Rct_Leon aka “The Human Machine” where my training buddies. Around this period I noticed a few good lads. Coq_Rouge, Jso, SFC (aka Trp_Ghost), Fritz of Swat4, then another player we best know as Qwerty, and more I can’t remember everyone. I was hoping most of them (particually Coq & Fritz and later SFC) would put serious effort into becoming SAS members. During this time I know Taris and Moebious left.

Soon I became a Trooper, I worked hard to make my self the best I could be and still stuck around with my ol’training mates. Wiz was Sgt by now and I think Jay left around this time. One player I noticed really looked good was Coq_Rouge, I never knew if he had an app in but I liked his style. Soon enough in time Coq_Rouge became SAS_Rct_Rouge and then Trooper. Fritz became Rct but had to leave because of family matters. best damn Swat4 player I’ve ever seen when it came to covering. between the two of us, we could find an angle to cover any where. I sat in on several tryouts, attended some trainnig sessions led by James and Rand. I was generally a flounder as a Trooper IMHO. One day a greenish kid pops in to the server one Monday or so. He wanted a Tryout by Wednesday or Thursday. I tried to make sure he stayed out of trouble after he became serious. Soon he was SAS_Rct_Mando and made trooper after awhile. SFC changed his name to Ghost when he became Recruit IIRC. Dave came back from the dead Coop recruited Qwerty, Jso joined us and Qwerty left us. (to put it shortly). I met Darkwolf, SDSnipe, Sacer_Miles, Noer, and others. One day a man by the name of SJMerge dropped in on IG Olsons Estate. I was like WTH ether this guy was one of us or he’s like Green beret. Sure enough he was a SWAT officer home on pain meds from dential surgery and has never played so good again ! haha. I poke’d a bit for him to invistigate SAS and hoped very dearly he’d drop us an app. I was happy to see my friend Rasa become the first of us three stooges make JNCO (LCpl to yall). Eventially SJMerge,Hexen, Noer and Miles became Rct but much later on then this. Around this time after awhile LCpl_Rand dropp’d off the map. Some time in this period, Random stepped down and Heim became CO. Bronco left us and some AWOL members got took off the mighty page.

I met Lazkostriker and Foxthreat some time before or after but I was stopping to play S4 alot in the hopes of getting closer to training ops. Blade and JB became Sgts, I think some one must’ve sent GCHQ a few rounds of white russians because eventially Rouge, Leon, and Recon became LCpl and so did I. I resigned to the fact that I was given another chance, try and be helpful. I’ve done what I could. I lived to see desasitors strike. The “Sabre Incident” as I call it. Squabble between RSM_James, Capt_En4cer, SSM_Wiz, most of Sabre pissed. All three where demoted in the end, two trying self demotion /or resignation. GCHQ sorted it and things where water under the bridge. Shield had become CO a bit before this when Heim had stepped down. Mando left around this chuck of time requesting Vet from GCHQ and got it.

Fences mended and life continued. One day before or after Sabre our site got cracked and we fought back without sinking to there level – Heim even threatend to sick lawyers on him. You don’t want a Doctors lawyer after you !!!! That poor sods not coming back me thinks. Then one day a ruckus between the command structure aka the James incident. James was kicked out for disobeying Commanders orders about the Admin controls or some thing. Rand put forth his request to be removed from the roster after a few months abense. I don’t care to remeber or hear it put forward. Eventually this up roar ended in peace. One day Random made me cry, he went veteran. Noer became Trp, Fox and Lazko rcts soon enough Foxthreat was a Trooper. Blast him even as a new Rct he fitted in so well you’d hardly know he wasn’t born a [SAS] Trooper.

Wiz took care of the site, Shield kept order and joined the army and took care of liife while we grew stonger. Random returned, En4cer and Blade where home. We had a nice admin reform at a price of dear blood. I saw changes in the recruitment process and Sacer_Miles and Hexen become our gina pigs for testing it.

I saw my friends Leon and Rouge become Cpl and Recon go vet. Some one must have been drinking because I was asked to start learning about tryouts, after doing my first tryout I was promoted to Cpl soon after. I now work

Troubles with the site and idiots out to break into it caused problems, eventually the admins shut it down to stop attacks and Wiz rebuilt the site for us and eventually it was restored to working order.

This is as much of [SAS] history as I’ve lived through, more or less in cronological order with as many details as I can recal right now. I’ll probably edit in more if I remember it tonight, I also need to finish editing in my additions to my PC-BSD review before I post it in the PC-BSD Lounge.

Memlogging

I can’t remember how on earth I got in to programming dang gum it. When we got our first Pentium PC about 2000 or 2001. She had Win98 in a FAT16 partition, like a 250MB hard drive, 32MB RAM, and maybe a 133Mhz clock speed. I looked over the system, all the menus and stuff. Usually I didn’t toy with changing stuff for fear that if I fouled it up Ma would kill me. It was technically her E-Machine, and my replacement for WebTV (Yes I first browsed the WWW on one). I spent upwards of 8 hours a day looking through Windows and surfing, mostly Mobile Suit Gundam stuff and made a great study of the One Year War era (I had just learned their was more then Gundam Wing). After awhile the box got a bit cranky as we didn’t even know how to power it doen properly. We we’re told how with out first (a Tandy 1000) not this one. Eventially the HDC or Hard Drive Controller failed, we then we’re given our pastors old PC.

A Packered Bell 1998 machine with like a PII 233Mhz, 64mb of RAM, 2.4GB drive & a dual boot of Win98 and MS-DOS. Never used the DOS for fear of not being able to reboot into Windows and getting killed. When it’s copy of Windows died we got a Dell 4550, P4 2.0Ghz, 256MB RAM, 120GB drive, CD-Burner and WinXP. I was of course up-set with XP but estatic at the machine, never knew they had gotton so powerful. January 2002 I got my first PC Game and started a war with ma (hates idea of PC Games). I eventially got into gaming and made a few friends, got more and more into the computer after awhile.

Eventially for some fricken reason I can’t remember :! got into programming. A friend I met & trained with in one of my games who was into Python showed me this document one day and changed my path. I started to see the diffrence between the “Hackers” I’d seen and delt with. (Script Kiddies and P.I.T.A. Ballock heads) we’re not the same as people who, well actually dug computers rather then abused them. I started learning about UNIX and started to repsect people /w computer skills more. Eventially I desided to follow my friends advice and learn to use a unix like OS, he loved Linux and I always wondered about it. Sure enough, having to read the manual before installing type I am. I did *ALLOT* of research and eventually found out I ether would go with Debian, Slackware or FreeBSD and GNU/Linux wasn’t my bag so FreeBSD it was. In my search of what a *nix desktop would look like some how I was blessed with finding PC-BSD, I wanted to learn but I didn’t want to crack my skull open. I figured /w PC-BSD if I turned out to be a schmuck without WinXP I’d still be able to learn at my own pace. Sure enough ma wouldn’t let me repartition her computer. I registored on the techsupport forums @ http://www.pcbsd.com/ and hung around, hoping to grep some information while I awaited away to buy parts to build my dream girl. One of the people we work for (an IT manager) gave me an old PC, Monitor, and Keyboard to install it on when he found out.

I still have that comp and it’s the “Vectra II” lady I ssh around with (best *BSD box I got too hardware wise). After reading allot of the related matter in the handbook I tried to install FreeBSD at 0400 local, forgot to put my user as part of the wheel group and was to darn tired to figured out how to get to root access. Yeah I know, even for a first timer it was bad but heck I’d have been better doing it drunk then so late/early after a work day. Installed PC-BSD 1.0RC1 in the morning, best thing I ever did.

Since then, I’ve learned so much, crap I don’t even need X after I made my self learn to live in a console. I still hang around the forum in the hopes that as I learn I can help some body else to learn, I don’t think I’m half as smart as most of the regulars but I try with the time I got. if it’d give the expirenced users time to anwser some important question I’m happy to deal with simple stuff. If I know it I say it, if I can try or aid some how I try to, if it’s some thing the person should’a looked up I try to link them and give them a summery rather then a “RTFM and go away” approch like I’ve read which I’ve in some forums but never sceen around PC-BSD. I thank my friend and the author of that page very much. It opened me up to allot of learning, I started out on Windows with C++ and bergined out. It gave me the feeling to start learning other languages even while trying to comprohend the basics (and still am compared to a professional programmer). It led me in search of PC-BSD and freedom, waking up to Windows is like booting up and getting “Good morning retard, care to get bossed around again?” which, is not my idea of design. Any software that thinks it knows more then any user could _ever_ know and that it’s omni-portent is a very bad idea. I’ve always liked to know about things I like and how they work, computers of course have always interested me. Until I got on one much to much it never accured to me a computer could be some thing for joe blow, instead of just Ph.D Rocketman. Some how my interest in programming spread out, I dunno how to explain it. From hardware, to software, to the net it’s all a joy. It’s just so awesome, to be able to learn. I don’t know if I’ll ever have enough skills at computers and programming to be able to write any thing useful or really help any one, but I can sure as hell enjoy the ride.

May information always flow freely !