To the members and companions of the company, I give greetings. At our last meeting I introduced my concept of what the company should focus on this year. In more detail my idea is as follows.

Situation: As the company grows we will add members who don’t have a strong connection to the founding members of the group. This lack of familiarity could lead to a brake down in communication and efficiency within the company. A plan must be developed to help improve communication, insure that all members of the company have equal access to sources of information, and provide a stream of continuity from year to year.

Plan Concept: By forming a chain of command and dividing tasks into areas of responsibility information should be able to flow through the company in an accurate, efficient, and consistent manner. The chain of command will consist of one officer responsible for the coordination of activities with their task division. The task divisions and the officer responsible for them are as follows:

Company Issues/Liaison – Captain

Training – Executive Officer

Trooper Issues – Sergeant Major

Logistics – Quarter Master Sergeant

Additional task divisions will be implemented as needed. The specific job descriptions for each company officer slot can be found under the heading “Description of Duties” listed below. Please read the captain’s Intent statement before continuing.

Captains Intent: This command structure is intended to be an “off the field” organization. All company members should feel eligible to hold any of the officer slots (within guidelines establish by company charter) The company officer slots are not limited to fighting members and are not intended to represent any real authority over any person associated with the company. The company officers are to be used as points of contact and administration for information and services available within the company. The ultimate goal is to create a system that will allow the company to continue even if the founding members are not available. Additionally, the company officers are not intended to be the only person doing all the work in any one task division. Company officers are to act primarily as supervisors, coordinators, and sources of information. Company officers are encouraged to recruit and delegate responsibility to any personnel that may be required to address a specific issue.

Description of Duties: Company officers should use the following descriptions as a guideline in approaching their task division. Officers should not feel limited to those issues use as examples. A company officer is expected to seek out and address all issues that arise within their task division.

Company Captain: I addition to those duties established by charter and tradition the captain of the company is expected to deal with all issues pertaining to the company as a whole. These issues may include and are not limited to; command meetings, recognition of company member’s achievements, representing the company in both formal and informal settings. The captain is also ultimately responsible for the proper administration of all other task divisions within the company.

Executive Officer: The executive officer of the company is expected to act as the commander of the company in the absence of the Captain and to coordinate all issues dealing with company training and drills. This may include developing a schedule of fight practices, obtaining new training information, and maintaining all training manuals developed by the company. The role of the EO is to ensure continuity of leadership within the company in the absence of the Captain.

Sergeant Major: The sergeant major of the company is expected to deal with all issues pertaining to the troopers of the company. This includes maintaining an up to date roster of troops, dealing with authorization issues, and coordinating with the captain all troop aspects of deployment and operations. The role of the SM is essentially that of an ombudsmen acting as a liaison between the captain and the rest of the company.

Quarter Master Sergeant: The quarter master sergeant of the company is expected to deal with all issues pertaining to the disposition of material belonging to the company. This includes maintaining a list of all equipment either directly owned by the company or available for loan to the company. Other issues may include organizing repair, maintenance, and replacement of equipment and material. The role of the QMS is to coordinate all the logistic requirements for the company especially during camping deployments.

As a personal note I would like to see this act as a driving force behind the continued growth of the company. I have not asked for volunteers to fill the officer slots this year. My reason for doing this was two fold. First, I wanted to lessen the work load of the people already doing these jobs (unofficially). I think starting with the people I selected will give us a good start to see how this works. Second, I feel this could be very important to the future of the company and I felt I had to select people that I am in close contact with on a weekly basis. I eagerly look for commentary and questions on this proposal. I would also like to find more period titles for the company officers. I don’t know if there are any but I would be nice to at least look.

Non soli pugnabant,

Sjt. Renaude de Launay

PFC Commanding