Anvil April 2017

The Anvil U.S.S. Hephaestus: NCC-2004

April 2017

Harcourt Fenton Mudd!!

ALWAYS ONWARD A MEMBER OF STARFLEET INTERNATIONAL

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From the Ready Room

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XO Briefing

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Robots and Androids

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Robots Poster

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While on an Away Mission

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HEPHAESTUS is the Greek name for the Roman god of the forge, Vulcan. Birmingham has the world’s largest iron statue, that of the Roman god, Vulcan. We named our STARFLEET chapter the Hephaestus to give us ties to our city and to Star Trek, which has had its own Vulcan since 1966. Hephaestus forged armor and weapons for the gods. We create our own “armor and weapons” here, in our newsletter, so it is called The Anvil.

Quotable Quotes

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Cover: TOS: I, Mudd, S02E12

Name the Robot

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Web Links

Reviews

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Inside This Issue

The Hephaestus Redshirt Challenge

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The Captain’s Top 10

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Star Trek News & More

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Ship’s Log

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Personal Log Special Report – Star Trek: The Cruise 15 Region 2 Summit 2017

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Crew Happenings

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STARFLEET Academy

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STARFLEET Marine Corps

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Hunt for the Icon

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Recommendations

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Exploring Trek

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Away Team and Activity Schedule

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Anvil Focus Schedule

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Do You Know this Alien…

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STARFLEET Renewal Reminders

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Name the Vulcans Answers

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Area Conventions & Exhibits

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Command Structure

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STARFLEET www.sfi.org Region 2 www.region2.org USS Hephaestus - Group www.facebook.com/groups/Hephaestus2004/ USS Hephaestus – Page www.facebook.com/USSHephaestus/ Twitter www.twitter.com/Hephaestus2004 Anvil Back Issues www.issuu.com/ncc2004

Note: Some of the pictures of the Summit events were taken by Freddie Heller

Editor

MarkAdam Miller

Layout, Graphics and Publishing

Brenda A. Miller

Marine Reporting

Neil Yawn

Doctor Who Reporter

Matt Boyd

Field Reporter

James Davis

The Anvil, Issue 308 is the monthly newsletter of the USS Hephaestus, NCC-2004, of STARFLEET, The International Star Trek Fan Association. All terms and phrases from Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures Corporation, a division of Paramount Communications and all rights are reserved.

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From the Ready Room Greetings from your Captain, I have been working to see what ways we can best advertise that Birmingham has a Star Trek Fan Club. One of the ways is to get more involved in local conventions. There are three local conventions that we can easily get involved with: Magic City Con, Play On Con and Hoover Library Sci-Fi & Fantasy Festival.

I have volunteered for Magic City Con. This is just helping in the background but may turn into other things we can do for them. Check out their ad in the convention section to see how you can help them.

Play On Con has asked us to help with a couple of panels at their convention. We also have panels to run at the Hoover Library Sci-Fi & Fantasy Festival at the end of July. If you wish to help/volunteer for either of these cons please see me at the social. I will then be able to give Play On Con what we have to offer and let the library know what extra help is availaable.

So think about what you would like to do and let me know so we can get you involved. There are a lot of things you can do, all we need to know is where you would like to help out.

Don’t forget to catch the Ship Status’s Report Monday nights around 6:30 on FB Hephaestus – STARFLEET group and the repost on FB U.S.S. Hephaestus page.

As always, see you around the ship, Fleet Captain MarkAdam Miller cohephaestus@bellsouth.net, www.facebook.com/groups/Hephaestus2004/

XO Briefing Greetings from Sec 31, It's that time of year for warmer weather and getting outside. Easter is upon us, a time to celebrate. I'm going to try to go out and hike more and walk when it sunny and clear. I'm going to start going to the movie theater more. I'll post the times and maybe what to see. The IC is in New Orleans in Aug. I have some vacation time so I’m planning to be there, are you?

If you need me, I’ll be with Section 31, Lt. Phillip Mangina, phillip3056@charter.netv USS Hephaestus

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Robots and Androids

By Fleet Captain MarkAdam Miller Webster's Twenty Fourth Century Dictionary, Fifth Edition, defines an android as an automaton made to resemble a human being. - Data, TNG: The Measure of a Man,

than robot and can be traced back to Ephraim Chambers' Cyclopaedia (1728). Android is a coined word from Greek meaning having the form or likeness of man. Most robots that people think of would most likely be considered Androids as they have arms, legs, body and a head. They also perform just as a human would. This is because in film to create a robot a human was used to wear a robot suit and perform the functions of what needed to be done.

Robots are not a new concept made up by Star Trek but goes back possibly further than most science fiction. Robots are in Greek mythology with them helping Hephaestus with his forge or the Golem of Jewish legends. The term robot comes from a play by Czech writer Karel Čapek called R.U.R. (1920), an abbreviation for Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti (Rossum’s Universal Robots). In this play the robots are more clones than mechanical machines. At first, they help their creators but then turn against them destroying them. This was how most robot stories and legends end up; with the ones being created turning on the humans who created them with the creators or created being destroyed in the process.

Robot science fiction stories followed this formula until Isaac Asimov, in his stories, developed the Three Laws of Robotics:

Most robots in Star Trek are androids. The original series had androids in three episodes: What are Little Girls Made of?, I, Mudd and Return to Tomorrow.

The last one just shows the body but not them activated. The other two are similar plots in that perfection is being sought. In What are Little Girls Made of? Roger Corby is trying to show how being a robot eliminates war and other problems like sickness and hunger. The problem is that love and compassion are sacrificed. Without them there is no life.

I, Mudd on the other hand has androids that feel they are perfect and humans are needing to be ruled over so that they don’t cause suffering and pain to each other. This time Kirk and company have to show that human life is a struggle and that without that struggle humans would die of boredom.

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

(Asimov, Isaac, I, Robot (1950))

Star Trek: The Next Generation turns the idea around: instead of Humans wanting to become like robots a robot wants to become human.

Data was created based on the works of Isaac Asimov. Dr. Noonian Soong took the positronic brain concept from Asimov’s Robot stories and created Data. Data’s brain functions like a human brain but instead of organic material it is made from a metal substances. Data was human in all aspects except one, he did not have emotions. This allowed

These laws would stop some of the destruction of humans but there were still problems that would make humans have to think; were they better off with or without their creations. The most famous Robots that would seem to follow Asimov’s Robot laws are Robbie from Forbidden Planet (1958) and Robot (B9) from Lost in Space. Robot(B-9) is more of the form we know robots whereas Robbie comes closer to what would be called an android.

Androids are a specific type of Robot in they look human in some fashion. The term Android is older USS Hephaestus

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stories to revolve around Data trying to understand emotions (In Theory, Data’s Day, etc.). This also allows Data to be the commentator on the human condition like Spock was in the original series.

Someone on the outside looking in.

Deep Space Nine did not have any robots but Voyager had two episodes that included robots, Prototype and Think Tank. Prototype dealt with two groups of robots that had killed their “Builders” when the “Builders” try to deactivate them. The “Builders” had declared peace and no longer needed the robots to fight their wars and the robots killed them because the “Builders” became the enemy. Then the robots went back to fighting each other. These robots were android in nature but had a metal skin instead of a synthetic skin like Data. Think Tank had an Artificial Intelligence (AI) as one of the members of the think tank. The AI was more the B9 robot that was in Lost In Space. It functioned more like a computer than an actual robot.

TNG did not forsake the rogue robot. They had it in the form of Data’s brother Lore (Datalore, Brothers, Descent). Lore tried to conquer humans but was defeated by his brother, Data, who had a better understanding of humans. The rogue robot theme could also include episodes that have the Borg in them but the Borg are organic beings with cybernetic implants. They may have been more machine than human but they still had the human passion for perfection.

Robots and Android are useful tools in science fiction to explore the human condition. In studying how to create robots or androids that act like us maybe we can understand each other better. Robot stories maybe cautionary tales as well. In writing this article I saw a parallel: we are writing stories about creating beings like ourselves that eventually rise up to overthrow us like the myths that show humans rising up against the gods that created them. A cautionary tale that if we think we are gods then something will come along and over throw us.

There is one episode of TNG that did have a robot that was a repair robot. They were called exocomps (The Quality of Life). They were small compact robots that could form tools they needed to do their jobs. Because of the ability to think on how to fix things they were shown to be possibly sentience.

In the 50’s, it was predicted that in 5 years robots would everywhere.

In the 60’s, it was predicted that in 10 years robots would be everywhere.

In the 70’s, it was predicted that in 20 years robots would be everywhere.

In the 80’s, it was predicted that in 40 years robots would be everywhere…

– Marvin Minsky, co-founder of the MIT’s AI laboratory USS Hephaestus

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Robots of Star Trek

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While on an Away Mission

By Fleet Captain MarkAdam Miller Previously: An investigation into the dead body of a young Amanda Grayson has resulted in an investigation into the Vulcans after they shut STARFLEET out. STARFLEET wants the Hephaestus to find out what the Vulcans are up to.

We will rig them to record certain people and places to check if they are where they should be. If we have a break in the timeline, then we may lose a few as they will follow the other path when they come home.

Roy and Andi, you will need to pick good spots where to send the probes to find when we would lose one. We have two objectives: 1.) find the split in time and 2.) what did the Vulcans do to muck up the timeline. Flo, once you and Matt figure out how many probes we can use, I will help calibrate them for the time trip. I have picked up several tricks working with Temporal Investigations to realize when something has changed in the timeline. Hopefully those tricks will work this time as well. Roy, Andi, we have two dates, 2233 and 2258, to work with for when the time anomaly occurred. 2233 was the date that the keepers of the Guardian of Forever (KGF) said showed a glitch and 2258 is an approximation based on how old the body of Amanda Grayson was at the time of her death. We need to figure out why those dates are so far apart and see what dates and places we need to record data to get a picture of the past. Any question?”

****** Captain’s personal log: I don’t really want to involve Section 31 but this is a case where they are the only ones outside of Vulcan that would know what Vulcan is up to. This would take several days as most of Phillip’s contacts would have to be over secured subspace. In the meantime, I will still work on the problem of where the body of Amanda Grayson came from.

The analysis of the body has lead us to believe that somewhere in the past the timeline split. The question was when did it happened. The problem had to be looked at from two ways: engineering and research. The research was to see if we can figure out what caused the body to be in this time line. The engineering was to figure out a way to send probes back in time to see if our analysis is correct. I learned how to use time probes when researching to see if Captain Sisko’s Gabriel Bell history change had lasting effects on our time line. Only thing that we found had changed was what Gabriel Bell looked like but it took several months of research to check all of Gabriel Bell’s history. We concluded that the Bell riot was the only thing that Gabriel Bell did that was significant to history. Doesn’t mean we are right, it just means we didn’t find anything. I called Roy and Andi for the research, and Flo and Matt for engineering to my office. Once I had them in my office I explained how we would work the problems.

Andi commented, “You do remember that Captain Kirk was born March 22, 2233. You don’t think that could be the problem.” I look at the Ensign thinking what can I put him on that will make him think twice about making my headache worse. I look at Andi, “Yes, and hope you realize you just doubled you own work load.” Andi gets this Cheshire Cat grin on his face, “That will not be a problem as I have read everything on Captain Kirk. He’s my hero.” I just grimace, “Thank you Ensign. Get it done.

Dismissed!”

I rub my forehead wondering do I add Kirk to my list of things that cause me headaches or just smart aleck Ensigns… (To be continued)

“Flo and Matt, I need you to go through ships stores and find how many probes we can rig for time travel.

Y'know where steel wool comes from? Robot sheep!

– Dennis the Menace (Hank Ketcham) USS Hephaestus

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Quotable Quotes Pulaski: Data. (pronounced "Datt-uh") Data: Data. (pronounced "Dayt-uh") Pulaski: Excuse me?

Data: My name. You pronounced it ‘Datt-uh.

Pulaski: What's the difference?

Data: One is my name. The other is not.

– TNG: The Child, S02E01

Torres: Automated personnel unit 3947 is an extremely well-designed machine.

3947: Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres is an extremely proficient humanoid.

– VOY: Prototype, S02E13

Lt. Ilia: [Ilia the probe] You are the Kirk Unit.

You will assist me.

– Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Spock [as he confuses Norman]: Logic is a little tweeting bird, chirping in a meadow. Logic is wreath of pretty flowers that smell bad. Are you sure your circuits are registering correctly?

Your ears are green!

– TOS: I, Mudd, S02E12

Andrea [confused after a passionate kiss from Kirk]: No… No… Not programmed for you.

– TOS: What Are Little Girls Made Of? S01E09

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Name the Robot

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Reviews Games Mass Effect: Adromeda – Review by Lt Phillip Mangina Ryder awakens in the Andromeda Galaxy in 2819, following a 634-year journey on the Ark Hyperion. After having a checkup performed on them by Dr. Lexi T’Perro, Ryder meets SAM, an AI that is in charge of the Hyperion. While the crew are getting ready to awaken Ryder’s sibling, the Hyperion strikes a dark energy cloud, knocking out its power temporarily and interrupting Ryder’s sibling’s wake-up protocol. Ryder, along with Cora Harper, is called to the bridge where their father, Pathfinder Alec Ryder, is arguing with the captain of the Hyperion. Ryder discovers that the planet that they were sent to scout out, Habitat 7, is drastically different from what the long-range scans told them. Ryder gets ready to be deployed as part of the Pathfinder team, led by his father. While on the shuttle down to Habitat 7, Ryder gets acquainted with Liam Kosta, a former security officer. The Pathfinder shuttles are suddenly struck by lightning, and Ryder and Liam end up separated from the crew. As they attempt to explore Habitat 7, they come into contact with an unknown hostile alien race, as well as many strange alien structures. After performing a search and rescue for other crew members, Ryder and Liam eventually reunite with Cora, and fend off another alien attack. They later join Alec, who previously went ahead to scout out the monolith. They storm into an alien structure, hoping to shut it down and cease the lightning storm. Ryder and Alec find a hologram inside the structure, which Alec interfaces with to shut down the monolith. A large blast blows the two off an elevated platform, smashing a hole in Ryder's helmet. Alec uses his helmet to save his son, sacrificing his own life in the process. Ryder is later brought back to the Hyperion and saved, and in the process, also merged with SAM. Ryder also learns that Alec, before his death, has made him the new Pathfinder in his place.

The Ark reaches the Nexus only to find it incomplete and no other Ark in sight. The crew find out from the leadership of the Andromeda Initiative that all of the worlds, including Habitat 7, were not viable for living, and the Initiative had been stranded in space for fourteen months, with dangers of supply shortage and civil uprising. As the Pathfinder, Ryder is tasked with finding a suitable world for the colonists of the Initiative, while also finding out what happened to the other Arks.

I recommend everyone play Mass Effect Trilogy first so you can get the feel of the game. This game has a open world so you can explore the world and find extra side missions.

Rate: AAAAA

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Star Wars: X-Wing –Reviewed by LtJG, James Davis Be sure to check out Star Wars: X-Wing, the smash-hit miniatures game from Fantasy Flight games! To probably no surprise I discovered this game as a result of Star Trek. As some of you know I am now a tester for the Modiphius Games tabletop Star Trek Role Playing Game. Rather than release a new run of ship miniatures to accompany Star Trek the RPG, Modiphius decided to have the game utilize the ships already produced by WizKids for Star Trek: Attack Wing (as the battle mechanic designer for WizKids is on the development team for Modiphius). If you’re curious what this has to do with X-Wing Miniatures, it’s that the Attack Wing ships are terrible, and for the following reasons: 1) There is no sense of scale between ships.

A Borg Cube and an NX-01 are the same size, right along with a D’deridex Class.

2) The models lack detail… of pretty much any kind.

No turrets, hangar bays, or plasma exhaust ports here, folks.

3) The paint jobs are inexcusably bad.

As an example, the Galaxy Class, pride of the Federation fleet, is cornflower blue. I wish I were kidding.

Before anyone accuses me of being a “bad Trekkie”, I should make it clear that I bought Attack Wing anyway, but these failings led me to compare them to the X-Wing miniatures used by Fantasy Flight, who licensed their original game mechanics to WizKids. While they have been sometimes dubbed as “fragile”, the sheer quality of the miniatures utilized in X-Wing Miniatures is outstanding in detail, accuracy, color, and variety. The ships range from Poe Dameron’s black X-Wing to Sabine Wren’s commandeered Tie Fighter, and from Boba Fett’s Slave I to Lord Vader’s Lambda Shuttle. I even picked up both Kylo Wren’s Upsilon Class shuttle and a Scum Quadjumper, but like Emperor Palpatine, the Tantive IV eludes me.

What is even better than the quality of the game’s models (which stand out as a perfectly reasonable collection even for non-players) is that the game is FUN! It is, as Kendra described, “evil chess”. A tournament-style game is played between two players on a 3’x3’ mat, and each player has 100 points to “spend” on their ships and upgraded abilities. This may range from two ultra-powerful ships like the Millennium Falcon and Rebel K-Wing combo to an eight-ship Tie Fighter swarm. A player needs ship knowledge, maneuvering skills, and a little luck o’ the dice in order to be consistently victorious, and there is enough variety in ship lists and gameplay styles to keep one busy for years.

While the game has been out for quite some time, it has continued to grow due to the rise in popularity of Star Wars over the recent film releases as well as the steadfast support of early X-Wing cadre through tournaments, YouTube commentary, and regular X-Wing nights at your local tabletop game store.

If you’re looking for a new, exciting tabletop game and a community to join, I highly suggest X-Wing Miniatures. Everything you need for play can be purchased in a Base Kit for around $30, but you can take the X-Wing journey as far as your wallet wants to take you. That’s the true beauty of the game. A 100-point list out of the box is theoretically as powerful as one crafted by collecting a half-dozen upgrade packs, so the expense is up to the player’s desire for originality and variety.

I give Fantasy Flight’s X-Wing Miniatures 4 combadges out of 5 for it’s fun factor and quality, only subtracting one combadge for the necessity of finding a mentor to answer all your new-pilot questions. On the plus side, I can be your mentor!

I am one with the Force; the Force is with me…

Rate: AAAAa USS Hephaestus

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The Hephaestus Redshirt Challenge Well I'm starting to walk while it is nice outside and going hiking at Oak Mountain. I am reading about eating healthy and looking for a cheap gym to join. Next time I go out of town I'm going to search for areas to explore and see what's out there.

– Lt. Phillip Mangina Jr. (1st Officer), Director, Hephaestus Red Shirt Challenge I have been trying to eat more vegetables and less meat. I found that when I was doing my fasting in January that I was losing weight with the vegetables. I also have walked a couple times with Phillip and hoping to get some morning walking in. If you are in the Helena area, call me up and we can go walking.

– Fleet Captain MarkAdam Miller, Trying to lose weight.

The Captain’s Top 10 The Captain’s Top Ten Robot Movies!

1. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) 2. Forbidden Planet (1956) 3. Silent Running (1972) 4. Wall-E (2008) 5. Blade Runner (1982) 6. The Terminator (1984) 7. The Iron Giant (1999) 8. Short Circuit (1986) 9. Big Hero 6 (2014)

Silent Running

10. Westworld (1973)

These are what I recommend to see. It is not an exhaustive list. Star Wars is not listed because of its high profile.

No computer has ever been designed that is ever aware of what it's doing; but most of the time, we aren't either.

– Marvin Minsky USS Hephaestus

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Star Trek News & More Star Trek: Discovery – What’s New? Mostly what is coming out about Star Trek: Discovery is actors that are appearing in the new series. The biggest news was the announcement that Rainn Wilson is to play the TOS character Harcourt Fenton Mudd.

Mudd was in two episodes of TOS and was played by Roger C. Carmel. This casting shows that Discovery is close to when TOS takes place. Rainn Wilson is known for his work on The Office.

Other actor’s names included Sonequa Martin-Green which was announced in December but is now confirmed with her character being First Officer Michael Burnham. The captain of the Discovery has also been announced as Jason Isaacs playing Captain Lorca. Jason Isaacs is best known as Lucius Malfoy from the Harry Potter movies.

The release date has not been set but looks like the fall at this point. CBS is saying they want to get it right so they are being careful before the release it. Hopefully they are looking to the fans instead of their pocket books to do this version of Star Trek right. (www.trektoday.com, www.treknews.net)

Seeing Stars Linda Park, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center in Glendale, California.

William Shatner, Senior Moment, starts shooting in mid spring.

Michael Dorn, Antony and Cleopatra, Lowndes Shakespeare Center in Orlando, Florida.

John Cho, Difficult People on Hulu Simon Pegg, Lost Transmissions produced by Pulse Films (www.treknews.net)

Doctor Who News – By Ensign Matt Boyd Hello Whovians! Ever wonder what went on behind the scenes in classic Doctor Who? The Doctors: The Jon Pertwee Years is a five-hour documentary about that time in Doctor Who history. If you are getting nostalgic or curious about the third Doctor, there is a comic book series featuring him as well as all the Doctors.

For all the readers out there, there are three new novels coming out after Series 10 starts. They tie into the new series because they feature 12 and Bill and Nardol! The first book is titled, Diamond Dogs written by Mike Tucker. The second is titled Plague City written by Jonathan Morris and the third is The Shining Man written by Cavan Scott.

Peter Capaldi’s Doctor is Jon Pertwee. That classic Doctor battled the Mondasian Cybermen and they are returning, as just Peter Capaldi said he wanted in an interview for Doctor Who’s Youtube Channel, seen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4914RM5hR0. It seems like with all the folks leaving everyone is getting a last Hurrah. An era is closing and dreams are coming true for those fans on the set of Doctor Who. Just as the Doctor moves on to new adventures so shall I. USS Hephaestus

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Star Wars News – By LtJG James Davis Star Wars News/X-Wing Miniatures, April 2017 Mum is the word for Star Wars news until mid-April when Star Wars Celebration Orlando kicks off. Expect a great deal of news regarding Episode VIII – The Last Jedi and a resurrection of the hit animated series Star Wars: Rebels! Mark Hamill is on his way to speak on his role and most likely stare in awkward silence while someone holds a microphone at arms’ length.

The Vocaloid Sensation – Hatsune Miku As April is the month for all things android, I thought I would take the opportunity to talk about a part of Japanese culture that is beginning to take America by storm – the Vocaloids. In 2007, Yamaha and Crypton Future Media joined forces to put a name (and a face) to the newest music editing software, Yamaha’s Vocaloid 2. Designed to be a synth instrument that would create a human-like voice for use in independent music, Crypton Future Media went an extra step and named the voice ‘Hatsune Miku’ which can be translated roughly into ‘First Voice from the Future’. Not satisfied with this breakthrough alone, they created an image to capture the personality of the “voice”, and what resulted is the eponymous pop-star Hatsune Miku.

You may recognize her from one of the many news stories related to the unprecedented hype created by her fan base. Millions of Japanese music consumers follow her, thousands obsessively buy her merchandise, and a few have even LEGALLY MARRIED her. This is, of course, only possible because she doesn’t technically exist, at least not like you and I do. Furthermore, Hatsune Miku doesn’t just exist metaphysically in name only. Yamaha and CFM made her available for any independent musician or artist to purchase her software and produce music using her generated voice. They even included a software add-on that would allow users to have access to the character model that we identify as Miku and create professional-grade music videos to accompany “her” music. Where Britney Spears or Beyonce may release one album every other year, hundreds of Hatsune Mike albums exist today. That leads us to one more fundamental understanding of vocaloids: Miku is a pop-star owned, generated, and evolved by her consumers.

She will never age and she will never trash a hotel room, but she will continue to make music… for now.

Miku is only the first of a series of Vocaloids that exist, many of who also share names and appearances to distinguish themselves as a popular entity, but for some reason Hatsune Miku continues to be the stand-out favorite, selling out worldwide concerts and releasing a series of games on PS4, 3DS, and others, as well as books, statuettes, etc.

The question that I find myself pondering is this: where on the spectrum of personhood does a Vocaloid fall?

Unlike an android, Miku has no physical form, and there is not a single entity of her. No one in particular owns Miku. Hatsune Miku has no defined backstory by CFM or Yamaha, yet has developed her own narrative via her content creators and their social system. Users can interact with versions of her and can even see her appear in USS Hephaestus

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concert, singing about her anxiety as she mourns her inevitable retirement from popular existence. Let’s face it… at some point Hatsune Miku will die.

She will cease to exist because she is software, and software once no longer in use ceases to be an entity. An entire life cycle of a major pop star will be started, loved, obsessed over, faded, and eventually largely forgotten, all with a conscious and conscientious user base to provide character, empathy, and real meaning for her fans.

As Americans join the world in debating the “rights” and “personhood” of artificial mechanisms that mimic life more accurately every day, consider how very “real” Hatsune Miku is, not because of the quality of her construction, but because of the life, love, and support that the Vocaloid community has contributed to her “existence”.

Where do we go from here? Live long and prosper, Miku-chan.

Never Forget…

Lawrence Montaigne – March 17, 2017 (age 86) Mr. Montaigne is best known to Star Trek Fans as Stonn, the love interest of Spock’s betrothed T’Pring, in the episode Amok Time. He was also in the episode Balance of Terror as Romulan Decius. Mr. Montaigne was in many movies and TV shows. His background included being multilingual, a classically trained dancer and fencing. The later became useful in the many swashbuckling movies he was in such as The Three Musketeers. He lived in Las Vegas and was a regular at the Star Trek Convention that is held there.

Casper Miller – March 18, 2017 (age 11) A fixture of the Miller house, Casper would only come out once every one was comfortable and he knew he would not cause too much of a stir walking between guests’ legs. He was proceeded in death by his litter mate brother Salem who died in October of 2015. He is survived by his adopted sister Princess Grace (Gracie).

(Did I miss a news item or news item that might be of interest to your fellow crew members?

Then write it up and send it to cohephaestus@bellsouth.net)

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Ship’s Log March 10 – 12, 2017 – Region 2 Summit

Phillip Mangina, Jr., the 1st officer, lead the discussion. Borg chips and cookies were available as well as cherry Pepsi and Sunkist orange soda. It was also broadcast on the FB Hephaestus Group and share on FB Hephaestus page.

Fleet Captain MarkAdam Miller (CO), Lt. Phillip Mangina, Jr. (XO) and Captain Brenda A. Miller (2nd Officer) traveled to Columbus, GA for the Region 2 Summit. The Captain videoed several portions of the conference for those who wished to watch on Facebook. The ship was honored for perfect reporting and won 3rd place for her newsletter, The Anvil. Brenda A. Miller was promoted to Captain. The Millers gave it their all in the game competitions with MarkAdam getting the top honor of being the Great Dalmuti in the Dalmuti Tournament and Brenda winning 2nd place (Marshal of Texas Hold’em) in the Texas Hold’em Poker game. Thanks to the DaVinci crew in their work on putting on the 2017 Region2 Summit.

Attendance: 7 people, Science officer Stubs and 3 tribbles.

Captain’s Log (supplemental) I have been trying different ways to get information out about the club and STARFLEET. I have learned how to do meme’s, not only using stock pictures from the internet but my own pictures as well. Some of the pictures I have taken are still shots of my Build–A–Bears in Star Trek Uniforms (a bear (blue shirt), a rabbit (yellow shirt) and an elephant (Red shirt)). I am doing a ships status report on Facebook live video on Monday nights to let people know what the Hephaestus is up to in the coming weeks. Also, have been Facebook live streaming Exploring Trek for the past two events.

These have brought some interest. I hope to continue and add other features that will make the meme’s and video’s interesting to view.

Attendance: 3 Hephaestus crew members March 18, 2017 – Social The social went well. A report of the summit was given from those who attended and it was discussed about doing the summit in the Alabama area with Dejah Thoris and other Zone 5 ships. The Captain will be getting with Richard Childers to develop a bid for Summit 2018. Matt Boyd won the door prize. We then watched Doctor Strange. Snacks and drinks were available with donation jar to cover the cost.

Science Officer Stubs Personal Log March 23, 2017 – Exploring Trek I went on the away mission for Exploring Trek as a guard to make sure the tribbles would not be fed.

The captain took the tribbles along so that people could see them. The tribbles were not fed but neither was I (No one offered me any of the Borg Chips that were available to snack on). They could have at least given me an orange soda. After all was said and done, the mission was successful and we were able to return to the ship with no problems.

Attendance: 20 people.

March 23, 2017 – Exploring Trek Exploring Trek was help at Kingdom Comics to give people a chance to meet the Hephaestus crew and discuss Star Trek. The discussion was on the Dominion War. We had a new visitor, Kris, who jumped in with interesting insight on the subject.

{ ------------------------------------------------------------ U USS Hephaestus

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Personal Log Special Report

By LtJG James Davis processed like the good redshirts we are through the long line and walked along the length of the ship to one of the largest piers I had ever seen.

There we met a tour guide who would ensure that we found our way to Cozumel’s Stingray Beach.

The five-minute taxi ride was only mildly terrifying, but gladly no pedestrians found their way over, into, or under our vehicle and we disembarked and were sorted into groups of stingray snorkelers and paddleboarders. As a dedicated student of Starfleet Academy’s biology program, I elected to join the stingray snorkelers’ side of the facility.

Stardate 2017.01.11 – Cozumel – Day 3 Wow! What a day at sea… While a five-year miss ion might seem a bit of a stretch at this point, I could get used to life aboard this ship for a little while. Today, however, our crew was set to make planet fall on my as-of-yet undiscovered country of Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico! While I may have visited the border at Ciudad Acuña before, Cozumel could have been a new planet and civilization by comparison. In fact, until the 1970’s the State of Quintana Roo was a Mayan territory, occasionally joining the Yucatan, but not officially a Mexican state until that time. But what good is history without a little Trek?

There, we received a short lecture on stingrays, including their genetic diversity, physiology, nutrition, mating, and behavior. Once we were able to answer all of our instructor’s questions, we learned (using a stuffed stingray) how to approach, feed, and handle the rays during our time in the water. Feeling now like stingray experts, we donned some snorkel gear and made our way down to the water.

To preface everything that follows, there was a major storm brewing in the Atlantic (more on that later) that was beginning to affect the surge experienced in the Gulf of Mexico, so there was a bit of a swell to the water that ranged from a foot deep to well over five feet deep. This made communicating with our instructor and avoiding stepping on these fun little critters a bit of a chore.

I’m certain Spock would have found the experience… fascinating. We each fed a couple of large sardines to stingrays as they bumped into our legs searching for the food they knew we carried, and then we held, pet, and even kissed a few of the squishy fish in time to get some photos before heading into deeper water. Here, we got the full snorkeling experience, freediving twenty-five feet

Our morning started as every morning should, with a view of Cozumel off the port bow on one channel of our stateroom television and the TNG episode Inheritance on another. After a quick episode while getting ready for a morning in the water, we got up to the dining gallery for a full breakfast. The crew had put together a phenomenal cake, decorated in a 50th Anniversary theme and flanked on either side by a Klingon-shaped watermelon used in the cooking demonstration the day prior.

Leaving the ship was a little more complicated than taking a turbolift to the Enterprise shuttle bay, or at least what we always get to see of it. The ship more or less had its own version of customs, and we USS Hephaestus

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or so to feed rays at the bottom of the lagoon and search for the friendly neighborhood nurse shark that was known to frequent the net anchors. After about thirty minutes of a satisfying swim with our new littoral friends, we waddled back up the steps for a cool shower, photos with blue and gold macaws, and a rendezvous with our next van.

enough guests from the audience to round out the teams of five. As it was the second show of the evening, tensions between the captains (Sirtis and Farrell) ran high, the crew of DS9 having run away with the first victory. There was, however, a catch… While the questions for the second showing were exactly the same as the questions for the first, the audience surveys taken via the cruise website before launch were entirely different. At times this benefitted the crews, and at others led to their dismay. In the end, Terry Farrell and her crew walked away with two victories out of two.

Naturally, Starbucks called to us and we once again found some relics of our shore leave to bring back to Ten Forward in the form of mugs with neat local designs. A little bit of shopping at the tourist landing (more ‘bracelets with your name’ than I have ever seen in one place before) and we were back to being immersed in Trekkie goodness.

Next in the entertainment “Q” was Q’s Masquerade Ball hosted by John DeLancie. Kendra and I quickly regretted our decision to leave our Hufflepuff robes in the car, but we were dressed to kill and wearing some classic masquerade owl masks, ready to dance to Yacht Rock Review’s best while enjoying Andorian Ales on the pool deck.

Foregoing a Max Grodenchik musical review and Star Trek (2009) under the stars, we got a muchneglected dinner and crashed hard asleep for the next entertainment packed day at sea. All in all, it was a long, sun-filled, water-logged, sore-feet, stingray-kissing, parrot-holding, Brule-scarfing, game-playing, photo-taking, dance-partying and of course amazing day, made even better by our Star Trek community.

Starting late today to allow for shore excursions, the daily Happy Hour Hang was “Q Who?”, introduced by Mr. John DeLancie himself. We have no report on the consistency of Q’s splash zone (reference the March 2017 report) as we were already in line for John Paladin, makeup artist for TNG, DS9, and Voyager. While not the most charming gentleman, Mr. Paladin had a very pragmatic way about him, describing without any filter his thoughts on the Trek experience, makeup design and special effects, and general philosophy.

He might have been a tad prickly, but he was certainly a straight-shooter. There wasn’t so much a ‘line’ for his services as there was a general gaggle around his artist stool from which he picked the next person to receive a makeup treatment from the man himself. The benefit, aside from feeling like part of the show, was that you were buying any applique he applied, which you got to keep. Kendra did just that with a Bajoran nose piece, which Mr. Paladin applied in time for us to make the next event.

Until next month, LLAP!

The big show tonight was Crews Feud, a Family Feud inspired gameshow hosted by our entertainment director, and hard-fought between the crews of TNG and DS9. Denise Crosby, John DeLancie, and Marina Sirtis faced off against Terry Farrell, Chase Masterson, Max Grodenchik, and USS Hephaestus

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Region 2 Summit 2017

The Gang

Poker 2nd Place!!!

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Final Mission

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The Anvil gets 3rd Place!

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Crew Happenings March Social Watching Doctor Strange

Yummmm… those dried cranberries are gooood!

Beware… they multiply

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STARFLEET Academy Do you have someone in your house hold just putting up with your Star Trek fandom. Maybe one way to get them involved is to have them take one of the non-Star Trek Academy courses. They have several to choose from.

College of Sherlock Holmes College of Animal Trivia College of U.S. Presidents (My brother would like this one) College of John Wayne (My Dad would ace this one) Go to http://acad.sfi.org/ to find the course that suits you or your non-Trek spouse.

So, saddle up Pilgrim, and learn something.

STARFLEET Marine Corps Members of the STARFLEET Marine Corps include veterans and active duty military as well as people who just prefer a ‘military flavor’ to their Star Trek fan activities. The SFMC is organized along traditional military lines, in the same manner as SFI. However, instead of being organized along Navy lines, and using terms such as ‘Ships’ or ‘Shuttles’, the SFMC uses ground force equivalents such as ‘Brigades’ or ‘Strike Groups’.

The Hephaestus Marine Corps is 654th Steel Thunderbolts under the command of Lt General Neil Yawn (OIC). Members include the DIOC 1st Lt. James Davis and Brig. Roy Green.

If you would like to know more about our marines, then contact these marines and they will get you started in the Steel Thunderbolts.

Hunt for the Icon Did you find the five IDIC pendants that were in last month’s Anvil? If you did not find them all they were: 1. Table of Contents – 2nd column at the end of the 1st paragraph 2. Pg. 2 – 2nd Column after the 1st point 3. Pg. 8 – 1st paragraph of the Logan review 4. Pg. 16 – 2nd Column end of the 1st paragraph 5. Pg. 24 – end of the 1st paragraph of McWane Center Extra credit if you thought the front cover was one.

Five R2 units have wondered into the newsletter. The five doesn’t include this example. The first to send me the correct locations gets to choose next month’s Hidden Icon.

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Recommendations

By Fleet Captain MarkAdam Miller Robot books I think you should read.

I, Robot

by Isaac Asimov

Caves of Steele

by Isaac Asimov

The Bicentennial Man

by Isaac Asimov

Beta Test :The Mark IV Anna Series

by Danny B. McGuire

Exploring Trek March Exploring Trek was moderated by Phillip Mangina, Jr., First Officer of the Hephaestus. The discussion was on the TNG episodes The Wounded and Preemptive Strike. These two episode are pivotal in Deep Space Nine and are the back drop for the Dominion War that covers the last three seasons of Deep Space Nine. We discussed some of the chnges that would have taken place if Captain Picard had done something different than what he did in these episodes. What would the effect been on the Dominion War? The follow up question for Exploring Trek On Your Own was: •

Discuss Captain Archer’s or Captain Janeway’s take on The Dominion War.

The next Exploring Trek will be April 27, 2017. The subject will be all the episodes dealing with the Mirror Universe. It will be moderated by Lewis Stockham who is the newest member of the Hephaestus..

Kingdom Comics – the place for all your Star Trek needs

The reign of biological lifeforms is coming to an end…

– Lore, TNG: Descent USS Hephaestus

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Away Team and Activity Schedule Date Apr 1, 2017 Apr 8, 2017 Apr 21, 2017 Apr 27, 2017 May 6, 2017 May 19 2017 May 20, 2017 May 25, 2017 Jun 3, 2017 Jun 10, 2017 Jun 16, 2017 Jun 22, 2017

Event/Time Anvil Deadline Spring Cookout – 2 pm Poker – 7 pm Exploring Trek – 7pm Anvil Deadline Poker – 7 pm Social – 7 pm Exploring Trek – 7pm Anvil Deadline Social – 7 pm Poker – 7 pm Exploring Trek

Location cohephaestus@bellsouth.net Mohney Evans Kingdom Comics cohephaestus@bellsouth.net Mohney Arnold Kingdom Comics cohephaestus@bellsouth.net Mohney Potts Kingdom Comics

ALL EVENTS AND TIMES SUBJECT TO CHANGE, PLEASE REFER TO THIS SECTION FOR UP TO DATE INFORMATION

Anvil Focus Schedule

Do you know this Alien?

April: Data and Androids May: Andorians June: Odo, Changelings (Feel free to send me an article on any of these topics.

Your fellow crew members would love to know your thoughts on these.)

STARFLEET Renewal Reminders Tiner Arnold Mohney Family Mangina Holsey Green Lindsay Family Miller Family Davis Family USS Hephaestus

09/13/16 11/30/16 04/21/17 05/15/17 05/30/17 06/27/17 07/08/17 08/26/17 08/31/17

Boyd Family Carr Family Baxter Hicks Family Youngblood-Yawn Bentley Stockham Potts Family

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Name the Vulcans Answers Chu'lak (Marty Rackham), DS9: Field of Fire Koss (Michael Reilly Burke), Enterprise Administrator V'Las (Robert Foxworth), Enterprise T'Shanik (Tasia Valenza) TNG: Coming of Age Sakkath (Rocco Sisto) TNG: Sarek

Stel (Larc Spies) Enterprise Lieutenant Valeris (Kim Cattrall) Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Captain Solok (Gregory Wagrowski) DS9: Take Me Out to the Holosuite Yuris (Jeffrey Hayenga) ENT: Stigma Fer'at (Bruce Wright) ENT: The Expanse

If you have suggestions for new challenges or questions, then send them to cohephaestus@bellsouth.net Answer to Do you know this alien? (pg. 21) Tomalak (Andreas Katsulas), Romulan, TNG: All Good Things‌

Looking for the following people to help with the Anvil:

News Repoters Wanted For Hephaestus Anvil

Reporters for the Following: Star Wars News (assigned) Dr. Who News (assigned) Firefly News NASA News Latest Sci-Fi/Fantasy books

USS Hephaestus

Reviewers: Books, Movies Games, Conventions Convention Scouts: Someone to find conventions in a 2 3 hr driving distance of Birmingham.

Write a short synopsis and give possible websites

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Area Conventions & Exhibits For additional Cons please check out www.southernfan.com/calendar.htm

April April 28-30, 2017 - Treklanta, Atlanta, GA www.treklanta.org/ Hosted by the USS Republic NCC-1371, Treklanta is an annual science fiction convention based in Atlanta, Georgia, dedicated to space opera in general and Star Trek in particular. It places special emphasis on fanbased events, activities, programming and productions. Treklanta is the home of the Miss Klingon Empire Beauty Pageant and the Independent Star Trek Fan Film Awards. Guests: David Gerrold, J.G. Hertzler and others.

April 30, 2017 – Halfway to Halloween Costume Party, Huntsville, AL https://www.facebook.com/events/214427148937792 Can't wait another six months until Halloween? You don't have to - we're having a Halfway to Halloween costume party at Salty Nut Brewery! More details to come, but for starters, we'll have Foot Pound Force performing live and dinner from PNC Food Truck. Prizes for costume contest sponsored by Fig Leaf Costumes and Old Town Beer Exchange

June June 10 – 11, 2017 – Con Kasterborous, Huntsville, AL http://conkasterborous.com/ Doctor Who convention in Huntsville, AL. It is being held at The Westin on Bridgestreet.

June 30- July 2, 2017 – Magic City Con, Birmingham, AL www.magiccitycon.com/ Magic City Con is a three-day weekend event that focuses on sci-fi, gaming (both tabletop and video games), and cosplay. We have interactive panels, workshops, and host special events like our Heroes and Villains Masquerade Ball, a Mos Eisley Cantina, a Saturday KidCon event, and more! We are a family friendly event that will be taking place at the Hyatt Regency-Wynfrey Hotel June 30th-July 2nd 2017. Our website is www.magiccitycon.com and you can keep up with announcements on our Facebook page.

July July 6-9, 2017 – Play On Con, Alabama 4-H Center, Columbiana, AL www.playoncon.com Play On Con (POC) is a family-friendly four day fantasy and science fiction fandom convention held each year in Birmingham, Alabama--the Magic City!

We focus on four main areas for our attendees: (1) Shows: Interactive and energetic programming that welcomes new fans as well as old. (2) Gaming: The best board, RPG, live action, video, and card gaming available. (3) Parties: Nightly (and daily!) hospitality events thrown by award-winning party hosts. (4) Community: Active personal involvement with related fandom events throughout the year.

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July 28 - 30 2017 – Sci-Fi/Fantasy Fest, Hoover Library, Birmingham, AL www.hooverlibrary.org/sci-fi-fantasy, www.facebook.com/hplscifi The Annual Sci-Fi & Fantasy Fest will be a 3-day event with 3x as much geeky, nerdy fun! Like our previous events, we'll have gaming, cosplay, discussion panels and more

Does The Anvil cover stuff that you are interested in? Did you disagree with a review or point of view in one of the articles? Did we miss some news article that you think should have been covered? The staff is looking for your feedback to help us send out something that you are interested in.

Send your feedback to: cohephaestus@bellsouth.net

Local Attractions (Only events relative to Star Trek are shown, Check the website for more information) Alabama Theater – Birmingham, AL - www.alabamatheatre.com Birmingham Zoo – Birmingham, AL - www.birminghamzoo.com McWane Center – Birmingham, AL - www.mcwane.org/ January 11th – May 7th – Going Places Created by the renowned Scitech in Perth, Australia, Going Places is an interactive science exhibition that explores the technology humans have developed for travel. If you have ever wanted to pilot an airship, ride on a hovercraft, or control traffic in a city, now is your big chance!

As well as exploring the technology that gets us around every day, visitors will explore the way that travel has shaped the social fabric of our time. Visitors will also see new technology and get a glimpse of where our future is headed. With 17 interactive exhibits and 8 information kiosks detailing the incredible technology pioneered by humans to make the farthest reaches of our planet accessible, Going Places will be a wild ride!

The key messages of this exhibition are: observe, understand and use an incredible range of travel technology to see how it makes our lives easier and better, AND learn how the Earth’s awesome size and natural processes, like gravity, wind, currents, waves, friction, and changing landscapes are overcome by the ingenious designs researched and developed over time.

The exhibition covers many different aspects of transport, including the movement of people and goods, land, sea and air options and technological solutions to make transport possible, easier or more efficient.

The exhibition covers many areas of physics and technology, as well as dealing in personal or human interest areas of transportation and moving things around.

Southern Museum of Flight – Birmingham, AL - www.southernmuseumofflight.org/ U.S. Space and Rocket Center – Huntsville, AL - www.rocketcenter.com /

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USS HEPHAESTUS COMMAND STRUCTURE

Command Staff

Executive Committee

MarkAdam Miller, Fleet Captain – Commanding Officer Phillip Mangina, 1Lt – 1st Officer Brenda Miller, Captain – 2nd Officer

Sue Ellen Mohney, Captain Denby Potts, Rear Admiral Danny Potts, Admiral

Navigation

Sciences

Pete Mohney, Admiral

Roy Green, Brigadier, SFMC – Archaeology and Anthropology

Computer Sciences

Engineering

Danny Potts, Admiral

MarkAdam Miller, Fleet Captain

Operations

Security

Sue Ellen Mohney, Captain – Chief of Ops and Counselor Brenda A. Miller, Captain – Ship Admin Assistant Lynnette Yawn, Lt – Ships Galley Officer

Roy Green, Brigadier, SFMC – Chief of Security Intelligence Sandra Hosley, Lt JG

Communications

Marines

Brenda A. Miller, Captain Matthew Boyd, Ensign James Davis, LtJG

Neil Yawn, Lt General, SFMC Roy Green, Brigadier, SFMC (Reserves) James Davis, 1Lt, SFMC (Reserves)

Unassigned Crew and Civilians

Cadet Training

Donald Arnold, Ensign 3rd Class Kendra Baxter, Crewman Pat Hicks, Fleet Captain Flo Hurst, Cmdr Mark Lindsay, Captain Michelle L. Lindsay, Crewman Pamela Lindsay, Cmdr Matthew Potts, Crewman Lewis, Stockham, Crewman Carly Strickland, Civilian Brenda Tiner, Crewman 3rd Class Haley Youngblood, Crewman

Katrina Mohney, Crewman Recruit Tara Mohney, Cadet 2nd Class Athena Youngblood, Cadet 1st Class Kimberly Davis, Cadet in Training

Ambassadors

Retired

Mike Burtyk Shirley Burton

Dennis Evans, Fleet Captain Pat Simmons, Lt Cmdr

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For More Information Contact: Fleet Captain MarkAdam Miller 1204 Southwind Dr. Helena, Al 35080 cohephaestus@bellsouth.net

Lt. Phillip Mangina 3056 Fox Trail Fultondale, AL 35068 phillip3056@charter.net