Newsletter of the 210th Marine Expeditionary Unit, STARFLEET Marine Corps

Region 12 Summit, Stand Down

With regret, I must announce that the 2009 Region 12 Summit has been cancelled.
SPRING 2009 ISSUE A substitute event, a Region picnic, will take place in Topeka, Kansas on May 23, 2009.
CONTENTS Region business for 2009 will be conducted at the picnic. A Brigade Muster is also an-
ticipated. Contact Wade Hoover at email: r12picnic@cox.net for more information
Region 12 Summit, Stand Down about this event.
The OIC has designated uniform of the day for this event to be: civilian clothes.
Region Coordinator Election

From the Officer in Charge

First Aid: Medic Alert Bracelets
When Things Go Very Wrong
Not Entirely Successful, Part II
By MCPT Mark Webb
Calendar
Region Coordinator Election
The results of the Region 12 Coordinator election have been announced. The winning
slate follows:
Region Coordinator – VADM Jeffery Higdon
Senior Vice Region Coordinator – COMM Bea Hart
Junior Vice Region Coordinator – CAPT Jay Hurd
Finance Director – CMDR Jeff Gallus
Publications Director – CMDR Amy Hurd
Honorary Vice Region Coordinator – ADM Helen Pawlowski

210th MEU Officers From the Officer in Charge

Officer in Charge:
J.D. Clancy, 1LT The weather is improving here in Kansas! By the
jdclancy@multinatl.org time of the R12 picnic, it should be sunny and warm for out-
door pursuits. While many Marines look forward to traveling
Deputy Officer in Charge: out of town for the weekend to visit with old friends, a full
Mark Webb, MCPT Region summit was not practical this year. For local members:
webbmaw@cox.net it would be a shame to miss an event so close to home.
On the subject of visiting with old friends in the Re-
210th MEU WEB SITE gion, one friend we all will be missing this year is Carolyn
Zimdahl of the USS Bortas. Carolyn passed away suddenly. I remember Carolyn as a
delightful person to chat with at Region 12 events. She will be greatly missed.
http://fedchaplain.tripod.com/210meu.htm
Reminder– the new Star Trek film will be released in theaters in May! This

film takes place in the time before that portrayed in The Original Series. For more information, the Starfleet Communiqué has sev-
eral articles anticipating this film. With the amount of information on the internet, we will refrain from extensive speculative cover-
age. Go out and see the film!
With summer coming, paintball season will be in full swing. The 210th will not be fielding a team at the first event of the
year– Gears of War at Dropzone Paintball. Expect other large scenario events to be scheduled in the local area. While many people
are watching their money more closely these days, these local events can be affordable for people who plan ahead! Anyone who has
been out can comment on the amount of entertainment in a day out at the field!
Remember to download and check out Attention on Deck– Extra from the SFMC web site! This e-newsletter is a monthly
publication from Headquarters. For those of you who like Marine content, AOD-E has it! But it will only continue with: 1) mem-
bers downloading it from the web site and reading it; and, 2) quality submissions for publication. The email address for submissions
is: aode@sfi-sfmc.org .

DISCLAIMERS: Paramount Pictures and its licensees have the sole authority to generate profit from Star Trek trademarks, and this publication in no
way intends to infringe upon copyrights held by Paramount Pictures, Viacom, or any other Star Trek copyholders. The opinions expressed in this
publication are not necessarily those of STARFLEET, The International Star Trek Fan Association, Inc. or the STARFLEET Marine Corps.
First Aid: Medic Alert Jewelry
By J.D. Clancy
Something you may encounter when providing first aid to a stranger is a ‘medic
alert bracelet.’ Medic alert jewelry has become popular for people suffering from serious
illness who may become unconscious in public and not be able to communicate their
medical history. People with medical conditions that could become critical or fatal if not
treated in a timely manner should wear medic alert jewelry. Bracelets, necklaces, and
dog tags are all common styles of medic alert jewelry. Medic alert items with have a ‘star
of life’ or ‘caduceus’ symbol to indicate it is for medical purposes.
For some common medical conditions, local drug stores carry pre-printed jew-
elry. Custom medic alert items can be ordered with more detailed information or person-
alized with the patient’s name. Probably the least helpful medic alert jewelry is that
which can be purchased blank and engraved at a later time. Frequently, the person does
not have their medical information printed on it.
Report to emergency personnel
‘Dog Tag’ style medic alert
that the person has medic alert jewelry, and
jewelry. Note Star of Life de-
what it is for. If there is someone with the
sign on front and detailed in-
victim, ask them what they know about the
formation on the reverse.
person’s medical problems, and specifically
what’s printed on the medic alert jewelry. Do not take off the patient’s medic
alert jewelry.
Medic alert jewelry is not always a good clue to what is happening
with the victim. For example, a person wearing a diabetic bracelet can still
have a heart attack or allergic reaction that has nothing to do with their diabe-
tes. As a first aid trained person, you should always assess the patient’s
ABC’s and act accordingly.
Bracelet style medic alert jewelry. Note Be aware that medic alert jewelry is
this bracelet alerts emergency responders not a restricted item or only available with a
to a critical food allergy. doctor’s prescription. Healthy people may have
medic alert jewelry for a variety of reasons:

 The wearer thinks it ‘looks cool’ or wears it for attention.

 The person has mental problems and believes in their mind they have the medical con-
dition on the jewelry.
 The jewelry has a sentimental connection for the person wearing it (belonged to a de-
ceased relative, etc.).
 Nurses, firefighters, and paramedics may wear non-medic alert jewelry with similar This necklace pendant has a
designs. caduceus design on one side.
The reverse should have text
Look for medic alert jewelry on either wrist, or around the neck. A patient may about the patient’s condition.
wear their jewelry in a more unusual location, such as using it as a key ring. While it can be
helpful to find medic alert information on the patient, if it cannot be found quickly, it is a secondary concern. Excessive
time spent looking for medic alert jewelry may be better used to do CPR or provide essential emergency care.
Also, medic alert jewelry isn’t a substitute for asking a conscious patient questions about how they feel and their
past medical history. A good interview with the patient should give you more information than a few sentences printed on
a bracelet!

Calendar
Region 12 Picnic; May 23, 2009; Topeka, Kansas; Point of Contact– Wade Hoover r12picnic@cox.net
2009 STARFLEET International Conference; August 6-9, 2009; Greensboro, North Carolina; website: www.ic2009.org
2010 STARFLEET International Conference; July 29-August 1, 2010; Wagoner, Oklahoma; website: ic2010.org

The Black List—Spring 2009—Page 2

Not Entirely Successful, Part II
By MCPT Mark Webb

4.
The senior staff of Deep Space Nine stirred restlessly
as they waited in the briefing room for something to happen.
They had been rousted out of their beds and from the night
watch, a thing that was not unknown to them, but usually when
such a thing happened, they knew why it happened and they had
things to do right away. This time, however, they had been
ordered to report to the briefing room for a special meeting and
had been kept waiting for almost half an hour. This waiting was
especially hard on Lieutenant Commander Worf, whose Klin-
gon nature made it difficult for him to wait for anything. He
frequently rose from his place next to Commander Dax to pace
around the room like a caged animal.
Finally, the door opened and Ben Sisko and an admiral
the other officers hadn’t met before, walked into the room.
They were quickly followed by a pair of lieutenants in flag offi-
cer support staff colors, and the sense of expectation in the
room rose considerably. Everyone already in the room rose in
deference to the admiral but he gestured them down quickly.
“Everyone,” Sisko said, capturing their attention.
“Thank you for coming at this hour. This is Admiral William
Robinson, director of Star Fleet security for this part of the Al-
pha quadrant.”
He went on to introduce all the staff members present
to the admiral, who looked at each one steadily as they were
introduced and gave the impression that he was sizing them up
and storing their faces in his memory for later recall and scru-
(Continued on page 4)

When Things Go Very Wrong

By J.D. Clancy

When people purchase food for a disaster, it is normally in large quantities. Some camp food comes packaged for individual meals.
Lifeboat rations are shrink wrapped for a single serving. Military MRE’s are sealed as an individual meal.

Conventional wisdom is to buy the largest packages available. This will generally give you the best price per unit for your emer-
gency supplies. Especially if you are in a small house or apartment, storage will quickly become a problem with large packages.
Your mega-size barrel of Quaker oats may not fit in that unused top cabinet shelf you were going to use.

Even if you do have the facilities to store large items, there can be problems. Large packages discourage you from rotating your
emergency food. By rotating, I mean eating your emergency food before it goes bad, and replacing it with fresh food. If you eat one
regular size can of baked beans at a meal, why would you open the gallon can of baked beans you’ve bought and stored for disaster
purposes?

There are many reasons to avoid the largest containers of food for emergency storage.

 When you open a large container of dry goods such as oatmeal or rice, it is no longer an airtight container. It may take you
weeks to eat a 50 pound bag of rice. Once the bag is open, it will attract bugs, mice, and be subject to spoiling.
 Especially canned vegetables and meat, you will need to eat the entire contents almost immediately to avoid spoiling. If
you’re in a disaster, the refrigerator may or may not be available to store leftovers.
 Trade material. You want to trade some rice to your neighbor in return for firewood, etc. It is much easier to trade pack-
aged items than measure out from a large container. Your neighbor may dispute your measuring. Your neighbor now
knows you have more.
 Let’s say you have an emergency where you may need to dip into your emergency food for two days or less. If you have
only large containers, you’re now faced with the problem of what to do with the leftovers after the emergency. You have to
eat 46 pounds of rice or the rest of a 5 pound box of oatmeal.

If you have extensive storage, you may mix large containers with some smaller packages. What if you need to leave your home or
camp area for the day? You could find a container and dispense something from your bulk storage. Or you could take some indi-
vidually packaged items.

DISCLAIMER: The author is not responsible for misuse of this information. Over time, techniques change. Be familiar with safe
use of all equipment and the latest technical information.

The Black List—Spring 2009—Page 3

(Continued from page 3)
tiny.
When Sisko finished speaking, the admiral faced
the room at large and spoke for the first time. “I’ll have to
ask your patience for just a while longer,” he said. “We
have something to show you, but there is someone else on
his way here who will, I believe, have something useful to
contribute. What we’ll be discussing, is of a very sensitive
nature and I’ll rely on your discretion not to discuss it
openly on the station.”
The station officers shifted in their seats. They
were all now eager to hear what this was all about. They
knew it must be something serious to have the commander
of sector security come out from his rear area Starbase to
talk to them. The two flag lieutenants were busily trying to
connect a portable computer to the room’s large wall dis-
play screen but were having difficulty with the Cardassian
technology.
“Chief?” Sisko said, his word framed partly as a
request, and partly as an order. Miles O’Brien rose stiffly
from his seat and moved to a cabinet on the opposite side of
the room. He returned with a bundle of what looked like
hand-made cables and connectors which he offered to the
two officers.
“These are what you want, sirs,” he said quietly.
“Interfacing Federation and Cardassian technology can be a
bit tricky, especially if you’ve never tried it before.”
They murmured their thanks and quickly had the
agglomeration connected. They had just brought up an im-
age on the wall display when the com panel beeped with a
signal from Ops.
“Ops to Admiral Robinson,” the voice spoke
through the room’s speakers.
“This is Robinson,” the admiral spoke up crisply.
“Sir, the currier ship you are expecting is ap-
proaching the station.”
Sisko cut in on the admiral, “Have it land on one of
the pads, ensign. Then have the passenger escorted directly
to this room.”
“Aye, sir,” the Ops officer responded.
The com panel cut off and Sisko spoke to the room
The Black List—Spring 2009—Page 4
at large. “You should find your curiosity satisfied very
soon now, people.”
“Good,” Worf rumbled, trying his best to be quiet
about it, and not succeeding.
Most of the people in the room settled back in their
chairs, contented to wait now that they knew the wait would
be a short one. The captain and the admiral remained on
their feet and tried to hide their impatience as they waited
for the newest arrival to the meeting.
Finally, the door opened, and a tall hooded figure
was shown in by two security officers, one Star Fleet, and
one Bajoran. The guards stepped back through the doorway
and the being under the hood reached up and drew it back
away from his face.
Robinson and Sisko stepped forward with their
hands up in the Vulcan greeting. “Peace and long life, Am-
bassador Spock,” Robinson said.
The others in the room stirred. Everyone had
heard of Spock of course but never expected to actually
meet him. Worf and O’Brien, being the only people in the
room to have ever even seen Spock before, exchanged
glances.
Spock gravely returned their greeting. Robinson
then introduced him to Sisko, who then introduced him to
the rest of the people in the room. Spock inclined his head
slightly toward them all, the tiniest hint of a smile flashed
across his face.
He turned to Sisko, “Captain, may I offer my con-
gratulations on the numerous and extraordinary accomplish-
ments that have taken place here? You and your crew are to
be commended for the work you have done with the Bajo-
rans as well as your current service in this conflict.”
“Thank you, Mr. Ambassador,” Sisko said proudly.
“There have been challenges and difficulties, but I do have
a fine crew and we’re pleased with what we’ve achieved,
here.”
“AS well you should be,” Spock said. “Now, gen-
tlemen, you surely did not expend the effort and take the
risks that were needed to extract me from where I was, for
no minor reason. I understand that you have something you
(Continued on page 5)
(Continued from page 4)
wish me to see? So, then, to the business at hand.”
Spock quickly took a vacant chair and attentively
waited for what was to come. He was not disappointed.
The admiral spoke up and gestured toward the wall screen.
“I call your attention to this starship.”
After a few seconds, Spock murmured, “It some-
what resembles a Dauntless class starship.”
“Just so,” the admiral responded quickly. “What
you’re looking at is what used to be the USS Alliance. As
you can see, she’s gone through some changes.”
“It doesn’t even look like it could support a crew,
now.” O’Brien cut in. Is this a recent image?”
“I’m afraid so,” Robinson answered grimly.
“Wasn’t this type of vessel decommissioned dec-
ades ago,” Worf asked.
“Yes it was,” Robinson said. “This one would
have been, too, if it had been available for decommission-
ing, but it was believed to be out of reach or destroyed..”
“Yes,” Spock interrupted thoughtfully. “I seem to
recall a secure document I read at one time, shortly after I
became an ambassador. As I recall, I was dismayed to learn
that a starship had been abandoned with one of Dr. Day-
strom’s experimental units onboard. I’m certain that Cap-
tain Kirk would have acted upon that knowledge had he
been made aware of it at the time. Since you have brought
me here to discuss this, it seems logical to assume that the
device has resurfaced, even after all this time.”
“You’re quite right,” Mr. Ambassador,” Robinson
said. “in hindsight, it might well have been better if Captain
Kirk had heard about this one. It surely would have pre-
vented what we are dealing with now.”
“Wait a moment, sirs,” O’Brien interjected.
“What’s this about Daystrom? I read a lot about him in
engineering school.”
“Dax spoke up to answer the chief’s question.
“Richard Daystrom was the leading Federation mind in
computer science at the time this ship was operational. His
duo-tronic designs were used in starship computers and
other systems for 50 years.”
The Black List—Spring 2009—Page 5
“What you are seeing,” Robinson cut in, not want-
ing the meeting to degenerate into a round-table discussion,
at least not yet, “is the 4th in a series of 5 experimental pro-
totypes which were built by Dr. Daystrom and installed in
starships to test some revolutionary new theories the scien-
tist had come up with. Each of the prototypes shoed poten-
tial and succeeded in some part of its objectives, but overall,
the project turned out to be a failure and was eventually
canceled by Star Fleet Command. The collapse of Dr. Day-
strom’s mental health happened at about the same time, so
there was no chance of continuing with the project even if
they had wanted to.”
“Yes,” Spock spoke up again. “As the admiral is
well aware, for I have no doubt that it is the reason I am
here, I was involved in the last of those experiments on the
Constitution class Enterprise.”
“What was so special about them,” O’Brien asked.
Spock continued, “Dr. Daystrom succeeded in
integrating positronics into the computer’s circuitry for the
first time. They were not fully positronic systems, but
rather, were multi-tronic units. They embodied elements of
both the positronic and duo-tronic components that already
existed. The other significant difference was that the Dr.
developed a method for impressing human en-grams on the
computer’s circuitry. In effect, this gave the computer, the
ability to think in a somewhat chaotic, but instantaneous
fashion, like a living brain with the speed of a machine.
Naturally, with that much thinking ability and that much
power, the computers inevitably developed psychotic ten-
dencies and had to be destroyed.”
“Why,” Worf asked. “Why should they become
insane?”
“What’s the old saying,” Sisko asked thoughtfully?
“Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
“Indeed,” Spock said. “And since Daystrom used
his own en-grams, those from a mind that was already
showing signs of being unbalanced, the result was predict-
able.”
“I think we’re missing a couple of steps here, sirs,”
O’Brien said. “Could we please step back a bit and fill in
some blanks?”
(Continued on page 6)
(Continued from page 5)
“I apologize,” Robinson said quickly. “You’re
right, of course. Let’s restate the situation just a bit. These
computers we are speaking of were sent out on starships
with minimal crews to perform several tasks. They were to
see to the day-to-day operation of the ship, handle naviga-
tion problems, perform planetary surveys, and then handle
tactical combat assignments. They were given a compre-
hensive catalog of data about all past Star Fleet and allied
worlds’ missions, as well as information about the crew and
all the tactical databases. As I stated before, they each per-
formed various combinations of these tasks flawlessly but
when confronted with other aspects of them, they com-
pletely broke down. The unit onboard the Alliance was the
4th in the series, also known as M-4. It apparently devel-
oped paranoid mania during its test, thinking that the crew
wanted to destroy it so as to save their own jobs. It shut
down the ship’s life support systems and got up to other
mischief that the crew didn’t all survive, and the survivors
did what they could to deactivate the unit. They abandoned
the ship and it drifted into a non-descript nebula in sector
210. Star Fleet commanders at the time decided to leave it
there rather than try to tow it out or dismantle the ship.
This is the result.”
“So somehow the ship has been reactivated and is
now out looking for trouble?” Sisko asked.
“Correct,” the admiral responded. “It’s managed
to repair itself somehow and is now out testing its upgrades
to see if it can hold a viable position in the reality it now
finds itself in.:
“It seeks to survive.” Worf stated matter-of-factly.
“Exactly,” Robinson answered. “survival is one of
its primary program elements.”
“Indeed,” Spock cut in. “In our interactions with
this unit’s successor, the M-5, we saw that Dr. Daystrom
had programmed a strong sense of self-preservation into the
machine. I believe it was a strong part of his own makeup.”
“Yes,” the admiral put in, “and it’s means to sur-
vive is to be the toughest kid on the block. It’s already
completely disabled or destroyed 15 starships as it tests out
its weapons and tactics.”
There were shocked mutterings around the room.
The loss of so many ships and the thousands of crew mem-
bers that represented was a blow to everyone there.
The Black List—Spring 2009—Page 6
“Excuse me, sir,” Worf burst out. “Is it your in-
tention to call upon the Defiant to destroy this thing?”
“Eventually that may be possible,” the admiral
replied. “For now, though I wanted to bring you up to
speed on this and to show you what it’s been up to thus far.
What you’re about to see, is a compilation of recorder-
marker data, probe readings, and subspace messages that
have been picked up by various ships, bases, and stations.”
He turned to his flag lieutenants and gestured with
his hand toward the portable computer. One of them bent
over it briefly and the wall screen and speakers came to life.
There were gasps and exclamations from the people in the
room as starships wheeled and dove around each other.
Phaser beams and torpedoes flashed between the hulls and
the speakers sprayed out a continuous barrage of radio com-
bat chatter.
“Falcon, this is Exeter,” came one sharp voice.
“Close up astern of me and cover. I’ve lost aft weapons
and shields!”
“Thunder Child to Resolute,” he’s coming around
too fast,” came another a moment later. “See if you can
swing over me and catch him as he brings his tubes to
bare!”
As the recording continued, there were more and
more screams and cut off transmissions over the speakers,
and more and more starships turning into white-hot fireballs
and floating wrecks on the screen. When the recording
finished, the people in the conference room sat stunned by
what they saw.
“It resembles the way the Borg fought,” Worf said
quietly.
“It sure does,” O’Brien remarked, not bothering
with the “sir” his lower rank would have called for.
“The Borg function under the consensus of a col-
lective consciousness,” Sisko interjected. “This thing does-
n’t need to do that. Once it’s made up its mind as to a
course of action, it can implement that course of action in-
stantaneously.”
“So wouldn’t it make more sense to use the Defi-
ant against it now,” Security Chief Odo finally entered the
conversation?
(Continued on page 7)
(Continued from page 6)
Perhaps,” the admiral responded. “But we’ve de-
cided not to do that at this time.”
“Why?” Worf demanded truculently. “The Defiant
has the best chance of any Federation vessel of defeating
this vessel,” Worf stated fiercely.
“At the present time,” the admiral answered, sow-
ing surprising patience for the big Klingon. “the Alliance is
heading directly for Cardassian territory. If it maintains its
present heading, it will be The Dominion’s problem in just
under 26 hours.”
5.
“It appears that the Federation has a new weapon.”
Weyoun announced as he burst into Damar’s office in the
Cardassian Central Command Headquarters.
The haggard Cardassian put down his glass of
kanar and stared at the Vorta who was puffed up with
excitement. “What are you talking about?” he
growled, annoyed that he’d only been in his office for a few
minutes without even having enough time for his first drink
of the day.
Weyoun looked annoyed now as well. “If you
spent as much time staring at the tactical reports as you do
staring at that bottle, you might know what I’m talking
about.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Damar shot
back. “What weapon are you talking about?”
Weyoun took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Then he said more calmly, “I’m talking about the warship
the Federation is sending against us. It appears to be some
kind of old starship that has been upgraded and equipped
with an advanced type of artificial intelligence. It is headed
toward our lines and we...”
“Yes,” Damar said. “I know all about that. It’s not
a serious threat to us. It’s an old starship like you said and it
has inherent weaknesses because of that. We’ll be able to
deal with it without much trouble at all, I should think.”
Weyoun was almost speechless with astonishment.
The Black List—Spring 2009—Page 7
All this had been put forth with all of Damar’s typical stiff-
lipped Cardassian arrogance and bravado behind it. After a
moment he could contain himself no longer. “How can you
say that!” he burst out exasperatedly. “How many times
have we underestimated the Federation because of their poor
performance against us in the Gamma Quadrant, and how
many of our ships and facilities have been destroyed be-
cause of it?”
Damar smirked. “Just remember, it was the Do-
minion who made those mistakes, not the Cardassian mili-
tary.”
Weyoun went rigid with anger, but once again, he
exerted a lifetime of control and said quietly, “What are we
doing about this threat, Damar?”
“One of the advantages to pulling our perimeter
back to Cardassian space,” Damar answered in a lecturing
tone, “is that we can send dozens or even hundreds of ships
against this thing if need be. I seriously doubt if any com-
puter could defeat the finest Cardassian and Dominion
forces there are.”
Weyoun wanted to remind Damar that Cardassian
forces were Dominion, but it was too easy to get off the
point with this irritating man. He simply said, “If we have
to put too many ships on this, won’t we have to leave too
much territory vulnerable?”
Damar began to pace around the room now, a full
glass of kanar in his hand. “Relax, Weyoun,” he said expan-
sively. “You’re much too tense. Like I told you, our forces
can handle it.”
“Damar,” Weyoun said insistently, “The Founder is
concerned about this. This had better work.”
Damar sighed, “Then you can assure The Founder
that she can rely on her forces as always. We will prevail.”
Weyoun nodded slowly and turned away from the
Cardassian leader. He walked out of the office. Damar
drank deeply from the glass of kanar. He smacked his lips
and stepped to his desk. He pulled up a tactical display on
his main display screen and began to transmit ship assign-
ments. This was a new and interesting diversion for him.