A futuristic, three-tiered podium with black and red bases, each displaying the Independence Fleet logo in large white letters. The top tier features the fleet's logo, a stylized star with a purple hue, surrounded by a laurel wreath. The podiums sit on a checkerboard floor, giving the scene a modern, sleek look.

Monthly Awards: July 2026

Best Post (Single Author)

Remal Kajun
Counselor
USS Sunfire

For “Those We Carry With Us”

A great post that is very reminiscent of a few TNG episodes where exploration does not always need to happen on the outside. Sometimes it is just as important to look within to see what unexplored regions remain.


Best Post (Joint Post)

Lieutenant Celestine Eisenhorn & Captain Michael Murphy
Chief Medical Officer & Commanding Officer
USS Montana

For “A Muddy Situation”

A solid blend of comedy, mystery, and being able to write an established character.


Funniest Post

Ensign Aidan “A.J.” Reid
Infiltration Specialist
USS Washington

For “Twice more unto the Breach”

A great post that clearly wants the reader to think it’s about to go one way, before taking things into chaotic humours with some great dialogue and solutions to problems.


Genesis

Ens. Gazo Daw & PO1 Kipp Lak & PO1 Fhiri & Ens. Ozai Y’zyr & Ens. Emilynn Dove
PS / Y / CSS / TO / OO
USS Firebird

For “First Time in the Chair”

A great post that speaks to the point that not all the action has to happen on Alpha’s shift, and more or less it can come when you’re least expecting it.


MVP

Lieutenant Zub Enel
Assistant Chief Security & Tactical Officer
USS Firebird

He was a key driver in several monumental joint posts, added an NPC who brings another viewpoint, and provided humor, encouragement, and a willingness to say yes to just about anything.


Most Posts

Commander Jenna Ramthorne
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Sunfire

For writing 12 posts.


Most Improved

Chief Petty Officer Aaron Geiger
Engineering Officer
USS Washington

It was a great month for the Chief, upping his timely contributions to the story through multiple joint posts.


Rookie of the Month

None this month.


Recruitment

None this month.


Rear Admiral Aurther Winters
Director of Personnel
Independence Fleet

A purple-tinted space scene featuring a futuristic starbase and a Starfleet-style starship approaching it, with the text "IDFLEET.COM" in the bottom right corner.

Our Silver Anniversary

One-quarter of a century–a generation by some measures. Yes, it was 25 years ago today that Independence Fleet was founded with three sims and, by our best records, 33 total characters. But for our 108 characters today, we first have a very special message straight from the 24th century (don’t ask how we got it):

While we celebrate our 25th anniversary, the United States (where many members of this fleet hail from) commemorates its 250th. Since our club’s founding shares a date with U.S. Independence Day, our early branding often included American flags. As a piece of trivia, we owe our name to co-founder, three-time Commander-in-Chief, and Hall of Famer James D. West. He happened to glance at either a VHS or DVD copy of the movie Independence Day while we were trying to come up with a name for this soon-to-be-launched fleet. The rest is well, history! The Liberty Bell image was added a couple years later in 2003, again by James D. West, and it has stuck ever since.

To our friends up north, we also acknowledge the recent Canada Day. To our friends elsewhere in the Commonwealth realms, we salute you–your King was here less than three months ago. Finally, to our friends at other locations on the globe, we rotate with you!

Back to today! We have now been around for exactly one-tenth as long as the United States. Moving backward in time 25 years before our 2001 founding would put you right on the July 4, 1976 bicentennial. Who remembers the bicentennial quarters? In that spirit, we have created this one-time challenge coin in honor of our 25 years together as a fleet, which will be provided free of charge to all fleet members.


A rectangular ribbon with a glossy finish, divided into five vertical sections: alternating blue and gold stripes, starting and ending with gold. The ribbon has a beveled edge and a dark border, suggesting a digital or military commendation design

All current fleet members as of today are also hereby awarded the Anniversary Medal.


We’re not done yet! We have another message for the fleet from a very special guest (this one is from the present!):

We had an entire page in our 20th Anniversary Almanac dedicated to Gott’s Doomsday Scenario. Back then, there was an 80% chance that we would still be here today. Well, here we are! If you remember, the concept is that absent additional information, an observer (i.e., you) has a 50% chance of being in the first half of what they are observing (i.e., IDF) and a 50% chance of being in the second half of what they are observing. Based on that, here are our updated numbers for Anniversary #25:

DateProbability that IDF is still active
October 4, 202699%
October 27, 202795%
April 13, 202990%
November 2, 203475%
July 4, 205150%
July 4, 210125%
July 4, 225110%
July 3, 25015%
June 28, 45011%

Until next year, or June 28th, 4501, let’s keep simming!

A rectangular banner featuring Admiral Charles Star, Commander-in-Chief of Independence Fleet. On the left is a black-and-white photo of a man in a red and black Starfleet uniform wearing a hat. The right side displays the name "Admiral Charles Star" in large white text, with "Commander-in-Chief" and "Independence Fleet" below it. The background is black with a purple winged bell logo faintly behind the text. The frame is metallic with a purple accent.
A close-up view of a futuristic starship's bridge seats, featuring a central command chair with an elaborate design. The seat has angular, dark purple and beige components, with additional seats on either side, all positioned in front of a curved control panel. The overall design is modern with sleek, minimalistic features and geometric shapes.

Commandapalooza 2025

We did Awardapalooza. And we did Recordapalooza. So why not Commandapalooza? This post is all about our amazing Commanding Officers and everything they’ve accomplished up through the end of 2025. This is one caveat, however: We only have command records for Jul 2001-Dec 2003, Oct 2010-Aug 2018, Nov 2018, and Jun 2019-present. A few years ago, former Fleet CO Jeremiah Griffith gave us records he had saved that cover January 2004 through September 2010. However, they are incomplete and have not yet been integrated into our official record book. Until that happens, we have had 150 unique Independence Fleet Commanding Officers who have guided 58 different sims. And here they are…

They have led 2,361 ship-months, won 207 posting titles, and commanded through a whopping 64,387 posts!

By Sim:

Active sims in bold.

By Commanding Officer:

Commanding Officers currently in command are in bold.

Only the top 25 and active COs are tagged.

What a history! What a legacy! What a group put outstanding role players and leaders do we have! There certainly is a lot I can say, but I’m going to let the numbers speak for themselves. But please do feel free to post your own observations, thoughts, and memories in the comments section below!

A rectangular banner featuring Admiral Charles Star, Commander-in-Chief of Independence Fleet. On the left is a black-and-white photo of a man in a red and black Starfleet uniform wearing a hat. The right side displays the name "Admiral Charles Star" in large white text, with "Commander-in-Chief" and "Independence Fleet" below it. The background is black with a purple winged bell logo faintly behind the text. The frame is metallic with a purple accent.
A futuristic, three-tiered podium with black and red bases, each displaying the Independence Fleet logo in large white letters. The top tier features the fleet's logo, a stylized star with a purple hue, surrounded by a laurel wreath. The podiums sit on a checkerboard floor, giving the scene a modern, sleek look.

Monthly Awards: January 2026

In the midst of all the paloozas, here are your January awards!

Best Post (Single Author)

Cmdr. Rhiana t’Aegis
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Firebird

For “Meanwhile, On The Other Side”

A great writer knows how to write for different cultures and perspectives, and this captures it very well, building the tension without being melodramatic. 


Best Post (Joint Post)

Lieutenant Kestra Ral & Lieutenant Dezkar Veen
Chief Science Officer / Chief Engineering Officer
USS Montana

For “Phaser Fire”

A great post, having two characters interact, help move the plot along while doing a great job setting up tension without it being thrown directly into the reader’s face.   


Funniest Post

Cmdr. Jenna Ramthorne & Lt. Cmdr. Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell & Cmdr. Dean House
CFCO / CSS / CTO
USS Sunfire

For “The Return of the Mac – and the Dance of Shame”

Starfleet Officers are supposed to be calm, poised, and stoic, and this is the complete opposite of that. 


Genesis

Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Commander Rhiana t’Aegis & Ensign Gianna Djokovic
CO / CSTO / TO
USS Firebird

For “Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc”

Well written, and deep with characters and themes. An interesting look at how you can plan for one thing, and maybe take the more difficult path instead.


MVP

Lieutenant JG Kate Kono
Intelligence Officer
USS Washington

The Washington’s Intelligence Officer wrote 10 truly outstanding posts, a good mix of joint and solo posts, that took the story in highly creative directions.


Most Posts

Commander Jonathan Grayson
Executive Officer
USS Washington

For writing 12 posts.


Most Improved

Commander Donald “Don” Key
Flight Control Officer
USS Albion

Commander Key came roaring back with a bang taking the mission in a distinctly comedic direction while also involving the whole crew and fleshing out mission specific NPCs.


Rookie of the Month

Ensign Ozai Y’zyr
Tactical Officer
USS Firebird

The new Trill Tactical Officer was chomping at the bit while the mission concluded. Has jumped in with multiple excellent posts and has integrated well with the diverse crew.


Recruitment

None this month.


There is one more piece of business. It turns out that Admiral Star did miss one award in Awardapalooza a few weeks back. While we did announce Ken Gillis’s 2022 Simming Prize via social media, we never included it in a blog post. Well, that is now corrected! Here is his citation in full straight from The Simming Prize:

“With an illustrious career spanning decades in multiple groups and roles, the breadth of his accomplishments is unrivaled. From both his and simming’s early days as founder of Pi Fleet, Administrator of RolePlayerUSA, and the 11th President of the Simming League to more recently as Executive Officer of Independence Fleet, Chair of FallFest, and serving as a board member at multiple organizations, his selfless efforts to positively impact to the broader community are exactly what we need today.”

A gold medal featuring a portrait of a man, framed by a laurel wreath, hanging from a blue ribbon with four gold stars—symbolizing excellence and recognition within a creative or roleplaying community.

Rear Admiral Aurther Winters
Director of Personnel
Independence Fleet

A futuristic, three-tiered podium with black and red bases, each displaying the Independence Fleet logo in large white letters. The top tier features the fleet's logo, a stylized star with a purple hue, surrounded by a laurel wreath. The podiums sit on a checkerboard floor, giving the scene a modern, sleek look.

Recordapalooza 2025

We recently had one big post on community awards from outside IDF. Why not another big post on awards from within Independence Fleet? That’s what this is! We’ve crunched the numbers for everything from our July 4, 2001 founding through the end of 2025. In that time, IDF has issued 1,248 monthly awards to 599 unique characters, representing 52 different sims. Wow, what a history! Since a table with 599 people would be too big for this article, we decided to narrow it down to the 25. On a separate note, we’ll be celebrating our 25th anniversary later this year! Awards were presented Jul 2001-Oct 2005, Oct 2010-Jul 2013, and Mar 2020-present.

Here we go with our monthly awards records…

Active or recently active member
Hall of Famer

Active members of the fleet are now 1-10 on the all-time leaderboard, and include 18 of the top 25 spots. Hall of Famers make up only 6 of the top 25 today. It seems we likely have A LOT of future Hall of Famers in our midst! Also, Jenna Ramthorne has (barely) overtaken Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell for #1, with Jonathan Grayson not too far behind at #3. Long-time sims USS Chuck Norris, USS Sunfire, and USS Washington dominate the list when looking at the primary sim of characters:

  • USS Washington: 4 of the top 10; 8 of the top 25
  • USS Sunfire: 3 of the top 10; 7 of the top 25
  • USS Chuck Norris: 3 of the top 10; 5 of the top 25

Breaking it out by sim:

The Sunfire leads the way with 236.5 total awards, with the Washington not too far back at 220. Active sims claim spots #1-4 (the USS Liberty is at #3 overall with 96.5 awards) and 6 of the top 10–the more recent addition to the fleet USS Firebird lands right in that 10 spot with 42 awards. The USS Wayfarer is #6 with 52 awards, and the USS Albion and USS Montana sit just outside the top 10 at #11 (26 awards) and #12 (23 awards), respectively.

Breaking it down further to awards issued since they were reinstated in 2020 (546 total awards):

The Washington leads the pack this time with 155, and the Sunfire is in second place at 118.5. The Washington also has the longest streak of winning at least one monthly award, dating all the way back to May 2021 for 57 months in a row if you count January 2026. I can’t find another streak that even comes close. If the W can make it through April of this year, that would make it an astounding five full years with at least one award each month!

Speaking of the W (and a few others), here is the list of sims that led the fleet in awards each year since 2020:

In case you happen to want to see each year fully broken out, we have that too:

Since they are mentioned throughout, let’s also not forget about our other two outstanding sims: USS Churchill & USS Eminence.

Finally, I would like to thank Rook Mirtoh and Arthur Winters, each whom has served as our Director of Personnel, which is the role primarily responsible for selecting the award winners (Mirtoh, March 2020-September 2023; Winters, May 2024-today, with Ken Gillis and me filling in a few times here and there). It’s more tedious than you might imagine! Thank you for making one IDF’s enduring legacies possible!

With that, let’s keep these amazing awards coming!

A rectangular banner featuring Admiral Charles Star, Commander-in-Chief of Independence Fleet. On the left is a black-and-white photo of a man in a red and black Starfleet uniform wearing a hat. The right side displays the name "Admiral Charles Star" in large white text, with "Commander-in-Chief" and "Independence Fleet" below it. The background is black with a purple winged bell logo faintly behind the text. The frame is metallic with a purple accent.
A purple-tinted space scene featuring a futuristic starbase and a Starfleet-style starship approaching it, with the text "IDFLEET.COM" in the bottom right corner.

Awardapalooza 2025

The 2024 Tournament of Simulations (aka ToS) were finally announced last month, and continuing our long tradition of excellence, IDF took home four more awards! Congratulations to the Captains and crews of the USS Wayfarer, USS Firebird, USS Washington, and USS Sunfire. In fact, the USS Wayfarer was the #2 overall sim for the entire tournament! Well done!

Outstanding Star Trek:

Excellent Star Trek:

Banner image of the USS Firebird, registry NCC-88298, featuring a detailed Starfleet starship flying through space. The ship is shown from above at an angle, with glowing blue and red elements and a sleek, futuristic design.
Banner for the USS Washington NCC-81533-E, featuring a sleek futuristic starship with a glowing deflector dish flying through space with a purple nebula in the background.

In addition to the ToS awards themselves, Ken Gillis and Shran dh’Klar were awarded Ongoing World Community Honor (OWCH) medals for judging at three different Tournaments. We also completely missed that Kevin Riker won an OWCH after last year’s Tournament. Thank you very much to all three of you for your continued selfless service to the community. Without you and others like you, ToS simply wouldn’t be possible.

A gold medal featuring the Ongoing Worlds alien mascot holding a globe, hanging from a green and silver ribbon, representing the Ongoing Worlds Community Honor award.

It turns out that we actually have even more awards to announce from last year as the USS Wayfarer and USS Montana shared the 2025 Q2 Outstanding Post Award from the Khitomer Peace Awards, which are sponsored by the Khitomer Conference. Congratulations to both games!


But wait, there’s more! The Simming League announced just yesterday that the USS Firebird was one of five winners of the most prestigious 2025 Simming Prize! Congratulations and well done to the entire team over there on the Firebird–your excellence and commitment to our craft is apparent to us all! Here is their citation in full:

“With an amazing cast of characters and top-notch host to match, the Firebird has blazed a trail of simming excellence for multiple years in a row, including winning the top overall prize at the most recent Tournament of Simulations, in addition to receiving extensive awards from their home fleet. The players complement each other perfectly, building on their existing culture and lore with new and inventive ideas in seemingly every joint post, which are a joy to read.”

A gold medal featuring a portrait of a man, framed by a laurel wreath, hanging from a blue ribbon with four gold stars—symbolizing excellence and recognition within a creative or roleplaying community.

If I haven’t missed anything else, we’re now fully up-to-date on community awards. But please do, keep the awards coming and make me write more blog posts about them!

A futuristic, three-tiered podium with black and red bases, each displaying the Independence Fleet logo in large white letters. The top tier features the fleet's logo, a stylized star with a purple hue, surrounded by a laurel wreath. The podiums sit on a checkerboard floor, giving the scene a modern, sleek look.

Monthly Awards: November 2025

Just in time for me to start the December awards. Happy new year!

Lieutenant Zub Enel
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Firebird

For “Starfleet 1st Day – Snake Belly”

An excellent post that explores the reasons we wear the uniform, as opposed to how we wear it and react to it.


Best Post (Joint Post)

Lieutenant Aubrie Fox & Captain Michael Murphy
Chief Security Officer / Commanding Officer
USS Montana

For “Prisoner, thy name is Mudd”

When you bring a Legendary character into the mix, and help write him as grounded with the rest of the crew, it leads to a great realistic story.


Funniest Post

Lieutenant Betaras K’ner
Chief Medical Officer
USS Chuck Norris

For “Ow…”

A nice ironic look at Klingons and how absurd things can be when you take it to the exact opposite of how a culture should act and be treated leads to the laughs.


Genesis

Capt. Malcom Llwyedd & Cmdr. Rhiana t’Aegis & Cmdr. Jörgen Leed & Lt. Cmdr. Elias Ford & Lt. Hank Solomon & Lt. Jackson Smith & MCPO Harris Zim & Cmdr. Elizabeth “Beth” Boyle
CO / CSTO / CDO / CMO / CSO / CIO / CB / XO
USS Firebird

For “An Unwelcome Visitor”

This is just a great classic beginning to a Star Trek story. The suspense, multiple different views to a problem, and best of all, a problem that needs to be addressed and a high level of urgency. 


MVP

Lieutenant JG Kate Kono
Intelligence Officer
USS Washington

The Intel Officer was outstanding from start to finish showing a wide range of emotion in her writing.


Most Posts

Commander Jenna Ramthorne
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Sunfire

For writing 18 posts.


Most Improved

Ensign Kit Thenis ie-Jia’anKahr
Science Officer
USS Sunfire

The Science Officer returned to the Sunfire after a short break and slid effortlessly back into action with 7 excellent posts.


Rookie of the Month

None this month.


Recruitment

None this month.


Rear Admiral Aurther Winters
Director of Personnel
Independence Fleet

A futuristic, three-tiered podium with black and red bases, each displaying the Independence Fleet logo in large white letters. The top tier features the fleet's logo, a stylized star with a purple hue, surrounded by a laurel wreath. The podiums sit on a checkerboard floor, giving the scene a modern, sleek look.

Monthly Awards: October 2025

Ensign Gianna Djokovic
Tactical Officer
USS Firebird

For “The Hinge Still Squeaks”

An excellent narrative that feeds into the mission.


Best Post (Joint Post)

Capt. Mira Rodale Lance & Cmdr. Kevin Lance & Lt. Betaras K’ner
CO / XO / CMO
USS Chuck Norris

For “Aftermath”

One of those great posts where each character shines through.


Funniest Post

Lieutenant Aubrie Fox & Lieutenant Dezkar Veen
Chief Security Officer / Chief Engineering Officer
USS Montana

For “Friend or Foe”

Star Fleet isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.


Genesis

Chief Petty Officer Lu’vrenn Zhuraal
Boatswain
USS Firebird

For “Anomaly: Human Rituals”

A great start to the mission!


MVP

Commander Jenna Ramthorne
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Sunfire

The posting machine continues to power the Sunfire.


Most Posts

Commander Jenna Ramthorne
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Sunfire

For writing 30 posts.


Most Improved

Chief Petty Officer Aaron Geiger
Engineering Officer
USS Washington

The Engineer built off his Rookie of the Month win with continued superior performance in both quality and quantity.


Rookie of the Month

None this month.


Recruitment

None this month.


Rear Admiral Aurther Winters
Director of Personnel
Independence Fleet

A futuristic, three-tiered podium with black and red bases, each displaying the Independence Fleet logo in large white letters. The top tier features the fleet's logo, a stylized star with a purple hue, surrounded by a laurel wreath. The podiums sit on a checkerboard floor, giving the scene a modern, sleek look.

Monthly Awards: August 2025

Ensign Helle Leed
Biologist
USS Firebird

For “Anomaly: The Flame Remembers”

Written so well it’s like you’re there.


Best Post (Joint Post)

Capt. Rhenora Kaylen & SCPO Ronson Mitchell & Cmdr. Jenna Ramthorne & Cmdr. Savar cha’Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Lt. Cmdr. Aurora Vali & Lt. JG Ngaza & Ens. Kitiuas Thenis ie-Jia’anKahr & Lt. Cmdr. Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell
CO / Y / CFCO / XO / CC / CSOO / SO / CSS
USS Sunfire

For “Looking Deeper”

It’s a symphony of collaboration.


Funniest Post

PO3 Thyra Kevensdotter & Capt. Malcom Llwyedd & Ens. Emilynn Dove & MCPO Harris Zim
RO / CO / OO / CB
USS Firebird

For “Fool Me Once”

I definitely wanted to read this one more than once.


Genesis

Capt. Mira Rodale Lance & Cmdr. Kevin Lance & Lt. Cmdr. Awal Kronnelti & Lt. Betaras K’ner
CO / XO / CSTO / CMO
USS Chuck Norris

For “And then there was”

A great way to start the next chapter.


MVP

Commander Jenna Ramthorne
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Sunfire

She has been an absolute powerhouse this month with a great mix of solo and joint posts while simultaneously wrapping up one mission and setting up the next.


Most Posts

Commander Jenna Ramthorne
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Sunfire

For writing 11 posts.


Most Improved

Lieutenant JG James Phoenix
Tactical Officer
USS Washington

Coming off a non-stop action month, he somehow still found a way to step it up with some truly outstanding posting.


Rookie of the Month

Ensign Fiona Flores
Communications and Operations Officer
USS Montana

She jumped right into joint posts with multiple crew members, improving both the quality and quantity of the ship’s posts. She has just the right recommendations to improve the story–a welcomed addition!


Recruitment

None this month.


Rear Admiral Aurther Winters
Director of Personnel
Independence Fleet

A sleek, futuristic conference room table with grey surfaces and blue glowing lights on the sides. The chairs surrounding the table have a modern design with dark grey fabric and geometric shapes. The walls of the room are simple, with soft purple accents. The environment has a clean, minimalist, and high-tech aesthetic.

We Have a New Director of Recruiting

I am pleased to announce that Captain Jackson Adams, the former Commanding Officer of the USS Montana is hereby promoted to the rank of Commodore and will be filling the new position of Director of Recruiting. As the title suggests, Commodore Adams will be leading our recruitment efforts to guide new players into the fleet. Though often underappreciated, recruiting new members is an invaluable component to the health of both our club and hobby. Commodore Adams will leverage traditional and new channels to bring fellow Trek fans and writers to our community. Wish him luck!

A rectangular medal ribbon with silver outer bands and a red center band, featuring a gold and silver depiction of a Constitution-class starship.
The Command Excellence Medal is awarded for achievement above and beyond the call of duty at the sim Commanding Officer level.

Command Excellence Medal

A rectangular medal ribbon with silver outer bands and a red center band, featuring a gold and silver depiction of a Constitution-class starship.

Awarded to Commodore Jackson Adams for commanding the USS Montana from February 2022 through October 2024. Aboard the only TOS movie era sim on the fleet’s roster, he led highly creative joint posts and missions to faithfully fulfil a major sector of the Trek universe that otherwise would have been a void for the club. When he sees a need, he takes care of it.

As Captain John Wells, he commanded the USS Eminence, the fleet’s only Picard-era sim, from June 2021 through January 2022.

A rectangular banner featuring Admiral Charles Star, Commander-in-Chief of Independence Fleet. On the left is a black-and-white photo of a man in a red and black Starfleet uniform wearing a hat. The right side displays the name "Admiral Charles Star" in large white text, with "Commander-in-Chief" and "Independence Fleet" below it. The background is black with a purple winged bell logo faintly behind the text. The frame is metallic with a purple accent.

P.S. — As an added bonus, Star Trek turns 59 today.