We've recruited five fresh pud'n's for the Menacing Ferrets' roster this quarter: a hearty, Ferrety welcome to -York-, Lytnin, Mattke, Maatke's buddy -Weedo, and Nitowl. Pud'n' Hrpoon came and went, Sgt. Derekd was discharged for conduct unbecoming, and Lt. =Troy= fell into a very deep well indeed. We set another record for average squad night attendance at 12.8 pilots per meet. We had eighteen pilots for squad night on two occasions, and sixteen for an S3 Sunday: more record numbers. The average WW2 Arena population on squad nights was up from 68 last quarter to 77 this Winter.

We comissioned a shiny new gong on New Year's Day: the Bushy Tail Award. Awarded to those with an attendance record of 90% or better over the course of a year. Awarded for 2004 and retroactively for 2003, the recipients were: Col. Hcrana (2003/04), Lt-Col. Humble (2003/04), Lt-Col. Doones (2003/04), Maj Warone (2003/04), and 2ndLt. Invstr (2004). Nine times in ten is as close to every time as makes no odds. Yahs fuckin' junkies.

All these FNG's kept the Ferrets high in the scoring/whoreing ranks in the WW2 arena. Average squad fighter rank this Fall was 8th (same as Fall '04), while average squad bomber rank was 2nd (up from 3rd place). Nice flyin', gents! Those are our best numbers ever, and that means we may need to raise that four-drink minimum.

This Winter, comrades Capt. Gldnbb and Maj. Wallyg earned their second shiny gold stars for two years' service. 2ndLt. Nuker, Sgt. Kavikk, and 2ndLt. Invstr also earned their one year service stars. Gunsgt earned his six-month silver star and the squad rank of Filthy Subaltern, While Snofox earned the coveted rank of full Lieutenant and a much-coveted spot on the operations list. Last but not least, FNG's -Aggie, Mattke, and Lytnin all earned their Flight Sergeant stripes and a permanent place on the Ferret roster for ten squad meets attended. A big, sloppy salute to all of you guys, old and new, and my thanks as always for playing along.

In Squad Select Series action this Winter, the Ferrets completed one campaign in the heavy bomber role, earning a total of seven medals for Yellow Nosed Bastards as we tore up the Blitz map in our Forts. Yours Truly won a DFC (US), Maj. Momo and W/O Joystc won Bronze Stars, while Lt-Cols. Humble and Doones, Maj. Andrew, and Cap'n Wallyg all received Air Medals. Despite these stellar efforts, the series was ruled a draw with a slight edge for the Allies in points. Notably, our man Lt. Meteor was Allied CO for one frame, doing a superb job despite being a first-timer. Here's to many more, Meat!

There were some log revisions from the previous S3 series, Fleet Action Pacific. Instead of the Allied victory reported here in December, this series is in fact ruled a draw. Still, Lt-Col. Doones came away with a shiny Bronze Star for his efforts. Squad Badges and Player Cups for the last four S3's ought to be awarded soon - YNB stats are being included as FAP was a shortened series. The Ferrets are currently having fun in the strike role again, bumming around the ETO in Stukas tonight in frame three of Peacetime Warriors.

We ran the seventh Ferrets' Challenge this winter using an all-jet format. This was the first time we've ever restricted the field to a single plane type. Thirty pilots rolled, but only one managed to finish this time: maybe too deadly a course to have run without the "mulligan" rule we've used in the past. I was really afraid no-one was gonna finish - even landing those jet-powered pigs is a dangerous job. Still, as proof that anything can happen in these things, our winner was dead last after the racetrack segment - an amazing comeback. For his first-place finish, Norron of Ballard Bros. Flying Circus wins a free month of WB's courtesy of iEN, and of course the coveted Ferrets' Challenge Blue Ribbon and a fresh bucket of steam. Congrats, Norron! Thanks to -Momo- for flying the spotter jet, to Meteor for reffing, to SKYDVR for all his help, and to all of you speed demon air-racers. See you all at the next Ferrets' Challenge in the Spring! It'll be a Saturday race day next time, so expect a bigger field of pilots.

A new WarBirds build this winter saw the introduction of a couple of Soviet Lavochkin fighters, but problems with the FM have kept them out of the WW2 arena thus far. The "Armored Assault" game has merged with WB's and is now on the arena list in a new Belgium terrain. Some cannons were tweaked to who-knows-what final effect, and I still haven't figured out the new scoring system. Good thing there's ".oldscore".

In other news, your Fearless Leader met up briefly with Humble and Momo in Woodstock for a little Christmas cheer. Doones' second "Dawn of the Living Aces" ragwing event was another success, and seems on the way to becoming an institution. We've implemented a new wingman organization - four groups of six pilots - that's finally working out the way I had envisioned. We've also slightly tweaked the squad ranking system to take the new 90% get-a-life attendance awards into account. Ferret plans for a 2-vs-2 duelling season are being reconsidered now that I have some limited CM-type magical powers in the Practice & Dueling Arena. Stay tuned. Our annual Ferrety treat shipped out finally, in the form of the lovely embroidered Order of the Stinkin Bodge.

Finally, a reminder that squad dues for the 2005 year are due August 10th. FNG's who didn't get one will recieve a stinkin' bodge of their very own, soon as they pay up. That's in addition to whatever I come up with for next year. I can't stop thinking how good that new "ferret-and-crossbones" logo I've just finished up would look, on the back of a leather jacket or the front of a hockey jersey or both.

Col. H.C. Rana
Over and Out