Skywatch Training Sessions

[Epstein_The_Swami]

As per the latest bulletin from the teletype feed, Skywatch has announced that its first training session takes place on October 2nd in Austin! Sounds like should be more of these to come. How many? Hopefully the organization will keep us updated.

I will use this post to keep track of the information pertaining to this session (was well as any future ones). I can write attendees up as well. Discuss to your heart's content, and please let us know if you're going to be able to make it!

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TRAINING SESSION #1: October 2nd; Austin, TX - CONCLUDED
More Information - Click here

Attendees:
- Citizen Japester (With friends)

Findings:
Click here

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[Theta-Sigma]

Hope theres one in MN I think I need to revise some of my skills!

[Codex]

Now we're being mobilized? Without any actual clear information from the Citizen Elite and instead a whole bunch of damnable evidence from Citizen 13? Now I'm a little worried...

[Epstein_The_Swami]

Now we're being mobilized? Without any actual clear information from the Citizen Elite and instead a whole bunch of damnable evidence from Citizen 13? Now I'm a little worried...

We've all voiced our opinions on how much trust we may or may not have for Skywatch, but let's see what the next operation brings us in terms of evidence. After PowderKeg, it's all quiet (hopefully) until this "training session" begins. Maybe more details will be revealed as the date draws nearer.

[rootbeertapper]

We are told to trust no one and now there are training sessions, that will expose our identities... Hypocrisy at its finest I say, and just who/what will be running the circus while we are out training in the wilderness? the clowns? An unknown entity wants citizens converted to soldiers, now why would a secret society want to train soldiers other than for one thing...

[japester]

We can only do so much from our homes. At some point we have to meet our fellow soldiers.

I will make every effort to make it to Austin on the 2nd.

[beta_angel]

Keep in mind, that we are being recruited, folks. The war will be fought with the aid of Citizens and we *must* stay vigilant.

I know, all to well, how difficult it may be to trust...but for the threat we could be facing, it is incredibly important that we choose a side. The only right side that I see is with Citizen One.

[snorkle256]

EDIT - insert quote to maintain logic response- "Hope theres one in MN I think I need to revise some of my skills! "

Thumbs Up for this.

[japester]

I agree with the Citizen Elite--we need more soldiers if we are to win this war.

I have started amassing a team to join me in Austin. Many patriots in Texas are willing to fight.
(Some of my volunteers are joining because of personal experiences with the Marfa Lights. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing...)

[HomeGirl]

Perhap a good thing - they have some experience in this sort of thing.

[Ga1Friday]

I am hoping that training sessions will find their way throughout the US, starting in the south and midwest and working towards both coasts. With a small turn out in Boston I hope to bring more people into the fold as it were, and this is just the type of event to help me do it.

[Precarious]

I sincerely hope they're not only mobilizing units in the US... Unless this is considered a threat only to the US and not the world...

[japester]

Not to be callous, but the US is the greatest power in the world. We have the most resources and the best people, so it makes sense that we would not only lead the fight but also be the most likely first target of an alien attack. Cut off the head and all that.

But even though we are the first line of defense, that doesn't mean our European allies and others shouldn't be ready....just in case.

[rootbeertapper]

Not to be callous, but the US is the greatest power in the world. We have the most resources and the best people, so it makes sense that we would not only lead the fight but also be the most likely first target of an alien attack. Cut off the head and all that.

I humbly disagree.

[japester]

I humbly disagree.

You think they would attack a lesser power first? Which one? And to what end?

I suppose they might go after Russia. To be honest, I don't know who'd I'd root for in that dust-up.

[rootbeertapper]

If a countries citizens think they are the best and brightest in the world and have the best resources compared to their peon neighbors then perhaps that country deserves to be the target of a first strike. That might do the rest of the world a greater good by wiping clean the slate of egotistical oppression.

I would like to think, we as the human race are more intelligent than to waste time over petty political ego, our goal should be to better ourselves and for mankind. It is the reason we want to travel into space to see what new materials and technologies we can harness from it. There may be a space station or colony up there someday, but I doubt it will occur without the support of all the nations of the world working together.

Regardless who will be attacked first, we still don't know who/what will attack and these training sessions seem pointless if the puppet masters won't tell us who the enemy is.

[japester]

Perhaps you'd feel more at home in communist Russia, friend. I hear everyone there is exactly equal. Over here in America, we believe in healthy competition and survival of the fittest. Then again, your reply is so strange maybe you're one of those hippies who's into "expanding your consciousness" and all that nonsense.

We Texans are proud to be from the greatest state in the greatest country in the world. If you have a problem with that, then you can go hang, mister.

Being uber-politically correct makes you sound like a Martian in the 60's, 'tapper. LOL. Remember the time period. This is role play.

[rootbeertapper]

Perhaps you'd feel more at home in communist Russia, friend. I hear everyone there is exactly equal. Over here in America, we believe in healthy competition and survival of the fittest. Then again, your reply is so strange maybe you're one of those hippies who's into "expanding your consciousness" and all that nonsense.

Nobody is equal in Russia, if that was the case people would not be fleeing the country to western Europe. I am paranoid, surely you see why, we have been told to fear the soviets, and now we will be trained for something, and all this fear of an unknown force isn't helping.

Obsessions with space, travel, and the moon have been on the minds of people since the early 50's with Saturday morning serials ;P movie serials before that, (Buck Rogers) but perhaps I should tone it down a bit xD

[japester]

When it all comes down to it, we're in this together. Whoever these bug-eyed monsters hit first, we'll all hit back as citizen soldiers!

The space travel is definitely appropriate. It's all the "we're all equal, we'll all do it together as one big happy planet" that doesn't fit. Countries were paranoid and competitive in the 60's. We would never admit that we needed help to do something like space travel (or fight off an invasion!) Plus, AFAIK XCOM takes place entirely in the US, so I'm just playing up that angle of us getting hit first. It's all good.

[Ranger Six]

Gentlemen! Gentlemen! Please!

There is no fighting in the War Room!

[japester]

Gentlemen! Gentlemen! Please!

There is no fighting in the War Room!

LOL. You need to work on your timing. I think we already made our peace.

I just received a communique from the Citizen Elite with a few more details. It sounds like they will have some sort of presentation with new evidence. I will make sure to provide a detailed report.

[Ga1Friday]

Excellent Japester, I look forward to hearing about your experiences there.

[japester]

Today's training and recruitment session was both sobering and stirring. I will write more later this evening, but let me say it was a pleasure to meet Citizen 40 (who ran the meeting) and our dedicated and loyal medical staff.

[Ga1Friday]

Can't wait to hear more. Great photo!

[Ranger Six]

I see that one of the staff in that photograph is carrying either a dosimeter or a Geiger counter.

I wonder why . . .

[japester]

My apologies for not writing sooner, fellow Citizens. I attempted to debrief my unit last night, but most of them scattered. They're good people, but I think they cracked under the pressure. They weren't prepared for what they were exposed to. The truth is like that.

OPERATION ROUND-UP

In brief, the meeting yesterday was intended to identify potential Citizen Soldiers, evaluate their effectiveness, educate them on our mission, and give them the tools to spread the word and recruit additional Citizens on their own. All successful applicants left with both a Citizen Skywatch ID card (identical to the one I obtained at Citizen One's Seattle bunker) and a Recruitment Kit for Operation Round-Up.

Among other things, the kit contained a pin we can use to identify our fellow Soldiers on the street.

I never was good with Latin in school, but another Soldier translated it as "Watching the heavens". "Skywatch" to you and me. You can see the other Citizens sporting the pin in various ways in my first photograph.

I hesitate to go into too much detail about the tests we were exposed to. Every applicant was probed for weaknesses--our own doctors could be no less ruthless than a potential enemy, right? Loyalty, physical fitness, mental and emotional toughness. And yes, I believe that is some sort of radiation detector. Why they were using it, I don't know. All applicants were subjected to a thorough scan, but as a card-carrying member I wasn't required to go through that again. I proved myself in Seattle. I was taken aside for some thorough questioning about my specific level of involvement with Citizen Skywatch, but otherwise I was left to watch over my group of recruits.

While we do not identify ourselves with any government or military organizations, we are not above co-opting some of their training methods. Putting potential Citizen Soldiers on the spot and demanding they perform is a good way to see how they will react in the field when questioned by the authorities or when faced with an unknown situation. I know that some of the people in my own group arrived as skeptics but left as believers. It was a more rigorous and challenging experience than they were prepared for.

Without losing sight of our primary mission--the safeguarding of the United States against an unknown menace--the immediate challenge is to spread the word. The Citizen Skywatch Field Manual contained in the kit details the responsibilities of each Citizen Soldier (observing, gathering and protecting evidence, monitoring suspicious individuals, etc). Included flyers and other material can be used to advertise our own local meetings. And we can even make our own temporary Citizen Skywatch ID cards for Citizens that demonstrate both the commitment and ability to join us in our fight!

[Donut232]

Thank you for your report of the first training session Citizen Japester, it sounded like a great way to spread our message to more people. Hoepfully we get word about more training sessions around our great country soon. Our message must reach the masses if we are to win this fight!

[Ranger Six]

I would like to hear some more details about this "Operation Round-Up", myself. It sounds like something big is in the works.

[Ga1Friday]

Fantastic round up Citizen Japester. I am looking forward to hearing about more of these events and hope to have the chance to attend one as well.

[JimmyWild]

It was a good experience, glad to see our numbers are growing.

[japester]

In retrospect, I forgot to mention something that may be important. We were shown some slides and a brief film detailing the evidence we have so far. The pictures of shadowy individuals with glowing eyes still give me the creeps. The Citizens showing us the evidence said to pay special attention, as if some extra details were hidden within, but I wasn't smart enough to notice anything new. The projector did throw up some odd, split-second images (mostly splashes of color), but I don't know if that was a mechanical failure or some sort of additional test. If it was, we all apparently failed.

[Ranger Six]

By the by, Japester - is there any chance we could get a look at the documents you acquired during the training session?

Also, what - precisely - is the Latin phrase on the pin? I can't read it, as the pin is too heavily shadowed to make much out aside from the Citizen Skywatch logo. (And the wings, of course, but that's a given.)

[japester]

"SPECTA CAELOS"

There's quite a bit of paperwork.

[DiscoC]

"SPECTA CAELOS"

There's quite a bit of paperwork.

Ah, there we go.

Specta, meaning to observe or behold
Caelos, meaning the skies or heavens

[Epstein_The_Swami]

Did any attendees receive news on when the next session will be, or how many they plan to have?

[Ranger Six]

There's quite a bit of paperwork.

Take your time; I'm sure we have it to spare.

(Maybe not much time to spare, but enough.)

[japester]

After giving it some thought, I'll try to share the contents of the recruitment kit. I guess everyone here can be trusted. We just don't want this information getting into the wrong hands. Caution is the keyword.

As for future sessions, no specific information was shared, to the best of my knowledge. But they did make it clear that this was just the first. They do plan on doing more to spread the word to all concerned Citizens.

[japester]

After giving it some thought, I'll try to share the contents of the recruitment kit. I guess everyone here can be trusted. We just don't want this information getting into the wrong hands. Caution is the keyword.

As for future sessions, no specific information was shared, to the best of my knowledge. But they did make it clear that this was just the first. They do plan on doing more to spread the word to all concerned Citizens.