CAIN Celebrates Second Anniversary

YC109.01.29

Thursday, 18 January YC109 marked the two-year anniversary of the Caldari Independent Navy Reserve's formation, and marked the end of an often tumultuous year for the Reserve. While there was little official fanfare, due to ongoing combat operations, Reserve members took time to celebrate over the last week on their own, and many of the Reserve's veteran pilots reflected on the last year's accomplishments and failures.

The last year has seen a continuing rise to prominence for the Reserve, which has brought both rewards and challenges for Reserve members. A series of sometimes brutal wars has hammered the raw steel of new recruits into a strong core of hardened veterans, giving the Reserve's order of battle significantly more depth than it had this time last year. Key to this was the introduction of a new command staff in April under the leadership of Fleet Admiral Van Cleef, following the retirement of Dev Larren, Cabaeran, and Maze La'Zie, three well-respected naval officers whose increasing planetside duties forced them to ceed their posts. Their high standard provided a goal for a new generation of Reserve pilots to aspire to, and the corporation has been better for it.

This year has seen the Reserve take a much more active role in combatting piracy and terrorism in and around State space, with wars between the Reserve and opponents such as the Serial Killers, the Minmatar terrorists known as the Rogues, Beyond Divinity, and perhaps most notably, the anarchists of the Star Fraction. The last month of the Reserve's second year also saw the Reserve intervening in the Minmatar-Amarr conflict in an ultimately failed attempt to get the Gallente paramilitary Phoenix Wing to abandon their support of the Minmatar forces rallying around the Electus Matari alliance. This more aggressive stance has given the Reserve a much higher profile in the State and the cluster political scene at large, despite a relatively sedate presence on the 'nets of the cluster. It has also shown the courage of the Reserve's line pilots, who have not shirked from their duty in the defense of the State.

To the pilots of the Reserve, congratulations on a successful year and may the third be even better.

CAPT Svetlana Scarlet
Reserve Chief of Diplomatic Staff