The VFW / THEVFW

If you know you’re good and you are a service-connected enlisted veteran, just apply or friend one of us. Don’t write anything, and I’ll give you the rundown on all this when we chat.

If you’re civilian and have a disability, I hope you consider me a peer. If you’d like to give us a try, same thing. Apply or friend us, and I’ll give you the quick explanation. No proof or medical details needed. I think we’re looking for the same thing.

Medic Friends:

NavyDoc42: Your high-speed neighborhood Corpsman. Who Army Medics wish they could be.
VFWMEDIC:. Air Force and Army 2000 to 2012. EFMB. Advanced Peer Support Specialist Cert.

If you’ve gone two sessions without seeing one of your Medic Friends online, message VFWMEDIC on Spectrum and I’ll join on you.

The Google Gemini translated version of this is in “Manifesto”

VFW’s Goal: Run a Looking For Party Channel for service-connected veterans who have been briefed. VFW is not an org.

This page is the only thing you need to know to use the VFW. No emails, no Discord messages. just this page. In-game or Spectrum comms only from VFW. I like Spectrum’s setup, and we are typing as video game characters. It’s actually not that bad.

Summary:

This is about having a great time around peers who understand.

This will run like a friend list and a Looking For Party channel in-game. Probably named something like “P and Tea party.”

Friend one of the medicals listed here. You can friend the Medic, or the HS, or the Corpsman if you prefer.

The VFW is these three places:
-This page
-The friend list you are on, which is one of our Medical NCO / HS / Petty Officers.
-The looking for party channel in-game. One of those Medicals are operating the channel.

We are making sure Personally Identifiable Information or Medical Details don’t become issues.

All freak flags are welcome and they make me feel more comfortable.

If a player is introduced to you through VFW, it means I’ve spoken with them and they passed the same question I ask everyone.

You will not have to deal with being attacked for who you are.

Combat history not required. Bad schedules, isolated incidents, or two months on edge can get you. Some of us dodge the problems, but spiciness related to federal service is required.

I need to know you’re willing and motivated to do this as part of a peer group.

This is about having a great time around peers who understand.

QUIZZABLE MATERIAL: THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU NEED TO KNOW:

“I’m not a Doctor. Even if I am, I can’t diagnose people over the internet. Even if I can, I have to break laws to know who they are. If I think someone is exhibiting a medical symptom, that’s not my business and if I hassle them about it, it is literally illegal. They are my video game party friend.”

Any time someone comments on another person’s physical conditions, sometimes described as “worrying” or “bad” or “serious.” They should see the vocab word “Disability,” and drop it.

You should consider not being around adults who don’t know the definition of a “protected class.”

Just because a medical condition is on the outside does not give people the right to say anything. Disabilities are protected with extra laws for this reason. I’m not exaggerating: I’ve gone months where every single day someone brought up my voice.

To the person with the disability, it feels like needing to change the world in order to simply exist.

Be someone they can trust to game with them in Star Citizen. They can’t enjoy this video game without you. That’s why we’re here.

“But but they’re doing [something]”
Unless someone is trying to peddle illegal things in chat and there’s a paypal they want to use, and they are posting pictures, and they are sending something to everyone’s house etc… Things someone thinks they hear, things that are said… nope. Could be someone trolling me on comms for all I know.

You’re in your home. Literally nothing about hanging out with your friend can hurt you. Make up your mind about whether you can find it in you to help your friend play some video games no matter what they’re going through.

Especially your federal service-connected friends. We were all pristine when we went through MEPS. Compassion is always good.

Then I can sign off on you. I’m probably going to have a very easy yet important question for you. I wonder what that could be.

END OF QUIZZABLE MATERIAL

Why:

I couldn’t find an org with the culture I need. “Mostly veterans” doesn’t cut it. The comments add up. It’s tiresome. This is more like what I wanted.

PVP video games can be therapeutic as an outlet, but people who don’t understand disabilities send me. We sound different, we type different. I will be surprised if anyone sounds worse than me. It’s worse in PVP when I get excited. I have a mini episode any time someone brings up my voice, even unintentionally. But. PVP can also be a very good experience around people who trust a condition like that rather than question it.

I can’t think of a session where I got PVP excited and wasn’t the last one standing. I feel like those things are related somehow.

I’m doing this as a medical NCO and Peer Support Specialist. I’m creating the solution I couldn’t find.

I want to game with other federal service-connected gamers.

I’m not interested in running an org. Treat this as a friend list and a stable way to find each other. Find players we flow with.

I won’t (and I shouldn’t) keep any record like a roster of who’s Navy, etc. You’ll have to just add me as a friend, and when I’m on, message me to be added to LFP channel.

This:

Just go out into the galaxy and game. It’s safe to assume people don’t want to bring things up in here, and if they do, I’m positive your party mate will tell you.

A gaming session without social concerns is hard to find. Impossible to find.

Comms will probably be trash and sloppy. Whatever we talked about in our vehicle / ship / aircrew / spaceship headsets but also sloshed. I hope you gave your platoon sergeant the shittiest comms possible. I know we did.

This isn’t the time to worry about how intoxicated someone is. This is fun time.

No rules for this. Rules in video games lol. lmao

The rules:

Tell me who.
I’m asking you to tell me about these incidents so I can go gaming with them myself. Maybe we need time to talk.

You know when someone doesn’t quite feel like your friend? Listen to that. That gut feeling will make this not fun, so come back and find a different person if you have to, and tell me about it.

Tell me if someone pushes concern talk on you. It sucks when we’re handling our life like a boss, but someone keeps insisting we sound like we need a wellness check. I will never pass anything called a “wellness check” get off me lmao.

If you talked about something and feel like you want to unpack it more, let’s do it.

If someone is unable to even say some basic military lingo, leave that party and tell me. I’m pretty sure I’ll cover that in five seconds but just in case.

If someone turns out to be an officer and you like them, great. Let me know. They should have read this: If you are an officer, I’m not supposed to let you in. I’ll listen if there’s a reason you could be considered a peer.

Tell me if someone from VFW asks for your consent to stream. That’s not something I recommend participating in, and If they go, “oh by the way we’re streaming,” I hope you’ll leave that situation right away and tell me.

I only have one on/off switch available: Do I sign off on someone right now? Or not yet. I will absolutely let someone come back and try again if we talk it out and they want to do better. I’d love to be there for the lightbulb moments. Maybe I will take them to do some Exec hangars or Lazarus PVP myself.

Who:

I want to connect us. There are a few things I’m pretty sure of, based on how much this depends on being around peers. This doesn’t work unless the peer thing is more important than anyone’s individual thing.

“Service-Connected, Enlisted Peer-Support Focused”

I’m not okay with active duty being passed through this. Don’t ask. Three reasons:
-A basic rule of Peer groups is it’s for that peer group, not the peer group adjacent.
-Active duty don’t know what the hell to make of the way we sound or act or anything.
-Not if, but when. I’m not sacrificing a veteran’s wellness to prove this isn’t about holding hands.

Officers: I’m not supposed to let it happen. Sir, Ma’am, it means the world to have your support. Everyone loves a chill officer. But I can’t. It’s a basic obligation for holding a Peer Group.

If you are a medical NCO, HS, or medical Petty Officer, let me know if you feel the friend list and channel thing, even occasionally. Doesn’t have to be your main account, and I will send you a starter pack to create an account just for this.

Privacy:

VFW is in-game comms only. All we do is Looking For Party. No text chats required anywhere beyond things like “join on me.” There are no sections for this group on Spectrum. Roles except mine are invisible. No reason this requires a Discord. I’m not going to send you any messages, mails, anything.

In-game comms only for VFW, but when you party up in your own channel you can do what you want of course. You’ll never see outside links from me or about the VFW.

“Green chair, left desk, third door on the right, First Squad, 2nd Division, 36th Mechanized, 9th Military, USA, Earth”
We can’t do that in VFW channels because it starts to look like a PII issue in combination with the VFW. It’s not the worst habit ever, the universe is vast I’m sure there’s something. But it has to be moderated.

There are no hidden channels or threads. Everything is handled on in-game comms and the only static text is what you see on this page.

You don’t have to join. You can just message VFWMEDIC. Come and go as you please. Hide your membership, redact it, visible, or don’t have one, whatever you want.

VFW LFP channel won’t even be on without a channel operator online. If none are on, VFW is just some characters with friend lists and you can’t see who’s on them.

How:

Apply or Message VFWMEDIC on Spectrum
You don’t have to write anything in the application. Message me on Spectrum and say whatever. This is all the admin character is for.

Link up for quick comms in-game
Strictly in-game comms, text or chat if you want. I won’t ask you about medical details. I will only have one question. Could take 10 seconds. I might have some notes about what I see in your spectrum profile or character name. Might have to be changed for PII reasons. I’ll remind you that RSI’s big rule about privacy is that you can disclose your own info, but not someone else’s.

Common channel in-game to party up.
There will be a LFP channel in-game with whoever wants to be pulled from friend list into it. Help for this would be great. Channel management roles for medical NCOs, HS, and medical Petty Officers only, but no expectations. Don’t do it unless you’re on already and feel like it.