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Jan/Feb 2019 MEPD Newsletter


Punisha
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Hello Troopers, 

Welcome to our election-time issue.  In this issue we will have a few words from our current CO, hear from a veteran MEPD member, check out the roughneck stats, and meet our new PO and SWAT officers.  As always, stay dirty!

Word from DL

Veteran Trooper Interview

Emperor’s Roughnecks

Swat and PO

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First of all I would like to wish all of the troopers of the MEPD a happy new year!

Another amazing year has passed us by, a year where we have added yet another great trooper to our ranks, the Mimban Trooper! We’ve seen a lot of requests for PO and SWAT too and most of them have been granted respectively the title of Police Officer or SWAT Officer. Well deserved and a great example for troopers that have the ambition for taking it to the next level. Now we only have to wait for the first Mimban, Jedha or Magmatrooper to request deployment.
One other program that I’m really proud of is the Roughnecks program. It’s so good to see that we already have several troops who are the proud owners of a Roughnecks certificate and I’m going to do my best to create an extra item that can be handed out with each certificate as an incentive.

Even though it’s still a couple of months away, I would like to point out that at Celebration Chicago will be the opportunity of 2019 to portray the MEPD spirit as the detachment with the most accurate troops within the 501st and not to forget the brother-and sisterhood that we all are so proud of.
Use this event to get together, meet other troopers of the MEPD in the flesh and have an interstellar good time! Don’t have too much of the blue milk though ;)
 
Our design team has created an awesome patch for this occasion too so if you don’t have it yet, please get yours asap if that is still possible when this newsletter is released.

As the elections are just around the corner as well this will be my last piece for our newsletter as your DL, as we all don’t know who will be at the helm for the oncoming year.
It’s as always all up to you troopers of the MEPD.  Make sure that you all are eligible to vote, if not make the necessary adjustments in your 501st profile before the end of this month so I can make the needed changes.

Therefor I would like to thank the amazing bunch of people I’ve had the honor to work with this year in my Command Staff for their knowledge, feedback, creativity, dedication and not to forget their friendship.
Not to forget all of the troops of the MEPD that have believed in me and supported me in 2018.

I take my helmet off and salute you all!!
Thank you my brothers and sisters!

Who knows, maybe untill the next newsletter and in the meantime stay safe and stay dirty.

Move along….

-dutchy

 

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Hello again Dirty Troopers, 


In this time of new CRL’s and ever-growing numbers, we thought it would be fun to take a step back and focus on one of our early members.  I recently caught up with one of the longest-serving TD’s in the MEPD, Rolf Henriksen TD-252

1.   Do you remember the first time you trooped? Can you tell us about it?

Hi there. My name is Rolf Henriksen. I got my first stormtrooper suit in 1999. After I saw a few from my garrison troop at an event for the movie Phantom Menace coming out. I quickly got myself a suit. And back then it was a fan made FX suit. We did a lot of trooping back then and we had a lot of great Star Wars events in the city Copenhagen in Denmark where I live. I think my first event in my FX stormtrooper, now turned into a Sandtrooper armor, was an event with a few actors from the movies, with Warwick Davis and Kenny Baker singing pictures, and stands selling Star Wars merchandise etc. Great event back then. 

2.   What has changed about trooping over the years? 

I guess it has just grown bigger and bigger and more serious and professional like most other things in this world. It’s still the same fun and games to me, and for most, I guess. Just bigger and more people involved making the events stand out. 

3.   Is there are particular moment or memory that stands out for you?

I met Anthony Forrest around 6 years ago. It was a great time meeting the man himself, Mr. Move-a-long. I was there early. He had nothing to do. So, we had a few hours talking about this and that, but mostly normal things in life. Great person for sure. It was a great moment and memory for me to meet the man behind the mask of the suit I have made replicas of over the years. 

4.   Is there an achievement or contribution that you are most proud of?

I have assembled around 18 full suits. Around 12 Sandtrooper suits and 6 Stormtrooper suits.  FX. GF. AP. TE2. TM. RS. Most of them were meant to be keepers, but upgrades and more accurate suits came up through the years and I followed up as well. Now all are sold, and I only have a Stormtrooper RS and a Sandtrooper RS. The Sandtrooper suit I have and kept is the most accurate I have done in every way. As I have trimmed and assembled and painted and made up the same dirt spots and patterns as the screen used move-a-long suit. The special achievement I’m most proud of will be, I guess, when I was a MEPD staff member for the first time many years ago coming from small Denmark. I was also the first MEPD member getting the Swat title in here. And not too long ago, summer 2018, I was used on the 501st CRL for the Sandtroopers. 

5.   Why?

This is a hobby. It’s creativity. It takes time to make a top screen accurate suit. Living a normal adult life with a day job and having a kid, girlfriend, etc.  As well too, it’s always nice to get a shoulder clap for all the time and work put in a suit. I guess like other art products out there, getting a positive reply on the work from the public. 

6.   When did you first hear about the 501st?

The first time I heard about the 501st was I 1999 at the event I spoke about above, where I first met the ones in armor. 

7.   What attracted you to this cause?

I have been a Star Wars fan of the movies since my childhood. My dad was a big cartoon magazine collector and loved movies as well. Especially, space adventure movies. He took me in and showed me The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and it blew me away as a 7-year old kid. I was hooked. And got all the Kenner action figures toys. Plus, I was trying to make my own Stormtrooper suit back then. In 1983, I was still all in and have been ever since. I later saw Star Wars A New Hope on television between 1980-1983. My dad took me also in and showed me a display event of a Danish television series called Crash around 1980. Crash as about a kid going to space with a story like Star Wars A New Hope. On the show, there were full size armor robots looking a bit like ANH stormtroopers. I remember back then I made myself a promise that if I ever could get myself a Star Wars Stormtrooper suit.  I would do it no matter what. Ha ha and I guess I did. 

8.   What inspires you to still be involved?

My childhood love for the old saga and suits from there. My Sandtrooper suit stands on a mannequin in my living room for me to look at it every day even when I’m busy with normal adult life with work and having a kid and a girlfriend and seeing her two kids. I still find the time to put on the suit and have a good time with my garrison at events here and there. 

9.   How do you continue to support the Legion or your Garrison?

Yeah, I’m still an active 501st member, being a part of the legion for around 20 years now. I show up at events here and there and try to assemble all the Sandtrooper members for making fan movies and photo shoots in sand grave locations, etc for a good time. 

10. What was the biggest challenge you face trooping?

To me it’s easy, as I have a helmet on. So, no need to be shy. But around 2002 at a big Attack of the Clones event, the Danish television came up to us and want only three of us on their direct life television show. The plan was with helmets on. A few minutes up to the show going live on air on television screen, they changed it to be without helmets on. I did it, but I did not like that kind of challenge. Ha ha. 

11. How did you come to choose the Sandtrooper costume?

I got the cartoon magazine of Star Wars A New Hope in my childhood, around the late 70’s. On the first pages, there were some black and white photos of Sandtroopers.  I could see they were like Stormtroopers, but their armor was more bada** looking. So, the Sandy’s quickly became my favorite ones and still are today. To me, the Sandtroopers are a higher-level trooper over the regular Stormtrooper. With the personal back packs, pouches, magazines, weapons, pauldrons, and weathered look. They have got personality and a history and are not just the look-a-like Stormtroopers. 

12. What would you say to someone considering joining the 501st today?

Go for it. Lots a great people in the hobby and lots of fun. It can be a traveling-around-the- world-sport as well, meeting people. Many wonderful people have said to me, “Come visit me. You can stay in my house.” Sadly, I have not the time to do so back then, as I was living alone with my son, and still do. But I hope the time for that will still come for me to do so someday. 
13. What do you think other people should know about this organization?
There can be many rules but take them as you like and have fun with it. If you are a rookie to this hobby, there are so many good-hearted people out there ready to help you out when you’re getting into this hobby and helping you get your suit done so you can get approved. 

14. How has this changed you?

I’m a social person. I like to have fun here and there. Plus, I love to be among others who have the same passion for Star Wars as I do. I guess it’s deep in me and from my love of the old saga moves from my childhood. It’s a great feeling, not leaving my passion from back then. Plus, I like putting a smile or a “wowwww” on children’s and adult’s faces and that’s still a “keep going” feeling for me. 

15. Is there anything else you would like to share with me?

I have done 8000 posts on the MEPD over the years. I’m not as active as I once was, but I’m still around as you can see. But to me, I reached my goal with my first generation cast of a screen used Star Wars A New Hope Sandtrooper’s suit, a RS suit. Back then we only had FX, GF, AP, TE, etc.  We were more hooked finding the holy grail, aka a screen used suit. We were posting finding small trails and some in the us, like Gino and Brakes Buddy, got to go the archives and study screen used helmets and suits. Now you can buy as a rookie, a fully-assembled RS Sandtrooper looking good. Back in the days we had to study and search for answers. Now they are here. To me, the suit hunts are not the same, but I guess I’m also just a bit older ha ha. But something I love to see old members, like myself, still around posting on this dusty and dirty forum... I guess once a Sandy... all ways a Sandy!
 

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I’d like to start this by congratulating those troopers who have earned awards since the last newsletter:

25 Troops

MarinaMC, TD-23587, 09/24/2018

Lt. Dan, TD-26129, 10/01/2018

coldwarSalty, TD-21141, 11/12/2018

colin1138, TD-6049, 11/28/2018

 

As most have you have seen, this award is completely for you.  I know that for me personally, I like to have a goal to work towards.  Not only has this helped me get out and troop more (like we all need another reason to get out and troop), it gives me something to work towards and are some of the proudest things I’ve done as a 501st member.  

 

Looking back over your troops, I hope you have feel a sense of pride and accomplishment for not only reaching these goals, but for all the people and charities that you’ve helped along the way.  The power we have as a group to make the world a brighter place isn’t just mere words because I know I’ve experienced it.

 

For those of you who haven’t yet earned your awards or are currently working towards your next one, keep up the good work.  We won’t find those missing droids any other way. I look forward to seeing more and more of you earn your awards during this next year.

 

To read more about the program:

http://forum.mepd.net/index.php?/topic/15808-emperors-roughnecks-program-overview/

To request your hard earned reward:

http://forum.mepd.net/index.php?/topic/15796-emperors-roughnecks-requests/

With unquestioned loyalty,

LoveMonkey, TD-18542

 

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New Police Officers:

Andi85 - October 3 2018

wook1138 - October 9 2018

wowwookie1 - October 28 2018

DT_FETT_TROOPER - October 28 2018

Hoda - November 2 2018

Hoth - November 26 2018

knopi - December 2 2018

Curoth - December 4 2018

RLH2515 - December 17 2018

Chopper48104 - January 14 2019

Vieillecaque - January 20 2018

 

New SWAT Officers:

Andi85 - 13th January 2019

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