USS Black Hawk (Sim History)

USS Black Hawk (NCC-63852)
Fleet:	AQSG's 3rd Fleet
Class:	Akira-Class
Years:	2004-2008
USS Black Hawk (NCC-65334)
Fleet:	Bravo Fleet's TF9
Class:	Akira-Class
Years:	2013-2016
USS Black Hawk (NCC-65334-A)
Fleet:	22nd Fleet
Class:	Century-Class
Years:	2016-2021

The USS Black Hawk is a premier Star Trek play-by-post simulation where writers of all walks of life come together to collectively write new stories set in the final frontier. Initially active from 2005 to 2008, the Black Hawk closed its doors for a few years, only to open again in 2013. She's continued to operate for the last few years with a steadfast group of writers and has garnered multiple awards from the simming community. The Black Hawk is not currently connected to any fleet and is considered an Independent sim.

Simming History

AQSG

The USS Black Hawk was first launched as an Akira-Class starship in the Alpha Quadrant Sim Group (AQSG) under one of its divisions known as the Third Fleet (3rd Fleet). Her first CO was Captain Mitch Bueller, repurposing his long-time character from 3rd Fleet's flagship, USS Patriot. At the time, all of the 3rd Fleet shared a Yahoo Group mailing list, and its posts only were available to its members. The first post was delivered on August 23, 2004 with the sim officially launching on September 12, 2004. Captain Bueller led the sim through four successful missions and was promoted to Fleet Captain.

In August 2005, for reasons not made public, Fleet Captain Bueller stepped down from the sim. One of the sim's inaugural players, Greenfelt, requested permission to take command, and did so on August 31, 2005 as Commander Harvey Geisler. Greenfelt led the sim for a year, garnering promotions to Fleet Captain, before taking a leave of absence for a summer internship. During his absence, the sim was led by the ship's doctor, Lieutenant Jayla Kij. Greenfelt returned and led the sim until early 2008 when he needed to step away from simming entirely for real life reasons. The sim foundered for a few weeks before finally being closed. The remainder of the AQSG shut down later that year due to many players moving on from the hobby.

Failed Revival

In November 2012, as Greenfelt started to return to simming, he reached out to the sim's former Tactical Information Center Commanding Officer, Boq'ta Vadosia. The two decided to revive the Black Hawk as an independent Yahoo Groups play-by-email simulation during the events of the Typhon Pact novels. Unfortunately, the sim was not able to gain any recruits and the revival was abandoned.

Bravo Fleet

During the revival attempt, Greenfelt joined the long-standing Star Trek simming community known as Bravo Fleet. On December 9, 2013, a new attempt to revive the Black Hawk (this time as a Nova play-by-post simulation) began in Bravo Fleet's Task Force 9 with Greenfelt in command as Commander Harvey Geisler. The sim's first season began shortly thereafter. For the first two years, the sim struggled to survive. During this time, Greenfelt was able to bring back the TICCO as the new XO, Commander C. Mackenzie Kos, and the ship's doctor, the now Lieutenant Commander Jayla Kij. Season One concluded on November 4, 2015.

Season 2 (USS Black Hawk) was launched immediately afterwards, in conjunction with Task Force 9's Consortium storyline. During the first mission, the sim garnered several new crewmembers, several of whom continuing to write aboard the Black Hawk today. The second season was a rousing success, with the sim seeing high recognition in the fleet for its efforts, and record posting levels. As it neared the end, Greenfelt made the decision to change the ship's class after 12 years. The original Black Hawk was ultimately destroyed on March 21, 2017, crashing on New Bajor at the end of the Consortium conflict.

A Century-Class starship, a fan made creation, was selected as the vehicle for the sim's third season for its versatility (allowing for more extended missions and types) and its large hanger which was capable of continuing to carry the ship's fighter squadron. The third season officially launched on March 24, 2017.

22nd Fleet

At the end of April 2019, the USS Black Hawk transferred to the new 22nd Fleet, a community of sims of all genres, ranging from Star Trek to Orville to Science Fiction and Fantasy and more. The Black Hawk continued to operate here until the sim went on hiatus in 2021. During this time, the 22nd Fleet, under new leadership, went defunct.

Independent Status

In late 2022, when the sim slowly returned to life, the 22nd Fleet was no more. The Black Hawk was invited to join other communities, but the GM decided to allow the sim to be independent for now and operate fully autonomously as an independent sim. Upon reactivation, it was decided to change the class of the ship back to an Akira, resulting in the birth of the USS Black Hawk-B.

Awards

	Bravo Fleet: Task Force 9's Sim of the Month Recipient October 2015
	Bravo Fleet: Sim of the Quarter Recipient Fall 2015
	Bravo Fleet: Task Force 9's Sim of the Month Recipient February 2016
	Bravo Fleet: Task Force 9's Sim of the Month Recipient July 2016
	Bravo Fleet: Task Force 9's Sim of the Month Recipient September 2016
	Bravo Fleet: Task Force 9's Sim of the Month Recipient January 2017
	Bravo Fleet: Sim of the Quarter Recipient First Quarter 2017
	Bravo Fleet: Task Force 9's Sim of the Month Recipient April 2017
	Bravo Fleet: Admiralty Unit Citation July 2017
	Ongoing Worlds: Great Star Trek Tournament of Simulations February 2018
	Ongoing Worlds: Ongoing Worlds Medal for Superior Online Role Playing (Squiddie) September 2018
	Bravo Fleet: Task Force 9's Sim of the Month Recipient November 2018
	Bravo Fleet: Simm of the Quarter Recipient 4th Quarter 2018
	Bravo Fleet: Task Force 9's Sim of the Month Recipient January 2019
	22nd Fleet: July 2019 Post of the Month Landing Party
	22nd Fleet: Gold Sim of the Quarter Quarter 3 2019
	22nd Fleet: Bronze Sim of the Quarter Quarter 4 2019
	Ongoing Worlds: Outstanding Star Trek Tournament of Simulations July 2020
	22nd Fleet: Sept/Oct 2020 Post of the Month (Bronze) Specter of the Nebula
	22nd Fleet: December 2020 Post of the Month (Bronze) Brother Bringing News
	22nd Fleet: February 2021 Post of the Month (Bronze) Breakfast Meeting
	Ongoing Worlds: Star Trek Gameplay Tournament of Simulations March 2021
	22nd Fleet: March 2021 Post of the Month (Silver) A Probing Situation
	22nd Fleet: April 2021 Post of the Month (Silver) Late Physical