APRIL FOOLS 2011: Winding my involvement with Army.ca

[Mike Bobbitt]

Well, it's past noon here now, so the jig is up.



All,

It is with much sadness and reluctance that I must announce that over the next 6 months, I will be phasing out my involvement with Army.ca and its sister sites (Milnet.ca, Navy.ca and Air-Force.ca).

There are several reasons driving this change:

• Recent threats of legal action against myself and the site have shown how personally vulnerable I am for content created and stored here. While none of these legal threats resulted in a court appearance, this is largely because they were not pursued by the plaintiffs. My personal exposure to legal action is significant, and could have long-term, damaging repercussions for me and my family.
• Speaking of family, mine needs me back. My 'day job' commitments have continued to rise over the last 6-12 months with no end in sight, while the effort required to maintain and improve the site has also steadily increased over time. The result is that my family is slowly being edged out, which was never my intent. I have also initiated the re-enrolment process and expect to be joining my old Reserve unit (Class A) in September. This will be a further drain on my time and has been a catalyst in forcing this decision. I cannot wait to take action as doing so could have negative impacts for my job proficiency, family life and a smooth transition out of the site.
• CANFORGEN 136/06 states (in part) "CF members are to consult with their chain of command before publishing CF-related information and imagery to the Internet, regardless of how innocuous the information may seem." As stated above, I am in the final stages of re-enlistment. Where this CANFORGEN did not apply to me previously, it soon will. In the eyes of the law, I am the sites sole 'publisher' (this term has very specific legal implications) and therefore am responsible for all content added to the site. I am not in a position to clear all posts and uploads through my CoC, and so must step aside in order to be compliant with the CANFORGEN. I have already discussed this with several PA contacts and DND and they concur with my decision.

I have been working on a succession plan with several other parties and will make an announcement once the details have been hashed out further. I expect this transition period to run its course over the next 3-6 months, during which time you will notice many site changes; some will be minor while others may take some adjustment. By the end of the transition period I will simply be a casual visitor to the site.

Thanks to everyone who has helped make the last 18 years enjoyable and informative and here's hoping I will bump into some of you in the system!


Cheers
Mike

 

[Occam]

:tsktsk:

 

[GAP]

tut tut.....no finger wagging here!!!  :nod:

 

[Good2Golf]

Mike, it has been a tremendous honour being part of your team, and I wish you all the best with your endeavors in the coming months. Your contributions to the online military community have been considerable.  Not sure that anyone could replace your leadership but you deserve the opportunity to spend more time with your family and pursue those things that are close to your heart.

Best regards,
G2G

 

[Bzzliteyr]

Well, that's a bummer!!

See ya!

 

[ballz]

Thanks for everything Mike, what you've created here and the time you've put into it says a lot of great things about you. You've sacrificed a lot and put yourself out on a limb for all of us, most of whom you've never met, just to give us a place of our own on the net. Again, thanks.

 

[HItorMiss]

I don't any oher internet site ownes tht would take the time to come see a wounded site member in the hospital and bring clean ctjes for him and those he returned with (and maybe a few wobbly pops too  ) Mike you ran this site well as it owner and like many others here I expect that when you do return as a member your post wll be just as informative as always.

You wil eb missed and the site owner but hopefully not as a sit member, good luck with the West Novies

 

[Rifleman62]

Mike,

You should have made your statement 31 Mar or 2 Apr, rather than April Fools Day.

 

[my72jeep]

Good luck, Thanks for all and watch out for them young Pvt's. who think your just an other old fart.

 

[Navalsnpr]

Mike,

Fully understand and I hope your successor(s) can maintain this site to the same excellent standard that you have done over the past couple of decades!

 

[Strike]

Mike,

Good luck with everything.  Let us know if any of us can help out with the shift to new management.    We wouldn't want certain people ("the Girls" of which I am one) scaring them away.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Mike, I know we talked about this a couple of months ago, when we met, and there were still some new partership issues that needed resolving before you took the plunge. I'm assuming those have been worked out? At any rate, my offer still stands whether to yourself or the new owners. You (they) have got my numbers if you need anything else.

 

[ballz]

Mike,

You should have made your statement 31 Mar or 2 Apr, rather than April Fools Day.

Oh boy, now I dunno what to think ???

 

[KJK]

Oh boy, now I dunno what to think ???

ballz,

I'm with you. This seems similar to the time they going to ban Vern. ??? ???

KJK

 

[leroi]

I don't believe this. 

 

[medicineman]

Does your succession plan include handing this site over to the VCDS?

MM

 

[Haggis]

This seems similar to the time they going to ban Vern. ??? ???

What?? That never happened????

 

[JMesh]

I don't believe this. 

This is my initial thought as well, leroi. Until today passes and this is still being discussed, I'll remain on the aforementioned bandwagon.

 

[mariomike]

"Say it ain't so, Joe Mike. Say it ain't so." 

Thanks and good luck, Mike! 

 

[Cdnleaf]

All the best Mike and thanks for the extremely hard work from a relative newbie.  Family first 
Also remiss in not saying much thanks for the really great Army.ca SWAG I received when joining the site.