Advanced Individual Training

Stormtrooper

Introduction

The Vast Empire Stormtrooper Corps conducts Advance Individual Training (AIT) to provide the squads with trained, disciplined, motivated, and mentally fit writers who respond to leadership, are focused on teamwork, and represent the Stormtrooper Corp’s core values.

Advanced Individual Training is where soldiers receive specific training. The length of AIT training varies depending on the trooper's dedication and can last anywhere from a month or so to nearly two years.

Although a trooper may make it though basic training without a scratch, they simply have met the minimum standards of the Corps, and generally have much to improve upon. In these cases, AIT steps in as a guiding force for the trooper; providing information and training while they are within a squad.

Essentially, the AIT develops the writing skills and knowledge of the troopers who go through it, allowing them to create better posts; and thus basically improving the overall quality of the Corps and relieving some of the stress of developing troopers off of Squad Leaders.

Why do AIT?

While attending AIT with the VE Stormtrooper Corps, you will learn to play a central role in the story operations that involve writing and thinking skills. During this AIT, you will be trained to the latest standards, including grammar and style, details, background knowledge, and team skills.

You will also gain experience in leadership and teamwork as you learn to function as a member of a close-knit, highly skilled squad. You will develop self-confidence and discipline as you hone your critical thinking, writing and interpersonal skills.

How does AIT work?

Advanced Individual Training is based upon the Specialties system of the Stormtrooper Corps. Instead of writing solo with an instructor grading each spec, the trooper with post with the instructor (whom posts as an NPC specialized in the field) in the form of a story, one story per level. Each story is meant to:

• a) Provide the trooper's character with the specialization training.
• b) Provide the writer with experience and feedback on their writing.

Levels and Corresponding Objectives

In the event that a Spec has less levels than are shown here, they may be combined. If more, they can be spread out to contain more than one level. How this works is generally left to the instructor. The Instructor also has the ability to move levels around as he/she sees fit.

Ground Zero

These are factored, regardless of level.

• Quality and Creativity - These two go hand in hand usually. We expect originality in some degree and from that, quality usually arises.
• Timeline Coherency - Does the post make sense in terms of progression of story?
• Spelling, Format, and Grammar - Familiarity with English will be a factor (i.e. English as a second language, etc.). We will not punish members for not being perfect spellers and the like, but the post must be readable in some form without extensive interpretation on the instructors' part.

Level Zero (Rookie)

The rookie level serves to address a somewhat common issue that irritates quite a few other writers. This is the only level that is not actually a story. The instructor gives the trooper the lecture and a gradeable post is made from that.

For example Trooper A makes a post. Trooper B posts afterwards and that post is basically made by taking quotes from Trooper A's post and showing Trooper B's reactions. This even happens sometimes when the storyline is actually a bit ahead of that! Similar is adding on a slight paragraph at the end of a post. Not only is this considered bad posting form, it can also be considered plagiarism!

Level Zero of AIT will let troopers know that all posts should not only give their character's eyes on events, but also advance the plot or storyline in some manner. To do this, the trooper will be provided with at least a 1500 word "lecture" post that their character attends. From this post, they are expected to come up with at least decent quality post that describes their character while avoiding the pitfalls of copy/paste and similar mistakes. Possible methods can be reading in advance of the lecture, thoughts during the lecture at key points, an exam review, chat with instructor afterwards for questions, caf shop discussion with a few classmates, or any combination. Creativity is highly encouraged, and troopers are not limited to these options.

Pass/Fail grading will be based upon:

• Level of Copy/Paste, lower is better. It is expected in the lecture that some lines of the instructor may be used. i.e. "The red wire is generally connected to..." Trooper A scribbles some notes down on how the wire connects to the capacitor and the methods of disconnecting the wire without triggering the bomb.
• Quality and Creativity
• Timeline Coherency
• Spelling, Format, and Grammar

Level One

Pending

Level Two

Pending

Level Three

Pending

Level Four

Pending

Level Five

Pending

Level Six

Pending

Qualification Exams

Pending