GMIC’s Tenth Anniversary

Eight years ago my friend in India, and fellow GMIC member, Samir, strongly suggested that I look into this forum with the intention of possibly joining. It hardly seems like eight years have passed by since I joined, but the numbers don’t lie; eight years and not one regret. True there have been times when I have found myself biting my lip for want of making a curt reply to someone’s remarks but calmer emotions took over and I refrained from adding fuel to the fire. This calming down process has taken several days in some cases but it is a matter of the ends justifying the means (in this case time).

I’m not one to belong to very many forums, finding my “free” time limited; a phenomenon that has only increased since my retirement from public life last autumn. I have, on the other hand visited several other forums and researched material on some of my collectables found there. What I have found on some of these forums, not all being military orientated, was rather an eye opener. Compared with the GMIC some forums have an over abundance of rude, crude and lewd members, sort of “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly” of the internet. Some forums seem to have no set rules while others are quite draconian in there enforcement.

That’s not to say there are no rules here, as there are and somewhat restrictive if one was to enforce them to the extreme. However that holds true with any law or legislation anywhere in the free world. What I have observed in the past and present is an overwhelming sense of gentlemanly conduct demonstrated by the membership. Only on rare occasions has it been necessary that the rule book be taken off the shelf, the thick layer of dust blown from the cover and the “Riot Act” read.

The atmosphere generated, in my opinion, by our Chairman, Nick and the rest of the founding members have galvanized this group of collectors into what can only be described as a true internet “community”. It has been said that it takes a community to raise a child and this holds true here. It takes the whole community working together to foster this feeling of cohesiveness and desire to help one another to enjoy our hobby.

In closing, I would like to wish the Gentleman’s Military Interest Club a happy 10^th Anniversary and the hope for many more to come. Further to this I would like to thank our Chairman, Nick, for following through with his brain-child and developing what can only be seen as one of the top military interest forums on the internet today. Congratulations, Nick, on the 10^th Anniversary of your successful creation.

Regards
Brian