n the beginning, there was Ronk, Lantern, Gunjam, and Desslok. Who decided to start a great aerial squadron on an online system called The Sierra Network….. Ok enough of the Bull Sh*T. This is the history of the Pig Stompers as told By Desslok (Founder).

Anyhow one night I (Desslok) was cruising The Sierra Network (INN) when I decided to check Red Baron again. Red Baron was very frustrating due to the fact that pilots who were in squadrons rarely flew pilots who were not in a squadron. While sitting around waiting to find someone to fly against (you had challenge other pilots to a fight in order to fly, maximum of 4 pilots 2 per side). I noticed the name SirRonk. We started talking about a rather mouthy pilot who belonged to the infamous EGO squadron. I challenged him and won 3 to 0 (games went 10mins or until you had achieved 3 kills). Ronk then challenged him, he took him 3 to 1 (any fool can get a lucky shot). Ronk and I started laughing at the EGO pilot and he finally left. We found out later from Gunjam that everyone had squashed that EGO pilot like a bug.

We were all chatting when we decided to fly a free for all. Every man for himself. These fights were tough because it was you vs. the world and your planes were picked at random. We were having fun and we wanted to have a fourth. Lantern showed up and we asked him. Now it was teams. This is where in Sierra Network (later INN) the tradition of landing, after you won the fight, started. This tradition was not needed in Warbirds or Air Warrior since landing is a part of those games. We flew for a bit and I asked what the others knew about squadrons. Boy did I get an earful. So right then we all decided to form a Squadron to make fun of all those other squadrons who flew and were to high and mighty not to fly with non-squadron members. We thought about making a Squadron with a cool name, then the "SCENE" happened. 3 of us were watching the same movie on TV, "Deliverance". You all know the scene "…. Make 'em squeal like a piggy" and from that moment on we were the Pig Stompers.

As I remember to name was Gunjam's idea and Lantern came up with the Battle Cry. I asked Ronk where he got the Sir for his name and he said he got it from a female flyer after he trounced an arrogant trash talking scum who happen to be a pilot. Ronk said after he did that she called him her Knight is shinning armor and he may now put Sir in front of Ronk. We never saw Lantern after that night but we are all glad he was there. In fact Lantern always had a command in the Pig Stomper Squadron as Wing commander of the Ghost Wing (where all inactive pilots go).

The Pig Stompers Original motto was "We'll Stomp Any Swine Any Time" and our Battle Cry was and is "Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee". What started as a farce to make fun of the other pilots, turned into a great outfit. Earning the respect of some of the best and original squadrons out there. FF (Female Flyers), WW (Wing Walkers) and DP (Dawn Patrol) to name a Few. Please remember most of us tried AW on genie but the cost was to high or we didn't like the small screen. So when I say some of the best it refers to the Red baron Squadrons.

Our recruiting policy was simple, if they flew and asked they were let in as long as they followed the simple rules of honor (as they called it in the early days). Most the other squadrons knew that and sent us the newbies to train. We did one heck of a job too.

After Growing for a bit it was decided that a CO and XO should be appointed. I voted for Ronk and everyone else voted for me. So I got the job, like it or not and Ronk was my XO. Ronk and I used to play "good cop bad cop" to keep the masses in line after we grew to 60+ pilots. It worked. Everyone who didn't know me thought I was a hothead. I even was named the Dictator because I wouldn't let anyone talk trash in "uniform" or even post and mention they were a part of the Pig Stompers. BBS boards were rather limited in those days so we tried to keep all the junk posting down to a minimum. All postings came from the original 4 founders and a few selected pilots. All these things made and kept the Pig Stompers one of the most respected squadron on INN. The Pig Stompers started to excel in many of the player-hosted events. There was the ladder in which you fought one on one till you reached the top rung. Many PSers held that top rung.

Also the Pig Stompers teamed up with Dawn Patrol and held the first INN Red Baron war. Rules were hard to enforce because what started out as a two squadron event ended up with almost every squadron on INN picking a side to join. After the dust settled the Pig Stompers were victorious and even though we out numbered DP, had a kill ratio of 3 to 1. As my life got more hectic and more members joined (137 pilots: 87 active, the rest inactive) the squadron were broken into wings.

Wings were a great idea and should have been done sooner but alas it was to little to late. Most the wings honored the Command Structure but a few did not. This was the beginning of the dark years for the Stompers. Ronk, Keg Gunjam, Winger, Duck, KillRavan, Bobo and several squadrons as well as I did all we could to correct the situation. Ronk and I decided it was best that we should retire from leadership, since the young Stompers didn't like being reined in by us. We decided to try to get Bobo to lead the Squadron. A real pilot's pilot. Took us a bit but Ronk was able to sway Bobo to lead the almost floundering Pig Stompers. Other squadrons helped as best they could and many pilots such as SkyDancer did their best to help li'l Stompers fly.

I watched and then finally left INN after much brew ha ha about how INN ruined Red Baron (so much warping made it look like a Star Trek convention). Somehow the Pig Stompers survived and Ronk, Gunjam. Lantern and I became, for lack of a better term, legends.

Notes about the Pig Stompers founders:

Ronk can be found in the house of Steiner in Battle Tech.

Gunjam can be found in ICW (warbirds) as a Vice Pres.

Lantern never seen/heard from again after the first night.

Desslok found back in the saddle on AOL.

Squadron First.

First member (non-founder): Winger

First motto: We'll stomp any swine any time

First Battle Cry: Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

First War on INN: Pig Stompers Vs Dawn Patrol (Draw)

And the special Pig Ass Award to the ONLY MEMBERS ever to be kicked out of the Pig Stompers PSGARFIELD and PSCop aka Sniper

Notable mentions:

PSKillRaven – who flew even though he had a $400.00 INN bill.

PSDuck – One great leader and friend through it all - Squeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaack

(PS)SkyDancer – even though she is not a true Pig Stomper. She helped more than anyone will know to keep those Stompers Flying.

PSWinger – A Stomper to the end (hope school went well for him)

PSKeg – always there through thick and thin.

PSBobo – the reluctant pilot who Lead the Stompers to greatness.

DPEclipse – A highly skilled pilot who always gave the Stompers a run for their Money

Bluemax – a truly honorable foe. Never met a more deadlier opponent while flying a DR1

There are many more these are just off the top of my head.

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Desslok (Founder)

Make 'em Squeal

Fly High and Proud

If not Low and Deadly

Pig Stompers History Part 2

About the time that PSBobo turned over command to PSApteryx it was apparent, to many, that there was a serious problem with INN.

The Imagination Network had been purchased by AT&T. Many had hoped that the new owners would come in and try to fix some of the problems. But, alas, such was not the case. Few problems were ever truly addressed and the service became less and less viable. Although a couple of fixes were put in place i.e.. The Pentium advantage problem, and the addition of the arena, things like warping and obvious cheating were never effectively corrected.

The service got worse and worse while the prices got higher and higher. Many conjectured that INN had been purchased as nothing more than a tax write-off for AT&T and that it's failure was planned.

An entire on-line community struggled and fought for the preservation of their cyberworld. Numerous meetings mass E-mailings and even a weeklong "sit-in" in the help room went with little notice from the powers that be.

During this declining period the PigStompers continued on. The last ladder war on INN involved the PigStompers vying for the #1 position on the squad ladder against the Flying Tigers. Although many flew with a passion the number one spot was not to be ours. The Flying Tigers were a group of excellent pilots and well deserved the top rung!

Undaunted, the squadron continued operations and several multi squad wars were flown but as the end neared there was too much bickering within the community, concerning the cheating issue. Some pilots had obviously altered the game or bought add on equipment. And INN was powerless to monitor or catch the cheaters.

By the time INN finally closed down the PigStompers numbered about 15 active pilots, With PSApteryx in command and PSPiranha acting as his XO.

During all of this, a number of pilots were meeting on the DOS version of Air Warrior on Friday nights. This had gone on for a couple of years before INN went away, so there was at least somewhere to fly the WW1 birds even if it was a tiny screen and had no-ping kills.

This was perhaps the darkest time for the squadron. Very few pilots actively pursued the Air Warrior option and it got down to just Apteryx and Piranha flying on AW. PSJC decided to go to Warbirds and slowly started building a PigStomper squad there. After about 6 months of flying WW1 PSPiranha moved to the Korean arena and soon started a new PigStomper squadron there.

There was a resurgence in membership and the squad soon reached maximum membership that AW allows in a squad. After several successful campaigns Piranha turned over command of the Korean arena squadron to his XO deth7 and started another PigStomper Squadron in the European arena. Once that squad was up and running command was turned over to FIZ. At about the same time WCS started a PigStomper Squadron in the Pacific arena.

for quite some time The PigStompers numbered around 30 pilots on AW, about 15 on WarBirds and the"squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" still echoed through the corridors of cyberspace.

 Pig Stompers  History Part 3

After enjoying much success on AOL's Version of Air Warrior, winning numerous campaigns and placing many members at the top of the scoring list, AOL finally dropped Air Warrior Classic. Few Stompers wanted to upgrade to AW2 ( later AW3) and it looked as if the AW squad would die out.

Pig Stompers  History Part 4

THE SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE CONTINUES..........