Captain’s Corner: Captain Oddas Aria, USS Eagle

Each month, we interview a captain or first officer of the fleet to gain more insight on what it takes to command a ship and learn more about how each of these staff members found their way into these roles.
This month we’re interviewing Captain Oddas Aria, a Bajoran female, that’s the commanding officer of the USS Eagle and temporary CO of the USS Juneau, the Capstone Warp XV Project.
GALVEN: Would you please introduce yourself for our readers out there?
Oddas: Sure – I’m Nicholas, a Software Developer / Consultant who works from home in Florida for a firm based in Alaska. I have 4 kids, a wife and a love of all kinds of Science Fiction.
I joined SB118 back in April of 2016 as an Engineer at the Embassy. From there I just sort of found myself in a position to get moved up and around the ranks a bit.
On April 24, 2019 (or 239604.24), Fleet Admiral Tristan Wolf announced your promotion to Captain. How long was the process and what was it like for you?
The actual process to go from Commander to Captain seemed like about five months. It came at a time when the fleet had received a large influx of recruits. My CO at the time Admiral Turner (Ann) was always very supportive and had me take the written portion of the exam early so I’d be ready which also meant I’d been spitballing some ideas about ships and things in my mind.
When the time came I knew I wanted an Intrepid Class ship, I knew the type of missions I’d want to fly and that type of thing. Once those were decided it just became a juggling act of ‘who to invite, who to ask to volunteer’ and then holding your breath. Luckily we’ve ended up with some great people.
It took a couple of missions in those five missions, which had their own ups and downs, to really feel like things were running smoothly. When the final votes and interviews and all were done, it was a huge relief and validation of the things I had been working so hard on.
You’ve been the commanding officer of two vessels, the USS Thunder-A and USS Eagle for almost two years altogether in July. What is one of your proudest moments as a Commanding Officer?
Being allowed to command the Thunder-A was a huge privilege given to me by Ann – just being trusted to come up with missions we could go and execute independently of other plots going on at the Embassy was a very big moment for me and my character. 
I also just recently had the pleasure of watching my XO take control of a mission while Aria was sidelined a little. He did extremely well. Stepping back, letting others take some of the storyline and other responsibilities for a little bit and having them perform so admirably was just a great moment.
Recently you and several other members of the fleet took part in a mini fleetwide plot arc blockbuster. It started out as an idea and then grew into a major event which was the Warp XV Capstone Project. What made you decide that it was important to incorporate the project into our simming community?
So Kiliak Jo came to me with the kernel of the idea that became ‘Capstone’, which I thought played along nicely with some of the work a lot of folks across the fleet had been putting into Warp XV plots for a while.  
Another factor in this is I had been a proponent of the fleet doing things fostering participation ‘across’ ships – journals, joint posts, whatever – and this was tailor-made for it. 
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to jump into the project so late in the game when a spot became open. In the 3 months during the Juneau’s run, what was your favorite IC and OOC moment?
You are very welcome. So IC I guess it would have to be being trapped in the engine room getting things back under control. Lots of pressure and danger, and Aria got to be an Engineer for a bit again.
OOC there was some time in the Discord chat joking about a coffee shop onboard the Juneau and Aria’s general addiction to coffee that led to advertisements, jingles, and more. All in all, it was a very good time.
And lastly, you became a First Officer at the Embassy of Duronis II in under a year of you joining the fleet and in another 15 months, you were given the opportunity to be commanding officer of the USS Thunder-A which eventually lead you to the USS Eagle. What advice would you give people who have goals to become a commanding officer and beyond in the fleet?
First, let your Commanding Officer know. Your CO isn’t going to know your goals if let them know. Second, and maybe more importantly, find some stuff in the fleet to do for the fleet itself. Volunteer for the Academy, write some papers, solve some problems, make your CO’s job easier. The more the fleet and your CO can depend on you the easier it’s going to be to move into the role you want.
Thank you for your time, Captain Oddas Aria!
You can read more of Captain Oddas Aria on her wiki page here.