USS White Sands History

The idea for this Chapter was born at the 2022 Albuquerque Comic Con when founding members CAPT Bernard Dacey, COMM Earl Beighley and BGN David R. Reustle began discussing the idea of forming a new group in the area. Since Albuquerque had been without a STARFLEET Chapter for approximately 7 years, it seemed time to bring STARFLEET back to the region. With some searching, COMM Beighley found and contacted FCAPT McFarland along with her husband, LT Jared Francis. The group arranged a lunch in February with the original 5 members. 

At that meeting, it was decided to launch a new vessel in the Albuquerque area; The USS White Sands, a Sovereign-class vessel in the 2370s.  The USS White Sands officially began its shakedown as an NX ship on the 21st of February. Additional founding members in the began joining the group upon hearing of the new ship formation. By March 12th, the White Sands reached the required minimum of 10 members.

On March 30, 2022, founding member BGN David Reustle was found deceased in his home. BGN Reustle’s loss was reported to STARFLEET to appear on the Memorial Wall, and a request to raise him in rank to MGN was granted posthumously by STARFLEET. While the loss of MGN Reustle was a hard blow, his belief in STARFLEET and what it could bring to an area became a driving force for what the USS White Sands could be. 

The USS White Sands NCC-75027 became an Official Commissioned Ship on August 27, 2022, at Bubonicon 53 and has been serving the State ever since.

On September 9, 2022, founding member ENS Aaron Jackson suffered a cardiac event and passed away at home. He was as STARFLEET as anyone could be.  By the time of his memorial, he had been posthumously raised in rank to Captain and placed on the Memorial Wall.

The USS White Sands became the recipient of the STARFLEET Corps of Engineers website design project on September 24, 2022. As a growing membership and new ship serving the State of New Mexico, the USS White Sands is thrilled to be honored with this webpage.