Thank you for your question! The details of this aren’t final, but I have discussed with other members of SPSF leadership (Heli and Utopia) about the direction we would like to take.
Generally, for Cadets and Ensigns, we don’t think they need activity requirements. We don’t believe that activity requirements will actually incentivize much activity, and leaving them on the force will essentially give us a reservist force that can be drawn from for big liberations. We may periodically remove people who’ve done literally nothing at all, but we don’t see a problem leaving the Cadet that just shows up for libs once a year.
For Lieutenants and Captains, we think it’s more important that they represent active leadership. Therefore, we are thinking of doing a bit of rank reform.
First, we will define two new ranks: Lieutenant Emeritus and Captain Emeritus. These represent people who are effectively Ensigns, but were formerly Lieutenant/Captain.
We will then institute a policy to the effect of: if you are completely inactive for at least one month, you may be demoted to Lieutenant/Captain Emeritus. For the definition of activity, we would include both on-update and off-update work. This policy leaves some room for flexibility in special circumstances–it’s not an automatic removal after one month of no activity. However, it makes clear our intentions to keep an active leadership body.
Finally, we will allow Lieutenant/Captain Emeriti to be speedily reinstated to their former rank upon a return to activity.
The question of Admirals is a little tricky. It’s not entirely clear what would happen legally if we were to demote an Admiral from Captain–would they stay as an Admiral or not? (It would depend if this is considered a “temporary demotion”.) I personally would probably err on the side of not demoting Admirals. I think keeping an active Admiralty is ultimately the responsibility of the Assembly, as they have the power to recall Admirals or not approve their retention votes.