Leader Interviews: Toxic Storm

Welcome to Leader Interviews here in SWAT where we’ll be getting to know a bit more about Toxic Storm. We haven’t done one of these in a while with our last Leader Interview being ‘An Introduction To…’, however, we aim to give you a deeper insight into some of our leaders, their journey in SWAT and CPA. We want to be able to help you get to know a bit more about them as people too.

Toxic Storm first joined SWAT in 2020 but properly enlisted in August (2020), before retiring from the army just a month later. However, in this time, they rose up the ranks, making their own goals for their time in SWAT. However, of course, in 1 month, they weren’t able to complete them. They came back under a year later in May 2021 and started grinding once again to rise up the ranks. They were still aiming for the goal they held so long ago.

Their second run in SWAT lasted longer than their first run and they were able to rise up and even led some events before they were cast out once again, leaving the “famous naji2” as a troop of the past. However, despite all their troubled times in SWAT, they returned one more time for one last run this year in June 2022. Little did he know that this run would last longer than both of his previous ones put together which would see him still in the army 4 months later, and yet this time he would be leading, something he would never have imagined before.

From joining in 2022 he straight away came back into the HCOM team as a LIT, a role Storm is not unfamiliar to, and as soon as he came in he started to lead the ausia division with me as we aimed to make SWAT rise. Storm, of course, had his own goals in SWAT, however, he wasn’t giving in easily. Storm has seen the highs and lows of SWAT, the highs of 2020/21 and 2022 but also the lows of 2022 as well the other years

After seeing the highs of June, we saw the wars against WV, TCP, HF and IW happen just 2 months later and on the 2nd of September we saw 3 new leaders inducted following the decisions that were made regarding the leadership. Storm was just one of these new leaders, pledging to make the reward system more rewarding, host more fun events and reward hard work. Storm’s been working with the other leaders ever since to help SWAT to grow even more. One of the things he worked with other leaders on was the current bot/shop system in SWAT, putting a focus on updating it and make it more rewarding.

Enough background info, let’s see what Storm has to say about his time in SWAT, his goals, who he is and what his experiences in CPA are.

So, who is Toxic Storm? Many know you as SWAT’s leader but who are you behind this title?

Toxic Storm for me is a CPA veteran and an ordinary guy who goes to college, works out, produces music on YouTube and tries to forge many good friendships with the people he interacts with

What was the inspiration for the name?

I wanted a stage name for my EDM style music, at the time I liked the biohazard symbol and I liked walking in the rain, I combined both ideas and came up with Toxic Storm. I could have came up with something more creative but it is what it is.

So you produce music? What have you done so far in that area? Any examples?

I took a long break from it for about a year due to some RL things I had to deal with, but I am trying to get back into it slowly. Got some projects I’m already working on, hopefully I’ll be able to release some come back songs soon

You mentioned you’re a CPA Veteran, where were you before SWAT and where did you start out in armies?

I started out jumping army servers like Ice Warriors to search for mascot locations in 2010 and onwards, but my first official army was Shadow Troops in 2014, after that army I returned to the CPA community through Help Force in March 2020, then moved to Shadow Troops which later merged into Golden Guardians which later became Water Vikings. After my stay in GG, I worked with 4 other friends to make a meme army into a powerhouse, it was called Coup Crusaders and it was the very first army I lead and found with my friends. Around the time of CC, I joined SWAT as 4ic, Joined other armies like Elites and completed The ACPTR+ program. I reached Leader In Training rank by the end of the summer in 2020 (SWAT) , it was around that time I worked on a new army project with a friend and lead that army to the top with him, that army is The Secret Service. While leading SS I also lead the newly revived Shadow Troops with S Cargo. After all of that Wet Army penguins was created as a meme army but grew into something nice. Lead MCP in 2022. After all that adventure I had, I settled in SWAT in the summer of 2022 after being in it in 2020 and 2021 for some different periods of time, And that is a small summary of my CPA journey

Little naji2 in GG uniform

You’ve had quite the experience in armies. Do you think that this has helped you in terms of leading SWAT and, if so how?

It helped me know how the CPA community works, who to trust and who not to. I’ve lead with many former and current SWAT leaders and SWAT Legends, I had many experienced people help me improve my leadership skills and advance as a member in the community. Leading many armies have helped me know how to manage things in SWAT, how to try keep things under control and manageable. Having experience outside SWAT helped me take the good ideas and methods that different armies used and tried implementing them in SWAT. Leading SWAT was different than Leading any other army I have ever lead, but knowledge does transfer over, and that knowledge from all the things I have put myself into in CPA, it has shaped who I am and what I can do.

Storm as a SWAT Troop in 2020

Do you have any favourite memories of CPA or SWAT?

My favorite memory in CPA was when me and my friends destroyed a S/M army Alliance aided by DCP, when the Coup Crusaders were still at their peak. my Favorite memory in SWAT was when iI lead Ausia events with Coolguy back in 2021 and 2022.

You mentioned music but besides that, do you have any hobbies or things you do outside of SWAT?

I go to the Gym to work out in my free time and focus on my university studies. I don’t have much free time usually, so that’s all I can work on with the time I got.

Do you have any goals in SWAT or in CPA as a whole?

My goal in SWAT is to keep the peace and stability as long as possible and teach the new generation of leaders and staff how to become better at leadership. I feel like I’ve done everything I wanted in CPA but in SWAT, I’d like to be remembered as the leader who helped the army grow and the leader who helped teach important skills to future generations of SWAT leaders and Legends

May 2022

Do you have anything you’d like to say to the people/troops reading this?

I’d like to thank everyone who welcomed me back into SWAT in 2022 and for everyone who has helped me reach the position I am in now, and a special. Thank you for my great friend and mentor Coolguy who helped me throughout my CPA journey, inside and outside SWAT from the first day we met. True friends are hard to find in CPA and its a blessing that I had the privilege to meet many people I could trust in SWAT and outside.

Thank you to Storm for doing this interview and for his kind words. We appreciate your work in SWAT and hope you, the reader, have been able to get more of an insight into who Storm is. While it’s not been a straightforward journey for Storm, he’s stuck with SWAT and is now leading! After nearly 2 months of leading what’s to come next? Well only time will tell.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post, make sure to comment on the post if you liked it and want to see more leaders/troops being interview.

Never Forget

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