Update to email situation:
I've been updating the Sgts forum on the current status, I'm sorry I failed to let everyone else know.
I cannot say for sure what has changed, but the gmail servers are now marking our forum emails as spam and are repeatedly suspending the SMTP account. I have contacted google about the problem, unfortunately, they tell you directly that they won't contact you back with any sort of resolution, good or bad.
At this point, I'm increasing the priority of a search for a new server host. Depending on the gmail resolution and my conversation with some sales people, we may have some down time this weekend for me to migrate the forums. Any new host will include an email hosting solution to solve the current problem.
I greatly appreciate the frustration this situation is causing everyone and am very sorry we have to deal with it. For the time being, please continue to contact forum admins to activate accounts as necessary. I don't predict this to be a long term affair, but if it drags on I will temporarily disable email validation for new accounts.