Commanding workshop: Squad Leader & Team Leader

[razgriz33]

I think in leadership terms you are as strong as your weakest link. if you have a FTL that can't round up his team then the squad leader in effect has a weaker squad making the platoon weaker. looking at t'other game night i had an excellent team including a couple i didn't really know, the other team leader was on the ball and so was the  squad leader. it was awesome being able to trust the other fire team leader.

 

yeah anyway, fingers crossed for some great results from this event and others in the future

[GhostDragon]

I know what you mean raz, me, shadow knight, storm and ryko seem to have this same trust and gel together well.

[Karate Pyjamas]

I think in leadership terms you are as strong as your weakest link. if you have a FTL that can't round up his team then the squad leader in effect has a weaker squad making the platoon weaker. looking at t'other game night i had an excellent team including a couple i didn't really know, the other team leader was on the ball and so was the  squad leader. it was awesome being able to trust the other fire team leader.

 

yeah anyway, fingers crossed for some great results from this event and others in the future

I actually prefer FTL over SQL as a role. I've also ran some squads with awesome FTL's, it takes a lot of strain of the SQL position, keeps chatter down and allows for better comms.

Were you in my squad by any chance last GN Raz? That definitely wasn't my best effort at SQL, I had to deal with 1 FTL that rarely replied to orders , or didn't execute them.(literally, asking them where their position was, was ignored half the time. I kind of abandoned them at that point out of frustration, luckily Mini backed me up as a Squad Medic). The other team however did exactly what I expected them to do.

[Jim]

I found last nights exercise really enlightening. I leapt the ranks from usually running around as a grunt to commander of Hammer, Talon, Vortex, A1, A2, B1 & B2.

 

Thanks to Ryko's wise words I think it went ok! And special thanks to Kolev, VLK & ToxicPixel the teamleaders of infinite patience. Here's a quick debrief with the points I found worth keeping in mind for any new CMD player.

 

 

 

We were tasked with clearing a town/oil field. TOPTIP - identify WP in town - but as Ryko said - don't plan too much as the plan will quickly fall apart once we get there.

 

Mission Plan

Move by Humvee convoy to dismount at Hammer's OW position

There's only one Humvee at base - A2 are in it and are waiting to depart, CMD, A1 & B2 pile into the Vortex Blackhawk. I can barely hear A2 over the radio with the heli engines roaring. A2 eventually get the message to move out - maybe they didn't and only left because they saw the black hawk leaving...

 

Talon is tasked with escorting A2's vic up to the A2

 

Hammer had a good overwatch position from the SW. They called in targets and eventually I gave them permission to simply take out any technicals or BTRs on sight. A slight cop-out perhaps but it meant less radio chatter and I could concentrate on the infantry. This principal I applied to Talon - who I sent North to clear up the way for Bravo.

 

We all get to the LZ and move out NE to some hastily dropped waypoints - one of which was in GROUP not SIDE and had to be retyped... TOPTIP make sure you place marks in SIDE - which I knew, and was told about and i had all intention of double checking but in the heat of the moment the odd one still slips by...

 

B1 move west to regroup with a guy who may or may not have been wounded - there were 5 people on three radios all talking at once at one point - so I couldn't figure out what the matter was. The important thing was that they weren't taking fire so could be left alone. 

 

A1 & 2 moved through and cleared their points. 

Bravo caught up and swept the NE.

 

B2 popped up on the map at some point (i should say at this point i was basically playing from the map - switching out to FPV only to change short range radio channel - and then quickly back to the map) thanks to canny squad leaders it was advised that B2 reinforce A1 who had taken a few causalities.

 

Moving into the centre of the AO I overstretched the Alphas. Hammer persuaded me to order them into a new position to provide better OW for the stranded Alpha2. Orders sent! Alphas regroup and before I know it the AO is complete - we won! Quick LZ in GROUP SIDE. All in the chopper, not quite - one wounded walker left. BOOM - lets go

 

In real life I run night clubs, bars, restaurants and events. I regularly have teams of 20-30 people in 4 or 5 departments to look after. The secret to my success in my career is to have good team leaders on the door, in the bar, on the floor, in the restaurant and in the kitchen. Give them a good order of service and let them loose on the night - feed them shots of tequila and Jack Daniels plus the odd line of coke if they drink too much, make sure they have fun and only jump in when they need help.

 

The reason the operation went so well last night was that the squadleads were good and used their initiative to interpret vague movement marks on the maps into tactical advances and tangible results. - Have yourselves a tequila on me!

 

Playing the CMD role is a bit like playing command & conquer but with fuzzier results and less interesting graphics! - Could we add a UAV operator slot to the command group? 

 

The most important thing for EVERYONE to take from this is to keep the radio clear, and understand that if you are on the radio, there may be two other units on another channel passing information up. If there's no reply instantly then something may be happening. I'm going off to read up on radio protocol (i did my Yacht Master ticket and UHF radio exam in my teens so I can send a PANPAN and MAYDAY but there's a lot I need to (re)learn.

 

Thanks again and I would recommend that everyone takes a turn at command - if only to learn what the higher-ups have to deal with!

[GhostDragon]

sorry i was not available to help  out last night was not feeling too well would have been good to help some people out. 

[Icy]

Day 2/3 coming for this ? Would love to help out + alot of times even the people who think they know all will learn alot!