The Fireteam Leader's Field Manual

[SkullCollector]

Hello lovely people of AWE,

 

There is always room for leaders and it's fantastic to see players step up to the responsibility of command. For the newcomers to the role, it can often be hard to find a starting point amidst the pressure.

To this end, I’d like to offer some basic advice for beginners and old-timers alike.

 

Treat this like a checklist to go over while waiting for deployment. A field manual, if you will.

 

Your fireteam

Depending on the exact composition of your specific team and the mission at hand, you will generally have an automatic rifleman, his assistant and two riflemen under you, totalling a team of five. The actual number ranges from 4 to 6.

 

You are the fireteam leader, or (F)TL. On the battlefield, you are the bottom-most strategic planner, but the top-most tactical leader. This means that, of all chief positions, you have the most direct control over how specific nuances of the plan are carried out.

 

Your second-in-command is the automatic rifleman, or AR. He will assume leadership if you are KIA or combat-ineffective, and he carries the most firepower. Make sure to utilise him well, as his light machine gun can easily turn the tide of an engagement.

 

A specialist can assume a variety of roles specific to a certain team. An engineer is useful for repairs, bomb disposal and demolitions, whereas a designated marksman supplements a team's effectiveness at range, in suppression and picks off high-priority targets such as MANPADs or other sharpshooters.

Certain missions may introduce other specialist roles. The specialist often dictates which role you play in an assault; a marksman combined with your AR turns you into the ideal cover element, while a breacher or engineer suggests you be the forward element. Play to your strengths.

 

Finally, you have up to two riflemen who might be grenadiers or carry anti-tank launchers, or one might even take on the role of an ammo bearer. Consider them your all-round assets. Think about having at least one AT launcher at your disposal.

 

Moving on.

 

Lead by example. A good fireteam leader will be up front and in the middle of an engagement, fighting and suppressing like any indiscriminate member of his team. He will keep his cool and observe the situation to adjust stance, priority targets and the team’s advance as necessary.

 

Micromanage & be concise. As a rule of thumb, your squad leader will tell you where to go, whereas you decide how to go there. Having an eye on your team is essential, so make sure everyone knows what their job is. Give easily understandable orders to reduce questions and misunderstandings to a minimum.

 

Show tactical initiative. Your SL is always delayed. You know the plan and the commander's intent, but you also know what is going on right then and there, so use that to your advantage. Be disciplined about this and use good judgement when adjusting your tactics.

 

In the field

Secure your flanks. Never let your guard down and choose the formation most suitable for the situation. If you travel and have to stop, form as close to a circle as you can while utilising cover and concealment. Order your team to face and secure all cardinal directions.

 

Use buddy teams. A buddy team is a unit of two soldiers, usually assigned a colour for easy access (helping you be concise!). The AR and AAR should be one by default, but their compositions are up to you. These will bound together, cover one another and perform various tasks you assign them as a single element. Sometimes you don’t need them, but it is better to assign teams at base while you can. Organise with your fellow team leaders to avoid overlapping colours, causing confusion on radio call-outs.

 

Awareness

Know your team. Be aware of who your AR is and familiarise yourself with the skills of each individual member. A quick quality check is to let them assign their colours themselves, so if they ask how to do it, you know they are more or less beginners. Keep an eye on them and treat them well, and help them as much as the situation allows. Again, lead by example.

 

Account for your team. Make sure no one is left behind during travel or bleeds out without medical care after hard contact. You are expected to rally up your team in a timely manner, and should always be the last to get into a transport vehicle when deploying to or exfiltrating from a mission site. Let your SL know that your team is loaded up.

 

Update your SL. Acknowledge orders and succinctly relay information to him. You are his eyes and ears on the battlefield, and he relies on you to enhance and execute his plans. If you take contact, let him know. If you have KIA or wounded soldiers, let him know. If you need fire support, let him know. Do not take long-range radios with you. Rely on the chain of command.

 

Exert voice discipline. Make no mistake, we are here for the fun. But if you hear the call of banter, keep it to local and do not clutter the radio channels. Control your voice volume appropriately. Pass this on to your team, as you are responsible for their actions.

 

Be nice. We all have fantasies about Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, but ask yourself if you would like to be shouted at while playing a game. Your orders have to be carried out, yes, but a simple please goes a long way. At the end of the day, we are all playing pretend with guns on the internet, so keep this in mind and you will not share Gunny Hartman’s fate.

 

 

Useful phrases

 

Spoiler

Hereafter assuming you are leading Alpha 1.

 

Beginning a transmission (to update your SL):

            Radio: “Actual, Alpha 1, message. Over.”

Will be answered with, for example: “This is Actual, send it.”

Beginning a transmission into the blind to ask a question:

            Radio: “Actual, this is 1, interrogative." - wait for go-ahead - "Actual, are we to hold here? Over."

Both of these ways are meant to inform the other party of a lengthy message or to give them time to prepare for a transmission. This avoids interrupting them. If you know they are already monitoring the channel, it's not necessary.

 

There are many ways you can hail your squad leader; "ASL, 1," “Alpha 1 to ASL,” “1 for lead,” and lots of variations from really short to really formal -- just make sure you are unambiguously clear as to who you are calling. If in doubt, use Actual. Also, the addressee usually comes first to get their attention and make them aware they should closely listen.

 

Calling out contacts:

            Local: “Contact! Infantry due north, 200 out.”

            Radio: “Actual, Alpha 1, be advised: multiple contacts at our 340, 200 metres.”

 

Pushing a priority message:

            Radio: “Break, break, break!”

            This will clear the channel and you are expected to message immediately.

 

Asking for a transmission to be repeated:

            Radio: “Alpha 2, did not receive. Say again your last.”

 

Acknowledging an order:

            “Roger.”

            “Wilco.” (Short for will comply)

            “Copy. / Alpha 1 copies.”

 

Responding to a move order:

            Radio: “Copy, Alpha 1 is oscar-mike / on the move.”

 

Make it a habit to affirm orders, but especially do it if a message ends with, “acknowledge,” or, “how copy?”

Also, try to stay away from ten-codes to sound overly tacticool. Not everyone knows them, except for maybe 10-4 which is usually unnecessary anyway.

 

Controlling your team

Order to have someone move with / come to you:

            “Blue team, on me.”

            “Everyone, form up on me.”

            "Alpha 1, rally up!"

 

Order to move:

            “Everyone, move (up).”

            “Red team, step off.”

            Can be coupled with a direction and distance or a waypoint.

            “Blue team, advance!”

            Advance implies a combat stance, and is often directed at a single objective.

 

Order to stop moving:

            “Hold!” (Doesn’t get much easier than that.)

This literally means stopping immediately. If the area allows for it, take a few steps into cover, but stay roughly in formation.

 

Order to set up a perimeter:

            “Blue team, face north. Yellow team, watch south.”

This implies finding cover, but sometimes, members stop dead in their tracks and remain on open ground. Give them a nudge in that case.

 

Order to consolidate a position:

            “Everyone, go firm. Hold (in) this building.”

“Go firm” means setting up hasty defensive positions, checking ammo, tending to wounds, and keeping an eye out for contacts, while waiting for further orders. As this is a very broad order, double-check that everyone understands.

 

Order to fire:

            “Everyone, weapons hot!”

            “Red team, free to engage.”

            “Blue team, fire at will.”

 

Order to stop firing:

            “Cease fire, cease fire!”

Be prepared to see someone shooting after this command. You might not have seen a remaining enemy, or individual players may continue firing just because. Discipline them at your leisure.

 

Order to retreat:

            “Everyone, break contact! Fall back to Alpha waypoint 1 immediately!”

 

Check on your team (e.g., after an engagement):

            “Alpha 1, status report!”

            “Everyone, sitrep!” (= situation report)

            Ask individual members if you cannot get a response.

 

Many orders can and should be repeated two or three times in quick succession, especially those issued in the heat of battle.

 

 

 

Obviously there's a lot of room for deviation, but if you feel there is something critically wrong, feel free to comment.

Have no fear, and remember to open your mouth. Communication is key.

 

Cheers.

 

Google Docs file for easier reading

 

---

[Colsta]

Pin this up there.

[Shadow Knight]

GG WP <3

[The_Mighty_Ginge]

Thanks a lot mate

[GhostDragon]

Good post mate

[Titangames98]

Good post mate

Agreed.  This is so ridiculously helpful, thank you for the educational post, they are underrated and I can't use enough of them.

As a semi-new, but avid, EU3 player I am going to try a team leader position soon because of this post and the basic things it teaches, and hopefully build on the advice provided and combine it with the things that others in-game tell me to do as a team leader.  I know the team could use more leadership, and strong leadership, and this really really makes it a lot easier to tell myself, "Hey it isn't that bad. I could easily do this. I should try this soon."  And that is exactly what I shall do. Thank you SkullCollector.

[Plant1ing]

Plant to Skull. Spoiler is what I needed. Over.

[Icy]

Worth the read, good stuff Skullcollector!

I agree with the gentleman above me, spoilers can be utilized!

[Amentes]

Might suggest adding something about Squad Leads assigning team colors to 1 and 2 Team Leads.

 

As in, we have 5 options, but usually White means "No team assigned"; but since we all share a radio net, it helps if the teams don't use the same colors.

 

Usually I'd let 1 use Red and Blue and give Green and Yellow to 2. Helps avoid confusion if using colors on radio comms.

[GhostDragon]

Might suggest adding something about Squad Leads assigning team colors to 1 and 2 Team Leads.

As in, we have 5 options, but usually White means "No team assigned"; but since we all share a radio net, it helps if the teams don't use the same colors.

Usually I'd let 1 use Red and Blue and give Green and Yellow to 2. Helps avoid confusion if using colors on radio comms.

Under use buddy teams, last sentence

[Amentes]

Reading comprehension, never mind

[Kirk76]

thank you for this. as ginge, african, and ghostdragon said, this was a very educational post, and i think it needs to be pinned.

[Dusty023]

Very useful post, I must say.

[JaSmAn]

Unfortunately the links in the original post are dead.

[GhostDragon]

in the process of updating it now, the links will be fixed by the end of the day.

[JaSmAn]

2 minutes ago, GhostDragon said:

in the process of updating it now, the links will be fixed by the end of the day.

As usual, you guys rock.

[GhostDragon]

6 hours ago, JaSmAn said:

As usual, you guys rock.

The topic has been updated and the map area is now located at the bottom of the basic introduction thread. 

[BenjaminHL]

This is my favorite and best example of good, tactical radio communication. 

 

 

[Chutnut]

3 minutes ago, BenjaminHL said:

This is my favorite and best example of good, tactical radio communication. 

 

 

 

I totally agree, Hulu is really good for communications e.e