02/06/2017 - #1: Blacksheep¶
Date of Operation: Friday June 2nd, 2017 Time of Operation: 0730 PM EST to 1100 PM EST
Unit Details¶
- TypicalPhineas - Zeus
- Whiplash - SL A
- Ironclaws - Medic A
- Foozle - FTL A1
- Tantasqua - R A1
- Coletrane - R A1
- Kilthor - AT A1
- Skifton - FTL A2
- MRF - LMG A2
- Saboathi - ALMG A2
No shows..¶
Schaduw
Mission Details¶
Western forces have a base on the “Tuvanaka” island wich is to the north and east of the main Tanouka island body. The group of islands has been heavily contested by various tribes, but the Tuvanakese welcome western forces due to the trade it brings to their communities. After our campaign in operation dessert storm this area has also seen an increase in Russian activity on the main island body. A UAV spy plane codename “Blacksheep” crashed on Tuvanaka island on its way back with valuable images of said Russian activity on the main island. Our mission was to recover the pilot and bring him home safely.
Execution..¶
We took a patrol boat to the eastern side of Tuvanaka and disembarked to continue on foot. We encountered an armed patrol of locals which we avoided by veering off into the woods to the North. Command informed us this is probably a rivaling tribe performing a raid or trying to take hold of some part of the island. We lead ourselves towards some elevated terrain on which we scanned the horizon. MRF found a column of smoke and wreckage a good 700 meters from our location on the elevated terrain. We encountered no hostiles between us and the terrain. There was no sign of the pilot to be found at the site of the wreckage however and command suggested the only possible outcome was that the pilot was captured. Most likely by the aggressor locals trying to take hold of the south of the island. Command instructed us to continue towards the south, into the city of Belfort and apprehend a tribesman for interrogation. We encountered about 4 fireteams and about 3 of our men were wounded in combat. We apprehended a tribesman referred to as “bozo” who told us a rivaling tribe’s leader called “Johny” now had possession of the pilot. The pilot was traded for a shiny rifle. We moved out from Belfort towards balavu island and found the pilot “Blacksheep” in a city called Taivu, after which we extracted back to base.
Memorable contributions..¶
Excellent contact reports by MRF. Heightened the overall squad situational awareness.
Team Retrospective¶
What went well¶
- 1-2 was good and on point with covering fire and to an extent movement and communication
- Communication was excellent within the squad - as always MRF did great callouts and I heard many other players give good callouts as well. Covering our cardinal directions save us in a situation. I covered the rear for majority of mission and stopped the first patrol who ran up to us when we were on the rocks by sticking to my directive. Implementation of stealth worked to our advantage and should be emphasized in most missions to keep gameplay tactical.
- The mission went smoothly from a team perspective. The squad lead and teams coordinated well. As the medic, I had some time available which I used to try and support the squad lead by providing them additional information and ideas. I hope that was valuable.
- People followed leadership’s direction, people played their roles and attempted to work as a team, felt as though there was more beneficial communication between fireteams and squad members.
- Communications between fire teams and leads along with squad leader was on point. Personally, using only 1 radio channel assisted in situational awareness among the entire squad. Additionally, this method of communication fostered a more team oriented attitude as it “forced” more direct communication while simultaneously allowed each member to be aware of what was going on with the squad as a whole.
What went wrong¶
- A few times the FTL did not state he was moving, and I fell behind. Communication is a key point when providing overwatch(s) and moving out.
- Coordination within towns is difficult when multiple fireteams are moving through on the ground. Squad movement through dense jungle got many members lost and out of formation.
- There were a few times when the fire teams were separated by enough that they wouldn’t have been able to provide fire support for one another. Resistance was light this week so there weren’t any major complications caused by this, but it could cause issues in the future.
- There was a general lack of organization during the mission that can and should be cleaned up by FTLs, There were a few people who didn’t follow directions well or tried to lead when they were not the leader of the group.
- Although it wasn’t major, I feel there could be even more radio discipline for everyone to cut down on the chatter. At least for the non FTL’s and SL. Very very minor point, I feel that especially while working in thick vegetation, like a jungle, we could do a bit better at keeping fire team members together.
What we could do differently to improve¶
- Improve moving commands at FTL level. Stop/moving/move here/crossing/covering/set.
- I propose a bit of practice and setup of a protocol for jungle squad movements. When clearing towns, splitting duty of support overwatch and clearing movements seemed to work well on the second town assault rather than all moving in and losing tactical view.
- Fire teams should probably still have dedicated radio channels. Most communication within a fire team should be with direct voice, but it’s good to have a second channel that can be used and not interfere with the squad level comms.
- My team can pre-plan group movement/clearing/traveling. Should be willing to reign people in when needed.
- Continue to work on using direct communication over radio among fire teams. I think this is very important in order to foster the feeling of working as an entire squad/platoon versus an autonomous unit.
