16/06/2017 - #3: Something airy this way comes¶
Date of Operation: Friday June 16th, 2017 Time of Operation: 0900PM EST to 1120 PM EST
Unit Details¶
- TypicalPhineas - Zeus
- Whiplash - SL A
- Kilthor - Medic A
- MRF - FTL A1
- Stalker - AT A1
- Reishi - R A1
- Foozlekiller - R A1
- Frethen - R A1
- Tantasqua - HMG A2
- Ironclaws - Assist. HMG A2
- Skifton - Sniper
Mission Details¶
Story Context
Last week’s operation “Bridge over troubled water” saw us return to Belavu island for a significant attack on Johny’s forces in an attempt to curb his offensive capabilities, diminish his capacity for raiding the Tavunakan people and force johny’s hand into diplomacy for peace. Part of our objective was to secure “Belavu Bridge”, the only reliable infrastructure connecting Belavu Island to Katkoula Island. What we found on the other side were Russians.
Upon returning to base we have since learned what the Russian angle is. Frethen was watching his favourite TV show - Belavu Idol - when it was interrupted by “breaking news”; a press conference by Russian President Boris Sokolov announcing Russian deployment to the Island of Belavu “to ensure stability in the area and guarantee the fair treatment of the Belavu people”. Apple sauce for sure. This was followed by press conferences of Western leaders relaying pretty much the same message for the Tavunakan people, while simultaniously condemning Belavu’s recent actions.
All this has a few implications:
- The “increased” merchant shipping from Russia to Tanoa that originally brought us to the island is most likely part of a paramilitary operation, the motive of which is still unknown, but now legitimized through pupetting the Baluvan people under warlord Johny.
- We are now wrapped up in a local conflict between Tavunaka and Belavu which is brought to the international stage.
We have it on good authority from insiders that there is significant unrest in Johny’s hierarchy due to our operations on Belavu island. Now that Johny has most likely retreated to Katkoula island to the South of Belavu, there is sort of a leadership vacuum among the forces in Belavu island. We have reason to believe that if we continue to weaken Johny’s position, a more pro-western officer might rise to the occasion within Johny’s forces who can shake up whatever deal Johny made with the russians. At the same time, we must avoid direct confrontation with Russian forces.
Mission Objectives: Covert Special Operation
Danger
Operatives will not be protected by the Geneva Convention. The existance of this operation will be denied by Western governments.
- Paradrop on South-Eastern Katkoula under the cover of darkness and wait for daybreak.
- Secure position foxtrot for sniper overwatch
- Assasinate Johny’s Lieutenant in Lailai
- Destroy the radio tower North East of Lailai
- Transition through the jungle from Lailai to the airstrip of Bala and avoid direct confrontation with forces coming from Yannuka.
- Perform a hit-and-run on Bala airstrip, detroy Johny’s cessna and other targets of value.
- Exfiltrate at LZ Tango or otherwise
Execution..¶
All objectives were successfully executed with minor casualties.
Team Retrospective¶
What went well¶
- (Whip) Excellent work by Skifton the sniper. The team had excellent overwatch and he was able to surpress the enemy preventing them from catching up with the squad. The raid on the airfield was well executed. Boom and zoom. The squad was responsive to commands. Excellent MG cover by Tantasqua and MRF. Personally I felt I had a good handle on the terrain we were facing and how to maneuver the team through the challenges. Overall very good FTL work by MRF!
What went wrong¶
- (Whip) MRF, I love you man. But a little too heavy on the voice comms sometimes. We have to be careful to not occupy the squad comms with FTL instructions for too long and that counts for us all. The team didn’t respond so well to some very common squad leader level commands such as “spread out”. I feel like I could improve on my Squad Leader abilities. Oftentimes I wasn’t sure if I was leaving too much ambiguity or spreading the squad out too much.
What we could do differently to improve¶
- (Whip) I think we could improve our documentation a little with some light reading material that would clarify some common orders like what “Spread out” means in various situations. Perhaps also a section on voice communication. Personally I could do some research on Fireteam / Squad dynamics and see how it could apply to ArmA.
