A Better Commander.

[Zoobie]

Sorry If I put this forum in the wrong place

Anyway to the point of it. I was S.C. X.O. for Operation: SOCO. I was told I did rather good and bad job, however I'm always looking to improve. I learned a lot at the last game from the other platoon leaders such as zmonster and Mr. Marauder. Sorry to the other cause I either wasn't near you or didn't have much contact with you through the day. I also picked up on a few tactics used by both S.C. and G.A. players through the day. Back to the main point if you went and you saw some areas of improvement I can make let me know, or if you have and idea or suggestion that I should work on. If you didn't go or weren't near me then throw up some ideas. I really appreciate it. Thanks guys.

[Jon The Student]

Mr Zoobie, while I myself did not attend Op: SOCO, I can throw a few ideas your way, please let me know if you wish to bite on them, so we can discuss them further.

I think it is extremely important to earn the respect of the players you are "leading", simply for the fact if you have their respect, they will have a better chance of following your directions or "orders". Respect can be earned in a multitude of ways, such as leading from the front, doing things you would ask of your subordinates, and generally showing them that you would do anything you ask them to do. Oh, and if someone needs help, help them out at the first opportunity, you never know when you'll need to someone else to return the favor.

In addition to respect, it is highly advisable to build and orchestrate an effective communication system. This is where the most leaders and CO's fall flat, as if you cannot communicate with your subordinates, (Factor in no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy) how can you effectively maneuver and lead your team? You cant. While Radio's are great, the rate at which a radio will not operate correctly at a game for one reason is extremely high, so there are different solutions, but we can discuss that later.

However, those are the two leadership objectives in my opinion must be achieved before any more advanced and useful leadership techniques can be applied. (And also I feel like I'm slipping into a rant, so I'll wait for feed back before going on)

[VoidSuicide]

I personally think that there is no perfect commander, and that being better as one takes a good deal of practice.

That being said, each person is different, so what works for one CO, may not work for another. An example would be that in my two times commanding, I've found that my lack of reputation among the rest of the player base puts me in a position where I do best taking a small group I know to be a "precision" squad, while I use the rest of the team in a "point and shoot" fashion. I also have had a bad habit in the past of removing myself from comms, which in my two games as CO was more of an issue when the admin needed me than it was for my team needing me.

[MarksInnerDemon]

Are we talking game CO or your platoon. I hate to say this but many teams being the size of a squad/half platoon, both leadership styles and how things should be done differ. Platoon size (and smaller) require a hands on do, work, live with your team concept, where large field you must show authority, and confidence no matter how you feel. One is more father figure, the other is more religous leader without the zealout flavor.

[VoidSuicide]

Me? I was game CO. By team I meant the whole of alpha forces.

[Zoobie]

I'm looking at both. A game CO or XO as well as a platoon CO or XO. What is the best way to improve myself.

Also Thanks, Jon I will try to lead more from the front and in actions and not just words.

[Murphy]

I have been to a number of AOSC events, usually just as Grunt Mcsoldierson, but I was CO for Bravo at Blue Hole and i did my best that day to implement everything i had always wanted out of my CO's.

Like Jon said respect is super important. At BH i tired to meet all the "squad leaders" if you will, of the teams that came. But more importantly I like what he said about leading from the front. I spent 75% of my day shooting or getting shot at. I don't believe in playing armchair general. The other 25% of my day was spent running to talk to people who didn't bring comms.

Which brings me to my (and Jon's) second point: Comms.

Every group needs a radio. Not always possible i know, but super helpful when achieved. My team did a great job telling me what was going on, and i tried to make sure every cluster of people was aware of what was going on throughout the field. Like i said, i spent about a fourth of my day running out to people who didn't have comms, just to make sure they knew what was happening.

Those are two things I think you would generally achieve for, but if I had to throw in some points of my own I would just say to have fun.

I play airsoft to have fun, and i know most other people do too. Don't station any group of people somewhere "just in case." Everyone came to play and its up to you to make sure they get their money's worth.

Its also important to have fun yourself. I led more than a few suicide chargers and they made they day for me. They always do.

TL;DR
Get to know people
Have good communication
Make sure people are having fun
Have fun.
?
PROFIT.

[Jon The Student]

To elaborate on Semlohwerd's (I think I got that right) point,

I play airsoft to have fun, and i know most other people do too. Don't station any group of people somewhere "just in case." Everyone came to play and its up to you to make sure they get their money's worth.

A self analysis and team analysis goes a long way in the determining where your influence begins and ends for your teams, you are not playing a RTS video game where everyone is going to follow your directions regardless of whether they are bullshit or not. Evaluating teams cohesion, whether or not they will follow directions from you, play style and mentality, and proficiency are just a few things to take in to account when planning and guiding your teams. Once you have determined your teams capabilities, and where they are willing to go for you; you can then start to orchestrate your group of motley airsofters into something cohesive. (I have not been to a game where this has been achieved, this is alot easier to say then do)

So to try and make the passage above into actually useful information and not just a bunch of garbled information spewing from my brain to the keyboard in an in elaborate fashion, let me try and make an example.


Player "Joe" has been playing airsoft for while, (Lets say a few years) he has relatively good set of equipment, knows the ins and outs of airsoft, and has a pretty good public reputation for being chill when not playing and serious when playing the game. Joe has done his research about basic infantry tactics, and has rehearsed them on video games, so he gets the general gist of how to manipulate his fire teams, squads, and heavy weapons to kick some serious (albeit virtual) ass.
Joe volunteers to be CO for a pretty basic game at TT, based around an attacker seizing and series of bases and pushing the defenders back. Joe gets the general gist of the mission, and prints out a map, and the mission statement and shows up on Saturday. After talking to the game admin and getting a head count, Joe finds he has few squads, and alot of players not affiliated with any teams at all. Joe then goes around to each of his teams, evaluating them to determine how he can actually guide them to play a part in the bigger picture. (We can discuss how to evaluate later, this is a more in depth concept than I thought it was originally)
He finds he was very few teams, if any, that are the squared away (Good equipment and comms, willing to follow directions, cohesive within the squad, and eager to play the game as more mil sim than paint soft). He has a few teams that are well equipped but not very cohesive (More to play dress up and play the game as a game) and a lot of players that dont have any teams and just want to run and gun.
When Joe looks at the roster he made when he was walking around, he realizes something very important, this is more of a town militia than a military force. Joe also realizes, that not only does he have to concern himself and plan about out thinking and defeating the enemy, but also how to keep his players happy and motivated to follow directions.
So, in tune with the philosophy that if Life gives you lemons, make Lemonade, Joe establishes a working rudimentary comm system, gives the team leaders a rundown on his plan, takes suggestions into account then makes a decision on the final battle plan and informs the squad leaders before the leave (Trying to get everyone on same sheet of music) When Joe is making decisions, he factors in the team itself and who they are, so he is not going to send in cohesive units on secret mission, and not send cohesive units into a maw of fire fights where the casualty rate is high.

Ok, I have to go, and I just briefly read through all of that. And frankly, I dont think it will be that helpful due to the poor structure of writing and lack of emphasis on a particular point. I can explain the concept better in person (Skype would work), my writing skills suck ass. Anyways, have a nice day, and if you can decipher any of this, all the more power to you.

[Murphy]

I think what Jon is getting at is this:

Besides setting up well, you need to be able to evaluate what you have to work with. If you have solid, long time teams like Ajax, Grave, Gold, etc... Then you have a group of guys you know will work well with each other and support each other.

If you have...for lack of a better term "pubs" then you're in for a rough lead.

[Jon The Student]

Good enough, st pat day was not the best day to talk about this lol let me try again tommorow