If you were stranded on a deserted island with another forumite

[Riflemerc ^_^]

Good junior officers and noncoms don't really fight for command, really, particularly with junior officers. The best cherries are willing to learn and admit that they don't know shit from Shinola, and then their platoon sergeants are able to help them out. Fresh NCOs, at least in the USA, don't normally seem to fight over  responsibility either, since they're almost always given command of a team. I don't know, things have always seemed pretty clear cut to me. Follow the general orders, obey the TL, or the SL, or the PSG, or the 1SG, and ignore the PL (), and follow the succession of command if something goes wrong. The bad 2LTs and NCOs do do a lot of bickering, though, it's true.

Yeah, there's a ton of time not doing anything for every hour you spend doing stuff, even in training. Had a field training exercise a couple weeks ago, literally spent the entire time rucking to our destinations, then dropping our rucks, popping a squat, and grabbing some chow/socializing for hours before we'd do an hour of training. We would've had enough time to set up hooches and take naps if we'd been allowed to.

@The Wolf: I dunno, bro, I've definitely seen platoons and SF ODAs get attached to other ones for patrols. Although the command for all that was all kinds of jacked up. I've heard of an SF LTC with 20+ years of experience in the field who was put under the command of a 2LT so fresh out of college he still had a hangover. Anyway, on the whole, officers don't seem so bad to me. Lots of politics, yeah, but I've been fortunate with the ones I've worked with.

    Squad leader in one serving as a squad member in another? You don't think someone who has a command of their own would have trouble taking orders from someone at the same command level?

    Plus, for any people who are in both squads, whose orders will they follow first?

What? Squads are always separate from one another, except on rare occasions where a squad member is attached to a different unit, and that's normally inter-platoon. CoC is too complicated if there's people assigned to both squads, or even both teams within a squad, like that. Even temporary SLs (knew an E-4 who was promoted to SL of a different squad, normally an E-6 position temporarily), are completely detached from their previous squad and re-assigned to their new squad.

[Seff]

And I thought only the Danish Army abused abbreviations like that.

[The Wolf]

Holy ******** shit. I had to use an abbreviations dictionary for half of those

I really should brush up on STANAG lingo.

@The Wolf: I dunno, bro, I've definitely seen platoons and SF ODAs get attached to other ones for patrols. Although the command for all that was all kinds of jacked up. I've heard of an SF LTC with 20+ years of experience in the field who was put under the command of a 2LT so fresh out of college he still had a hangover. Anyway, on the whole, officers don't seem so bad to me. Lots of politics, yeah, but I've been fortunate with the ones I've worked with.

It depends on the size of the community, maybe, and here the ISTAR community isn't exactly humongous, so it's pretty much unheard of that, especially in an operational setting, the less experienced man is in charge over something as silly as regulations. I've seen several cases of unit COs having lower rank than their 2iC, even.

A LTC subordinate to a 2LT, in any setting, sounds absolutely batshit, though.

[Riflemerc ^_^]

And I thought only the Danish Army abused abbreviations like that.

My apologies, I assumed you guys would know most of the abbreviations. Gotten too used to talking to Americans where half of what we say are abbreviations or acronyms. I don't think I've actually read "squad leader" or "platoon leader" or any of those written out since I first started training, they're always abbreviated to SL and PL, etc. Although I don't think I was that bad with abbreviations, just the ranks...

@The Wolf: Yeah, crazy stuff. I don't know if he was exactly subordinate to him; he was an attachment to the platoon to observe, along with the rest of the SF guys, so they took direction from the 2LT for the duration of the patrol, but they reported to Special Operations Command (there, no abbreviation!). And the 2LT was pretty squared away.

[Schemer]

I really wanted to read your post, but I was lost in acronym hell about halfway through! 2LT is Second Lieutenant, I guess? Is NCO New Commanding Officer and SL squad leader? Context is my only saving grace here.

You've served in the US army, I suppose? No way you could know all of that from reading. If so, you are probably a good candidate to go to a deserted island with and survive. I could see Seff and you going to the island and coming back relatively unscathed, since from what I remember he has military experience too. (I don't keep track of everyone on Taleworlds who has military experience, but I do remember him being mentioned and I know that some places like Russia and Israel have forced service which can help me guess.)

[BadaBoomBadaBang]

Hyperion.



Just so I could annoy the **** out of him.

[Jock]

You should go all "gooby pls" on him.

[Riflemerc ^_^]

@Schemer:

To translate all the abbreviations:

2LT - 2nd Lieutenant (O-1) new officers, also called cherries

LTC - Lieutenant Colonel (O-5) normally battalion commanders (in command of several hundred Soldiers)

NCO - Non-commissioned officer (ranks of Sergeant to Sergeant-Major of the Army) these guys are the backbone of the army and enforce regulations, in addition to being the most experienced warriors you'll meet in the army.

E-# - Enlisted - Paygrade - pretty much another way of denoting rank. For example, E-5 type is pretty much synonymous with sergeant, even though it really designates paygrade.

O-# - Officer - Paygrade - pretty much another way of denoting rank

TL - Team Leader - normally a sergeant (E-5), in command of a 4-man fireteam within a squad

SL - Squad Leader - normally a staff sergeant (E-6), in command of an 8-man squad composed of two teams, where he is the 9th member of the squad

PSG - Platoon Sergeant - normally a sergeant first class or master sergeant (E-7 - E-8). He's the assistant platoon leader and teaches the platoon leader how to lead, enforces the rules the platoon leader sets out, and does most of the work in the actual process of organizing a platoon.

PL - Platoon Leader - normally a second lieutenant (O-1). Leads a platoon of 4 squads and a headquarters element, around 40-50 men. Bad ones don't listen to the PSG, good ones do.

1SG - First Sergeant - normally a master sergeant, occasionally a sergeant first class (E-7 - E-8) but they do have their own shiny ranks. It's just the master sergeant insignia with a diamond in the middle. They do what the PSG does, just for a company commander, not a platoon leader. They're also not second in command for a company, that goes to the XO - the executive officer, which is another officer position.

CO - Company Commander - normally a captain (O-3), leads a company of 120 men or so.

SF - Special Forces - badasses

ODA - Operational Detachment - Alpha - what SF calls its squads

CoC - chain of command


Actually, you'd be surprised how much you can find on the Army on the internet. I know for a fact that there's at least a couple websites (such as Army Study Guide) that are dedicated to enlightening people on the mysterious ways of our Army () and our Field Manuals are floating around pretty much everywhere. Most people wouldn't have the obsession with the Army to read them, though, unless they actually were in the Army, so I suppose you're sort of right. I am in the Army, yes, though, to answer your question.

[Eктωρ]

and here the ISTAR community isn't exactly humongous

[Teofish]

 

[Pharaoh Llandy]

Same. Army didn't do anything about THAT tendency.

That is true actually, I have seen Seff's attempt at packing a non-army bag and it is just chaos and destruction.

[Cyborg Eastern European]

Isn't that what he's supposed to do anyway?

[The Wolf]

and here the ISTAR community isn't exactly humongous

 

Haven't thought of that before, strangely enough.

[Seff]

Same. Army didn't do anything about THAT tendency.

That is true actually, I have seen Seff's attempt at packing a non-army bag and it is just chaos and destruction.

...Was I drunk at the time? O.o

Rifleman: I understood it, but I pretty much had to read it twice.

[The Wolf]

Rifleman: I understood it, but I pretty much had to read it twice.

You've got the advantage of actually using mil English a bit more often than I do, Afghan man

I've got an English Military Dictionary at the office, though, with abbreviations and usages, but I'm about as diligent about learning that stuff as I am about learning repair sewing.