NCO Role / Chain of command Project

[Firefox Breed]

Primary Tasks:

Re-evaluate the role of NCO's in the Ordo.

Re-evaluate the chain of command of Terra so NCO presence is incorporated into its working.

Re-evaluate the chain of command of Terra so the workload can be spread out, command delegated and more efficient.

Re-evaluate NCO promotion system to better suit the needs of the Ordo.

Goals:

To construct a more efficient, flexible chain of command that incorporates NCOs.

Notes:

This project is going to take some time and is going to require alot of input from all levels of the ordo. There has been some problems with the current systems we have that has lead to changes being made, yet failing to fix some of the core problems.

We are asking anyone who has organizational skills, military or civilian to please assist us in this project. With the pending changing that are on the drawing board at the moment, its going to be a bit of a earth shaker to most NCOs we have.

We also are working to give the NCOs some work, authority and responsibility. Some of us are going to need to step up to the plate, show that we are worthy of the ranks on our collars.

Points of contact:

FireFox Breed

Rei Kuhr

Lestat Umarov

[Firefox Breed]

**Rough Draft**

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS AND IS A LIVE DOCUMENT

*Garrison Command Structure*

4 Command groups consisting of:

1 OIC

1 NCOIC

OIC command staff of officers and NCOs

3 Line platoons consisting of:

Officers, NCOs and enlisted personal.

Chain of command

Each platoon will have 1 command group in charge of them.

1 command group will be in charge of the 3 command groups who are in charge of the platoons. (This group does not take charge of the platoons at all. They need to go down though each platoons command groups)

Now if someone is thinking

[Aryte]

A platoon can not reasonably be a defined number of individuals. Or we simply fall right back into the legion problem, where varying times of activity/ability to partake can cripple/ruin any given platoon/authority of a platoon leader.

[Rei Kuhr]

Herein lies the problem with organization in SL. If we group everybody into one large group like Terra, then we have to reduce the number of positions available, lest we come under the "too many spoons in the pot" syndrome. If we break it down into subgroups, we allow more positions and greater control, but then we run into the problem of broken up groups when it comes time to apply a practical use to them.

I think however, the idea behind it is being thought of in the wrong way. Think of the groups as being more fluid. Instead of going back to what we had with legions, aka a bunch of people segregated off into semi-independant groups with wildly varying standards of training, we should instead use these as a guide for practical day to day use.

So Terra, an organization as a whole, maintains the same. But during things such as training, assaults, and things of the matter, those members are put into small fire teams, divided up at the time when needed. NCOs are put in charge of small groups, officers oversee the operation, and things go as planned. Once an operation is done, those groups go away and the members are folded back into Terra as a whole.

To be honest, groups would be of much better use if rules of communication are laid down. Instead of a huge group of people clusterfucking in a single channel all trying to relay information at the same time, channels can be divided between different elements. Each element with it's own channel, with a NCO controlling each element and an officer running the entire group from a HQ element. If any information is needing relay from one group to another, it's easy for the NCO to take care of letting other element leaders know of important information. It frees up comms for the squad to relay information back between themselves.

The problem with the aformentioned idea is that, unlike things such as Teamspeak, ventrilo does not make it easy for people to relay information on the fly to different channels. One must go through a laborious process to set up keybindings and things of the sort. But using keybindings to talk to other channels is not the only way.

Leaders should lead the fight, but at times they must stand back and gauge the battle to see where reinforcements are needed and what direction their squad needs to take. This means they sometimes have to take cover and observe. It's during these times that SL tools can be used for communication.

Lets say that before an assault, Loki picks two elements for an assault. Lets call them Element A and Element B. Loki is leading Element A with Lestat leading Element B. Both element leaders would go ahead and make sure IM windows are open to each other, so quick communications can be had. Now during the battle, lets say that Lestat sees an enemy ground force moving on his position. He can issue orders to his squad via vent, take cover, and relay to Loki through IMs the necessary information so that Loki can take advantage of the situation. Loki sends an affirmative or negative and then relays to his element the necessary orders for the situation.

Once the assault is done, element leaders debrief their squad, then the elements are dissolved and Terra continues on as usual.

The Element system I've described helps in keeping track of who is where and what is happening. It's difficult for a single officer in charge of an assault to keep track of all his men. It's easier for the officer to keep track of squads. Each squad would then only have to concentrate on the members currently in their squad, which reduces the information they need to process on battle conditions.

[Agares Tretiak]

So, essentially, you wish to make temporary platoons for combat, training, and other official functions, but are not enforced at other times? How would you divvy up the available troops under a coherent command structure?

I suppose, you can assign a loose collection to be under the approximate guidance of a single high officer, with his ncos. Then, the lower enlisted would report to them, with the Officer delegating policies he wants his NCOs to make a reality.

I.E.

Officer Lahdeedah: "I need three platoons (or what have you), NCO Bob, NCO Joe, NCO Thomas go do it."

NCO's then divide up soldiers from their "pool" of available soldiers, making platoons per orders.

So if the pool of available soldiers is say...10 folks, the can take 3 each, and if another group (under an other officer) is short a soldier, the 10th one can be assigned to them, or used for guard duty, or added onto a retinue, etc, etc.

Very flexible, but I'd think the NCOs will need better training to make sure they have the understanding and practical knowledge to carry out these orders rapidly and efficiently.

[Rei Kuhr]

You hit upon the crux of it. NCOs need better training.

[Krow Ames]

Better guidance, or better training?

[Lestat Umarov]

Both.

[Krow Ames]

NCO's haven't been given enough of a chance to demonstrate themselves, so no one but the Imperator can make the judgment that we need better training. It can be suggested, sure, and I may agree with that in certain cases, but not all of them.

Don't think I'm being confrontational, just offering an opposed opinion on the matter.

[Aryte]

NCO's don't need better training, persay.

Officers need to use their NCOs and teach them to do the jobs that could better be done/should be done by NCOs.

[Agares Tretiak]

I don't think that better training is what I meant. They just need to have expanded training on how to perform certain duties.

[Mith Wakowski]

Then the responsibility lies with both Officers and NCO to make sure some instruction on a certain duty is given when to do so is given. Basics should've been covered during training etc. But when asking an NCO to take over the task of Guard overseer an officer should either be or make sure they know what to do. If not a quick explanation should suffice.

[Firefox Breed]

Aryte Vesperia wrote:

A platoon can not reasonably be a defined number of individuals. Or we simply fall right back into the legion problem, where varying times of activity/ability to partake can cripple/ruin any given platoon/authority of a platoon leader.

This issue may be from not properly delegating authority/tasks. If polices are made and use of manpower is used correctly it could be done.

[Agares Tretiak]

The problem with a set number under each platoon like structure is that you'd need to have very clearly set schedules and times, and have that organized. Such time management is a headache, especially in SL, where people are, to some extent, entitled to their own time and amusements. Admittedly, most of the Ordo Imperialis is more dedicated than the average SL military member, but it' still seems that set number platoons aren't flexible enough to fit the apparent needs of the Ordo, hence my own suggestion.

While forming a temporary platoon, you can limit the number of soldiers that constitutes one, but I do not think it would be feasible in this environ to dictate which members are part of which platoon, only to which officer they are assigned to serve under.