*SIGH* It seems like every time I want to sit down and type some thing for my blog. I always end up AFK =/

Being the healthest sick person in the house, I guess thats to be expected…. That or I just need to learn how to build my self a sound proof bunker lol.

*sighs*….

Being Busy yet still not getting any thing done sucks. At least I did get ONE thing useful done today, sent GCHQ a new recruit checklist to nit pick. With about 30-40 items on it hehe.

Not to mention I need to get up for work and out the door around 0700 every day til Tuesday (when I get to sleep in till almost 0830). And hopefully a Day off come September 28th. If I’m lucky, maybe the 6th and 7th of October. I’d like to try and put together a Live Op for SWAT4 around then, because all the ones I have been setting up have been for RvS. The problem, it’s hard to get a decent map for a Live Op in SWAT4. And to make it worse without a Mic I can’t even play test the map…

Usually when I do a Live Op, I play it a little in Custom Mission mode (RvS) and will use the ghost cam to take some screen shots for Intel, likethe 8 I did for Saving The Prince. And during the Live Op itself, I usually try to serve as an Operator at the Tactical Operations Centre, providing support via the Radio. In SWAT4, I can’t take any intel photo’s like that (Fuuy) and if I play test the map. Because theres no real spectator mode thats worth a damn. I would have to probably communicate only via XFire with the Element as they clear the map — because I can’t talk on without a Mic!. And If I’m in the server but not playing the map, that robs some one a slot who could be in the Op. Not to mention, if I don’t play test the map before using it for the Live Op, I have no way of knowing what situation the guys will walk into. And therefore no way to provide any briefing…. Which kind’ve takes the point out of it. Since a Live Op is supposed to be as close to the real thing as we can get.

Raged Spiders

Well, the live op was a master scaled disaster.

The planning started in March, the Live Op was to be marvelous. The map was huge, 5 levels worth and three huge buildings plus larger areas connecting them. Plus a bell tower with a sniper. Two hostages and a Bomb !

The scenario was pretty simple, HRH Prince Charles of Wales got kidnapped and was tracked down. At the direction of MI5, Armed Police kicked in the door on a house where the Residents were suspected of being terrorists. After a heck of a fight, they link up with lots of others and take over U.W.A. A big university in south Wales. Two strike choppers of the Royal Protection Squad taken out of the sky in a quick rescue attempt gone bad.

I stayed up all night to make the Intel doc’s we used for this simulation. 8 Photo’s with detailed comments so people could plan the map, about the only aid that we got lol. I even saved a last photo for an ‘in mission update’ showing the primary hostage, complete with bomb.

The [SAS] Element was to enter the fortress sized building, overcome the enemy, locate the royal hostage, optionally an injured pilot (from the RPS rescue attempt). And extract. I’d clear the roof area and get the tech squad to destroy the SAM sites on the roofs so we can get a Helicopter extraction. Then redeploy, go dynamic and frag every hostile on the map (reloaded to a tango hunt).

So, what went wrong?

Before the Live Op started, every one was supposed to be briefed, the last Intel was posted a day or two before the deadline.

There should’ve been a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in command ready before the mission took place and a special Dynamic aslt plan prepared (the Immediate Action Plan) in place the Live Op had to launch early (Shots fired, hostage in danger, GO GO GO!).

It took forever for them to read the Intel -> but they did very good with the 15min time limit to plan the op.

Several people mis-installed the map because I didn’t have time to make a Click Team installer for it, just a batch file to install the files to the default paths for those who had it. Rest had to do it manually. Map was like 68MB, zipped down to 17.7MB.

During this time I was arguing with my mom, she used the phone and it caused my (aDSL/Ethernet) network connection to drop (A little problem we have here). So I had to storm out and devliever AJ (my nephew). They were nice enough to wait for me… Unforutintly Pittman couldn’t hang around it took to long.

Every one f@#king died

Leaving a bunch of Old School [SAS] in Royal Protection Squad Uniforms to come out of my imagination and save the day.

I’ve worked hard for months (March-September) setting up this live op. I wanted it to be some thing special for the guys, a real good live op. But it was hell on wheels from where I sat.

To top it all off, my family has all but tried to sabotage the freaking live op most of the afternoon. When I’ve gone through the trouble of arranging FOUR MONTHS in advance to have ONE DAY to spend on the computer. Gone through the hoopla of getting 7 people organised into for a single advent, planned down to the polish on the boots.

I freaking expect to be there with the time I scheduled to be rightfully mine to try & use!

Only GOD has a right to control my life without my permission.

The day before, when we scheduled to have me cart my nephew (my sisters bird) over there. I specified BEFORE 2 or in the Evening after the live op. We had every thing arranged like clock work the day before,, perfect I would be able to do what they wanted + get to hold the Live Op.

What happens? She’s not ready of bed by 3pm. My mother is going ape because she wants the loud mouth bird out of hear so she can work (his bird cage was in the way). So I’ve got to hold up the dang live op. It could have been easily done after the live op, simple. But no, they can’t wait for some thing planned months before there plans were even on the to do list.

All because two people can’t follow a schedule. They can’t do what they’ve agreed, they can’t deal with “Your late, then you wait”, well frag’em. Hell, I can’t even have a conversation with some one without my family interfering.

//— Start Rant —//
Not fit for human consumption
//— End Ran —//

Most of the time I ever do get to play games with my friends, it’s because my family is driving me too crazy to get stuff done. Or I’m not physically and mentally up to the task, so I send a few rounds with my friends then drop to get back to work. Most of the other times, it’s because some one asked me to Join them for a few games. I’m thankful for it.

I’ve had enough, if my family won’t respect me as I respect them. Then they can suck off before I show them the behavior I prefer to. They want to be bastards, then I should be a Monster. An Iron Fist. But I’m not that kind of person…. Unlike the rest of my family (IMHO), I think controlling your self before you allow yourself to hurt some one you care for is a thing that we should try.. I don’t like to hurt people, it’s not who I am. I like to be ‘me’, I like to be free. But not to the extent that I rip up other people.

I think if I ever get married, I would have more to apologize to my wife for then be thankful for of what place my experiences in Family life have had an effect on me. After nearly 20 years of being around people, they rub off on you…. Even things you try to avoid. Needless to say, much of whats gone on in my Family…. Is not what I want a future generation to ever know what it’s like.

The result? Some times I’m like a monster… Like I’ve seen them, at least in the same spirit of. The difference? I don’t want to be… I see it for what it is, wrong. I don’t like to be ‘mean’, it’s just not who I am on the inside. But it’s the rage they bring out in me. The rage I’ve learned from being around my family…

*sigh*.

No matter what I do, they always hurt me…. but I don’t want to hurt them back, even if I feel I should at times. And even thinking that way for a few minutes (to inflict on them what they inflict on me) is some thing I’m sorrowful about when I calm down.

One of the reasons why I work to try and serve the [SAS] and it’s Membership, is because it’s not like my family. It’s a good place, one where I would be honored to see my Children become involved in it; if I ever live to have any.

Of my travel through live, the best things to happen to me…

Finding GOD

My time with the SAS

Learning to read

And learning every thing I can about the things that interest me.

The miserable part? My family has had very little positive involvement or influence in any of it, other then learning to read… =S While other people have…

Operation Excalibur

For what spare time I have when I’m not doing some thing on the current website…. I have some time to work on my ‘little’ project. sasclan.org version 3 !

  • Structure database
  • Create an include for site-wide common routines
  • Write new checklist module
  • Port TeamSpeak and Game Server blocks
  • Upgrade/Rewrite access control system
  • Hack up the shoutbox module
  • Write a new mighty page system
  • Integrate [SAS] Member/Recruit management tasks…
  • Port tactics pages
  • The Live Operations Centre…
  • SACS?
  • Maybe work on another updated theme with Wiz’s help, hmm…
  • Set up downloads
  • Remove unnecessary code
  • *ARG* try to ditch old non standard tags that plague the site….

I’m working on a local server and trying to see if I can make any improvements, after the work we are currently doing on the site. Maybe I’ll have time to finish my project. The website we have now is pretty good, yet… There’s still a lot to be done on the current site.

I think it would be awesome to clean house though :-), umm code.

Bell Tower Sniper

One thing I do like about Americas Army Ops is the Sniping. I was doing some nice melon popping tonight. At least 4 or 5 kills with the Sniper Rifle, plus one with my Sidearm and another with a captured AKM while I was in th e Sniper Slot.

If I can see the target, I can hit the target. At least if I’ve got a secure firing position. It’s a little hard to snipe some one, if you’ve got about 5 guys trying to fire you up.

I don’t like the M82A1 all that much for casual work, even if the magazine is useful. I find th e M24 much more accurate not to mention lighter weight.

All went well, until two morons from my team started strafe dancing directly in front of my line of fire. Heck, a guy is laying prone, bleeding to death from battle injuries, sniper rifle in hand, bipod out, scouting for remaining enemy targets. And what do these assholes do? They compromise my position, get us taking fire from a Gunner. And vola ! I get shot full of it while they get away to use their medic packs on each other (they got injured when the Gunner opened fire).

If the game didn’t punish people for it, I think I would’ve taken out my M9 Pistol and shot them both just for being so stupid… One advantage of AAO. Since it’s not an SAS Game and I’ve had an account since 1.4’ish, even had to recreate it once during one of the updates long ago. I still have my old call sign from before I was ever known as Spidey01, nore having to remember I’m ‘in uniform’ like with RvS or S4.

I hate VERY much to Team Kill but these guys were so bloody stupid… If I had been able to see the target through their combined fat buns. Maybe I would’ve gotten to live through that round if I didn’t shoot them in the balls by mistake lol. But no, I get shot for doing my job… They get to live for playing like noobs.

What a game !!!

Thursdays are always a pain

Well, even now that I’m not working usual hours on Thursdays… they are still nightmares. Most of the days been a collection of minor disasters of one sort or another.

I’ve managed to actually get two things done today… Just two worth noting.

Working on controlled pairs w/ the G3A3 in RvS, dealing with multiple targets, and my favorite. A quick double tap followed by a follow up to the head/neck to make sure they go down for good. The over riding rule I have in ammunition usage, is I keep firing till I can confirm the targets out of the picture. The first 2 rounds might get him, but I have no problem with firing a 3rd or 4th before they hit the ground. It might be a waste of ammo but if I’m not sure they are neutralised after my normal 2-3rnd burst. I’m shooting the target again! Just the same with multiple targets, Find the most threatening target, hit it, find the next, hit it. Rinse and repeat and keep firing till all targets are down or I’m wishing the game allowed me to throw the rifle at the tango ! I think having to deal with 2 or 3 tangos at once is important. You don’t really have time to make sure you kill any one on the first solvo…. I remember in F.E.A.R. I was pissed at always getting shot at by a bunch of Replicas trying to set up an Ambush. So when I started taking fire, I had enough of that crap. Grabbed my scattergun and came blitz’ing around the corner in Slow-Mo mode. Plugged one Replica with a shell, cycled over to the next and missed. Put a nice hole in the wall :/, no time to argue so I cycled back to the first with another shell as he dropped to the ground (kia) Cycled back to the second Replica again, took him down with a shot to stagger him as I dropped out of ‘Slow-mo’ mode. Then leaped into a nice Round-House that smashed the Replica’s skull on a near ledge in a very awkward way for a Video Game. A crazy and foolish assault but the game made for an interesting chance to engage multiple targets.

Also,

def edit_file( editor=nil, file=nil )

unless editor
if Platform::OS == :win32
#We need to dig in to the registry later
system( "notepad #{file}" )
elsif Platform::OS == :unix
if ENV['EDITOR']
system( "#{ENV['EDITOR']} #{file}" )
else
system( "vi #{file}" )
end
end
else
system( "#{editor} #{file}" )
end

end

I got to finish solving a little problem. How to figure out what OS the program is running on in order to adopt, e.g. notepad or vi as an editor of last resort. The Platform module from rubyforge gives us a decent way of finding out if it’s a Windows or Unix based system. I don’t have any access to a Mac… so oh well. :S

Later when I’ve got time, I want to see about pulling the systems default editor for .txt files from the registry, since $EDITOR is not useful on Windows NT. The snippet also shows some thing I really like about Ruby, the unless statement.

# For example, Ruby
unless 5 < 4
puts '5 is more then 4'
end


/* and in C which has no unless statement */
if ( !5 < 4 ) {
printf( "5 is more then 4" )
}

while I’ve never cared much for the if ( !expr ) bit in C, I learned to read it fine. In what reminds me of Perl, you can also do a bit of < code > unless expr on one line if you want in Ruby. What I like about the idea of an unless and until statement, is unlike if (!expr) and while (!expr), after a shit load of reading. It’s a little harder to miss the difference when it’s not dependent on seeing the ‘!’. One reason why I use parentheses the way I do, is I’ve found it much easier on the eyes. When I do have enough time. I find my self reading a lot, so when I’m half asleep and I’m trying to remember what I read 2,000 lines ago. It’s pretty dang easy to foul up and have to wait on the compiler to scream. I’m not lucky enough to be able to have both time to read code and to sleep… lol. I remember I once spent like a half hour trying to fix a program that wouldn’t build. The whole dang problem? Was just a comma instead of a period, some_struct,member instead of some_struct.member and after 3 or 4 hours of non stop working… I couldn’t tell the difference between the , and . with my font and tied eyes.

So needless to say, I like to keep in mind that I may not be functioning in a stable frame of mind when I do things. The less I can leave for my self to fuck up, the less I have to smack my self upside the head for not seeing in the first place.

While I’ve never claimed to be decent at it, C is my strongest language. There’s just some thing about C that gets me, like the ultimate balance to my tastes. With Ruby, I’ve found that the pace it allows me to maintain is to good to pass up. Just being able to open a new tab with irb in it; for testing short bits of code. Is so much faster then opening a new tab, writing a scratch file, compiling it, and screwing with it till it works. Before finally adopting it to make use of it in what ever I’m working on. I think theres actually an interceptor for C but I’ve never tried any thing but a compiler.

I’m used to C style syntax, I started learning with C++, not really a good choice but it worked. Java and Perl are pretty similar in the basics. When I found C, I fell in love :/ so I’m pretty used to the idea of having to deal with things when I have to. I know crap about PHP but it’s close enough to the languages I do know that I can get along ok. In Ruby the syntax is very different but it’s kind of nice. You even have the choice of { … } or do … end, I usually use do and end because I feel they fit in well with the syntactic style (imho).

When ever I write some thing, if it’s not short or a quickie I’ll never need again. I try to keep a few things in mind.

  1. That I know what the hell I did, when I haven’t worked on it closely in weeks or months
  2. That it’s fairly easy to understand whats happening
  3. That after you read it, you’ll probably get the jist of how it works. And hopefully what it does by reading the comments

I really hate when I start reading a function and it’s so deep. by the time I get to the functions ending ‘}’ I can’t even remember what the hell it was named — I’ve never written a routine that fat!! lol. When I can, I like things to fit on a screen/screen and a half’ish for what I need to see. If I can’t keep the routine down to a manageable size. I’ll usually write other functions in the module just to help it do it’s job. I’d rather follow the line of execution to another function to make a change, then have like another 40 lines to scroll past in search of it. Most of the personal conventions I have, are ether to make my self clear yet efficient without making it easy for me to screw up. I believe source code is meant to be read by humans and run by machines, in that order. If I think it makes it easier on the reader without much cost, I’ll do it. Thats probably why when I work on some thing, I do it in stages. I make a prototype and some test pieces, I learn from that. Then I adopt and apply it to the main section. Once it’s done and doing what I want it to do. I try to go back over it and see if I can improve its quality.

I’ve got such a monster live op planned, the only problem is finding the right day or weekend to do it. We’ve got three maps, a Hostage Rescue, Mission, and Mission.

I had origenally begun planning this op last year. I was thinking, wouldn’t it be interesting if the we had to respond to a local attack. So I found a nice MOUT map, we could use the scenario very well. It’s a large urban complex where you really have to watch your back, using bangs, frags, smoke, gas, and claymores are good ideas. The hostages are not to hard but staying alive is. The little subway station is pretty crappy… but well enough for the live op.

Then I tried to think about how I could create a string of related live operations from it. While still trying to figure out where my first map would take place I cooked up a plan. The [SAS] would travel to Russia in search of intelligence. Which would in turn lead them to find proof of the terrorist actions, and end in a show down.

I found a nice snowbase map with a mission that supported what I needed. A military/terrorist base like map, with a laptop computer to bug. The mission also had lots of crates and hostages hidden around. So Live Operation Arctic Recon was born. Random lead the covert op, laptop was bugged but the owner was no where to be found. The team placed a tracking device in a weapons crate and extracted… When Wiz heard voices in a locker room, the Element came in for a dynamic assault. All went well, one hostage safe, two tangos down, and Wiz killed a second hostage %_%.

As a stop gap, I cooked up an hostage rescue mission using another old Rainbow Six map. Where the [SAS] had to deal with some really pissed off IRA guys that just bungled a bank robbery for funds. They took so freaking long to get ready, I added a condition that the Terrorists would execute a hostage every 5 minutes starting ‘now’, came and gone, several hostages down. But after the rest of his Element was cut down, Miles of the Blue Team stormed the complex and saved the day.

I had found a nice map with a mission with a huge fortress of a map. The Live Op? Prince Charles was kidnapped and the [SAS] gets first crack at the rescue. I hope the op gets done sooon. Should the [SAS] team fail, well an Element of the Royal Protection Squad made up of old school [SAS] Members will suddenly appear out of no where and save the day. Valroe has furnished me with after-action report attachments for both cases, hope we complete this op hehe ^_^

I came up with a nice recon mission, I think the real SAS did some similar ops during the unpleasantness with the IRA. The team was ordered to recon a warehouse, mark weapon caches with GPS Bombs (tracking devices included) and leave un detected. The bombs would be blown via remote once the destinations were known. They also had to bring back any intel they could find, I think they nabbed 5/6 docs.

After playing the map with (C)The_Baroness, (C)Destro, and Grishenko one night I hashed out a live op. The Team would go to Bavaria to knock out an Arms dealer. The guys found so many docs on the last map, it was just too good to pass up. Besides I know the [SAS] Members love to C4 things xD

The final live op, is a monster. Three missions where the [SAS] has been called upon to launch a counter attack and push the terrorists off the map.

Operation Vengeance (RvS) Mission Objectives:

Map #1 — Vipers Edge
1. Neutralise all terrorists
2. Secure the subway station
3. Prevent bomb detonations
4. Prevent civilian casualties.

Map #2 — Leviathans
1. Secure the area
2. Laser designate enemy stronghold
3. Reach the extraction point

Map #3 — Dragons fury
1. Prevent bomb detonations
2. Eliminate the Terrorist Leader
3. Reach the LZ and signal for extraction
4. Neutralise all threats (Optional)

The first map I think will be pretty easy as long as they don’t get killed. The second has a little trick to it. The Element will have a good chance to go above and beyond the call of duty. There will be an optional objective and a secret objective *muhauahuaha*. The last operation is not to hard if you can avoid getting killed getting across the map but I expect the ‘secret’ objective and harsh time limit will cause the Element to fail the op, at least if they take the Optional objective.

Only one of these maps has enough that I intend to allow them to do some pre-planning, a short 10-15 minutes. There won’t be time to sit back and have a beer over the briefing. The guys playing this live op will have to dog it through 3 tough maps, destroy the enemy which is estimated to be company size in strength, well armed, on alert and ready to shoot at the drop of a pin. And they have to do it QUICKLY, regular forces get stuck with a mopping up action at best hehe #_#

Not to mention several secret objectives and optional objectives that will effect the mission outcome. This is a huge live op, 3 maps in one op… One day to do it.

How old am I?

Hmm, let me think.

I was largely trained by [SAS]_Trp_Rand, [SAS]_Cpl_Relish, [SAS]_Trp-Cpl_Wiz, [SAS]_Sgt_James, [SAS]_Cpl_JB, and [SAS]_En4cer, I think he was SSM at the time.

My fellow recruits we’re Rasa and Leon.

Recruits I’ve seen go through the selection course,

// Note that this is from memory and is not in complete chronological order
[SAS]_Rct_Fritz -> Left to care for his mom, was Rct around my time
[SAS]_Rct_Rouge -> Long time server reg, Now a Captain; joined when I was a young Trp.
[SAS]_Rct_Mando -> Made trp but is now vet, one of the youngest, a short but fast rising star. I normally consider Mando the last Recruit of my generation.
[SAS]_Rct_Boone -> Dropped out do to real life issues
[SAS]_Rct_Ghost -> On and off Trp/Vet, very mature & a good member
[SAS]_Rct_Noer -> I think he was our first SWAT4 Trooper, now one of our SSM's.
[SAS]_Rct_Fox -> At first I thought he might be another Random in the making. Rasa and I couldn't even tell him from a Trp he fit in so well as a Rct. Currently [SAS]_LCpl_Fox is on vet, our loss but the militaries gain.
[SAS]_Rct_Miles -> A good friend and now a good Sgt xD made me remember what a lazy good for nothing LCpl I was.
[SAS]_Rct_Hexen -> Maybe the only one to train to the same level as I did as a Trp, made NCO but left for personal reasons. A very great loss for [SAS]
[SAS]_Rct_Midgit -> A fine player but got to bored
[SAS]_Rct_Lazko -> A young rct but now a great Cpl :-)
[SAS]_Rct_Jso -> Long time server reg turned grade A trooper. Now a vet due to time issues
[SAS]_Rct_Merge -> I've never been so impressed as the first day I played with him. Good chap with real world expierence but his work is to busy to keep him in the SC. When I first played with him I almost thought he might've been an ex [SAS] Member lol
[SAS]_Rct_Langley -> Long time on/off server reg but not active enough for Rct. Might've made LCpl some day !
[SAS]_Rct_Canuck -> About to fail the SC....
[SAS]_Rct_Lukas -> Ex PARA, basically our brother as far as clan history goes. A good trooper but prone to computer problems
[SAS]_Rct_Ranger -> Ex PARA, good trooper but a busy life
[SAS]_Rct_Yuke -> Another fine trooper but lots of school work
[SAS]_Rct_Snipe -> Grade A+ bad to the bone trooper, young but sharp as a razor
[SAS]_Rct_Sniper -> Sneakest S.O.B. I've met in the [SAS] next to myself. I think/wonder if he could do my job in [SAS] in a real life regiment hehe ;-)
[SAS]_Rct_DUKE -> A remarkable member, made a razor sharp trooper and trained to high standards, and now a great LCpl and only the future may tell what lays ahead
[SAS]_Rct_Medic -> A very great player, I expect him to be earning his Troopers tags soon xD
[SAS]_Rct_Mantis -> A very impressive player, every thing I know about him screams that he is probably 'our kinda guy'. But sadly seems to be in-active as a Rct.
[SAS]_Rct_Scout -> A very promising recruit and one of the few I think stand a decent chance of passing his T.T. on the first try.

Why do I feel old as dirt ? Most of the people that have trained me are no longer here. Most of the people that we’re here when I first came to [SAS] are no longer here… Those that remain I am very glad to stand along side. For those that have come since; I have/am been proud to know them.

In a way, I envy the new generation of NCO’s. The Selection Course has changed so much since I went through it. The SWAT4 end of things has gone from the teething toddler to a running young lad with Six-gun hehe. I’m still very glade to have had the trainers I have had though. Rand thought me the most important stuff, Relish my dynamic instructor. And the rest to guide and refine me. But throughout it all, Wiz I think was the one that really gave me my shot at Recruit. He’s been a Friend, mentor, co-worker, and a senior during my tenor.

It’s been my very great honour to be around the [SAS], as probably annoying pub, hanger-around, server regular, recruit, trooper, NCO and more. Becoming a [SAS]_Trp was one of the proudest days of my life. And needless to say the only plans I have for ever leaving, is feet first.

Live ready

Trying to set up a live op is crazy for me…

I plan the mission, I get things ready and give people 1-2 weeks notice, usually a clue of when it will be; e.g. probably saturday/sunday yyyy-mm-dd/dd around hhmm-hhmm GMT.

And it takes a month or 3 to get them in the server 8=)

High speed, low drag

Hmmm, an interesting plan.

             4 Man Element (Alpha)
Red Team (#1, #2) -- Blue Team (#3, #4)

#2 would be EL and #4 the next in command, EL is the senior & while Blue is out of his sight, #4 will call the shots needed to complete the team.

Red Library Offices

special: Rasa Room Clearing Challenge (RRCC), so shoot tangos on sight. Skip securing civlians and weapons, at least 2/3 of Element must live. Map is ‘Clear’ when all areas have been secured.

Spawn: Front entrance

Gear: at least 6 Flashbang and 1 Wedge recomended.

Element: Clear the insertion zone,

Red Team: move out into the large room, keep to the right for cover (from upper level) & bang over the wall. Secure the AoR and head into the hallway system.

Blue Team: move into the hallsystem, secure bathrooms, wedge level 4 door, top of side 1 stairs and return to hallsystem.

Element: Use the side 4 stairs (level 2 door) to accend to the server room (level 3). Stack up, shotgun bang & clear the initial room — getting the FB as far in as possible to the 12 o’clock. Clear and secure initial room.

Red Team: Secure sever area (two rooms) and head via current stair well to the level 4 entry (side 3 stairs).

Blue Team: Fall back, head down to the garage (level 1) via current stair well (side 3), secure area. Then head to Level 4, entry from Side 3 stairs.

Element: Stand by, Column Stack (Red left of door, Blue Right of door). Button hooked entry (grenade optional).

Red Team: Button hook (left) continue to clear the area, secure all rooms in said area of responsiblity (2 rooms) using Flashbangs.

Blue Team: Button hook (right) continue to clear area, secure all rooms in said area of responsiblity (2 rooms).

The Element is ONE team, yet when peiricing the enemy is not possible. We strike with the left and right hand, crushing the enemies stronghold.

EL takes control of the Red Team, His XO takes charge of the Blue Team. The EL is in overrall command. They strike together, yet the strike sperately. A very fulid flow of command & control would be necessary and a great amount of pre-planning would adopt for speed.

With the kind of set up I have planned…. And 4 good [SAS] Operators, that map would be clear pretty dang quick and professionally. Each team would have a set of AoR, in the front Red has the Office, Blue the Hallway. In the server room they strike togther, yet Blue breaks off to clear the garage as Red secures the adjacent rooms. They regroup and strike at the top floor. One team to clear one side of it. Every one should operate under the idea that they have got to clear these sectors within approx 30 seconds.

Keep a fast, agressive pace, utilize pre-planned actions while commanders adopt to what can hit the fan. Good solid team work and a well developed Command & Control implementation.

Result? One Element, and a bunch of tangos that will never know what the heck hit them!

Today I’m getting back to work on my primary goal. Seeing to the completion of the SOP Rewrites/Updates.

GCHQ has the final say and will probably have plenty to say about it (if I get demoted to Recruit, you know why :-P). But before that, I want to get it set up for the SNCO’s to review.

So I’m screening through it section by section marking them as ‘ready for snco review’. Once we’re done, we can let the SNCO’s review things. When we’re done with what ever that tells us. Then we fix it up and pass the buck to GCHQ.

Thats where I’ll probably need a stiff drink or a room to pace in.

Also to day I want to start working on some changes to the Room Clearing sections. Notes about dealing with rooms where the idea of going opposite the dork infront of you won’t work. I remember seeing a Video of the IDF Training, and dealing with the same situation. And I’ve seen us pop into the same online often enough.

I’m happy enough if Potential Recruits break PoD/AoR selection down to going opposite the man infront of you. And if Recruits and young troopers develop what I call the “Four Corners Syndrome”. i.e. they think the PoD’s are getting to the four corners of the room. Which actually…. I think thats how I was trained as a Recruit. Its ok with me if thats how they start out, its better then a lot of other things I’ve seen.

But I expect them to evolve past it, learning concepts about the lines of fire, reading the room, improvising to the situation at hand. Selecting good PoD’s and not setting up a crossfire with friendlies with them being the ones getting shot e.t.c.

I really like the diagrams from the United States Army Field Manual 3-06.11, Chapter 3, Section III (Clearing), 3-22.

First mans entry

#1 Goes in

Second mans entry

#2 Goes in

Third mans entry

#3 Goes in

Fourth mans entry

#4 Goes in

And theres one that shows some good adoptions of its final Points of Domination.
Points of domination and sectors of fire

Thats basically how we do it in the [SAS] too. But thers some rooms where thats not a real possiblity. While I wouldn’t expect a Recruit to be perfect, I would expect Troopers to learn to adopt as they gain expirence. What Rasa and I have in mind, might be more suitable to LCpl / Cpl ‘s but I think it is important enough to include it within the SOP’s. Less it be forgotton and people end up bumping into each other in room clearing and wonder why the heck they shot each other by mistake 8=)

You know… I could be spending my Saturday gaming all day before I have to stop at work. But blasting Country Music and working on the SOP’s over lunch works fine by me for today. Keeps my mind occupided and curtails boredom even if its not chill’n on TG#1 & TG#3.

My family really makes it hard to concentrate on my work…..

I wish the local park had free Wifi and A/C Power…. lol Then I could work from there with my laptop.