Announcements
Communications Center, United Task Force

As part of the phased introduction of the Tier system we introduced back in February we have now updated the ORBATs for official operations to allow anyone who has achieved the required Tier of any role to deploy to it without requesting a 1-UP when they don't exceed the previously required minimum rank.

This puts us into a slight hybrid state, where you can still over-ride the Tier requirement for official ORBATs IF you exceed a certain rank. For example, a Private First Class (PFC) can still deploy to a Anti-Tank Medium Role, even if they don't have the Tier, but a Private would need the Tier as they don't exceed the rank requirement.

This will lead us to a full switch over soon, where even if you have the rank, you will still require the Tier - which is the final goal, so please ensure you attend the FTXs for the roles you generally deploy to. We'll keep our finger on the pulse and make that change at a time that feels right.

Upgrade your own ORBAT role

One of the bonuses of this system is that you will be able to upgrade your own ORBAT role (within reason). We already allow people to request upgrading their ORBAT roles, so for example if your are T2 in Anti-vehicle, you can slot into a T1 (Light Anti-tank) role and then request that it be upgraded to a T2 or T3 role, i.e. Medium or Heavy.

A better example might be if you slot into a Rifleman role, is changing it to a more advanced Infantry role such as Grenadier.

Soon this will be automatic, allowing you to change loadouts or roles yourself (or via your Operational COC), based on your dossier, but for now you'll need to contact the Field Leader or your Operational chain of command.

Obviously, when this is released fully, it will depend on the role, we can't upgrade a T1 Aircrew role to T3 Fixed Wing, if it's not required. But for many roles, it's a nice thing to have. 

Future Balancing

Right now, we will monitor performance in roles but we do expect to balance roles or tiers in the future. For example we may feel that we would like Fireteam Leaders to have more experience, or Pilots to have less, and so on and so forth. Which may lead us to move roles to higher Tiers in order to achieve this - but as above, will be done with consideration at the right time. And with a particular avoidance to re-tiering the roles rather than the tiers.

I hope you enjoy a bit more freedom and reward for having practiced in any given area, as a result of this update.
If you'd like to discuss this, Training, SOP you can do so in #j6-training-and-sop on Discord

Good evening all,

Following a record turnout for Operation Diffidentia 6, I wanted to provide a general update on various areas with a bunch of really exciting developments that the UNISTAFF team, NCOs and contributors have been working on, with a focus on the new and proprietary UNITAF Integrated Mission Framework we recently completed.

Recruits and Promotions

We've had a influx of new recruits recently (welcome to you all) and this is a trend that we hope to continue at pace over the coming months - while this is probably in light of the global lockdown, the completion of the IMF succeeds a major part of our roadmap https://unitedtaskforce.net/roadmap which means we look to begin UNITAFs public launch in the very near future, which will see us pushing UNITAF into the eyes of the wider Arma community, as well as engaging with the BIS Community Team and Streamers etc. This will afford us more regular and sizeable operations.

Integrated Mission Framework (IMF)

I recently completed a 8 month long ambition of integrating our website here, with the game along with some help from some of our contributing friends - which now allows us to interact with the game from and using our website accounts. This already implements features such as:

• Injecting loadouts when you spawn/deploy based on the position you select here on UTFN
• Dynamically selecting your spawn position based on the ORBAT
• Setting rank patches and uniforms according to mission parameters
• Doing all this in real time, allowing us to change things on the fly

We're working on developing currently

• Buddy team support for ORBATs
• Automatic radio frequency setup based on ORBATs
• Automatic team assignment for STHUD/BFT based on ORBATs
• Loadout customisation via ORBATs
• Arsenal expansion based on Rank/Tier
• Additional Loadouts based on Rank/Tier

A note on the Lobby/Spawn Area

Please be reminded, that the servers using the IMF will be onlined at T-30 to allow Zeus, NCO's and Recruits to connect for the purposes of Planning, Set-up and testing. We ask all on the ORBAT to be joined by the mission start time, in time for the briefing at +5 minutes. You will not get access to any equipment before this time, so if you do join, please do not mess around in the spawn building, it is there to provide a smoother start to all missions.

Video Demo of the early release of the IMF

The framework will be published to our contributors for use across Practice, Casual and Official Operations, and afford us a unique angle not covered by any other platform that I'm aware of. This will speed up, massively load in and setup times for missions, utilising data we have already through UTFN.

Default Loadouts & Arsenals

With the IMF using the loadouts, we will be soon publishing the contents of all default loadouts, as well as that of the arsenals, so from the ORBAT you can see the default contents of loadouts. As mentioned above, this will also be customisable, and furthermore allow us to deploy as multiple factions, using the same system. As always, feedback for the Loadouts can be send either through the COC or via #j6-training-and-sop on Discord.

Upcoming Events

With something scheduled for almost every day this week, there's plenty going on, and we're due to deploy on Operation Pavise, East Africa from Sunday.

See you in the field!

Afternoon all,

This week we've rolled out some great quality of life features and I wanted to show you very briefly one that might help you when managing your mods for UNITAF, as well as save a lot of time for our administrators and mission developers.

I've kept this tied up in a short 4 minute video, which you can find below.

As always, if you'd like to discuss this, or have any questions feel free to put them here or in the assocciated contribution channel which is #j8-mods

This already happened, people living in the past.

Evening all,

Just a reminder that Daylight saving time (DST) kicks in from Sunday, 29 March which means the clocks are going forward by one hour for the UK. Other parts of the world have already done so.

For our UK friends that means we will be on British Summer Time (BST) one hour ahead of UNITAF time which will continue running on (UTC) until October. Sunday Operations will be at 1700hrs UTC or 1800hrs BST in the United Kingdom.

Irespective of where you are in the world, UTFN always shows operation times in your local time zone, so don't worry. Any questions, please fire them at your nearest NCO or Staff.

That'll be all.

As you may be aware from the Array of casual operations recently using TFAR (Beta!!!), we are comitted to testing it now in a official capacity, and the first planned operation with TFAR will be on Sunday March 8th.

Please refer to the correct mod on the workshop:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=894678801

Note that post install, you need to manually transfer the Teamspeak Plugin from the Mod Directory to the Teamspeak Plugins, it is not automatic.

If you need help setting this up, please do use #help on discord.

We will issue further information prior to Sunday 8th, as well as preparing our ORBATs, and mission frameworks to support TFAR.

In the last few moments, I pushed the biggest update to our website since launch, the bulk of which is outlined below, but many other things are included too.

Over the last month or so I've been fairly busy working away at the bulk contents of this announcement, but what I will cover in this update from UNISTAFF is the overhaul to the training/practice system we have released today and why we have done it.

Training/Practice Overhaul Background

This really is quite a substantial change to a system we invested heavily into, but it became apparent in late January that it was too complicated to understand and also overly convoluted. Further to making it simpler to understand, we also needed to double back on one of the things UNITAF is about, which is not doing things for the sake of doing them, and having a reason behind everything we do.

To that end, we have completely replaced the training checksystem, qualifications and schools system that has been implemented until now.

Part of the feedback on the old system was that it was too focused on getting people to pass, rather than actually or genuinely focusing on getting better at a role, or practicing some procedure.

What we've done

The old training schools view has been replaced with the new roles based view, it uses the same 11 role categories that the ORBAT and Roles directory uses, and so from this view, you can now see / link to all the roles, your progression in these areas, and to the SOP

Clicking on SOP on any one practice area will take you to the SOP view, instead of having SOP per role, SOP is now grouped entirely by practice area, and is generally (hopefully) easier to navigate, link to and to understand.

This is designed to act as a reference point, should you wish to read up on SOP, but it's not required. I'll come on to that in a moment.

Let's talk about progression

I mentioned before we've sacked the qualifications system, we've actually replaced it with something that was already there, the Tier system, before the Tiers worked on Positions only, and now we've moved them to work on Areas alone. In simple terms, to 'Tier Up' in an area, it takes a combination of hours playing in that area, and then hours practicing that area, the more you have, the higher the tier, the higher the Tier, the better roles you unlock (for official ORBATs anyway)

The roles directory splits roles into Tiers, as you can see here.

As a general rule, the higher tier you are in an area, the more specialist roles you can take, you'll also get to work in smaller detachments and take bigger guns, basically.

How do I know / see how I'm progressing?

Great question, you can do it two ways, either from the main practice view, and clicking on Progression on the area you want to look at, or via a new section of the Dossier called 'Practice Record' - which is neat, because it means you can spy on everyone else's progress too.

Here is my progress in each area - clicking on the progress button will take us over to detail on that area.

So below, we can see each relevant Tier, anything it requires, unlocks and your progress in it, as I said before we want people to get experience and practice in areas, and so the entire system is designed to reward time spend doing and time spend practicing.You can also see a log of where those hours have come from, be that from Operations or indeed Practice Operations.

You may notice that some areas have multiple roles that contribute to them, so for example, an hour spent in support weapons or anti-vehicle, automatically gives you an hour in basic infantry as well. Likewise, an hour in Field Leadership gives you an hour in Communications too. This is because they are so closely matched in experience (but not visa-versa)

Practice Operations / FTX / Field Training Exercises

Up till now, we've done 3 FTX's, and none for the last 8 months, an operation basically designed to get better at or practice something that would be difficult to do in a official operation, where we're focusing on objectives. We will commit to hosting 2 per month from now on, one will be specifically for the NCOs, which we've already hosted one recently, and also for people interested in becoming an NCO, and once per month also, which will be for all to attend.

A practice op format is basically that the first 45 minutes covers procedures, practicing of something specific without generally getting shot at, or rather in a rinse/repeat format. It will be followed by the normal duration of mission content, but instead the mission is designed specifically around the thing being practiced. In short, we're focusing on getting better, rather than on the objective. I'll talk a lot more about FTX's soon, but I hope you all attend them, we will do our utmost to make them as enjoyable as operations, and in actually doing them - operations will get better too.

Practice operations have a SOP / Training Order rather than an OPORD, it'll list out the Areas being Practiced and also the specific SOP being covered, useful so you can find out if it's of use to you.

Who can run FTX's?

FTX's are no different to any other operation, so long as a NCO is present, anyone can run an FTX, be it with 2 people or 20. You just need an NCO to set it up for you. Then it's just a case of picking the subjects, deciding how you’re going to practice them and then off you go. If you want to practice with a friend, that's fine too - this is very much a self-learning system, where we practice together, using the SOP as a reference.

A final note on SOP

I have spent the last month or so making sure ALL SOP for all roles, areas and possible scenarios is published, and that process is now complete, with very few exceptions (Zeus etc) we've also added more roles to the roles directory. 

Future Plans for Ranks/Promotions and Arsenals

While not finalised, coming very soon we will be able to confirm a few future plans that link into this update;

1. Your combo of op/hours and practice/hours will derive your promotion through ranks
2. Your rank, as it improves will (very soon) i.e. within weeks give you a better arsenal, 7.62 weapons, extra gear will be available if you are progressing the system

It's taken a lot of work to get to this point, I hope it's been worth the investment, and I want to thank everyone who contributed their concerns with the old system, but also who have helped design, test and implement the new one. We will of course keep tweaking to feedback, but for now - I hope to see you in a FTX soon.

While it's only been 2 days since I last issued a UNISTAFF update, we've been so busy I'm issuing another one to mention a some new shiney things.

New ORBAT Roles and in-game positions directory

In my recent update about ORBAT Locking (Phase 1) I said we would be releasing a new area to the Operations Center called the roles directory this was released yesterday and I hope it proves really useful to both new and existing members alike. Below I'll point out a few features of it, and then mention some future plans we have for it too.

You can find it via the Operations Menu first and foremost

Or in other handy places, like next to ORBAT positions or ORBAT skill areas, just click on them, and it'll take you to the role directory, and then land you on the role you clicked on

We also put it in other handy places you might see role names, like for example - on your past deployments page in your dossier.

The purpose of the Role Directory is to list every active role we can place on an ORBAT, grouped by skill area, so you can navigate the areas using the menu on the right hand side.

What's really great though, is we've written up a short bio for every role, so you can read up on the roles your interested in, and it'll really help to de-mystify some roles, and help you decide what roles you'd like to pursue (or avoid!) Some other things you'll find are:

• How many hours UNITAF members have spent in the role
• Who the most experienced member of UNITAF in that role is (by operation hours)
• What the minimum rank requirement for ORBAT locking is
• A list of any training qualifications related or required by that role
• A fancy picture (although we kind of rushed these out, so please send me some new ones if you can better any of the role images - let's have some competition!)

In the future the plan is to add loadouts to the roles directory, so you can see all the default loadouts we use, right here on UTFN - which we hope will help us improve those, too.

Obviously part of getting this out is heavily tied in with ORBAT Locking, we need to have a directory so you can look up the requirements for all the roles, right now - Qualification Requirements are not forced, but rank is. These aren't finalised, and we will re-balance the requirements according to feedback.

New Specialist Ranks

The eagle eyed among you will notice that some of the new roles in the roles directory require some new ranks, namely:

• Specialist 3rd Class (SP3)
• Specialist 2nd Class (SP2)
• Specialist 1st Class (SP1)
• Master Specialist (MSP)

You can find out more about these on the Ranks and Structure page by scrolling down to them, there are some basic descriptions of what we intend to use them for, the details will be finalised soon. I was conscious that we only had 2-3 ranks for non-leaders, and I wanted to bring some in so that in the long term, we have a more visible way of representing experience for non-leaders, and rewarding those for embarking on the future (coming soon) advanced trainings.

Do read about them on the link above, I will note though that all these new ranks irrespective of grade, are still out-ranked by Corporals in respect to the chain of command.

Chain of Command Update

Most of you are familiar with the way in which the COC works in UNITAF, if not you can head over to the COC intro to read up on it. Anyway, we realised that since most members are either inactive or active the rank distribution was slightly off, so we have re-issued the guidance on the number of subs each leader can take in the COC, Corporals are now 5-6 versus 6-10, and we've opened up a little breathing room to bring a new Corporal on board - which we need to do as we sometimes struggle for team leaders, so the NCOs are fielding candidates as we speak - so if your interested, speak to yours!

Promotions and Transfers

This week I also asked Sgt Kevin to step into a Cpl role - which was nonpunitive - I am conscious that Squad Leaders are few and far between, in doing so I promoted Cpl SoapyTarantula to Sergeant, to reflect both acitivity but the most likely candidates for these roles. Soapy has also Field Lead a few operations over the last few months, and I'm sure will continue to do so as we grow.

Activity / Inactivity Changes

Finally, we have updated the COC Charts and Roster Lists, by removing a bunch of members who have not played within 60 days, which is the upper limit for Reserves, this is mostly automatic, but I think all you should know is;

• Regular (active inside 30 days) we currently have 28
• Reserves (inside 30-60 days) we have 3
• Inactive (outside 60 days) - we've added a discord role for this, and (Inactive members are removed from the COC

That's all for now.

This week is the first time we have employed ORBAT Locking, this communication will explain simply what it is, why it's here and how it effects you.

If you'd like to discuss, the contribtion channel is #j6-training-and-sop on discord

What is ORBAT Locking?

When viewing a Order of Battle (ORBAT) which lists all the availible positions, UNITAF members are able to select which roles they wish to deploy to, ORBAT Locking refers to the restriction of the access to certain roles based on two primary restrictions; Rank and Training, this is now live and you may see some different functionality when looking at an ORBAT.

Rank Locking

The below image shows new functionality, whereby the role of Squad Leader requires the rank of Sgt (as shown in orange) as a minimum rank. In yellow the button reflects this requirement and disables your ability to deploy to this role. hovering over this button will display an explainantion. 

Rank locking above the rank of Private is currently only applied to Field Leadership Roles, recruits can access most fireteam roles, some - such as Combat Engineers, Grenadiers etc require you to be at least a Private.

We have added a 'Roles' directory to the operations center, where you'll be able to view the requirements of all roles outside of an ORBAT. It's accessable via Operations -> Roles or you can click here to open it

IETC (Initial Entry Training Course) Locking

When you make the rank of Private, it is assumed that you understand the core policies and SOP of UNITAF, but sometimes new SOP may be added to IETC, or you may be marked down for demonstrating a lack of understanding of basic SOP, in this case, you'll loose access to any role which requires any rank other than Recruit, as seen below, this shows my deployment screen based on my IETC having some red-checks on it, restricting me to some basic fireteam roles.

Note hovering over the button will explain the issue to me, clicking the button will take me right to my IETC profile, so I can identify the issue, speaking to an instructor or my COC will easily fix this.

We have added a 'Roles' directory to the operations center, where you'll be able to view the requirements of all roles outside of an ORBAT. It's accessable via Operations -> Roles or you can click here to open it

Future Training Locks

In the future, beyond the initial Phase 1 roll-out of ORBAT locking, we will add further requirements to advanced roles, expect to see this tie in with the training system for medics, pilots and special forces units, including marksmen, leaders, snipers and so on. We will monitor the effects of Phase 1, and keep everyone up to date on Phase 2 roll-outs.

Why ORBAT Locking

The primary purpose of ORBAT locking is to improve gameplay by ensuring that any person in a role is at least competant at it, it ensures brand new members can't automatically allocate critical mission roles and prioritises and rewards those whom have trained in a role to be able to access it before those who haven't. It's principle role is to promote and encourage the use of the training system, and the employment of SOP. In the future it will also be used to give a larger variety of weapons and gear to those who have progressed the training system too.

"One-upping" - Playing Roles you're locked out of

One-upping is a process of requesting to take a role you're not qualified for by contacting the leader (FL) of the operation and asking them. One-upping is encouraged task-force wide, it allows you to practice roles. Future fireteam leaders are encouraged to "One-up" in official operations, you can "one-up" into any role at any time by asking the ops FL.

The FL is not required to approve your "one-up", but as always, we will do our best to accomodate requests, the best way though is to work towards meeting the requirements of any role, which will mean you'll always have access to it.

Finally, One-upping allows us to make sure when new members are trying roles for the first time, that we can strategically place experienced members around them.

If you'd like to discuss, the contribtion channel is #j6-training-and-sop on discord

ACE Medical

Extensive testing has been underway over the last week or so and we've settled on what we feel to be a suitable group of settings bearing in mind the ACE changes that came with the last update. Two points to note:

• Morphine takes time to kick in now, don't overdose on it, and be sure to communicate with medical staff if you've injected yourself, so you can avoid overdosing, if you overdose on Morphine you will have to be MEDIVAC'd from the AO.
• To ensure we can prevent death (to force us to deal with casualties rather than respawns) it's possible for a casualty to get a large number of wounds (50) which would require the same number of bandages, for this reason, if a patient is unresponsive with a large number of wounds (20-25+) then the senior medic present can initiate a medical evacuation with the command element, the patient will be lifted by land or air to a field hospital where they will be dealt with and then re-inserted.
• The use of a Personal Aid Kit now requires a Doctor (Squad Medic) and a medical vehicle or a medical facility.

Mods & Modpack

• Diwako's ACE Ragdolling has been removed as of today, as it's no longer supported by ACE in light of the medical re-write and the developer has indicated that there are no plans to support it
• Simplex Support Services has been added, this will allow field leadership to utilise support and force multiplication units from the ACE interaction menu, and open up a wider variety of mission options.
• PPS (Player Persistant Statistics) following a further test we've removed PPS, but we have plans to assist the developer with making changes, so expect to see it back soon.

Default Loadout / Roles

• Corrected default uniform pattern
• Added 2 Variations of the AR Role, M249 Long and M249 Short versions
• Added 3 Variations of the Grenadier Role, M4, M16 and HK416 versions
• Added the HAT, Heavy Anti-Tank Role
• Removed old ACE Splints and Items
• Removed some MRE/Canteen Items
• Fixed some cases where roles wouldn't spawn a GPS

The Default Arsenal

• Added more variations of default assault rifles
• Added a larger / better variety of backpacks
• Added more variations of head protection
• Various other miscellaneous items have been added
• Removed the ability to set a patch, rank patches will be automatically applied (or Red Cross if your a medic)

It's been a little while since my last task-force wide update, so below are a bunch of important announcements rolled in. Please note I'll also likely not post updates textually via discord, rather just link to them here, since I am able to track who has read and acknowledged them.

Please ensure you take note of them, and indicate you have understood by clicking the Acknowledge button above. I would also appreciate it if you asked others to do so too, as I know people don't often read them, but there is important information below.

Operations, Mods Updates and Scheduling

We're pleased with the current progress, both operation turnout and ratings are generally ok or good, that's ok but not Excellent. We're working on some of the weaker points raised in many of your after action reports, and hope to see this reflected in them during weeks to come.

We are adding @CUP Terrains and @CUP Interiors to the presets for Operation Hammer from this Sunday December 8th onward. Please note this is a 3GB update for most. I have already added the Preset over on the Operations Center, so I suggest heading over there to import it to your launcher ASAP - if you need any help, use the #help channel on Discord.

This is primarly because we're changing Operation Hammer over to Bystrica, but also to give us better varitey for upcoming operations. Hammer will likely run on this stretch until mid-January at the earliest, especially now with the map change, but as always we'll gauge from after action reports how people feel about the current maps.

We will continue with weekly operations throughout the holidays, and plan to host a Christmas special on the 22nd, see https://unitedtaskforce.net/communications/topic/24 for suggestions, this will be confirmed soon, but will likely be a mix of COOP and PVP/Competative with a Christmas Twist. 

The New Members List

We've added a new members page over at https://unitedtaskforce.net/roster/list we hope this keeps you all better connected via Steam and also to promote members Twitch and Youtube content, we will be rolling out via UTFN a feature to hold twitch and youtube content right here on our site, very soon. 

I'd also like to encourage anyone that can, to stream or record sessions, and send these and any screenshots into Discord, as it will ultimately be very useful to us in the long run.

The second thing you'll notice, is we're showing who owns what DLC on this page, this is something you can personally edit by going to your account at the top right dropdown -> Account. Adding this is very helpful as it means we can plan our next campaign, which the running theory is will require Apex DLC.

After Action Reports

You'll likely know that we've added the MVP feature, and while no data from this will be released right now, we're going to monitor it and as and when we will make announcements, this is tied into the new Awards and Citations page on your dossier.

Please can I ask that you ensure that when you make AAR Comments, you indicate what we can do to get a better score from you. This is what they exist for and we've noted that at times this is not the case.

Website Avatars

We'd like everyone to have a custom avatar on the website, so if you don't happen to have one yet, just send it over to me on Discord, or if your not sure, or want some help taking one, just let us know as we're happy to leave the servers open after operations to facilitate this.

Recruitment and Staff and Contributions to UNITAF

I've been speaking to many recently about the current staff system and we're going to be shaking it up considerbly over the Chrismas period and beyond, we recognise that the model of a few people doing a lot won't work in the long run and we want to make it clearer to everyone how you can help UNITAF grow and prosper, by just doing your little bit, or as much as you want to support what we do.

Details about this will go out soon, but suffice to say we want as many people involved in recruitment, mission making, mission ideas and so on as possible, and our job really is to make it as easy and time short as we can, anybody recruiting just one person a month, designing or Zeusing one mission a month, or just coming up with ideas, at scale - we believe will be the key to growth into 2020.

That said, even before I get a chance to write up these changes, if you'd like to help, just drop me a message and I'd be happy to have a chat with you about it.

Finally, there have been literally hundreds of changes to the website here over the last month, and I can't detail them all here - you can view all the changes over on Change Log 4 on the UTFN Changelog here: https://unitedtaskforce.net/communications/topic/13#r37

Change List 4
02-12-2019

Changed/Improved

• Changed the ORBAT, OPORD and Preset buttons on the Upcoming Operations Center to be disabled if a preset, opord or orbat is not yet available
• A new version of the past operations page, which groups operations by campaign and shows campaign statistics
• New UTFN logo on all pages
• Customised the home page dependant on if the user was logged in or not, and customised the CTA buttons
• Made the communications (comms) page simplier by removing many of the unused categories
• Automated the change of user status between Regular and Reserve

Fixed

• An error in the way AAR ratings have been rounded, they are now more accurate
• A bug whereby a user could vote themselves as MVP
• An issue where the OPORD was hard coded for Operation Torrent

Added

• An hours in role and Tier indicator to upcoming ORBATs
• A LOA feature whereby a user can be set away to a certain date
• Global hours now shows on the website home page
• Finished version of the Awards and Citations module on user profiles, is now live
• Mod Preset button to Operations center, which downloads a Arma 3 Launcher Preset file
• Social Icons to User Dossiers (for Steam / Youtube and Twitch
• A new Full Member list page, shows a lot of information about members
• Added DLC's and Social accounts to the User Account page, user can add which DLC's they own, and social account links
• The ability to vote an MVP on operational AARs

It's all go this week, and about time that we provided an general update on things-going-on, what with the 4th HQ Staff meeting taking place last night, it seemed to me the ideal time to do so.

ORBATs
We have discussed and made some changes to 'standard ORBATs' used for missions, and have made some changes to specifically this Sunday's mission, to ensure all elements have a maximum of 2 radio channels either 1 down or lateral and one up.

Vehicle Crewman / Specialised Roles
In response to feedback and suggestions, dedicated vehicle crewman roles have been and will be used on ORBATs when required by said operation, we encourage you to try these roles and please do feedback to @Operations SNCOIC (S3) via the normal methods as your try this role, so we can tweak it's usage. The vehicle crews will act for now as an element under the same command as the Fires Support Group, which in turn will be under the command of the Platoon Leader. We've allowed specification of Driver/Gunner positions on the ORBAT, these elements while mobile with often be slightly back from the Infantry Frontline, but provide vital fire support and/or movement and mobility.

Training Sessions
We are looking into some more practical based non-mandatory training sessions to rinse/repeat operational scenarios in-game without using Operations as the space to do so, @Training Staff (S7) will advise in more detail in due course, but essentially the aim is to provide a more practical way to absorb unit SOP, or indeed improve ones skills. This is in addition to the other methods in place, such as the training checks and challenges.

Mod Changes
There have been some mod removals and additions, the appropriate staff team will announce the details ASAP. One notable addition is the ability to CPR a casualty (chance based) who is in cardiac arrest back to life via ACE Medical, and with a higher chance when using Defib Pads, we hope this will add another option for troops in frontline scenarios. Details to follow.

Database Driven Ops
As mentioned in the last ops briefing, we made a bit of a breakthrough in development this week, we now have the technical capability to insert game data to and from the website to the operations in real time, we intend to use this to persist map markers, vehicles, assets and managing these things using the website, and hopefully, to allow full management of loadouts on the website, and have them injected as you join the server on operations. We're excited to see where this goes, and how it will assist us going forward to do some pretty unique things.

I'm sure you'll agree there are plenty of exciting things on the radar, there are a number of other important announcements coming soon - to which the staff teams are currently working on and I / they will look forward to sharing them in due course.

Finally, as I did during the meeting, I'd like to re-iterate my thanks to all the staff and staff IC's for the outstanding work they are doing, and I'm sure you will all agree that it's very much appreciated, please do thank them, and of course should you like to get stuck in and help, contact the relevant staff head via the Structure -> Staff page here on UTFN, to find out how you can get stuck in.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this general update, please do comment directly here or via #general-chat on Discord.

Change List 3
28-08-2019

Added / New Features

• Avatars to Dossier Profiles
• Training Records to Dossier Profiles
• Advanced Training System
• Training Videos
• Training Challenges
• Training Requests
• Support for Training Schools
• Changed Instructor Lists on Qualifications to be Per School
• Discord Role and Nickname Management through UTFN, supporting Rank Changes
• Ability to 'Hide Green' checks on Qualification Check View
• UNITAF Roadmap Functionality
• Database Editors for Staff Teams
• Discord S3 Notifications on ORBAT Slotting Event
• 'Not Attending' View for NCOs to see who's not attending an ORBAT
• Statistics blocks for Deployments added to Dossier Views
• Logistics / Assets Finance System is now live, updating a midnight daily
• Mission Objectives injected automatically onto Opords
• Custom scrollbars for webkit browsers
• Chain of Command view for Personnel List

Changed / Improved

• Operation Status on Ops Center is now dynamic
• Homepage / Ops Center shows 'Live Now' when an operation is ongoing
• On training overviews member lists, changed score to % completed
• Added Tooltips to Roadmap items to make it clearer they are clickable
• Design of Assets/Stores View

Bugs Fixes

• AAR Ratings have been fixed / corrected, as they were calculated incorrectly
• Mobile Design of SOP Popups
• Double Scrollbar on Mobile devices

Removed

• Personnel List view

1. "Light up FOB" option can be used at any time near an FOB, but please only use it for your own sanity when an FOB is not already lit. Local effect only.
2. DAGOR variants added
3. M1045 added (Tow Humvee)
4. Changed some of the Medical/Engineer scripts
5. Updated CBA for some Boxloader and other functions
6. Modified 'flip vehicle' script so that people with a toolkit should be able to use it as well.
7. Updated Arsenal whitelist to include new Privates/Recruits (have not modified for other promotions, sorry).
8. Flatbed from Contact DLC added. Can load (small) vehicles, and the Huron containers with Boxloader mod.
9. Boxloader Bulldozer added. Can delete fauna, fences, sidewalks, and other junk.
10. Boxloader pallets added including ones that will work with ACE logistics if the ACE integration mod for boxloader is installed. Boxloader Regular pallets will fit in more vehicles as they are smaller.

BIG EXCITING CHANGES

Well, it's about time we took action on the form we sent out a few weeks ago. After some boring testing and researching we have enabled verified signatures on the server.

This means we now have control of what client side mods are used while in mission. This allows us to monitor and give everyone the best possible server performance. Please see below for all mods that are currently allowed on the server during mission. Please note the reason why some mods have not been allowed client side is due to either conflicts with other mods, outdated or are not needed.

You will notice that in the Arma 3 Launcher mods will be listed as numbers. This is just a way around the data limit steam have in place for the launcher, this is the only way around this when running so many mods and keys. In short, you can ignore this as it will enable the mods needed and not change anything locally on your system. Then if you scroll down you will see the optional mods that you can enable. 

Current base mods NEEDED;

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1796922002

Current OPTIONAL mods which are supported and allowed;

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1788445307

If we have missed your most favourite client side mod, please feel free to request here. We will look in to your request and test. https://forms.gle/v5eWUzWyV9Hnt5SQ8

Regards - Cpl Ben

New Changelog, version 019:

1. The FOB objects (The Cargo HQ) is now lit with lights.
Notes: Dismantling an FOB will not delete the lights at this point in time (unless you disconnect/reconnect). Also, ACE does not detect that they are proper light sources, so you will still need to use a flashlight near it at night.

2. "Make me a..." Scripts are removed.
All players have medic and engineer abilities. Allows players to switch roles faster without having to worry about another setting.

3. RHS USAF 0.49 Addtions.
Integrated some of the new vehicles/weapons from the 0.49 update. Includes:
Stryker (M2)
M1220 Crows Variants
M1238A1 M2
Mk17 (Scar) variants Incl ammo types and silencer
M249 Light

4. KP loadouts should work now.

5. Build radius issue fixed (should not crush you now).

6. Older RHS USAF items added:
Some foregrips
HIMARS

Altis and Tanoa versions have been updated to .019

Here are the changes:

1. Hunger/Thirst removed


2. Ranks Private and above are now a part of the Arsenal whitelist.


3. Arsenal Whitelist expanded to include more throw/put objects, as well as other objects such as Kestral, Agtrag.


4. Night and Silent scripts updated to include all Whitelisted weapons (if available).


5. Humanitarian missions have been polished up a bit.


6. Build circle around objects has been shrunk considerably.


7. More UNITAF have been added to logistic/commander whitelist.

Change List 2
03-08-2019

• Changed all countdown timers to refer to the users local timezone as detected by UTFN
• Changed all times to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) and changed the UNITAF clock to UTC
• All times are now UTC and/or the users local timezone
• Added a 'Hide replies' toggle button to the Comms Center
• Adding spacings to the Comms area blocks
• Added database support for in-game statistics
• Added Discord Auth support, will be later used for login/role management
• Added Training System Support for Multiple Schools, ready for adding new Quals

Here are the big additions for a (working) ver 18:

Humanitarian Missions Depending on how low your reputation is, one of two Humanitarian Missions will spawn.

1. Refugees - Heal all of the refugees. Each refugee you heal will give you a certain amount of rep points.
2. Supply Truck - Deliver a truck to a city. Completing mission will give you 20 rep points. Each is on a hidden timer for 20 minutes. Once the timer is up, it checks to see if it was completed. Arsenal: Greatly expanded with more gear, weapons, etc.
    

The humanitarian missions are pretty simple because I wanted to get them working and all the ideas I had to make them pretty haven't worked out well so far. But I am continuing to improve. For instance, the Refugee mission spawns everyone in a tent, but sometimes they spawn in a mass of people.

My next version will actually build bed rolls for them to spawn on so they aren't clumped together.

Please note: @ACE_Ragdoll is being removed from the UNITAF Official Modpack due to a suspected conflict causing players not to be able to see/hear one another when death occurs/respawn.

We will add mods to this collection as and when changes are made, please favourite this collection and click 'subscribe to all'

We will make announcements as and when, you just need to open it and click 'subscribe to all' each time a change is made.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1796922002

This method is only so you can download mods ahead of operations, to avoid creating pre-sets you can still join the server from the launcher as normal.

UTFN (United Task Force Network) is the name for the software built and maintained for UNITAF at https://unitedtaskforce.net

The long term goal for UTFN is an immersive platform to extend the persistancy of in-game campaigns and operations by providing a platform to interact with and change the course of operations using UTFN. The platform also supports the growth and managment of UNITAF by way of automation and data management, supporting NCOs, Officers and staff with vital information.

Planned Features (Not yet implemented)

• Rank / Medals View showing requirements/prerequisites and showing the users whom have attained it
  
  
• Roles/Preffered Roles system showing requirements/prerequisites of roles both in and out of game, show the recruitment status of each role and allow transfer requests between roles
  
  
• Statistics system, to track in game events such as bullet fired, kills, casualties, ACE Medical, Vehicle interaction to provide stats per user such as most used weapons, ammo, # kills / deaths, average engagement distance, furtherst kill etc etc. Stats will be averaged over units for AAR purposes.
  
  
• Full Logistics simulation allowing S4 staff to manage the purchase, deployment of and maintenance of UNITAF assets. Finance system supports this, with political factors implicating the income.
  
  
• Qualification/Progression based ORBATs and UTFN controlled gear management: To control the availibility of in-game equipment based on UTFN databases, so more advanced / qualified members of UNITAF have access to equipment they are trained or positioned to use, promoting progression to newer members.
  
  

Below is a link to a playlist of Youtube Videos explaining certain features of UTFN, be aware that as development speed is quite high, the videos may show older interations of features.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRoNyQXQSKt1Z8sFHiboGmJIcLil84E4s

This page will be updated periodically as new ideas are confirmed either by the development team or from the UTFN suggestions page. Below will follow updates and changelogs.

We have a server up now, which will remain up for the next week, until the first Operation this Sunday.

Please be sure to follow the below guide, to setup everything as needed prior to this operation, as always we are on hand in #help if you need any assistance.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10RoopFKH4CodcFSQPdiAv0xdNVqwUK5pOfrsMs3uaJw/edit?usp=sharing

This post contains Day 1 information about what's happening from today (June 1) leading up to our first deployment on June 16. 

• We're launching www.unitedtaskforce.net to our pre-launch interest list members, to allow you to register accounts
• We're using this time to kill some bugs and get some feedback
• There are a lot of features which we have disabled during this launch period
• Features will be enabled on www.unitedtaskforce.net between June 1 and June 16

What we want you to do

1. Register on www.unitedtaskforce.net and follow the instructions to complete your application in full (it's imporant that you fill out all the sections, including the sections relating to your preferred roles)
   
   
2. Let us know when complete in #general-chat on Discord to get your account processed fully. Please include @Personnel Staff (S1) in your message so they don't miss it.
   
   
3. Download the Mods by following this guide (CLICK HERE) we will have some testing servers up next week.
   
   
4. As you know, you must confirm your slots for upcoming missions as early as possible. To slot yourself: Log in to unitedtaskforce.net > click on Operations, selecting one of the two confirmed mission dates that you can make and going to ORBAT > Descide your desired slot > Click Deploy
   
   

Feel free to ask any questions or report any issues directly here, or via Discord. We'll be providing futher updates in due course. If you have any issues at all, please use the #help channel on discord.

Please click Acknowledged at the top of this page once you have completed all the steps.