Unit-wide Announcements / Headquarters
OC/SITREP May 11, 2025 - Operations Command

In my first Operations Command SITREP, first of all join me in thanking Zuka for his dedication and work. I have metaphorically — definitely not physically — big shoes to fill. He rejoins the enlisted after over four years in the ORGCOC, but his contributions to OC and the wider operations landscape will echo for a while.

Also welcome CPL Dungworth back into the fold. His previous work in the olden days of STG-2 will be valuable perspective and expertise in J3 alongside SSG Kerry’s continued excellence.

Likewise I’m happy that SGT Wombat is wearing another hat and to have him with J9! Plenty of US-timed deployments to take his deft touch these days — with more to come.

 

Direction — J3 Edition

OC’s immediate direction does not necessarily steer adrift from what we’ve been doing so far.

We are jumping into a review and refit cycle, or plainly: figure out what works, what doesn’t, how to fix it.

It’s a cycle because this won’t be a one-off. Crucially, we want this to be something that involves you, the players and contributors, more directly.

A first priority is to ensure that there is consistent feedback and mentoring of operation teams. A lot of this will come through policy already in place, while some will be experimental: we see a real need to not be afraid here, as the quality and quantity of deployments directly shape UNITAF liveliness.

Expect advertisements as to how you can contribute and improve.

We strongly believe in the concept of Never Enough Ops. Let’s be cheesy and call it NEO (or not).

Under NEO (let’s see if it sticks), we’re not just looking to make rubbish. Rather, we’re looking at how to make the mission-making process easier for you, the onboarding process clearer and of course how to keep it healthy. We mustn’t underestimate the effort that goes into mission-making and the stresses that come with this.

On this note, we want you to talk to us about the issues you have and the insights you got from making and playing missions. There is a Discord thread for established and rated deployment teams, that is: field leaders and game masters, to share knowledge and matchmake already. Do you think you should be in there? Leave us a message in #j3-operations.

We want to further tack away from each deployment as its own isolated bubble for each deployment team to navigate every time. We should provide resources and a shoulder to cry on while connecting the dots from ratings and feedback. That thread is one of the first steps there.

J3 is discussing bringing back a concept that Chelmy (ret.) and Jasman (ret.) tried with Dark Tide: scripted missions with the ability, and intent, to be re-run — without much GM intervention. They were difficult and complex, so great for score-keeping based on objectives completed, casualties suffered and more.

If you were around then, did you play and enjoy them? Here, too, let us know your thoughts in #j3-operations!

 

Campaigns

We are sunsetting Operation Hetman and Operation Black Flag.

OP Hetman concluded after 30 deployments that stand out with excellent lore and grit during a European escalation. We followed the Polish Armed Forces and learned valuable lessons: artillery is not just ambient noise, actions have consequences and difficulty can be fun.

Thanks to the campaign team:

• SSG Vyqe (CM)
• Maj Korean Falcon (SFL)
• SPC Zuka (DCM)
• 2LT Aiedail (DFL)
• SFC Kevin (ACM)
• SSG Johnson (AFL)

 

OP Black Flag retired alongside Fowlds after seven deployments.

Thanks to the team:

• SPC Fowlds (CM)
• SFC mbaker5114 (SFL)
• SSG Kerry (DCM)
• SSG Hrusi (DFL)

 

We are also introducing two new campaigns!

Operation Silent Dawn will focus on modern and near-future deployments involving electronic warfare, drones and a decisions-driven storyline. 

As tensions between NATO-aligned Chernarus and CSAT threaten to escalate in the Green Sea region, the Republic of Beketov is on the brink of becoming the next epicentre of war. 

The players directly influence the course of the campaign through conventional warfare and diverse encounters with terrorist and insurgent tactics.

Expect a thrilling expansion to our US time zone slots with lots of opportunity for European catering.

The team consists of:

• Pvt Stormaple (CM)
• SFC mbaker5114 (SFL)
• SP3 TeddyOregeno (DCM)
• MSP Mattjamco (ACM, AFL)
• SP3 Ellpuk (DFL)

 

Congratulations to Pvt Stormaple for concluding his first CDEV. Best of luck to his team!

Operation Blackstone is based upon the lengthy drug war within Columbia. In an alternate reality, the US government has decided to intervene by deploying special forces to the region. 

Expect a real mixture of missions. From gung-ho, heavy action missions to smaller, stealthy missions. 

Players will directly affect every aspect of this campaign, with the direction of each individual operation directly influenced by their own actions.

We will also be relying heavily on air assets throughout this campaign, which will be an exciting challenge for those who like to deploy in those roles.  

Good luck to the Blackstone team, which is:

• Cpl Dungworth (CM)
• MSP Mattjamco (SFL)
• Maj Korean Falcon (DCM)
• MSG Crossy (DFL)

 

Campaign Activity Requirement

As a final note for campaigns: we are starting to enforce an activity requirement.

Please note that all campaigns will come under review following a 60-day period of inactivity.

In other words, campaigns must see at least one deployment every 60 days to keep their special campaign privileges, which are:

• Reserved terrains
• Campaign Centre entry
• Intel portal
• Scheduling preference

… and of course all future benefits distinct from theatres.

If you struggle with this requirement for any reason at all, please do not hesitate to reach out to J3 in your campaign threads or personally.

 

Operations

Operations forecasting and scheduling are a complex topic. It often involves nudging teams and individual people for missions.

At the start of the year, we had a long lapse in Sunday ops, our stand-out regular day. That’s the sort of thing J3/OC is looking to counter first of all. Hence NEO!

As such, we want to figure out what’s keeping deployment teams from scheduling well in advance. 

Our target from now on is to be scheduling 2 weeks ahead.

Of course this is tough to follow through out of nowhere. To get us started, we’re looking to help deployment teams develop a few habits over time, such as:

• The Bigger, the Earlier: you want as many eyes on your big ops as possible, so give people a chance to plan for it.
• Novel: new and untested things may need longer J3/OC/CC discussion, so give us the time without rushing it through.

 

J3 is also discussing introducing a second regular operations day in addition to Sundays. We think scheduling and releasing ops in advance helps players shape their real-life plans and should increase activity reliability. Whether or not this becomes a fixed second day or just a good habit to encourage, there is a strong argument for advance scheduling.

Campaign teams who wish to establish a fixed rotation, e.g., every third Sunday, can reach out to SSG Kerry and CPL Dungworth. That would go a long way to ensuring consistent ops!

Lastly, we used to actively investigate deployments that scored under 8.5 Overall. This is coming back.

As alluded to in the direction OC wants to take, we want to connect experiences from successes as well as mistakes. Did you try a new thing that didn’t work out? Let’s see how to develop it so it could.

We understand certain circumstances are simply out of your control, and the resulting scores hurt doubly.

In these cases, J3 is there for you just the same to vent — or fortify for the future.

Thank you.

Second Lieutenant SkullCollector
Operations Officer
UNITAF

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