Situation Reports / Headquarters
TFCO MAJOR SITREP/13 - August 21

Major James

Chairman
UNITAF

Welcome to this month's SITREP, If this is your first SITREP, welcome to UNITAF - I hope you are enjoying your time here thus far.

The SITREP is the primary communication detailing roadmap progression and changes to SOP - it contains key updates from across the senior chain of command.

Unless otherwise stated, any update provided in this SITREP is effective immediately.

Operation Brimstone

Since our last SITREP, we've seen operations wind down on Operation Brimstone, we've got one final large deployment underway next week on Sunday 29 August, before the campaign medal review will take place. With over 50 deployments, Brimstone has been one of the largest campaigns in UNITAF history. We'll produce some stats specific to the campaign around that time. It goes without saying a massive thank you to all the leaders and GMs from across Brimstone.
 

Operation Sapphire

With our primary COIN campaign winding down, it leaves some space for a mid-weight COIN deployment somewhere between Operation Overture and Operation Typhoon. We're pleased to announce Operation Sapphire which will commence in the coming weeks.

Operation Overture

We've had some great feedback from Operation Overture, alikened to Operation Herrick, a slow paced and roleplay heavy campaign which provides something unique among our campaigns. I'd highly reccommend giving it a try should you get the chance. Well done to Pvt JaSmAn and co for bringing it to life. It has highlighted the need for some robust roleplay SOP and Practices which we're working on right now.
 

Operation Parabole

Operation Parabole continues to address small special forces teamwork based deployments but is likely to move between different special forces teams and terrains in the future.
 

Operation Typhoon / Operation Eiche

Both Typhoon and Eiche are in their early stages, with large areas of operation providing plenty of challenge going forward, as our two primary Conventional War campaigns, expect to see more of these on Sundays as we deploy larger ORBATs as required.

Operation Giantsbane / Operation Panther / Operation Enduring Freedom

Giantsbane and Panther will continue to be run on an ad-hoc basis as our two primary historicals. Panther has moved to the PF DLC going forward, and Giantsbane may see some small mod changes to provide more options in future operations. Enduring Freedom is open to new GMs as a prooving ground for small to platoon scale counter insurgency operations.

Communications SOP

Following a 3 month major review of this combat area, a full re-write of the SOP has been published. 

concerns the following Communications procedures, updated to Version 3;
 

• (P10-37) Basics: Intro & Brevity 
• (P10-156) Basics: Phonetics
• (P10-157) Basics: Callsigns 
• (P10-39) Basics: Prowords
• (P10-158) Basics: Radios
• (P10-159) Basics: Radio networks 
• (P10-44) Procedure: Joining a network 
• (P10-46) Procedure: Radio checks 
• (P10-47) Procedure: Unresponsive callsigns 
• (P10-48) Procedure: Message types 
• (P10-160) Procedure: Brevity, Clarity and Confirmation 
• (P10-40) Reports: CONTACT 
• (P10-41) Reports: SITREP 
• (P10-42) Reports: ACE 
• (P10-43) Reports: CASREP 
   

The update has removed a number of prowords and simplified some procedures, it also provides better clarity on items which were considered best practice but were not written into SOP. I recommend reading the full SOP, but I've outlined some key differences below;

• Re-ordered SOPs into a more logical and flowing order
• Emphasised the basic principles
• Mandated the use of OUT to control transactional communications on transactional nets
• Removed HOW COPY in favor of ACKNOWLEDGE
• Removed READBACK CORRECT in favor of CORRECT
• Removed COPY/SOLID COPY/LIMA CHARLIE (and all variations of COPY) in favor of ROGER
• Emphasised the difference between SAY AGAIN and REPEAT
• Added a section on callsigns
• Added a section on radio networks
• Explained differences between transactional communications and non-transactional
• Added a section on joining a network
• Provided numerous examples for transmissions
• Added SIGHTING back to Contact Report Alerts

Accidental use of old SOP will not be punished, some habits take time to adapt to and what we will do is help to improve adoption of new SOP through correction and practices which have already been scheduled, and within a number of months we expect to have everyone familiar with this new SOP.

You may have noticed that the Fire Control and Artillery section of this SOP has not been updated, the review is still underway, and we expect within the next month to have it updated also.

You must read this as it is effective immediately and is a core component of operations.
https://unitedtaskforce.net/training/sop/communication

Leadership SOP Review and Platoon Standards Pilot

You may have noticed in the last month or so some testing of some different types and scales of ORBATs on some of our larger deployments. As part of a wider review of Leadership SOP, due to start in September, an official pilot scheme has been set up to test 3 ORBATs using a 4 Squad Platoon, with 9 man squad structure (1+4+4) instead of our usual 2 Squad platoon with 14 man squad structure (2+6+6). 

This scheme runs for the next 3 weeks, starting on Sunday 22 August (Eiche) which uses a 4 Squad 1+4+4 structure. This pilot scheme will gather feedback through AARs for review during a September review. A document outlining the pilot scheme and theory behind the testing phase can be found below. The structure of our platoons has a profound impact on the way we operate, and so we're interested in hearing feedback through your AARs of how you find the smaller squad sizes. Leaders of operations in the pilot will be provided with temporary SOP in order to better correct operating distances better in line with this layout.

Our SOP outside of this scheme remains 2+6+6 until further notice, more information will be forthcoming in TAFFCAST and in September following the pilot scheme.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vRdl2gQ0fQ129CskfqqwUMj0ijHNO-4un01qrRtPYsvULEIQYvUTLzs5V2vY_Ykmj7qWX_PAGzSsplm/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000

From today, the following changes apply to all default CBA settings files;

• Removed forced custom colours setting for DUI Squad Radar
   

The current versions of this file can be found here (for developers)

• With AI unconciousness: https://docs.unitedtaskforce.net/P38
• Without AI unconciousness: http://docs.unitedtaskforce.net/P31

The up-to-date mod requests and under-testing list can be found here https://unitedtaskforce.net/operations/mods/pending if you have made a request and it has not been mentioned below, check this page for an update on the request status if it has not been approved it will be listed in the Denied/Dissapproval List section with a reason code.

• Boeing Konyo APPROVED FOR TESTING
• Faces of War APPROVED
• Iron Front ArmA 3 APPROVED FOR TESTING
• Faces of War Compatibility patch FIX APPROVED
• Faces of War - TFAR (BETA) Compatibility APPROVED
• A3 Thermal Improvement APPROVED FOR TESTING
• Tembelan Island APPROVED
• G.O.S Al Rayak APPROVED
• Sugar Lake APPROVED FOR TESTING
• Salmon Buttstroke APPROVED FOR TESTING
• MS_IFF_Strobe DECLINED
• AH-64D Apache Longbow - Official Project DECLINED
• TacControl DECLINED
• Arma 3 Aegis - Police DECLINED
• Arma 3 Aegis DECLINED
• Arma 3 Atlas DECLINED

Roadmap Changes

In the last SITREP we shared the Roadmap for 2022, and of the 5 now items 3 of them are partially completed in this SITREP, with all items expected to be complete by the next SITREP later this month, or early September.

Campaign Center Progress

We've got some really exciting progression for the Campaign Center this month.

WARNO Buttons

A new 'WARNO' button appears in place of 'Awaiting OPORD' in the case the OPORD is not yer released, so it's easier to access the known information about a deployment.

Operation / Campaign Links

With more modules of the Campaign Center being onlined we've made it easier to access the CC from Operations specific to that campaign, this image seen on the sidebar of an Eiche deployment, when clicked will take you to the CC for that Operation.

Campaign Managers and Deputy Campaign Managers

Campaigns now have set CM and DCM positions, those listed as such will be able to manage features of the campaign center such as the management of intel, objectives, persons of interest etc. Some of those features are released with this SITREP and some will follow in the coming weeks. Features are enabled on a Campaign by Campaign basis, so you may see that they are still de-activated for some campaigns, but over the coming months most all campaigns will have most features set up.

Campaign OPORDs

I'd imagine joining UNITAF 40 deployments into a Campaign could be confusing, so the orginal Campaign OPORD is a key part of the CC for any campaign, outlining why were are there and what our overall objective for the campaign is. 

Tactical Maps integration

We use tactical maps for our operation planning, but we also use them for Campaign Progression, the publically facing maps are now integrated into the CC so you can use the CC to view a campaigns progression from a map perspective, pan around, zoom in and out to see where our bases, enemy movements and objectives are. The maps can be opened externally in Plan OPs and CM/DCMs also have the option to open the PlanOps editor directly from this screen.

We're also going to add this feature to Operations too! Keep an eye out for it.

Intelligence Feeds

Probably one of the most exciting an dynamic changes to the CC is the new Intelligence feed. This allows CM/DCMs to add small intel droplets to the CC inbetween OPORDs to develop the story of a campaign. Intel might be picked up by players during deployments and then posted to the CC Intel Feed. Text, images and video can all be posted to the Intelligence feeds. We're really excited to see how our campaign staff use these features.

People of Interest and other features

There are a tonne of planned modules for the CC underway, and in the next few weeks a few more features will be made available;

• Mugshot grid of people of interest
• Dossier profiles for POI's with roleplay guidance
• Campaign stats
• Campaign deployment records

These features detailed above are live right now, but you might not see them right away as they are enabled on a campaign by campaign basis. So if you are are campaign manager contact the Commanding Officer for feature onlining for your campaign. 

DLC Requirements Integration

I apologies for this one being a tad late, as it was supposed to land just before the Panther operation, to which we've moved to the PF DLC. We've added full support to the Operations Center for DLC requirements for Operations and Deployments. We make regular use of the Apex DLX, and this feature is fully linked to your account settings for DLC.

Updated ORGCOC Requirements

concerns existing policy P15-127 Policy: Chain of Command, updated to Version 2

This policy now changes the minimum activity requirements for ORGCOC members to a new formula.
https://unitedtaskforce.net/training/sop/administration/chain-of-command

Well, we are ever so close to 30K hours it's a little bit crazy. Hitting 500 deployments earlier this month was a real milestone. One of my focuses with the ORGCOC is navigating real life without a global pandemic, which has been all we've known with UNITAF in the last 2 Years. It's worth saying we fully expect the mid-lockdown 8.8 deployments per person per month to halve, and the differing activity trends we're seeing right now reflect that for sure.

That said, we're still very stable in our 3 key metrics, recruiting an retention targets are a roster of 120-130 and our active force mainains around 100 which is steady.

On a good note, Overall Mission Ratings improved substantially in July.

The number of deployments will fluctuate as people navigate the changes over summer, but is still very respectible. We're also not reporting issues with slot access, with a large number of deployments in this period locking with vacant slots. Server performance ratings and communication take small dents.

I was really pleased to approve the following promotions after the last month. Two new Corporals and a host of new Recriots to welcome.

From latest to greatest - Congratulations all.

Flaggable AARs

It's now possible for FL/IOs to flag AARs which they feel need to be addressed for any reason, to protect the identity of the person who made the AAR, flagging of an AAR will automatically raise a PAR to that persons COC so it can be reviewed by the ORGCOC.

If an AAR is already flagged, it will be indicated

Saving of OPORDs and Previewing them

When saving OPORDs, previously the page would refresh automatically, this is now a manual process, fill it out and then submit.

It is now also possible to preview OPORDs before they are published.

Misc

• T1298 - Started logging how long someone spends in any ORBAT slot, especially if the slot is cancelled
• T1280 - Updated some design elements of Training SOP, including better table design
• T1274 - Bugfix for L slot editors after 24 hours
• T1269 - Stopped the system from copying clientside mods when copying from old ORBATs
• T1295 - Corrected the ordering of SOP on training Orders to match the SOP area
• T1294 - Fixed pre-release pings for practices

Summary

Before I wrap up this SITREP just a massive thanks to the members of STG-11 for their work on the new Communications SOP, and to Sgt Scape (STG-9) for some great work on many of the features on this SITREP. There are a chunk of other updates which didn't quite make it onto SITREP 13, but with another due in a couple of weeks I look forward to reporting some even more exciting developments.

See you in the field soon.