FrostedCaramel

Letters from the Front

I know that this is jump-in but I was wondering if you could tell me the the differences between Infantry Platoon leader or Company Operations Sergeant? I am interested in being either role.

@The Spectre

I'm Navy and work with Marines so I only know Marine stuff so it may be slightly wrong.

Marine Infantry structure is as follows:
4 men make up a Fireteam.
3 Fireteams make up a Squad.
3 Squads make up a Platoon
3 Platoons make up a Company.

So a Platoon Leader is the Officer in charge of a single Platoon, normally they get orders from Company Command and desseminate it to their Squad leaders who desseminate it to Fireteam leaders that lead the actual men on the assault.

Company Operations Sergeant is the NCO in charge of the Company level stuff, so lots of Paperwork and likely advising the Company Commander on tactics and strategy in combat situations.

One is an Officer in charge of less people, one is an NCO "in charge" of more people.

Letters from the Front

@FrostedCaramel Ever came across U.S SOCOM?

@AlShayatin

Maybe just randomly on public servers, but the 15th MEU didn't do very much inter-unit cooperation. The logistics behind that were normally too great to get everything working smoothly from separate mod packs to different time zones and such.

@Gunther I would actually really enjoy to write the embedded reporter if possible, but it won't be the end of my interest if I can't.

Letters from the Front

@FrostedCaramel I would love to see or read more about your previous experience with this form of RP. I'm shooting from the hip here. :)

@Gunther

It was with an ArmA group that I used to play with for about four years. When we were doing the large "campaign" that took place every year with a whole backstory and stuff as to why the group was there and lore behind countries and stuff, one of the infantry players came up with an idea called oddly enough "Letters From the Front" as well as a news version of it that I can't remember the name of.

The group itself at the time was around 450 strong with about 360 of those being active players and after every mission that took place once a week a handful of that active number would jump into that thread and "write home". The news version was just as interesting, people posing as a Reuters embedded journalist and what not writing about the fighting in this or that area or the morale of troops as well as living conditions or even the day to day routines of a soldier.

Both were interesting to read and I wish I could get back on the site itself but they have migrated server hosts and the thread may have been lost, I'm not sure since I haven't been active with them for 2 years now.

Letters from the Front

I'm very interested, especially considering the casual nature of the posting requirements. This is something I've actually done before on a different site and it was quite interesting.

Attack on Titan: Somnium

Oh shit boys, Grant has like the...2nd or 3rd highest ODM skill, so finally I have a chance to make him look good.

@LetMeDoStuff

WEW LETS GET IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT

Attack on Titan: Somnium

<Snipped quote by Jinxer>

I have one question.

Who thought BREXIT was a good idea?

@LetMeDoStuff

Nobody did unless they are American Conservatives or the British equivalent.

Attack on Titan: Somnium

Lukas Greiser

Wall Rose, Trost District
Squad 9

Interacting: Tobias @Ambra

----------

Trost was cold this time of year, it didn't snow this far south, but it was cold nonetheless. Lukas rubbed his hands together as they walked to try and get some warmth into them, he dreaded the wind atop the wall that was going to suck the heat right from him. "Everyone's wearing enough to stay warm right? Fathi?" he asked, directing the question mainly toward the squads newest member. The kid was smart, raised inside Wall Sina he had been to schooling far better than the rest of the squad, but he was a bit slow to pick up on the simpler things in life. Like the fact it was going to be very cold on top of Wall Rose. Lukas cocked his head at Fathi as the boy seemed to pat himself over as if checking for something.

"All here Squad Leader." he said as he gave Lukas a smile that meant he wasn't lagging behind on this bit of common sense. Evi let out a small laugh, partially hidden by a fist, as Fathi succeeded at being a smart-ass and Martin simply shook his head before starting to talk to Evi about what they were going to do for breakfast.

Nodding his head, Lukas turned forward. They were close to the wall, just another minute or two and they would clear the closest buildings to it. After that it was about twenty meters of open space, mainly taken up by children playing and the odd stalls here and there, then Trost just ended against the wall.

He went over the plan for later, mentally visualizing the spot on the wall they would use as their start off point. It wasn't too far from the gate that someone would wonder exactly where they had disappeared off to, but it also wasn't so close that any of the other Garrison on duty would be able to hear them going about their business.

"You're late. I think I was about to freeze to death,"

The voice cut into Lukas's thoughts, somewhere along the lines he had lost track of just how close they were to the wall and ended up practically steps away from Tobias without even noticing. He gave a quick look to the top of the wall, trying to see if he could spot anymore sunlight and decided that they probably were a little bit late by the lack of it. "Probably right Tobias, are you getting tacked onto us for an unspecified amount of time again, or can we expect you to stay for good this time?" Lukas asked, the question was serious, Tobias had a track record of not playing nice in the squads he was assigned to and as such he was constantly shifted around the squads. Never staying too long in one squad for fear of some sort of fight breaking out once things got too heated. He had done a two week stint with Squad 9 a few months back, even seeming to get along with them a bit before being move, sure Evi and Tobias didn't exactly meld well together but they had yet to kill each other. Which Lukas figured was a good sign.

Not waiting for Tobias to answer Lukas shuffled onto the elevator on the side of the wall, the team piling in behind him. Evi gave Lukas a look as if asking whether this was a joke or not before sighing as Tobias loaded on board with them.

Attack on Titan: Somnium

Lukas Greiser

Garrison Headquarters, Trost District
Squad 9

----------

"I think it's a great idea." Fathi chimed in from across the room, waving a tool in the air as he spoke, "If anything I think it's the best idea anyone here has come up with in weeks." the young boy said as he worked on the fan of his maneuver gear, tinkering with a connection before spinning the fan with his hand and sighing at the result before beginning to tinker some more.

"I think it'll work out alright. I mean what's the worst that will happen? No one else will be on our path atop the wall, it's not like there are people on the other side to see us right?" came the voice of Martin, also working on his gear a table over from Fathi and situated right next to Evi. He paused his work as he looked up at Lukas, his brown eyes staring into Lukas as if they were staring deep into his soul, "I think we'll be fine." he shrugged before placing his focus back on the gear.

Lukas simply watched him work for a moment, the sounds of his squad keeping their maneuver gear in good order the only noise within the room. The soft tinging of metal delicately making contact and the barely audible rhythmic clicking of Evi's wire being manually drawn into it's housing. It was oddly serene, his squad in now total silence just working, the sound of their efforts the only thing audible.

Lukas peered down at his own gear in front of him, he had already prepped his fan section, and was working on the axles of the body now. Ensuring that his wire would move smoothly along their lines, that nothing would snag, that he wouldn't die performing a simple maneuver due to his lack of attention to his equipment. He grabbed a small cloth and wet it with some of the military supplied cleaner and protectant, gently spreading it across the right side of his gear right where the wire made a turn in order to be fired from his hip. The side seemed to be a bit more worn than his left side, it was no surprise to him, or anyone for that matter. Everyone in the squad had voiced their concerns that Lukas seemed to rely too heavily on his right side while using his gear in training, and he agreed. But there were some habits that were just a bit too hard to break. Though he'd work on it.

"So it's decided then, we do some training on our own while we're patrolling the wall." Lukas said as he fastened the screws on his gear to close the apparatus. He picked up the fan section and spun it around, ensuring he hadn't missed anything as he did.

"I think it's another terrible idea thought up by you idiots." Evi said as she stood. The red-headed woman turned around in her spot before she began to fasten the belts spread across her body. Taking care at every fastener to be sure they were just as she was used to. "It's a shit idea and we're all going to die horribly if we do it." she said as she leaned down to check the fasteners on her legs.

Martin stood up and smiled at Lukas, "What Evi means is that if we all die she'll hold us responsible, but she'll go through with it." he said as he scooped up Evi's assembled gear and began fastening it to the support on her lower back.

Evi turned her head over her right shoulder and scowled in their general direction as she spoke "What Martin said.".

"With Evi's blessing it's decided for sure. Tonight we'll do a bit of unscheduled training on the Wall Maria side of Rose." Lukas said as he stood to begin fastening his harness. He peered out the window, Trost stretching before his eyes until it abruptly ended at the edge of the wall. From the look of the sky and the shadows that the buildings were casting on Trost it was obvious that night was fast approaching and if they weren't quick they were going to be late to shift change. "Let's pick up the pace everyone, our shift is coming on quick, can't have Squad 9 late to duty." he said.

With that the squad kicked their action into high gear, Evi was fully equipped in less than three minutes and had turned around to help Martin don his gear. Fathi had made his way over to Lukas and was helping to connect Lukas's gear to his harness as well. In just under ten minutes the squad was ready to go, donning their green cloaks with the Garrisons roses on its back, they exited the headquarters and entered the frigid air of Trost district.

Attack on Titan: Somnium

Emil Burton

Northern Mountains Training Area

Interacting with: Olivia @Ambra, Tanner @Aquanthe, Reese @Solace, Gabriel @LordVoldemort, Connor @SheriffLlama

-----

Emil was surprised that anyone had even heard him yelling out to the group, and eve more so relieved that he wasn't going to need to be one of cadets to head back to look for Olivia as Connor and Reese instantly went about finding their lost comrade. He wasn't sure if he should of been happy of disgusted at the relief he felt at the two stepping up to find Olivia. He knew he could trust the two, that they'd find her and bring her back, but he was disgusted at the fact that he was happy someone else was willingly putting themselves at risk as he simply stood by, he simply called the problem and watched others fix it.

Nevertheless Olivia was quickly found, and she was even energetic enough to blow past the group and head straight for the cabins as they came into view. 'Finally' he had thought as the cabins appeared ahead of them, and he watched with a stupefied gaze as Olivia sprinted forward, the girl who had just been found lying in the snow unable to move was now running full sprint away from them, "It's amazing what a little bit of hope can do..." he said aloud as the group approached refuge.

They stopped outside, a few cadets milling about and chatting before Gabriel called out to all that were presents, declaring a snowball fight in celebration of their victorious hike and not loosing a single cadet on the way. Emil watched as a snowball sailed through the air and took Tanner by surprise. Stifling a laugh Emil turned back to the mountain, the blizzard still in view and slowly rolling away in the direction they had come. He lowered his head to the ground, wondering if everyone had truly made it. They had such an attentive group and yet they almost lost Olivia, there was no way that all the other cadets in the 104th had made it off so lucky. 'Simple odds say we lost a few.' he thought before sighing and turning for the cabins, determined to lay in a warm bunk and get away from the unraveling mess around him.

At least until he felt snow down his back and pants.

Emil yelled in surprise before turning to see Jade, his fellow midget; according to Schulz; betraying him and stabbing him in the back. The cold quickly moving from its entry point down, Emil simply jumped around in a circle as he tried to free the snow from his back and pants. He had lost sight of Jade somewhere during his hopping around and ended up on the ground shortly thereafter. As he lay in the snow, surrounded by the Cadets and their snowball fight he simply stared at the cloudy sky ignoring the melting snow in between his clothes and skin, quietly watching the clouds roll by as they always did before. He turned his head to his right, the soft crunching of the snow beneath his hood the only sound to alert him that he was moving at all. Before him were the majority of the cadets that he knew, engaged in a battle to the figurative death and having quite a blast with it too.

The very same Cadets that up until now had been forced into discipline, scared into submission, and trained to be obedient. Yet right now they were none of that. They were just the bunch of fourteen to seventeen year-olds that they really were. Just normal kids, not soldiers. If only for a brief moment.

'I could get used to this.' he thought as he watched the kids before him giggling and shouting at one another.

Attack on Titan: Somnium

Emil Burton

Northern Mountains Training Area

Interacting with: Olivia @Ambra, Tanner @Aquanthe, Reese @Solace, Gabriel @LordVoldemort, Connor @SheriffLlama

-----

Six months. Six months of non-stop training. Six months of sweat and pain that Emil never wanted to give in the first place. But for some reason he was still here, still trying to finish it. He wasn't sure why, he had a few ideas sure, maybe he was trying to prove to the officials that had sentenced him to this path that he was better than them. Worth more than they could ever have imagined. Maybe he was just trying to stick it out for those around him, he'd made good friends with a few of the cadets, Gabriel he even had known briefly during his time with the groups of orphans in Shiganshina although Gabriel had to remind Emil about that as Emil hadn't been very talkative when Gabriel was with them. Olivia had helped him the most, unlike the rest of the cadets Emil wasn't as fortunate in his circumstances, sure the orphanage taught them how to read and write, but it was a short teaching phase and after it was over there wasn't anymore help for the kids there. They were just expected to be able to read and write from then on.

Emil hadn't caught on during his short instruction at the orphanage and it had shown all his life. He had struggled to read simple words that children half his age could manage without batting an eye, and when it came to the in class learning that the cadets had went through in Titan Physiology and the parts that had to do with the gear itself had sent Emil's mind spinning. The words were too large, too complex for him to understand. For many of them he had never even heard the phrases spoken before, and it showed in his marks. He scored at the bottom of the class of cadets for the first few weeks of their in class instruction. Until Olivia seemed to notice, she helped him with his reading and writing skills, going over all the things that Emil didn't understand, couldn't piece together, or just simply had no clue where to begin. With her help Emil managed to rise from the very bottom of the class to somewhere around higher end of the bottom quarter of the class, and he was grateful for it.

But none of that seemed to really make up for the stupid shit they were going through now. 'Hike through the snow in the mountains.' he thought to himself bitterly as he trudged through the snow, his short stature hadn't helped and he had struggled for the first hour of the hike. That is until he noticed that the giant, Gabriel, was practically plowing him a path to walk in. Like a puppy following a path it's owner made through the snow, Emil had stuck behind Gabriel, walking the same path as the larger cadet and likely having the easiest time of the smaller cadets in his group.

His head cast down, following the path that Gabriel was unknowingly making for him, Emil simply struggled through the hike in silence watching the boots of the taller cadet in front of him as they slipped in and out of his view. He raised his head slightly as he heard Olivia calling to him, with a sigh he answered reluctantly to his nickname, "Yeah yeah I'm doing just fucking great." he grumbled in response. Not shortly after he cast his head back down to the snow did Connor pass him on the side, leaving him with the same parting words that Emil had left him during their run on the first day of training. Emil simply laughed at the comment as Connor made his way past him.

A few more minutes passed, and Emil was beginnning to figure that they couldn't be much farther now. They'd been at the hike for so long it only made sense that they were close. If they weren't close then it would probably spell disaster for more than a handful of the cadets that couldn't hack such an intense hike. As he thought about it he looked ahead of him, counting the group again, "Good six." he said to himself as he cast his head back at the ground to follow Gabriel's path, 'Six?... SIX?' he looked back up at the group and shouted ahead to get everyone's attention, "WE ARE MISSING SOMEONE!" he called with all his strength over the howling winds of the blizzard.