User:Laui.M

Starter Platoon (D/DEVCOM)
Staff
CO	MAJ Mark Mann
XO	CPT Noah Manser
COS
RSO
ROO
AG
AG
RFO
CSM
IMO
SGM
1SG
NCO
Aide to Starter Platoon (D/DEVCOM)
Aide to the XO
Aide to the SecOps
IC
2IC
Lead	SGT Phillip Sparrow (Star Citizen)
Lead
Lead
Lead
PL
PSG
Hierarchy
Superior Unit	Development Command
Reporting Units
Esprit De Corps
Unit Motto

Mission

The Starter Platoon exists to provide an environment in which members can grow newly adopted games, known as Areas of Operation (AOs), into full-sized Companies. It is a sub-unit level organization of Development Command (DEVCOM), 7th Cavalry Regiment. It is administratively known as D/DEVCOM, an abbreviation used in MILPACS and for all official operations and documentation. The Starter Platoon currently supports Star Citizen.

Mission Statement

The Starter Platoon's purpose is to incubate prospective Areas of Operation. It recruits and trains their first members, establishes their leadership and standard operating procedures, and prepares them to graduate as independent Companies once they have proven viable through regular operations.

Order of Battle

The Starter Platoon serves as a starting point for new games that may be adopted into the 7th Cavalry Regiment as a Company. Each platoon slot under Development Command Headquarters houses a single prospective Area of Operation.

Development Command — Starter Platoon Slots

Element	Current Area of Operation	Status
Headquarters	Development Command Headquarters	Permanent
1st Platoon	—	Vacant
2nd Platoon	Star Citizen	Active
3rd Platoon	—	Vacant
4th Platoon	—	Vacant

Traditions and History

Starter Platoons have existed in some form since the founding of the 7th Cavalry Gaming Regiment. The concept began in 1st Battalion (1-7) roughly between 2011 and 2019, before 2nd Battalion (2-7) was stood up for the second time. Starters then mainly found a home in 2-7 from 2019 until the tail end of 2021, when the Auxiliary Combat Detachment (ACD) was stood up. They fell under the ACD umbrella until the establishment of Development Command (DEVCOM), which formally separated the starters from the Detachment. The D/DEVCOM designation comes from repurposing the deactivated D/ACD on the forums and associated media such as Discord.

Prior to the establishment of ACD, starter platoons usually existed in the Echo or Foxtrot Companies of 1st or 2nd Battalion. 1st Battalion became ARMA-exclusive in mid-2019, and 2nd Battalion became Hell Let Loose-exclusive with the standing down of Squad (the second time) in early 2021. After ACD was stood up, a number of duplicate naming conventions appeared; for example, Escape From Tarkov was variously recorded as A/ACD, D/EFT/HHC, and EFT/SP.

Leadership and Oversight

The way Starter Platoons were led evolved over time. In the early Auxiliary Combat Detachment era (2021–2022), a new Area of Operation typically formed as a numbered Starter Platoon slot and operated for its first weeks under Headquarters and Future Concepts Center (FCC) oversight, with an internal Section Leader or Platoon Leader appointed only at or near the point the unit stood up as a Company. Escape From Tarkov, Hell Let Loose (Console), and Battlefield 2042 all followed this pattern, with their leadership structures crystallizing around their stand-up rather than at founding. It was also common in this era for senior personnel to take voluntary reductions in rank to help establish a prospective Area of Operation, as seen with the officers who founded the second Star Citizen platoon and the War of Rights effort.

With the establishment of Development Command, each Area of Operation was instead assigned a dedicated DEVCOM Lead, a full-time billet responsible for the platoon from its founding through to graduation. Battlefield 6, Foxhole, Grey Zone Warfare, and the third Star Citizen platoon were each owned by a DEVCOM Lead in this manner. Some Areas of Operation saw more than one DEVCOM Lead over their lifespan; Battlefield 6, for example, was led by Major Enzo Argentini before First Lieutenant Marcel Laui took over and brought it to graduation.

The internal structure of starter platoons also changed over this period. Through 2025, a starter platoon held no internal leadership billets of its own. Because the DEVCOM Lead was an external billet, the troopers assigned to a platoon were simply troopers. This changed at the start of 2026, around the time Marcel Laui handed off the Star Citizen platoon. From that point, leadership billets were introduced within starter platoons, allowing troopers to hold Section Leader and Assistant Section Leader roles, and a platoon could even consolidate into a temporary starter company ahead of graduation, as Foxhole did.

Areas of Operation

The following Areas of Operation have been incubated by the Starter Platoon program. Roster figures are reconstructed from MILPACS service records (see the appendix for methodology). Peak Active is the largest number of troopers concurrently assigned at one time; Total Members is the distinct troopers ever assigned; Reached PVT+ is the distinct troopers who graduated Boot Camp (rank of Private, E-2, or higher) during or after their service in the platoon.

Starter Platoon Areas of Operation (most recent first)

Game	Designation	Era	Active	Platoon Lead	Peak Active	Total Members	Reached PVT+	Outcome
Star Citizen (3rd)	2/D/DEVCOM	DEVCOM	2025 – Present	SGT Tyler Washock	26	53	51	Active
Foxhole	4/D/DEVCOM	DEVCOM	23OCT25 – 22MAY26	SGT Ryder Leifried	50	73	68	Graduated to D/ACD
Battlefield 6	3/D/DEVCOM	DEVCOM	08MAY25 – 31JAN26	2LT Marcel Laui	37	46	42	Graduated to C/ACD
Grey Zone Warfare	1/D/DEVCOM	DEVCOM	29JUN25 – 15NOV25	2LT Albert Keif	10	15	14	Disbanded
ARMA Reforger (Console)	C/C/1-7	ACD	2025	1LT Alexander Grgich	—	—	—	Disbanded
Counter-Strike 2	CS2 Start-Up	ACD	05MAR24 – 01JUN24	SPC Nazmul Ahsan (de facto)	9	11	10	Disbanded
IL-2 Sturmovik	A/1/A/ACD	ACD	22APR24 – 19JUL24	SSG Edward Dallas (coordinator)	6	6	5	Disbanded
War of Rights	War of Rights/SP/ACD	ACD	07AUG24 – 29SEP24	CPL Alexander Grgich (operations)	8	8	8	Disbanded
Microsoft Flight Simulator	(3-7)	3-7	2024	WO1 Mike Jay	—	—	—	Stood up under 3-7 (DCS)
Star Wars RPG	SWRPG/SP/ACD	ACD	04DEC23 – 06JUL24	CPL Maxwell Lombardi	18	26	26	Disbanded
Star Citizen (2nd)	Star Citizen/SP/ACD	ACD	01AUG23 – 26JUL24	CPL Donald Moore-Allen	21	36	35	Disbanded
Call of Duty (MW2)	MW2/SP/ACD	ACD	30NOV22 – 03FEB23	SGT Spencer Harvey (HQ)	11	11	11	Disbanded
Ready or Not	4/SP/ACD → D/ACD	ACD	14FEB22 – 14JUN23	2LT Jonathan Teddy	18	29	27	Graduated to D/ACD
Battlefield 2042	BF Starter Platoon	ACD	25OCT21 – 01JUL22	2LT Albert Keif	—	—	—	Disbanded
Hell Let Loose (Console)	B/SP/ACD → B/ACD	ACD	25OCT21 – 08FEB22	1LT Travis Cree (first leader; founding B/ACD CO)	5	5	5	Stood up as B/ACD (active)
Escape From Tarkov	A/B/C/D/EFT/HHC	ACD	15JUN21 – 02APR22	SSG Joshua Murdoc	15	17	17	Disbanded

Area of Operation Histories

The following sections detail the founding, growth, and outcome of each Area of Operation incubated by the Starter Platoon program, drawing on MILPACS service records and forum announcements. Roster figures are as defined in the Areas of Operation table above.

Star Citizen (3rd)

The third Star Citizen starter platoon was researched within Development Command's Future Concepts Center, with the research led primarily by then-Sergeant Marcel Laui (an FCC analyst from 24FEB25) and assisted by Specialist Tristan Murdock. Captain Dan Maco was an external advisor to the effort. When research was complete, Laui transferred into Star Citizen as its DEVCOM Lead on 04JUN25, and the platoon stood up under Development Command as 2/D/DEVCOM. Laui led the Area of Operation until his internal reassignment to Battlefield 6 on 03JAN26; the Development Command 1IC, Major Mark Mann, covered Star Citizen in the interim until Sergeant Tyler Washock was assigned DEVCOM Lead on 14MAR26 after serving within the platoon. The Area of Operation grew to 53 distinct members over its life, peaking at 26 concurrently active, with 51 reaching the rank of Private or higher. It remains the Starter Platoon's current Area of Operation.

Foxhole

Second Lieutenant Marcel Laui proposed Foxhole to Development Command's Future Concepts Center on 11JUN25 and supervised the initial research effort. Corporal Andrew Mack served as primary research analyst, and Corporal Wellington Groves was brought in by Development Command as an external subject-matter expert. After Headquarters approved it on 23OCT25, Foxhole stood up as the starter platoon 4/D/DEVCOM, with Sergeant Ryder Leifried assigned as DEVCOM Lead on 24OCT25.

As the Area of Operation grew, it expanded into a second starter platoon at 3/D/DEVCOM, a designation that had become available after Battlefield 6 graduated to form Charlie Company. By the Command Staff Call of 09MAY26, the two platoons together held forty-five troopers. On 27APR26 the platoons consolidated into the D/DEVCOM Starter Company, with Captain Christopher John Donavan as Company Commander, First Lieutenant Vince Smith as Executive Officer, and First Sergeant Ryder Leifried continuing as DEVCOM Lead. The Area of Operation officially graduated from Development Command to the Auxiliary Combat Detachment as Delta Company (D/ACD) on 22MAY26 with fifty-one personnel. Across its life Foxhole drew seventy-three distinct members, peaking at fifty concurrently active.

Battlefield 6

Battlefield 6 was researched within Development Command's Future Concepts Center through 2025, with contributing FCC analysts including Specialist Tristan Murdock, Sergeant Andrew Mack, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Barry Cade. The starter platoon stood up as 3/D/DEVCOM in early October 2025 under DEVCOM Lead Major Enzo Argentini, who oversaw it from its stand-up until his departure to a company command on 27NOV25. First Lieutenant Marcel Laui then ran both Star Citizen and Battlefield 6 through the interim before reassigning fully to Battlefield 6 on 03JAN26, where he served as DEVCOM Lead and brought the Area of Operation to graduation. Battlefield 6 drew forty-six distinct members, peaking at thirty-seven concurrently active. It graduated from Development Command to the Auxiliary Combat Detachment as Charlie Company (C/ACD) on 31JAN26.

Grey Zone Warfare

Grey Zone Warfare stood up as the starter platoon 1/D/DEVCOM under Development Command, active from 29JUN25 to 15NOV25 with Second Lieutenant Albert Keif as DEVCOM Lead. The platoon drew fifteen distinct members, peaking at ten concurrently active, with fourteen reaching the rank of Private or higher. It did not reach the threshold to graduate and was disbanded in November 2025.

ARMA Reforger (Console)

ARMA Reforger was incubated as a starter platoon under the Auxiliary Combat Detachment in its console form, before cross-platform play between the console and PC editions was available. It was headed by First Lieutenant Alexander Grgich, who first oversaw it as a DEVCOM Lead (assigned 13FEB25) and later transferred into the platoon directly as its Platoon Leader, taking a reduction in rank to do so, with First Sergeant Wiseman as Platoon Sergeant. The platoon was recorded under the C/C/1-7 designation, having been organized within 1st Battalion. The ARMA Reforger PC edition followed a separate path, going directly into 1st Battalion as the replacement for ARMA 3 rather than through the Starter Platoon program.

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 ran as a starter platoon under the Auxiliary Combat Detachment from 05MAR24 to 01JUN24, recorded in MILPACS as "CS2 Start-Up." Specialist Nazmul Ahsan was the first trooper assigned and acted as the platoon's de facto lead, though he held no formal leadership billet. The platoon drew eleven distinct members, peaking at nine concurrently active, and was disbanded after roughly three months.

IL-2 Sturmovik

IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles was advertised through an interest thread on 06APR24 and announced on 17APR24, coordinated by Staff Sergeant Edward Dallas under the Future Concepts Center. The cohort was recorded under the A/1/A/ACD designation, with its first members assigned from 22APR24. It remained small, with six distinct members and no recorded leadership billet, and did not continue past mid-2024. The A/1/A/ACD designation was later reused for the Digital Combat Simulator fixed-wing pilot unit, distinct from the IL-2 cohort.

War of Rights

War of Rights was a short-lived effort active under the Auxiliary Combat Detachment from 07AUG24 to 29SEP24, recorded as War of Rights/SP/ACD. It drew eight members, several of whom were senior personnel who took voluntary reductions in rank to participate. No formal Section Leader or Platoon Leader billet was recorded; Corporal Alexander Grgich ran the platoon's weekly operations as its de facto lead. Major Mark Mann was the last member, transferred out to SPD Coordinator when the platoon stood down.

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator was incubated through the Starter Platoon program and stood up within 3rd Battalion, the home of the Digital Combat Simulator, under the leadership of Warrant Officer 1 Mike Jay. Rather than forming a standalone company, it was folded into the existing 3-7 structure alongside the battalion's other flight-simulation operations.

Star Wars RPG

Star Wars RPG ran under the Auxiliary Combat Detachment from 04DEC23 to 06JUL24, recorded as SWRPG/SP/ACD. Corporal Maxwell Lombardi was its founding Section Leader, from 22JAN24 to 15JUN24. The platoon drew twenty-six distinct members, peaking at eighteen concurrently active. It did not reach graduation and was disbanded in mid-2024.

Star Citizen (2nd)

The second Star Citizen starter platoon ran from 01AUG23 to 26JUL24 under the Auxiliary Combat Detachment, recorded as Star Citizen/SP/ACD. It was founded by senior officers who took voluntary reductions in rank to establish it: First Lieutenant Donald Moore-Allen, formerly Platoon Leader of 1/C/ACD, came in as a Corporal to serve as the platoon's lead, alongside Captain Dan Maco. Section Leaders rotated through its life, including Beetle, Sandman, Centeno, Zamora, and Carpenter. The platoon drew thirty-six distinct members, peaking at twenty-one concurrently active, before disbanding in mid-2024. A third Star Citizen starter platoon was later established under Development Command.

Call of Duty (MW2)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 ran under the Auxiliary Combat Detachment from 30NOV22 to 03FEB23, recorded as MW2/SP/ACD. Following its interest thread, the platoon organized into three gameplay sections (Multiplayer, Warzone, and DMZ) matching the standard Multiplayer, Warzone 2.0, and DMZ modes it set out to support. Its headquarters element comprised Sergeant Spencer Harvey, Bassett, and Scotts, with Harvey as the senior figure. The platoon drew eleven distinct members and was disbanded after roughly two months.

Ready or Not

Ready or Not was originally stood up as the starter platoon 4/SP/ACD on 14FEB22 under the Auxiliary Combat Detachment. The starter phase operated under Headquarters oversight without a recorded internal leadership billet. On 31OCT22 it formally stood up as Delta Company (D/ACD), with Second Lieutenant Lorenzo Bonder appointed its first Platoon Leader and Staff Sergeant William Perry as Platoon Sergeant. Second Lieutenant Jonathan Teddy, who began as a Section Leader at stand-up, succeeded Bonder as Platoon Leader on 03MAR23 and held the role until the unit stood down on 14JUN23. Ready or Not drew twenty-nine distinct members, peaking at eighteen concurrently active.

Battlefield 2042

Battlefield 2042 was an early Auxiliary Combat Detachment starter platoon, active from 25OCT21 to 01JUL22. Its leadership was recorded under the "BF Starter Platoon" label, with Second Lieutenant Albert Keif as Section Leader (assigned 14FEB22) and Captain Landini as Assistant Section Leader. The rank-and-file troopers were recorded under generic numbered Starter Platoon slots shared across multiple games of the era, so a roster size cannot be cleanly attributed to Battlefield 2042 from MILPACS. The platoon was disbanded in mid-2022.

Hell Let Loose (Console)

The Hell Let Loose (Console) starter platoon formed in late October 2021 under the Auxiliary Combat Detachment, recorded under the B/SP/ACD designation (the "2" and "B" platoon designations were used interchangeably in this era). Its earliest weeks ran under Headquarters oversight with no internal leadership billet; the first leadership appointment was Travis Cree as Assistant Section Leader on 03DEC21. Cree rose to Platoon Sergeant and then, on 08MAY22, became the founding Company Commander of Bravo Company (B/ACD) when Hell Let Loose (Console) graduated into a standing company. It continues to operate today.

Escape From Tarkov

Escape From Tarkov was one of the earliest Auxiliary Combat Detachment starter platoons, active from 15JUN21 to 02APR22 and recorded under the A/B/C/D/EFT/HHC designations. Staff Sergeant Joshua Murdoc was the Section Leader of D/EFT/HHC, the platoon's senior leadership billet, from 02OCT21. The platoon drew seventeen distinct members, all of whom reached the rank of Private or higher. It was disbanded in April 2022.

Candidate Areas of Operation

Not every game advanced to a Starter Platoon. Some prospective titles moved past the initial proposal stage into an interest-gathering phase, with an interest thread or poll opened to the membership, but did not draw enough committed troopers to meet the minimum threshold to stand up, and so were never formed. The following is a record of candidate Areas of Operation that reached the interest-gathering phase without standing up.

Candidate Areas of Operation (reached interest-gathering, did not stand up)

Game	Proposed	Proposed By	Result
Bellum	JUN26	MAJ Mark Mann	Reached interest-gathering; did not stand up. (interest thread)
Squad 44	JAN24	COL Derek Budd	Reached interest-gathering; did not stand up. (interest thread)
Twilight 2000 (tabletop RPG)	DEC23	MAJ Kastor.K	Reached interest-gathering; did not stand up. (interest thread)
BattleBit Remastered	JUL23	SSG Edward Dallas	Reached interest-gathering; did not stand up. (interest thread)
Call of Duty: Vanguard	OCT21	1LT Tony Rav (with General Burgundy)	Insufficient interest; never stood up. (poll, interest thread)

Graduated Starter Platoons

The following Starter Platoons met the requirements for graduation into full units.

Squad carried multiple designations (including E/1-7, B/2-7, E/2-7, and finally C/ACD) before graduating to the 3-7 Battalion, having been a starter platoon three separate times over roughly ten years. It was formally stood up as a battalion on 14JUN25.

Hell Let Loose was designated C/2-7 as a starter platoon before branching out across the active 2-7 Companies (A/2-7, B/2-7, E/2-7) and becoming a flagship title of the 7th Cavalry.

Digital Combat Simulator was designated A/ACD as a starter platoon, then stood up as the 3-7 Battalion from 01APR24 to 07JAN25.

Hell Let Loose (Console) was designated B/SP/ACD as a starter platoon and stood up as B/ACD on 08FEB22, where it continues to operate today.

Battlefield 6, designated 3/D/DEVCOM and led by 2LT Marcel Laui, stood up as C/ACD on 31JAN26.

Foxhole, designated 4/D/DEVCOM (and later expanding into 3/D/DEVCOM under D/DEVCOM Headquarters) and led by SGT Ryder Leifried, stood up as D/ACD on 22MAY26.

MILPACS Reconstruction Appendix

This appendix is a research aid for editors and historians. It lists every starter-shaped unit designation discovered in the MILPACS records, allowing the figures in the Areas of Operation table to be traced back to their source.

How to use this appendix. Each row is a unit designation as it was actually written in MILPACS. The "Distinct Members" and "Recorded Events" columns count the troopers and service-record entries tied to that designation. The "Activity Windows" column shows how many separate periods of activity the designation saw; a designation with multiple windows was reused for different purposes across eras (for example, A/1/A/ACD served as an infantry section, then the IL-2 Sturmovik platoon in 2024, and later the Digital Combat Simulator pilot unit). To attribute a designation to a specific game, cross-reference its date window against the Areas of Operation table above. Designations with very few members or a single short window are typically administrative artifacts or brief test entries rather than full platoons. The table is sortable by clicking the column headers.

Methodology. The records were reconstructed from the live MILPACS roster and an archived MILPACS snapshot, cross-referenced against unit announcements and operations on the forums. Membership figures come from the transfer and assignment records tied to each designation. Where a designation was reused across multiple games or recorded inconsistently, figures in the table above were attributed by date window. Where attribution could not be made cleanly, the figure is left unverified, shown as a dash.

Discovered starter-platoon designations (MILPACS)

Designation	First Recorded	Last Recorded	Distinct Members	Recorded Events	Activity Windows
1/SP/1-7	19FEB16	07JUL21	83	108	7
3/SP/1-7	19FEB16	14SEP20	50	84	3
2/SP/1-7	23APR17	04AUG20	59	82	4
2/SP/ACD	20OCT21	16SEP22	77	78	2
B/1/SP/1-7	09JUN19	18SEP21	45	66	5
4/SP/1-7	02AUG18	08AUG20	36	58	2
1/SP/ACD	12JAN22	24JUL22	51	51	1
SP/ACD	01AUG23	08AUG24	41	47	1
C/1/SP/1-7	22APR20	29SEP21	26	43	4
A/1/A/ACD	18NOV21	10JUN26	100	116	3
B/ACD	08MAY22	13FEB26	28	35	8
A/ACD	01NOV22	06APR26	27	33	5
SWRPG/SP/ACD	04DEC23	07JUN24	25	30	1
4/SP/ACD	09FEB22	27OCT22	29	29	1
4/D/DEVCOM	27FEB26	28APR26	27	29	1
5/SP/1-7	18NOV18	30NOV18	13	18	1
3/SP/ACD	25OCT21	17FEB22	17	18	1
A/1/SP/1-7	18JUN19	25SEP21	16	17	4
B/SP/1-7	10JUN19	14JUN19	12	16	1
MW2/SP/ACD	30NOV22	11DEC22	11	14	1
1/SP/HHC	24FEB20	10APR20	9	13	1
A/2/SP/1-7	26APR21	25SEP21	10	10	1
C/ACD	02JUN24	10MAY25	5	6	3
ACV1/SP/1-7	26JAN16	16FEB16	5	5	1
5/SP/ACD	28NOV21	09DEC21	5	5	1
B/SP/ACD	13JAN22	13JAN22	5	5	1
SP/1-7	26NOV16	08NOV20	3	4	3
A/SP/1-7	15JUN19	16JUL19	3	4	1
3/SP/HHC	25JUN20	18OCT20	2	4	2
4/SP/HHC	22AUG20	23AUG20	2	3	1

Call of Duty (MW2) was organized into three gameplay sections under MW2/SP/ACD (Multiplayer, Warzone, and DMZ), matching the standard Multiplayer, Warzone 2.0, and DMZ modes the platoon set out to support.

Development Command-era games (Star Citizen, Battlefield 6, Foxhole, Grey Zone Warfare) are recorded under sub-section designations such as A/2/D/DEVCOM, A/3/D/DEVCOM, and A/4/D/DEVCOM; their consolidated figures are reflected in the Areas of Operation table above. The A/1/A/ACD designation reflects all three of its historical uses combined, of which the 2024 IL-2 Sturmovik cohort was one.