Baker Company B/2-7

Baker Company
Staff
CO	MAJ Calvin Mix
XO	MAJ Enzo Argentini
COS
RSO
ROO
AG
AG
RFO
CSM
IMO
SGM
1SG	1SG Cameron White
NCO
Aide to Baker Company
Aide to the XO
Aide to the SecOps
IC
2IC
Lead
Lead
Lead
Lead
PL
PSG
Hierarchy
Superior Unit	2nd Battalion HQ
Reporting Units
Esprit De Corps
Unit Motto	"Facta Non Verba"

Mission

Our mission is to provide an environment for all future and current members to gather together to enjoy Hell Let Loose with one another. We are a very active Company; we host multiple weekly internal/external PVP Events and conduct several School of Infantry classes designed to engage you with others inside and outside of our Company.

Military Occupational Specialties	Description
Infantry Officer (11A)	The infantry officer is responsible for leading Platoons within Baker Company. Ensuring the readiness of troopers and crewmen. Troopers that serve as an infantry officer have priority for leadership positions in operations.
Infantry (11B)	The Infantry are experts in individual skill and teamwork coordination. Through larger platoon actions, whether in defense or offense, the infantry squad utilizes all member classifications to overwhelm the enemy and seize the objective. Members of the Infantry are masters in land warfare, communication, and tactical movement. In the Infantry, every member is a rifleman first and a specialist second. As a trooper, each rifleman will train extensively on marksmanship, control over their weapon systems, and team battle drills. Additionally, troopers train in coordination with other support elements to improve our combined arms operations.
Infantry (11B) - Airborne	Airborne is the tip of the spear, leading the battle in every way. Airborne is deployed in small team actions, targeting vital enemy assets, and assaulting enemy objectives in support of larger infantry activities. Members of the airborne are infantry first and recon second, picking and choosing engagements that are in their favor, and relaying crucial information to other elements of the operation. In the Airborne, troopers will cross-train in basic infantry skills and reconnaissance. Troopers may be required to fight in environments that provide no additional support elements behind enemy lines.

Company Combat Doctrine - The Airborne Manual

1.0 The Airborne Manual

1.1 Purpose of this manual:

The purpose of this manual is to help troopers understand the principals of Airborne operations in Hell Let Loose, how Airborne tactics differ from conventional infantry tactics, and to help troopers attain mastery of Airborne tactics.

The tactics and procedures found in this manual are to be understood as the foundation for training in B/2-7 and to the extent possible as the preferred method of operation for Airborne forces in operations.

1.2 What the Airborne does: The Airborne is designed to operate primarily outside of both friendly and enemy 4 grids. Unlike conventional infantry, whose mission is to capture and hold terrain, the Airborne's primary mission is not to control territory but rather to operate in and around contested or “grey zone” territory. By maintaining a presence in these contested areas, the Airborne is able to set the conditions for victory using lightweight and nimble units to undermine enemy logistics, perform reconnaissance and sabotage missions and to establish unexpected lines of attack for conventional infantry units.

1.3 Cap weight and the 4 grid problem:

Airborne tactics are designed to solve a particular problem that emerges from the nature of Hell Let Loose and in particular the warfare mode of Hell Let Loose.

In Hell Let Loose, the objective is to capture strong points. Strong points are captured by one team placing more individuals into the 4 grid area surrounding the strongpoint, and especially, in the strongpoint itself. Therefore, it follows that you need as many bodies as possible in either the friendly or enemy 4 grid at all times in order to defend friendly strongpoints and capture enemy held strongpoints.

The problem with this reasoning is that it is also important to operate on the flanks, in the enemy rear and to the friendly rear areas. Focusing entirely on the 4 grid areas gives the enemy free reign to surround the friendly strongpoint, eliminate friendly garrisons and attack the defensive 4 grid from all angles. Likewise on attack, focusing entirely on the enemy 4 grid areas removes the possibility of surrounding the enemy and destroying their reinforcing garrisons.

The 4 grid problem is therefore that an effective team will, on the one hand, seek to concentrate its forces into the key 4 grids while on the other hand, it will seek to spread itself across the map, flank the enemy, destroy its assets and create multiple angles of attack. These two objectives are at odds with one another as a player cannot simultaneously be both inside and outside of the 4 grid. Balancing these two needs is challenging. Airborne tactics are specifically designed to address this problem in the most efficient way possible.

2.0 Fundamental principles of Airborne operations:

In order to effectively operate off the front lines while minimizing the number of troopers pulled from the critical front line fight, the Airborne uses as small a force as possible to accomplish a given mission. Often a single individual, in the role of “Officer” (generally referred to in game as the Squad Leader or SL) will maneuver to a flank or to the enemy rear in order to place an outpost. Only after the outpost is placed will troopers be brought in to execute a mission. And once the outpost is placed, only as many troopers as are required to execute the mission will be brought in. Frequently only one or two.

An Airborne team is therefore not designed around the 6 man unit that is the default provided by Hell Let Loose. The Airborne team is instead, multiple individuals in the role of Officer maintaining several squads with a shared pool of troopers able to rapidly shift between squads as needed, continuously shifting both role and mission in order to have the greatest possible impact with the smallest possible footprint.

2.1 Airborne team organization and communication:

While there are nearly limitless possibilities, a typical Airborne team might consist of 2-4 individuals in the recon role along with 5-10 individuals in an Infantry role. The infantry might consist of anywhere between 2-5 individuals running as SL and maintaining squads with the remaining troopers shifting between the squads as needed. One member of the Airborne team is designated the team leader and is responsible for coordinating the actions of all other members of the team.

Because Hell Let Loose does not provide a structure that naturally accommodates coordinating across different in-game squads, an Airborne team relies on Discord to provide another level of communication that allows individuals spread across multiple squads to coordinate their actions.

For this reason it is critical that all members of the Airborne set up their Discord account with “push to talk” and that all members assign a PTT button that can be readily employed while playing Hell Let Loose. This is likewise the reason that deafening Discord is not permitted during operations (or section practices) and that muting Discord should be unnecessary.

2.2 The “7 man” doctrine, squad switching and mental flexibility:

“7 man” is a term that originally referred to a tactic of running a “squad” sized element by sharing 5 troopers between 2 “officers” running 2 squads. The tactic is powerful for its ability to use multiple OP’s, run multiple iterations of specialised classes and quickly move troopers to different points of the map as needed. While the original 7 man doctrine was written with only 2 squads in mind a further expansion and refinement of the idea is at the core of the current Airborne doctrine. As referenced earlier, a modern Airborne team is likely to have more than 2 squads for troopers to shift between. We still refer to this idea as “7 man” though the term is no longer strictly accurate.

In the current iteration of this doctrine all members of the team are expected to be able to flex to whatever role is needed. Troopers may be called upon to create new squads as the situation demands so there is no fixed in-game role for any individual in the team (though as a practical matter, there tends to be a core of “officers” with additional squads being created as needed).

The most essential quality for a trooper executing this doctrine is an ability to listen for orders, quickly redeploy into a different squad in a different situation and execute the orders of the officer of that squad. This can mean bouncing between being in a furious firefight one moment, putting down supplies the next and stealthily sneaking behind enemy lines looking for garrisons or hunting enemy armor a minute later.

Effective use of this doctrine allows the Airborne to swiftly bring effective force to exactly where it can do the most good with the greatest possible efficiency.

2.3 Maneuver alone, fight together:

Because Airborne teams are frequently operating at greater distances from friendly lines and outside of the 4 grid areas, there are often significant distances to be covered while maneuvering. These longer maneuvers can take significant time. If we take into account the manpower considerations discussed in the 4 grid problem section, the flexibility of the 7 man system and the need for stealth when moving through enemy terrain it becomes clear that there is no reason for an entire squad to go on a wide flanking mission when the same result can be achieved by a lone individual.

A single SL can more easily maneuver undetected to a wide flank or behind enemy lines. Once in position, the SL can place their OP and call in the troopers required for the mission. This allows the troopers, who would otherwise be wasting precious time in redundant maneuvering, to be actively contributing during the intervening time typically by contributing to the 4 grid defense or fighting on the front line during the time the SL spends maneuvering. This allows the Airborne team to pull the absolute minimum number of bodies off of the main effort at any given time rather than wasting manpower by sticking with an SL that requires no support while traversing the map.

Likewise, there are times when it is useful to have an OP established at a wide flank or in the friendly rear. As long as these sectors are quiet, positioning an entire squad in the sector would be wasteful. This is another situation where a single SL may find themself operating alone until the need for additional troopers arises.

In short, there are many times when one SL must work alone to position the team for success.

2.4 Airborne mindset, patience and Intelligence:

Airborne missions by definition tend to take place in contested territory. Actions behind enemy lines are undertaken at a disadvantage and because of the spawn rules of Hell Let loose they are vulnerable to being shut down by a determined enemy response. This means that remaining undetected is a key skill in Airborne operations.

Good judgement must be exercised when choosing if and when to engage the enemy. A poorly chosen fire fight, even if it ends in killing the enemy, can undermine the mission by revealing your presence and causing the enemy to respond.

Because it is difficult to move through a strong enemy force, successful flanking maneuvers often require maneuvering far to the enemy flanks. This can mean being willing to move long distances to areas where no convenient garrison exists. Such maneuvers require a willingness to invest substantial amounts of time to go hundreds of meters outside of the main fight or around suspected enemy positions. It can mean being willing to take inconvenient but better concealed paths. And it can mean being willing to try again and again to find a successful path even if initial attempts meet with failure. All of this means that patience is a key quality for Airborne operations.

A team that is willing to put in the work to establish themselves in a position to achieve victory will always beat a team that impatiently pushes straight ahead. Be smart, be patient, win.

3.0 Key Airborne Tactics

3.1 Defensive flank maintenance and counter flanking:

If the enemy is allowed to envelop defensive forces and attack from multiple angles it creates a very dangerous situation. If we consider the 4 grid problem from earlier in this document we can see that the need to defend against wide flanking actions must be balanced against the need to focus efforts in the actual defensive 4 grid. Airborne can contribute to the defensive scheme by maintaining a lightweight and flexible defense that is designed to undermine enemy flanking efforts and disrupt their flanking attacks with counterflanking actions. This strategy allows for a sustained defensive flanking presence without committing large numbers outside of the 4 grid.

On defense, the primary missions for the Airborne are twofold.

Firstly, to maintain tactical flexibility for the team by establishing and maintaining a presence on the wide flanks and to the friendly rear of the defensive 4 grid. This is accomplished by establishing an OP, and frequently a garrison, on the wide flank or to the rear. These assets are to be placed well beyond the expected route that an enemy flanking attack would traverse. These spawns will be created and maintained by the lightest possible force. Generally a single SL who is able to bring in a trooper in the support role as needed to create garrisons.

By having these spawns in place on the flanks and rear, and by continuously replacing them as needed a single SL can maintain the tactical flexibility to disrupt enemy flanking actions and to facilitate friendly flanking actions. It should be underlined that the lone SL, or small Airborne element tasked with this mission is not trying to defend the area from enemy incursion. Rather, they are there to detect enemy movement and to continuously maintain or reestablish spawns that allow a larger force to deploy as needed to counter developing threats.

The second defensive mission of the Airborne is to detect enemy flanking actions, determine the location of the spawns that are sustaining the enemy attack, and to maneuver on and destroy those spawns. By having the widely placed garrisons and/or outposts that are referenced earlier, Airborne elements should be able to come in behind, or on the flanks of, enemy lines of attack. This positioning allows a relatively small force to roll up the enemy spawns from behind robbing enemy flanking actions of their ability to sustain momentum.

3.2 The Unkillable Outpost

In order to operate behind the lines, outposts must be maintained. However in the enemy red zone most of the advantages are with the enemy. The enemy is likely to have multiple spawn locations and can respond in force when a threat is detected in their backfield. By definition the Airborne teams generally do not operate in such strength that they can successfully defend an outpost from a sustained enemy attack. It is therefore the case that Outposts can only be maintained by a combination of stealth, patience and persistence. There are three key strategies to maintaining outposts in the enemy rear:

First, all care possible must be taken to conceal the location of the outpost. Because the simplest way to detect the location of an outpost is to observe the movement of the troopers that spawn at the outposts Airborne troopers must do all they can to avoid detection by the enemy both by remaining unseen, by avoiding unnecessary fire fights and by choosing routes of travel that avoid enemy detection and conceal their point of origin by not moving in straight lines from their outposts.

Secondly, SL’s must do all they can to avoid being killed. Particularly when they are near to their outposts or when their outposts are in danger or have been destroyed. In some cases this means that the SL should do nothing more than place outposts and hide, directing their troopers to undertake tasks rather than doing so themselves. Because the price of being completely reset is so high in terms of time spent maneuvering to get back to the enemy rear, having both the SL and the outpost destroyed is a catastrophe to be avoided at all costs. SL’s must be patient and willing to let the troopers enjoy most of the action. An SL with the patience to lay low, never once firing their weapon and the sense to position their OP well and direct their troopers effectively, might be the most dangerous and effective player on the field. Patience and intelligence win over shooting skills for SL’s.

Thirdly, redundancy is key to the Airborne effort to maintain pressure in the enemy rear. Because of the way the Airborne team is configured, multiple individuals may cycle through the role of SL and SL’s engaged in one task can fluidly transition to another task. For example, if the SL behind enemy lines senses that their outpost is likely to be in danger, they may ask one of their troopers to create a new squad, deploy at a sustainment garrison and begin to maneuver to the enemy rear. Or an Airborne SL currently tasked with flank protection could be charged to push into enemy territory while a newly created SL shifts into the defensive role. In this way, by the time the SL and OP are discovered and eliminated another Airborne unit may already be in place and able to seamlessly continue operations.

3.3 Red Zone Garrison Placement

One of the most important missions of the Airborne is to create opportunities behind enemy lines. One of the most effective tools to accomplish this is the Red Zone Garrison. Garrisons correctly placed behind enemy lines can quickly turn the tide of a battle as well as provide a stable base of operations for sustained Airborne action behind enemy lines.

The basic tactic used to create a red zone garrison is the so-called “Double Drop” wherein a topper will deploy from an outpost established behind enemy lines in the support role, that trooper will drop their supply box as directed by the SL and will then immediately redeploy and change roles in order to free up the support role for a second trooper. The second trooper will then assume the support role, spawn in on the OP and repeat the action of the first trooper by placing their supplies near the first box. The 100 supplies thus provided allow the SL to create a red zone garrison from which to operate. This technique is straightforward but requires good coordination and willingness to work as a team.

Proper consideration must be given to the placement of Red Zone Garrisons as poorly placed garrisons can be useless or even detrimental to the team.

Red Zone Garrisons can be divided into two categories. The first, is termed a “Sustainment Garrison”. These garrisons are generally quite far from the enemy defensive 4 grid. Often 400 meters or more from any anticipated enemy presence. The function of these garrisons is not to provide easy access to the enemy 4 grid but rather to provide a relatively safe location for individual SL’s to spawn in order to reset their OP’s in the event that they suffer a reset by having both the SL killed and the OP destroyed. By having a sustainment garrison of this sort there is less of a need for SL’s to undertake the difficult and time consuming task of maneuvering from friendly lines all the way to the enemy rear. A good sustainment garrison should be far enough from the action and well enough concealed for it to be very difficult for the enemy to detect or to infer its presence by observing the flow of friendly forces.

The second class of Red Zone Garrison may be termed an “Attack Garrison” This type of garrison is placed nearer to, or even within, the enemy 4 grid. Well placed attack garrisons provide an opportunity for friendly forces to mount a sudden attack from an unanticipated angle. Proper placement of attack garrisons is challenging. A garrison placed too near to the enemy strongpoint will be easily locked out by the 100 meter lock out distance of red zone garrisons. Generally speaking about 150 meters to the actual strongpoint is the absolute closest placement that should be considered and 200 meters would be a better average in most circumstances. On the other hand, an attack garrison placed too far from the enemy 4 grid is also problematic. If friendly forces deploy outside of the enemy 4 grid it can create a situation where the enemy has an advantage in capture weight in both the friendly and enemy 4 grids which is an extremely dangerous situation as an improperly placed attack garrison, combined with poor discipline among attacking troopers can have the effect of beginning an enemy capture of the defensive strong point before the enemy strongpoint comes under threat.

3.4 Search and Destroy enemy logistics

Simply put, garrisons win games. Almost without exception the team that does a better job of placing and maintaining their garrisons while hunting and destroying the enemy garrisons is the team that wins.

One of the most important functions of the Airborne is to seek out and destroy enemy garrisons. By using lightweight teams, specifically armed and trained to destroy enemy garrisons, the Airborne strives to undermine enemy positioning until their defense collapses.

In order to accomplish this mission Airborne will typically employ an OP positioned deep behind enemy lines. From that OP, a limited number of troopers deploy armed with weaponry that can quickly destroy enemy garrisons such as AT rockets, satchel charges and flamethrowers. These troopers will search for the enemy garrisons, particularly the crucial and relatively undefended back garrisons, and destroy them.

Airborne teams utilise their experience and available information such as the known location of existing garrisons and observations of enemy dispositions and enemy flow to determine the likely location of enemy garrisons. Once located, enemy garrisons are destroyed by hand or when those garrisons are difficult to reach or more than 2 grids into enemy territory (in the “Slow Burn” zone) by using appropriate weaponry.

A two or three person team that is patient, skilled in stealth, and experienced in locating enemy garrisons can totally undermine an enemy defense and completely transform the game.

Traditions and History

B/2-7 Fallen

The following are former Baker (Bravo) Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Gaming Regiment members who have passed away. In this section, we recognize their contributions to our community and the impact they made on B/2-7. To all our fallen brothers, may you rest in peace, and your family be blessed beyond imagination.

" I told death that not even she will keep us apart, my love will keep you alive, in my heart, my mind and actions, I will honor you for the rest of my life until death comes and takes me with you." - anonymous

Memorialized in Arlington Memorial Cemetary

Rank	Name	Life
Brigadier General	Krazee	August 30, 1967 - August 22, 2009
Brigadier General	Steven Traycer	February 2, 1965 - November 18, 2017
Colonel	Anthony Aviles	July 27, 1961 - May 1, 2018
Corporal	Tar Tarkas	February 14, 1961 - December 25, 2013

History

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007)

One of the earliest game areas of operations (AO) in recorded history for B/2-7 history is COD 4, which served the company from as early as 2008 through August of 2014. The COD AO had numerous combat operations against enemy clans that resulted in 3 Presidential Unit Citations for the Regiment, at least 1 Meritorious Unit Citation, and 1 Army Superior Unit Citation. The AO hosted a variety of specializations and courses, including the legendary Sniper Course (SRT) and Ranger Selection. Several former members of B/2-7 Company Staff went on to serve the Regiment in higher leadership, including one of the four named GOA's, General of the Army (Retired) Scott Bahama who served as the Regimental Commander from February 10th, 2014 to April 15th, 2014.

Insurgency (2014)

In 2014, Baker Company operated in the Insurgency AO.

Squad (2015) and Battalion Closure (2017)

To be added at a later date

Hell Let Loose (2019)

In the early fall of 2020, Hell Let Loose grew to 170+ troopers in the AO and thus opened its third company, the "Wolf Pack" of Baker Company, 2nd Battalion. Under Captain Sam Windeck the company was organized with one platoon of Infantry, and one platoon of Airborne Infantry with a total of 60 troopers. The Company as a whole would rally to place 1st in the 2020 "2-7 Battalion Winter Classic" organized by the HLL RRD with two B/2-7 members placing in the Top 3 for their individual contributions, Specialist Clavin Mix (1st) and Corporal George Heberlig (3rd). In early 2024, Baker Company was rename to "Baker Company" to follow the WW2 phonetic call-sign.

Symbols, Colors, and Patches

To be added at a later date

Leadership

The following is a list of Company Commanders beginning with the most recent.

Rank	Name	Dates of Service
Major	Calvin Mix	05 May 2022- Present
Lieutenant Colonel	Dan Emerson	02 Jun 2021 - 04 Apl 2022
Major	Maxwell Lombardi	23 Mar 2021 - 02 Jun 2021
Major	Sam Windeck	04 Oct 2020 - 20 Mar 2021
	CLOSED	04 Feb 2017 - 04 Oct 2020
Major	Len Smith	19 Nov 2015 - 04 Feb 2017
Major	Kent Hathcock	12 Feb 2014 - 16 Nov 2015
Lieutenant Colonel	Rafal Walusiak	06 Nov 2012 - 12 Feb 2014
Major	Mac Way	09 Jun 2012 - 05 Nov 2012
Captain	Tim Monz	11 Apr 2012 - 09 Jun 2012
First Lieutenant	Mac Way	11 Dec 2011 - 11 Apr 2012
Major	Anthony Aviles	09 Oct 2011 - 09 Dec 2011
First Lieutenant	George Hog	07 Aug 2011 - 02 Oct 2011
Captain	Wayne Roark	30 Jul 2011 - 07 Aug 2011
Captain	Kal Mike	01 Mar 2011 - 13 Mar 2011
Captain	Steven Traycer	02 Jan 2011 - 01 Mar 2011
Captain	Kal Mike	11 Dec 2010 - 02 Jan 2011
Captain	Anthony Aviles	19 Aug 2010 - 11 Dec 2010
Captain	Ferdinand Frank	28 Oct 2009 - 19 Jul 2010
First Lieutenant	David Watkins	07 Sep 2009 - 25 Oct 2009
First Lieutenant	Richard Lewis	28 Aug 2009 - 07 Sep 2009
Captain	Gordo	18 May 2009 - 28 Aug 2009
Major	Scott Bahama	28 Feb 2009 - 11 May 2009
Captain	Filipe Afonso	13 Feb 2009 - 28 Feb 2009
Captain	Yost	26 Jan 2009 - 13 Feb 2009
Major	Whitey Mack	30 Nov 2008 - 26 Jan 2009
Major	Krazee	24 Aug 2008 - 29 Nov 2008

Composition

1st Platoon (Airborne Infantry) - Night Lords

• Able (Airborne Infantry) - Nightstalkers
  
• Baker (Vacant)
  
• Charlie (Airborne Infantry) - Night Hunters
  
• Dog (Airborne Infantry) - Night Hawks

2nd Platoon (Airborne Infantry) - Marauders

• Able (Airborne Infantry) - Gun Devils
• Baker (Airborne Infantry) - Pathfinders
• Charlie (Airborne Infantry) - Raiders
• Dog (Airborne Infantry) - Old Reliables