S3 Department - Standard Operating Procedures

This is the Document Release Information
Article Number:	7CAV-DR-03
Scope:	S3 Department - Regulations and Procedures
Version:	Version 2.0
Effective Date:	25MAR20
Last Modified Date:	DDMMMYYYY
Approving Authority:	S3 Officer in Charge
Point of Contact:	S3 Executive Officer

Minimum Requirements

• Each game's Operations sub-department is responsible for conducting at least 2 operations per month as the minimum department requirement
• Operations Staff members must at minimum hold the rank of Private First Class (E-3) or above and must have no negative action pending or active. It is strongly advised to require members to have attended 5 official S3 operations within their area of operation before being accepted into the department.
• Operations Staff members are required to run at least one operation per two months (60 days) unless otherwise instructed by their Operations Lead. Operations Staff who fail to meet the minimum requirement will receive a VCS. Subsequent failures to meet the minimum requirement will result in removal from the department.

Operation Scheduling

1. Operations must be posted at least 1 week (7 days) prior to the run date to allow troopers reasonable time to sign up
2. ALL operations must be added as events to the S3 Ops & Training Calendar as operations are scheduled
3. Further guidance on operation scheduling can be determined by S3 Command Staff and Battalion Staff as required

Operation Officers in Charge (OIC)

• An operation's Officer-In-Charge (OIC) for an official operation is the person acting in overall command of 7Cav in-game forces, regardless of rank or billet. While actual officers or senior NCO billets would be preferred and receive priority for those roles in operations, rank or primary leadership billet are not a requirement to be an OIC. The highest ranked individual on scene is not the OIC of the operation by default.
• OIC's and Mission Controller's are intended and encouraged to be different roles fulfilled by different people, however, they can sometimes overlap to be the same person. While this is not encouraged, it is allowed, because it is sometimes unavoidable in games such as Squad, PS, and HLL. For Arma 3, the OIC and *Mission Controller should almost never be the same person.
• Guidance for attendance at operations can be found here. This is the OIC's responsibility to enforce, but a Mission Controller should be knowledgeable about our attendance policy and guide the OIC as required.

Operation After Action Review

It is the operation's designated OICs responsibility to post an AAR within 24 hours of the end of the operation. While it is not the Mission Controller's responsibility, the Mission Controller should still be knowledgeable of the process and can guide the OIC as required. All AAR guidance can be found at the After Action Report (AAR) SOP page or as determined by S3 Command Staff.

Special Operations

This SOP applies to Arma 3 only.

Special Operations Definition

A "Special event" is an event in which any of the following are true:

• The event would require an alteration in the Server mods.
• The event would require a deviation in faction.
  • For example, playing as Russian forces.
• The event is based upon the premise of PVP or three faction contention.

Approving Authority

The approving authority for all special events is the S3 Command Staff, upon review by Regimental Command Staff.

This is to be discussed between all S3HQ Members, and the associated Ops Lead.

Restrictions

• For events with a different mod-set:
  • Special Events are to be scheduled at the direction of S3HQ only.For events with the same mod-set as standard operations:
  • There is no limit for the number of special events which require no modification changeovers.

Approval process

1. An S3 staff member has an idea for a special event.
2. The staff member writes up his proposal and starts a PM with the AO's Ops Lead.
3. The Ao's Ops Lead reviews the viability of the operation proposal.
4. If the operation seems viable and appealing to a wide audience within the CAV, the proposal is forwarded to S3 Command Staff.
5. The proposal is reviewed by S3 Command Staff & the AO's Ops Lead for playability and is ranked with other proposals for selection.
6. S3 Command Staff approaches Regimental Staff for Operation Signoff and Date assignment.

Production and execution process

• Once approved the operation is constructed by a designated team - usually, those who created the idea, under the direct supervision of the AO's Ops lead and S3 Command Staff.
• If mod Changes are Required, S3HQ will assist in speaking to S6 for mod alterations.
• All other Mission production SOPs are to be followed.

Operation Creation & Life Cycle

Overview

• The person responsible for creating and running any operation is considered the Mission Controller.
• Each game/S3 Operation sub-department is responsible for their own mission creation and submission SOP's as established by the game's Operations Lead, S3 Battlestaff Lead, and S3 Command Staff.
• ALL operations must be reviewed and approved by the game's Operations Lead before posting by that operations lead to ensure proper quality and all S3 SOP's have been followed.
• All public and internal operations need to be hosted on an official 7Cav server to be official. Operations with other groups/units need to follow additional S5 Department SOP.

Additional References

• Reference 7CAV-DR-036 for the operation planning process and their responsibilities within that process.
• Reference 7CAV-DR-010 for guidance on attendance tracking & slotting priority.
• Reference 7CAV-DR-035 for guidance on the differing roles of members during an operation.

Operation Life Cycle

1. Create the operation or operation concept
2. Create the initial info required for an OPORD or some other format for use in planning by OIC's to conduct the operation. This includes SITUATION, MISSION, SERVICE SUPPORT and COMMAND AND SIGNAL sections. Exclude EXECUTION, and other OIC decided areas.
3. Name the operation
4. Per S1 and S3 Command Staff, ALL campaign and operation names must be unique and may not be repeated due to tracking purposes
   1. For weekly/repeatable operations, they should be titled: Campaign Month Op Name Year, Operation Name #
   2. Example: Campaign March Warfare Wednesday 2020, Operation Warfare Wednesday #36
5. Submit it to your Operations Lead for approval at a minimum 2 weeks before planned the run date.
   1. Work on the operation would have begun long before this and by this point, it is essentially completed.
   2. This is to allow an AO's respective Operations Lead enough time to properly review the operation and approve it or work with the Mission Controller to make changes as needed prior to approval.
6. Once approved, work with your Operations Lead to schedule the op, if a date has not already been specified.
7. Your respective AO's Operations Lead or nominated Assistant Operations Lead will then post the event via the S3 events tool, at-least 1 week ahead of the run date.
   1. This is to ensure prospective OIC's have ample time to create a plan and prepare a briefing for the operation and meet with the Mission Controller for any needed discussion.
   2. Additionally, this gives potential attendees advanced notice so that they have enough time to sign up and can determine if they are able to attend.
8. Upon an operation OIC signing up, the Operation Planning SOP comes into effect, found at 7CAV-DR-036.
9. Run the mission as the Mission Controller on the day of the op
10. Before the op, assist the mission's OIC to provide a briefing in the appropriate briefing channel to element leads and be able to answer any mission-specific questions
11. At the op's conclusion call "Endex", and alert everyone to conduct an AAR (After Action Report) in-game at the squad level or lower
12. Directly after, assist the designated operation OIC to conduct an out-of-game Leader's Debrief in TeamSpeak with all element leads in the appropriate debriefing channel
13. Any major issues should be passed up the CoC as necessary
14. The op's designated OIC needs to post the of the AAR within 24 hours. The OIC will have 5 days from the end of the operation to fill in the attendance and other information. S1 will process it as final after 7 days.
15. The OIC will post recommendations no later than a week after the operation has concluded
16. After the op is run, the Mission Controller is responsible to un-stick the operation posting in the posting forum

Exceptions

Exceptions to all of the above may be made at the discretion of the S3 Command Staff.