S3 Department - Standard Operating Procedures

This is the Document Release Information
Article Number:	7CAV-DR-03
Scope:	S3 Department - Regulations and Procedures
Version:	Version 3.0
Effective Date:	09JUN21
Last Modified Date:	28JUL22
Approving Authority:	S3 1IC
Point of Contact:	S3 2IC

Minimum Requirements​

S3 Operations

• 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).
• Operations Staff members are required to run at least one operation per two months unless otherwise instructed by their Operations Lead. Operations Staff who fail to meet the minimum requirement will receive counseling. Subsequent failures to meet the minimum requirement will result in removal from the department.

S3 Public Operations

• Public Operations Staff members must at minimum hold the rank of Private First Class (E-3).
• Commit to spending one hour weekly on the public server(s) facilitating gameplay.
• Perform game administration as applicable.

Other Requirements

• Additional requirements may be required due to the need of the game AO the trooper is assigned such as Server Administration Course (SAC) for BattleMetric access. This will be determined by the S3 Operations Lead or S3 Public Operations Lead.
• In the event a game AO does not have a Public Staff, the game AO's Operations Staff can fulfill the same duties. This is determined by S3 HQ based on the needs of the game AO.

Public Operations Responsibilities

Weekly

• Ensure that you are tracking your activity on the public server(s).
• Being active on the public server(s) for one hour weekly
• Acting as a leadership element
• Assisting players (Game Admin, helping new players, etc.)

Daily

• Respond to requests for assistance in a timely manner. E.g., for ARMA, if the @tactA3 role is pinged because the mission needs to be rolled or the server restarted (can be done via BattleMetrics #shutdown command), you are expected to respond to these requests if you are available and have access.

Operational Roles and Responsibilities​

Mission Controller​

The Mission controller is the creator of the operation currently being played. They have also constructed the Initial Operations order and will likely provide administrative and interactive support during the operation where required.

Officer In Command (OIC)​

An operation's Officer In Command (OIC) for an official operation is ideally 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 the scene is not the OIC of the operation by default, however, OIC may be delegated to qualified individuals per Mission Controller's discretion. OIC's and Mission Controllers are intended and encouraged to be different roles fulfilled by different people, however, they can sometimes overlap to be the same person.

Element Leader​

An Element Leader is a soldier who has signed up for and acts as a combat leader, leading a group of individuals in support of the OIC. This is usually identifiable by being assigned a Platoon Level callsign, such as Viking-1, Able, or Tincan. Squad Leaders & Pilots are two examples of Element leaders.

Troopers​

If you are neither the Officer In Command, Mission Controller nor an Element Leader, you fall under the Trooper definition. Troopers don't have a lot of responsibilities during operations beyond having a good time and participating. As good practice, sometime within the week after the operation, a Trooper should go to the AAR thread for the operation they attended and ensure their name is listed there. If it isn't, contact whoever your element leader was and make sure they are aware.

Operation Scheduling​

1. Operations must be posted at least 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 Events Calendar on the forums as operations are scheduled
3. Operations should not be scheduled that would interfere with upcoming FTXs or classes

Operation Creation & Life Cycle​

Overview​

• 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 SOPs have been followed.
• All public and internal operations need to be hosted on an official 7Cav server. Operations with other groups/units may be hosted on said groups/units' servers. See Special Event Operations for details on the approval process with other groups/units.

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 OICs to conduct the operation as needed as determined by the S3 AO lead.
3. Name the operation. All campaign and operation names must be unique and may not be repeated due to tracking purposes
   1. For weekly/repeatable operations, they should repeat on the calendar and be titled: Campaign Month Year
   2. Example: March Warfare Wednesday 2020
4. Submit it to your Operations Lead for approval with enough time for the operation to be posted at least one week in advance of the planned run date.
5. Once approved, work with your Operations Lead to schedule the op.
6. Your respective AO's Operations Lead or Assistant Operations Lead will then post the event at least one week in advance.
7. If the server needs to be locked, a ticket must be submitted to S6 once the calendar event is posted.
8. Upon the selection of an OIC, the Operation Planning SOP comes into effect.
9. Run the mission as the Mission Controller on the day of the operation.
10. Before the op, assist the mission's OIC to provide a briefing to element leads and answer any mission-specific questions.
11. At the op's conclusion call "EndEx", and alert everyone to conduct an AAR (After Action Review).
12. Directly after, assist the designated operation OIC to conduct an out-of-game Leader's Debrief in Discord or TeamSpeak (Arma 3 AO) with all element leads.
13. The op's designated mission controller or delegated personnel needs to post the AAR within 24 hours. The Attendance must be finalized within 7 days from the end of the operation.
14. Medal recommendations must be posted no later than a week after the operation has concluded and may be posted by anyone with medal recommendation authority following the Medal Recommendation SOP Policy Guidelines.
15. After the op is run, the Mission Controller is responsible for un-sticking the operation posting.

Special Event​s

Special events are defined as any operation that deviates from the standard 7th Cav modpack, utilizes non-standard assets, or generally deviates from the standard "vanilla" gameplay style as defined by the AO's highest primary billeted HQ. Hence these events must be approved prior to execution. Content decisions for any AO rest solely in the hands of the AO's highest primary billeted HQ and it is the responsibility of S3 to ensure any events that are outside the scope of these content decisions are first approved by said staff prior to execution.

External Operations

When organizing an external event involving any personnel not within the 7th Calvary, S5 and S3 must work in conjunction to prepare, plan, and execute the mission. The following steps must be taken before organizing an event with another unit:

1. The S5 and S3 AO Leads must agree on a mission they would like to run as a joint operation.
2. An S5 and S3 staff member must agree to run the event.
3. The operation must be run internally at least once to ensure the operation is squared away which includes a rerun if any changes are made to the operation after testing.
4. The S5 and S3 members then agree on a range of dates and times that they can run the event.
5. S5/S3 leads then approve these dates for an external event.
6. The proposal is then passed to the AO battalion for approval. Battalion Staff may delegate this approval to S5/S3 leads at their discretion. Any events with monetary or requiring significant resources from the battalion or regiment must gain approval from both Battalion Staff and Regimental Staff. Depending on the nature of the event, a private message containing the event post and any relevant SOPs specific to the event must be provided to Battalion Staff when requesting approval. Upon approval from Battalion Staff, Regimental Staff will be given the proposal for approval.
7. S5 member then finds another community and organizes the event details with that community.
8. S3 member organizes the event internally and runs the event.

The Operational Planning & Briefing Process​

1. The S3 Department has finished its Pre-Planning preparation and the operation has been posted, including the Mission Controller name.
2. A member is selected for the Officer In Command Role, more details on this process can be found in the slotting priorities section.
3. The Signed up OIC must then contact the Mission Controller to confirm their slot, and arrange an operation planning meeting. In the event of a player-versus-player operation, both OICs must contact the mission controller.
4. The OIC & Mission Controller should then meet to brief the OIC on the mission, the duties of the OIC, and answer any questions they may have, and if necessary, provide guidance on the finalization of the OPORD. Ideally, this will be conducted in Discord. However, a discussion via PMs or Teamspeak, if appropriate, will suffice. This meeting should take place at least one day before the operation is due to start.
5. It is then the OICs responsibility to create a plan for the execution of the mission outlined in the OPORD.
6. The OIC & the Mission Controller are then able to perform a briefing of the operation jointly. The Mission Controller will provide a brief situation overview, as well as specify the mission. The OIC is responsible for the execution of the mission.

S3 & Leadership Planning Meeting​

Once contact is made the OIC & Mission Controller should meet to brief them on the operation they will be planning and leading.

This will usually cover:

• SITUATION
• MISSION
• Any additional requirements/rules or systems in place which may affect the operation.
• Providing the Officer In Command the Execution portion of the OPORD in order to finalize their plan.
• Providing assistance where required on how to fill in the Operations Order.
• Answering any other questions the OIC may have.

Operations Order (OPORD) Finalization​

Operations Order Completion Deadline​

The OIC must finish completing the Operations Order (OPORD) at least one hour prior to the start of the operation.

What The OIC Is Responsible For In Completing The Operations Order (OPORD)​

The Officer In Command of the operation is responsible for the filling in of the EXECUTION section of the OPORD primarily. This includes the Commander's Intent and all phases of the execution. The OIC may choose to utilize any planning or briefing methods, however, the OPORD will be provided for their convenience.

Operational Briefing​

In essence, the operational briefing is where you take your planning, and you inform your Element Leaders of your intent and respond to suggestions made by them.

The briefing is usually done in tandem by the Mission Controller and the Officer In Command.

While there is no SOP in place for the structure of the briefing, a good practice is for the Mission Controller to provide context, situation, and mission for the operation, as well as be present to answer mission or technical questions. While the OIC usually focuses on his intent, and the execution of the mission itself, answering questions and applying suggestions from staff on those subjects.

Operations & Campaigns Exempt From The Leadership Planning Process​

This section serves as a maintained list of the campaigns and operations which are exempt from having to follow this process: Each AO is allowed to exempt one, recurring event from the leadership planning process; generally, these operations are public with the goal of recruitment. For example:

• Warfare Wednesday.
• Trenched n' Tuesday.

Slotting and Slot Priority​

Due to the wide variety of MOS's and a number of troopers available in the Cavalry, a slotting priority and claim system is in place to ensure that slots are staffed by those most qualified for those positions, whilst still allowing the opportunity for other junior staff to fill those positions upon request, or when required. Only leadership and speciality specialty slots are under this purview.

Operational Signups​

To assert your "claim" for a specialty or leadership slot in an operation you must: Sign up in the mission thread containing your desired leadership role ahead of the operational briefing at least 24 hours prior to operation start to guarantee placement. All levels of leadership (including pilots) must be in the appropriate Briefing/Debriefing TS channel in time for briefing or are subject to losing their spot at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the operation. If you fail to complete any of the above requirements, your claim on the slot is forfeit and the next individual according to the below slot priority can take your slot.

Officer In Command Signups​

If the member is applying for the OIC position for the operation, in addition to the above requirements, the member must reserve the role three days in advance to the start of the operation and contact the mission controller at least one day prior to the operation for leadership briefing. Failure to comply may result in loss of OIC role. In the event multiple individuals request to be OIC before the three-day cut-off period, priority will be given as follows:

1. Officer from AO of operation by rank
2. NCO from AO of operation by rank
3. Officer not from AO of operation by rank
4. NCO not from AO of operation by rank
5. Enlisted by rank

The slotting priority listed above only applies until 72 hours prior to the operation. During that time, any higher slot can "bump" a lower slot from an OIC signup. Once the operation is within 72 hours, the OIC position is now locked. if someone of a lower slot priority has signed up to OIC, they will be allowed to retain their role. It is within the discretion of the highest ranking officer within an AO (generally Battalion CO) to overrule this retainment of role on a case by case basis.

Slot Priority List​

Slot priority is based upon (in combination):

• MOS matches the slot they are applying for.
• Qualifications or certifications from classes that support the role.
• Order of sign-up.

Slot Priority Matrix

Signed up	Correct MOS	Qualified	Priority
Yes	Yes	Yes	1st
Yes	Yes	No	2nd
Yes	No	Yes	3rd
Yes	No	No	4th

OIC Prerogative​

The OIC is the arbiter and end-all for slotting within the operation. For example; two individuals sign up for the same leadership slot. The OIC can adjust who is slotted in each role based on the priority above, the order of slot claiming and who is in attendance at the briefing.

In the event that there are still slots left over, be civil, be kind. If you are the OIC, take up your responsibility to guide the other troopers to slot in a civil manner. Where possible, if slots or specialist roles are unclaimed, encourage junior leaders to take the position of those who have not had the opportunity to do so.

Be civil, respect your fellow members and have fun.

After Action Reports

It is the Mission Controller's responsibility to track overall attendance and post an AAR containing the master attendance list within 24 hours of the end of the operation. Mission controllers may delegate this responsibility to willing delegates such as the OIC, other S3 Staff, or any Officer/NCO. While it is not always the OIC's responsibility, the OIC should still be knowledgeable of the process and assist S3 Staff by sending a reminder to all Element Leads to respond to the AAR Post. Element Leads are charged with recording the attendance of troopers within their squad and maintaining their sub-unit AAR response in the AAR thread. This SOP will detail the After Action Report (AAR) process, starting from when “EndEx” is called in an Operation to when the S1 Department processes the attendance and medals.

AAR Guidance

1. "Endex" will be called by the mission controller.
2. Mission controllers and OIC may adjust the form of debrief how they see fit.
   1. Squad Leaders, pilots, and other element leaders as applicable will conduct an AAR debrief in game with their respective elements. This debrief should include feedback, pros & cons, and constructive criticism about the unit's performance and the operation itself. Troopers will voice any questions, comments, or concerns in regards to the operation and the squad leader will make note of all points. Once the in-game debrief is complete, the squad leader will dismiss all troopers and then move into the leaders' debriefing TS channel. Once all elements are present in the leaders debrief channel, the leaders debrief will begin and be conducted by the op's OIC. Each element lead can share their AAR and once completed, the OIC can dismiss everyone.
3. The Mission Controller, or a designated replacement - such as the assisting S3 Staff, will create the AAR post, using the "AAR Template" listed below. The designated Individual must agree to this prior to the operation commencing. The designated individual/Mission controller needs to post the framework of the AAR within 24 hours of the end of the operation. The Mission controller or designated individual 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.
4. All element leads will post their attendance using the "AAR Response Template" listed below. This must be completed within 24 hours of the operation.
5. Once an AAR thread is locked by S1, no further edits can be made to the post. At that point, an S1 Operations ticket would be required to change anything.

Medal Recommendation Procedure​

Please reference: Awards and Decorations

AAR Posting Templates​

Post title examples:

GAME | Campaign - Operation ARMA 3 | Campaign Juniper Spear - Operation Lucky Leaf SQUAD | Operation Texan

AAR Template

AAR Posting Templates

Post title examples:

GAME | Campaign - Operation
ARMA 3 | Campaign Juniper Spear - Operation Lucky Leaf
SQUAD | Operation Texan

AAR Template

Click to

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY S3 BATTLE STAFF Headquarters 7th Cavalry Regiment COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT​ Name of Combat Mission: Campaign of Combat Mission (If applicable): Number within campaign: Game: Server Hosted on: Date of Combat Mission: Time of Combat Mission (Zulu): Mission OIC: Mission Controller: Number of Attendees: 7th Cavalry Personnel Involved in Action: Mission Controller Actionable Improvements for the Operation: 1. 2. 3. If your name is not listed, please first ensure your element lead posted their AAR response and included your name in their response. If your name is not listed by your element lead please contact them. If your name is listed in the AAR response, but not the master AAR list, please contact whomever posted this AAR.

AAR Response Templates

AAR Response Template

Click to
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY S3 BATTLE STAFF Headquarters 7th Cavalry Regiment COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT Element Callsign: Element Leader: 7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element: Pros: Cons:

Example of AAR Response

Click to

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY S3 BATTLE STAFF Headquarters 7th Cavalry Regiment COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT Element Callsign:Savage-1 Element Leader:Sergeant Jonathan Rivers 7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element(Must be dragged and dropped from the Combat Roster and list names only, not any additional information such as roles within a section): Sergeant Jonathan Rivers Sergeant Vishan Seenath Corporal Kevin Graves Corporal Rubs Ronen Specialist Aapeli Djadic Specialist Al Kubbo Pros: Excellent Professionalism from all Savage-1 troopers Good communications between ground and air assets Cons: Took too long to get geared up

Exceptions to AAR Responses​

Due to the sheer length of time for some operations, it may not be possible to maintain a single OIC, or element lead per callsign for the entire period. In the case of this event then, the following is acceptable be done:

• AAR Responses are not necessary
• S3 Staff will be responsible for posting AAR and monitoring attendance

This pertains specifically to 24 hour operations and those run on a weekly basis for public recruiting purposes such as Trenched in Tuesdays, Warfare Wednesdays, ect.

Operational Credit​

A Soldier is eligible for credit for attending an Operation if all of the following are true:

• Their name is on the AAR Post
• They have attended at least one hour of this operation. The only exception to this rule is during 1 life operations, and being killed before playing for one hour.
• The soldier is not currently under a No-Favorable Action (NFA) period.
• The soldier is not currently on Extended Leave of Absence (ELOA)
• The member is not retired or discharged or an active reservist.
• If the member is a recruit, they must have completed boot camp.

Best Practice​

Best practice for all levels of leadership involved in attendance tracking is for a screenshot of in-game scoreboard and/or Discord attendance (or Teamspeak for Arma 3 AO) to be taken at the beginning, during and at the end of each operational setting.