MAJOR FSO issue, ALL READ!

[Sled]

I simply say,

This has not been an issue for years.  What has changed?

MGD

2 things.

1. I have been too lenient with this type of thing. I don't like the idea of having to penalize people just because they want to attend. I don't want to penalize squads that are trying to build their pilot base. That WILL have to change.

2. A lot of these squads are very new to FSO, I don't think they fully appreciate the impact that their squad being drastically over numbers has. They need to learn just how important staying in their commitment numbers is.



Like I said, I know much of this is squads trying to build, by inviting other players to come fly. It is quite hard to explain to those pilots, that you invited, that you don't have the room and they have to:

A. fly with another (strange) squad.

or

B. Not fly in FSO at all.

All I can say about recruitment........ squad leaders MUST keep a feel for how many people are going to attend your FSO's. If you commitment level is 4-6, and you know 4 are going to show, DON'T invite (recruit) another 15 people.

[forHIM]

Another thing to note, if you are over your numbers and the "extras" decide to gun/observe, let the host CM no so that they can pass the information along to the rest of the CM staff and/or FSO Admin.  This will prevent penalties from being applied if your guys were just observing.

[RSLQK186]

A reminder that you can shuttle pilots to another squad in terquose or gold text 5 min before fields open may help.
I know it's not the CM's job, but it eventualy become their problem when commitment levels are off. Would not blame you if you ignored me, you all have enough to do as it is.

And often squad jumping could be handled in tower. Too many escorts, too few bombers or 2 small defence squads. This may keep them close to their regular squad and the same goal. The ones who switch can act as liaisons also.

Just remember, you must dress in the other squads uniform, fly their plane and fly with them. It will stand out in the logs if you don't

As for being under in frame 2, we were at our bare minimum till launch. I counted 14 before and 13 after launch. Not even sure who it was and could not do anything about it after the fact. But it was being monitered.

I was not there for frame 1, but I usually keep up with this for the squad along with fuel and range. So this ones on me. Sorry

[Sled]

Correction

31st fighter group was not out of numbers as badly as I originally thought. They registered for Cruel sea as 11-15, NOT 16-21.

Their attendance: Frm 1 = 13, Frm 2 = 12, Frm 3 = 8. So they were not in violation to the degree I had thought.

My apologies 31st FG.

[sqwiglly]

hey yall,sorry from ~~~FATE~~~ for being low on numbers,

one guy got called off to war
another had a heart attack
two people had comp problems and couldnt get in
one had to goto church...to pastor it
and one went offshore to blow somethin up and stop an oil leak...

life happens
be funny if it werent true

you wanna kick us because were low after 5 years of flyin tods...go ahead.

we gonna at least have a 3 strike rule?

and no i dont need 3 explinations of what they realy meant or how im missing it...i read it.
just let us know if you change the rules again please

[trax1]

I think they don't care as much about low numbers then they do about having over your numbers.

[Sled]

just let us know if you change the rules again please

Sqwig,

No rules have been "changed".

But, "after 5 years of flyin tods", you already know that.

[LCCajun]

I will make sure precision #'s are correct. Thank ya'll

[ghostdancer]

Actually we are more understanding about low numbers. As people said life happens. However, when it comes to low numbers we look for a pattern since a squad not turning out can screw up a sides plan just as badly.

i.e. You assign a squad to JABO and they don't turn out or have massively low number, affects your battle plan

But yes, high numbers always raises a red flag. Again if you have more than you max +2 contact other squads on your side. There are always squads that can use a few pilots. Your extra guys just have to wear there colors for the frame not yours.

[AKKaz]

Another thing to note, if you are over your numbers and the "extras" decide to gun/observe, let the host CM no so that they can pass the information along to the rest of the CM staff and/or FSO Admin.  This will prevent penalties from being applied if your guys were just observing.

I don't remember seeing any penalties handed out, I know they have been before but didn't see any this time, unless I just missed it.

[Tattered]

I'd like to explain why 367th had so many numbers. This was my first FSO and I was confused about when you could change the amount of number of pilots you planned on bringing. So after the first frame I thought I was allowed to go back in and change how many pilots I was going to bring to the next frame. I changed it to 7-10 I believe. Then I believe I went back and changed it again to the next amount. 
 
After doing that I had talked to BearKatz and he told me that you could only do that at the begining of the first frame. Following that you had to remain with the number you picked.

This kinda left me in a pickle because the orders that I were givin from the axis CIC were for the number I had all ready changed it to. This was 30 minutes or so before the second frame. So, because my CIC was expecting and had planned on my having more numbers I went in with the larger group. Then, for the third frame I was going to go back to the lower number but again, I got my orders and they were for 367th to have 11-15 pilots. So again, I made the decision to go in with the larger group.

Sorry to all the guys that spent weeks setting this up only to have my squad come in with extra pilots. My plan was to just ride out my first FSO and, now knowing the accurate rules, make sure that our second FSO, we follow the rules by the book.

Again, this was a rookie mistake and I have no plan on breaking any more of your rules again. It was just a rule I was unclear of and snow balled from there.

~Tattered

[Sled]

I don't remember seeing any penalties handed out, I know they have been before but didn't see any this time, unless I just missed it.

There were NO penaltys handed out THIS time. Consider this a formal warning, it will probably be the last one.





Tattered,

I understand, we all live and learn. Now you now know you need, to monitor the situation more closely.





I have put out maximum effort to make sure that ALL Co's and xo's have seen this thread. "I didn't know" will not fly in the future.

[Bannor]

I too apologize for ~~~FATE~~~. I thought I had changed our committments for the previous frame (lowered) but I could be mistaken. We wil try to clean it up on our end. Our squad has enjoyed flying FSO over the years. Unfortunutaly for me I am haveing to miss them for the foreseeable future due to my real life committments, but whomever we have in charge for the night we will be sure they communicate with cic's to fill in the low spots or farm out extras. We have always tried to maintain a standard of excellence in the MA and FSO.

<S>

[96Delta]

The LCA is keen to prevent this from happening in the future
so I have dug through my old files to uncover a form I
designed to address this very topic.

I just wish that I had unearthed it and gotten it
into the hands of LCA Group Command before this happened.

Anyway, this might help with managing FSO Attendance
and Squad Commitments going forward.

It can be difficult to estimate the number of slots to commit
to when signing up for FSO.  I've been there and  feel your pain..

One thing I started to do to keep track of who was commiting
and who actually showed up was to keep attendance.  To
help me do that I designed this form.

"Friday Squad Operations Roster & Attendance Record":
http://david.tenifer.com/aceshigh/pdf/FSO_Attendance.pdf

Here is how I used it to manage FSO attendance:

Column 1: the first column is the pilot count.
Column 2: the 'Attendance' column has blocks for each frame of the FSO.

Using the 4 example boxes above the table, I would fill in the box
reflecting the pilots status: 
- Box completely filled in means a pilot was present and accounted for.
- Box with a dot in it means a pilot with a reserved slot was AWOL
and did not let anyone know in advance of their FSO absence.

If a pilot is consistently AWOL, then I would not reserve a slot for them in
the upcoming FSO ('consistently' for me meant missing more than 2
frames 'without leave' during the current FSO). Such pilots could only
participate in the current and next upcoming FSO as Standby's.

- Box with one corner filled in means a pilot with a reserved slot
informed us in advance that he wouldn't make it and was granted 'leave'.
- Box with X in it means that pilot did not reserve a slot for FSO but
showed up anyway and was placed on standby.

Column 3-5: The 3rd, 4th and 5th columns are self explanatory.

MANAGING STANDBYS
Column 6: This column primarily applied to Standbys (players who
have not reserved a slot in advance) who showed up for FSO expecting to
play.

Sometimes we would have more pilots than available slots
within our commitment range.  If we couldn't slot a player I would leave
the block for that frame empty.  If we were able to slot them, I would put
an 'X' in the block.  Using this method I was able to prioritize a Standby
for a slot in the subsequent frame.

Standby's were entered onto the form in the order that they arrived.
Available slots were filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Anyway, thats how I did it in the past and it worked reasonably well.
Hope it works equally well for you.   8)

David

[4440]

VFA-169 Excaliburs have been thoroughly briefed on the subject and understand.

In addition  we are more than happy to accept extras providing we are below max.