After two consecutive weeks now of hearing this as well as increasing frequency in the past, I've decided to post a call for better behavior in FSO. In particular, I'm hearing (and personally noticing) that squads are not following the orders of the CiC and instead they are doing whatever they feel like. When you are a CiC, this is very frustrating and you just want to stop putting any effort into planning missions at all. When you are a squad leader depending on other squadrons to do something related to your mission, it's confusing as hell.
FSO is about theater level organized combat simulating historical military events. In the military, you receive orders and you follow them. If you don't like the orders or disagree with them, you can discuss that with your commanding officer, but if the commanding officer disagrees, you follow them anyway. Good or bad, the orders a CiC comes up with are meant to be followed unless they specifically say they are suggestions.
If you aren't going to participate in the organized event as intended, then go back to the MA where you are free to do as you please. Otherwise, please follow the orders the CiC sends out. The CiC will appreciate that. Fellow squadron leads will appreciate that. Who knows, we might all learn something new as well.
To all you other CiCs out there who put in the work to try to achieve objectives under adverse conditions, I salute your effort and pledge that the C-Hawks will try to follow orders as best we can and if we ever do object or have suggestions for other options, we will always seek approval before doing anything other than what the orders say. To all the flight leads, I pledge we will follow orders of the designated flight lead (fighter lead, bomber lead as appropriate). If flight lead orders conflict with the CiC's orders, I may ask about it, but will follow the flight leads orders and let them take it up with the CiC.
Red Beard
CO 364th C-Hawks
