Since Our Squad, VF-27 "Hellcats", is an CT only Squad, we do what we can to make the CT fun for everybody. While we need no defense for our actions, I am willing to state a few facts concerning the "Thurday Nite Imbalance" that Occured.
1st, as our Squadron Intell Officer, one of my duties is to check out the CT situation prior to our Squad time begginning at 9 PM CST, 10 PM EST. My normal log time is 2 to 3 hours prior, in order to see where any of the CV's we fly from are located, and attempt to put them into an "Open Water" location vs parked next to an Enemy Base just offshore.
2nd, On logging in, I found CV 18 heavily engaged to the NW, while CV 15 and CV 35 had been moved to the south, apparently in an effort to attack the neutral Bishop territory. ( I say this due to the fact that where they were located, there were no Rook bases closer that a 45 minute flight time away.) Looking over the Map, I saw 2 possibilities for Missions to be flown by our Squad. One was to travel up the Bishop East Coast and attack the Rook Bases on the East of the island. The other was to reverse their courses and send them to the NW. Initially, My thoughts were to go up the East side. This turned out to be a mistake, as doing a map search showed the only bases we could reach would be Bishop, Not Rook. In Conference with some fellow Squadmates, it was decided that an effort to retake A21 and A20 was a good choice.
3rd, I had no idea at the time that IJ planes could not fly from A21, as I had flown IJ from there numerous times during the week. {Most of the VF-27 DO fly for the short side when not Involved in Squadron Activities. } Maybe that is something the CM's changed, or was just a bug. I have no idea as to why IJ planes got disabled from A21, at the time in question. So we planned a coordinated Mission, using CV's 15 and 35, and A12 and A19, fully expecting opposition to develope from A21 and A20.
4th, While planning the Mission, I noticed jarbo and sehob discussing an attack on A21 on the country channel. I informed them that the VF-27 had a Squadron Mission in the Planner for A21 and A20. ergRTC set the Mission up, leaving room for other Pilots to Join, if they desired to. I was asked if there was room in the Mission for the "Buccaneers" to join in the Mission, and told them " sure, we left lots of slots". While we were in the planning stages of the Mission, the sides were not terribly imbalanced, as some good fights were ongoing at various places around the Map.
5th The "Hellcats" normally begin our Squad activities with an "Alpha Strike", using all USN planes available to Us. We Paint a rather large BarDar picture when We launch a Mission, giving any Opposition Country Pilots that care to look at their clipboard, the information that a Large Force is available for a Fight. MILKRUNNING IS NOT AND NEVER HAS BEEN A SQUADRON ACTIVITY WE ENGAGE IN. If No Enemy forces up to engage us, we complete our current Mission, and then look for the action wherever it is.
These are the facts concerning the Night in question. When We spend the time and effort to to look around the map, check out the Strategic Situation, and formulate a plan of Action as a Squadron, so that we may have an enjoyable Squad Time, We are going to Complete Our Mission, to the Best of Our Abilities. Somebody taunting Us on the Text Buffer, is not and never will be a valid reason to just Chuck a Plan out the window and go play their Game. A few of our more "hotheaded" Pilots really wanted to go get Urchin, yet Squadron Discipline prevailed and they Continued on their assigned Mission.
For those that know Us, and Fly and Fight Against Us, . For those that desire to complain and whine because we want to enjoy ourselves, As a Group, with Often Published Times, all I have to say about it is this. Fly whatever Arena turnes you on and you can have the most fun for your Money. Don't expect Us to stop having Our fun, so that YOU can have Yours.
