Radio Etiquette - A New Commander's Perspective

[spawncaptain]

The default squad names include funny stuff like gamma IIRC...

[Johny_B_Nasty]

good OP!

[Heskey]

The default squad names include funny stuff like gamma IIRC...

Ah, good point!

[PFunk]

Either is permissible, but certainly in our line of work it's the other way around. There's arguments for both.

You said...

As someone who works in a public service whose coordination via the radio is pivotal, I hope that my experience with radio etiquette and discipline will be of use to some of you.

So I'm wondering which line of work that is. You're either being coy about being in the military or you mean something altogether different. Would be interesting to see what that background is because I always assumed that standard military comms protocol was to start with Receiver-Sender. I've overheard enough real comms in helmet cam videos to be pretty sure thats how its done even in the boonies where the book goes out the window, and I've played Arma with ACRE with enough real service members to note that none of them have ever told me or anyone else "you're doing it backwards".

It just seems counterintuitive to not say "Hey you, its me" because when you're doing a million things as SL you don't know that its the direct line to you and not the squad leader channel that you're hearing. When I do get yappy SLs taking 15 years to describe something a real squad leader would have done in 5 words I try to tune them out.

This however is so wrong. Goes against the ethos of not using the To-ALL-Squads buttons. If you want to talk to SQ1, then talk to SQ1 not the whole team.

I wouldn't say its wrong as sin. In the real military most radio comms are on shared networks to facilitate simplicity and a natural sharing of information even if that info isn't being directly sent to a party. This would work just fine in PR if we weren't putting 9 SLs and a CO on one net versus 4 SLs and a Platoon Leader HQ on one as it would be in real life (more or less).

I think using the all talk as commander can save you a shit ton of wasted repetition if its info that everyone needs to know and its not a lengthy brief, but certainly the CO that says everything on shared comms is a jackass that needs to die.

In general my experience since returning for PR 1.0 is that SLs are as bad as ever at using SL comms. Trying to get someone to describe an enemy position other than giving the grid is impossible. Their verbiage sucks.

[Mr.Hyde]

Great read. Hope it inspires some to follow suit.

Remember: Don't follow the Hooligans with their shenanigans. Learn from the ones they make fun of.

[Heskey]

So I'm wondering which line of work that is. You're either being coy about being in the military or you mean something altogether different.

Different

But I think I know where the difference is going to be coming from.

In my line of work, which isn't the military, all comms go through a comms team and so invariably whenever someone talks, they're talking TO the comms team (but everyone is on the same channel), thus it's probably quite pointless to keep telling the one person you ever talk to, that you're talking to them.

With that, I'll concede and edit the OP for the sake of uniformity =]

[KneeHiGh]

I approve of this message.

I cant count how many times I encounter squad leaders having a conversation on All sqds. Its annoying as hell.

I play on a laptop so dont have a numberpad....expect all SL spam!!

[Death!]

I do pretty much everything OP said.

"Commander, this is Squad 6. How copy?"

And the other way around:

"Squad 6, this is commander. How copy?"

BTW, I usually avoid to talk on radio when being commander because it makes spam. I'd rather "spam" the team text chat with caps lock to make sure everybody is seeing something important (e.g. We got an enemy FORWARD OUTPOST on the WAYPOINT A mark). The SLs radio usually are really noisy with peple from your squad talking plus people talking on all squad chat. It is really stressful to be SL.

[spawncaptain]

Saying "How Copy" when initiating communication does not make sense. If you want to find out how well he can understand you, you can ask "How do you read?".

[saXoni]

I play on a laptop so dont have a numberpad....expect all SL spam!!

Amazon.com: HDE Portable USB Numeric Keypad PC for Laptop Notebook: Computers & Accessories

[nAyo]

The shorter the comms, the better anyway

[PFunk]

Saying "How Copy" when initiating communication does not make sense. If you want to find out how well he can understand you, you can ask "How do you read?".

Yea, how copy is usually meant as request for a confirmation of comprehension without necessarily needing a full readback if he gets it, but probably would involve partial readback or full readback to confirm or a plain old "did not copy" at which you sigh and restart the whole damned instruction. Separate from the a readability check which is when someone tells you how ghetto your mic is.

Oh military brevity codes and procedure terminology, so nifty and empowering. Makes you feel like a proper baws.

[Orford]

I just use how copy as it's short and beats using are you on mumble. I agree does normally follow a 6 or 9 line or other type of request that requires confirmation of understanding a request/instruction.

PR isn't as real world procedure demanding as some ArmA servers so it's useful for initiating communication. May be I'll just drop saying that and save it for it's proper use incase I come across some one who knows it's the wrong thing to say. I wouldn't want to come across as a wannabe while playing a game.

[spawncaptain]

I recommend TG's radio procedure guide for maximum tacticoolness.

Zedic's radio procedure guide.