Project Reality Forums

DISCLAIMER: This thread is not about asking people to say 'Over' constantly.

Hi all,

I've recently tried my hand at commanding, and found that radio etiquette amongst some squad leaders is lacking. 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.

In my eyes, communication is the Commander's primary purpose, and for that reason, I think using the correct radio etiquette, and maintaining radio discipline is key to the successful coordination of a team.

Please note that the below advice is also applicable when talking Squad-to-Squad, and that this advice is as much for Commanders as it is for squad leaders.

Identify Yourself

When speaking to the Commander (or another SL), you should first of all make it clear who you are talking to, and who is talking e.g:

"Commander, this is Squad One." / "Squad One, this is Command."

This is because even though your squad number is present on the Mumble overlay, the Commander is often monitoring the map or his UAV, rather than the overlay location. Too often I have squads try and talk to me without identifying themselves, and I have no idea who to talk back to.

Wait for the 'Go ahead'

After identifying who you are and who you are speaking to, you should then wait until you receive a response before talking further, e.g:

"Squad One - Go ahead."

The Commander may already be in the middle of talking or listening to another squad, or be focusing on a critical task, and may not be ready to hear what you have to say. Talking over another squad ensures that no one's voice gets heard, and more time on the radio is wasted with requests to repeat what was just said. If practical, the Commander should let you know he's not available by saying:

"Squad One - Standby."

Once the Commander is clear to talk, he should re-contact the squad he told to standby. If more than a few seconds have passed since telling a squad to standby, the Commander should check that the squad is ready to talk following the same steps above - the squad could now be in a fire fight, or be talking to another squad leader since they last tried to talk to the Commander and not be ready to talk with him. Communication works both ways.

The above two points are critical above all else for ensuring that any communications are heard and understood clearly.

Stay Off 'Squad-to-ALL-Squads' (NUM *) when a Commander is on duty

Squad-to-ALL-Squads is acceptable if there's no Commander present, but when there is, he should be the go-between for squad requests (such as ammo, transport, fire support). There are a few squad leaders out there who take it upon themselves to hog the airwaves for their every single wish and whim. These tend to be the less experienced players, and their requests are vague and not targeted at anyone in particular.

When a Commander is on duty, he has a UAV and can survey the battlefield much better than you can. If requests are made through the appropriate channels, he can identify the squads best placed to fulfil the request, and also advise a squad when their request is not possible or folly.

Above all else, it hogs the radio, undermines the Commander's role, and annoys the squads to which your request is irrelevant.

Direct Squad-to-Squad communication between nearby squads working together is ideal, and doesn't require the Commander to act as a go between; but neither does it need the other 7 squads on the map to hear what you have to say either.

Commanders to use 'Commander-to-ALL-Squads' (NUM *) sparingly

To prevent the Commander's voice just being another noise that squad leaders block out, the Commander should only use their 'To-ALL-Squads' when it is necessary to do so. This depends on the situation, but here are some examples I can think of:

1. Congratulating the team on their efforts on capturing a flag / destroying a cache.
2. To inform a number of squads that you've asked to wait in position to 'GO'/converge on the target simultaneously.
3. To remind all infantry squad leaders to ensure that they have medics and breachers. (Recently played INS with a very good and responsive team, only to often find they fight their way into a cache/hideout and don't have C4 to hand)
4. To advise all squads to be less liberal with the 'Give Up' button and await for medics, in particular when tickets are running low and victory could possibly be snatched from the enemy.
5. To direct all squads away from a particular objective where loss of life is certain, and there is nothing to be achieved by continually charging at it.
6. To warn squads of an IMMEDIATE threat to life and limb, such as Gary approaching.

These are only a few I can think of off the top of my head, and is by no means an exhaustive list.

Learn the phonetic alphabet

This is covered in the manual. It's not about pretending to be in the army, it's simply about clarity. The phonetic alphabet exists to ensure that signature letters are not ambiguous.

The PR community is diverse, especially in Europe where we regularly hear a whole host of weird and wonderful accents. 'G' and 'J' often get mixed up, but there's no ambiguity between 'GOLF' and 'JULIET'.

People's budget microphones can also cause a problem. When your microphone is crackling and popping away like a bowl of Rice Crispies, "Gary in B6!!" becomes B6? C6? D6? E6? G6? Boom.
I'll add to this post if I think of anything else, but that's it for now.

TL;DR

• Capture your audience and identify Yourself
• Wait for the 'Go Ahead' before talking
• Pass non-urgent requests to other squads THROUGH the Commander
• Speak directly to the squad you want to talk to, not everyone
• Use 'To-ALL-Squads' as little as possible / never if a Commander is on duty
• Use phonetics

Thanks for reading.

PS. As a side note, if I'm your Commander in game, please give me feedback so I can improve.

I kinda agree with most of this except that especially in the beginning of a round there should be a lot of chatter on squad-to-All in order to get some relations going and get players acquainted with each-other and there plan. Then after-wards the commander takes over and see that the plan is executed properly and adjusted where needed.

Also the phonetic alphabet helps a lot but if you forgot the name for something just be creative and people will understand it anyway, hopefully.

When I'm a commander I rarely use the squad-to-all, only if we are about to make a final push or a desperate attempt to not lose.

Sometimes I wish I could talk to 2 squads at once though. Does anyone know if it works if I for example hold numpad 1+3 to talk to squad 1 and 3 at the same time?

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.

Jevski wrote: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.

Yes it really is, and it is normally the most raging squad-leader that does this which makes it even worse.

Great idea. But with my experience, when I squad lead, Squad leader radio is usually silent, and when a commander steps up and starts giving orders, a mutiny is thrown out with in minutes. Although, last night, we had wonderful teamwork on muttrah city with devastation as our commander. He did a bang up job.

This thread is not about listening to bossy Commanders, it's about radio etiquette and discipline to ensure airwave clarity.

Gracler wrote:Sometimes I wish I could talk to 2 squads at once though. Does anyone know if it works if I for example hold numpad 1+3 to talk to squad 1 and 3 at the same time?

Erm...I do this all the time...it should work. Many a times I get response of both at the same time then, which is kinda tricky sometimes

I must say it is nice to see more commanders in game, really improves rounds alot.

OP wrote:"Squad One to Commander." / "Commander to Squad One."

This is wrong. Always say the name of the squad you are transmitting to first.

Example: Commander, this is squad one.
Every squad notices immediately that this is directed at squad 1 and go on with what they were doing.

Otherwise very good guide. Especially about phoenetic alphabet. Typical conversation beetween me as transport pilot and SL.

Me: Where you want to go?
SL: H6 (unclearly)
Me: Hotel 6?
SL: H6 (unclearly)
Me: Type it

Tarranauha200 wrote:This is wrong. Always say the name of the squad you are transmitting to first.

Example: Commander, this is squad one.

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

Tarranauha200 wrote:Every squad notices immediately that this is directed at squad 1 and go on with what they were doing.

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.

Tarranauha200 wrote:This is wrong. Always say the name of the squad you are transmitting to first.

Example: Commander, this is squad one.
Every squad notices immediately that this is directed at squad 1 and go on with what they were doing.

Why should he? He is not transmitting to every one, as the guide clearly says is a really bad idea.

But im a bit unsure what you mean in the example you are making an example that sqd 1 is calling the Commander, but then you say the message is directed at sqd 1. Which is it?

"We need backup in Granola 2 keypad 4, the enemy is in Enchilada 3 keypad 1."

Can we stop with SLs calling coordinates like this? Learn the phonetic alphabet, it's very very easy and with little practice it will become second nature.

I dunno man, I kind of like Granola and Enchilada better than Golf and Echo.

That being said:

Added that image to the first post saXoni, thank you.

And remember people, it's:



Not:

LOL, you had me confused there for a second.

"And remember people, it's mosque, not foggy lake beautiful scenery".

saXoni wrote:LOL, you had me confused there for a second.

"And remember people, it's mosque, not foggy lake beautiful scenery".

That's what I meant!

Make a squad, look at squad list, ask on mumble to all sq leaders "hi all can any sl who will be using mumble call there squad number, Im squad 4 inf." Mark replies on post it note sq number and role, stick it on the bottom of my monitor.

Game starts with one less issue to deal with.

There is nothing better than having good comms etiquette as other SLs who also use it will stick togeather and help each other a lot more than some sl asking over mumble "can i get trans?".
I also think the CAS SLs are getting a lot better at understanding and taking in target info. If I call a air strike on a laze I always give as much info as possible. I ask before placing markers. Sq1 this is sq4 how copy? Go ahead sq4. I have target Alpha8, 1xAPC, no AA sighted, obstruction attack from SE, ready to laze.
This normally gets the CAS SL a bit wet and when he replies you can hear it in there voice and it ups there game as well. On the way. I then watch the map and when they get close I will radio them back and say target lazed and marked. Its a left over from doing the ArmA 2 FAC training. It not full on FAC but adjusted for PR game play.

Next time you need CAS that round you will be sure to get the help you need.

Use the comms well and it adds so much to PR.

Tarranauha200 wrote:This is wrong. Always say the name of the squad you are transmitting to first.

Example: Commander, this is squad one.
Every squad notices immediately that this is directed at squad 1 and go on with what they were doing.

I always does it like you mention, and yes I guess it is backwards according to the "book" but It feels backwards to me to do it the other way around. "squad 1 here...commander come back" or whatever. I prefer saying "Commander!!! this is squad 1"

Whatever you do always remember to add a pause for at-least 10 sec before retrying, leaving the receiver some time finish what he is doing!

Gracler wrote:I always does it like you mention, and yes I guess it is backwards according to the "book" but It feels backwards to me to do it the other way around. "squad 1 here...commander come back" or whatever. I prefer saying "Commander!!! this is squad 1"

Whatever you do always remember to add a pause for at-least 10 sec before retrying, leaving the receiver some time finish what he is doing!

I agree tbh, its a audio que, if I hear a voice saying (im sq6) sq8 to sq6 during battle i have switch my ears off to the radio by time they say "to sq6" and they have to call me again until i realise who they want. As soon as I hear "sq6 this is...... or sq6 from....... or sq6 can i........ it make me listen from the start.

what ever the propper way is I guess we all have our prefered way. As long as you ID yourself ever time its miles better than hearing " I need help at......."

Would just like to add also, you only need to learn A-M (as per PR map grids). Considering the default squad names of the game we've been playing since 2005 cover A-I and should be ingrained in your mind (worked with me!), that's only 4 more to learn:

Juliet
Kilo
Lima
Mike