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Old 12-14-2014, 09:44 PM   #61
Icelander
 
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Default Re: Protocol and etiquette for command on US military bases

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Originally Posted by ak_aramis View Post
I can't speak to that base, nor even to a current base. However...

For several bases I've been to, two I've lived by, and one I've been stationed at, the base commander was NEVER a general officer, even tho' there was always a general officer on the base.

The Base Commander was always a Full Colonel (US O6, NATO OF-5) or Navy Captain (same grades). I've seen evidence of base commanders of lesser rank, for small bases, but again, the base commander was nominally under the command of another officer on the base.

The Wing/Brigade/Division/(Naval Squadron) commanders were General/Flag officers. Operational command of the activities from the base fell to the Wing/Brigade/Division CO. Day to day on-base functions, including on base security and law enforcement, facilities maintenance, housing, and food services usually fall to the base commander.
Excellent, so Col. Irmintraut wants to speak with Col. Rick Kaiser of the 20th Engineer Brigade. He will no doubt also call upon Col. Linder as a courtesy call if that officer is not otherwise occupied.

The officer in command of a whole base, even if it happens to be winding down, will have access to all sorts of surveillance and communications gear that he could lend to a fellow officer who did not happen to bring with him a sufficient quantity, right?
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Old 12-14-2014, 11:27 PM   #62
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Default Re: Roleplaying flavour and guide to Iraq in 2011

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Originally Posted by combatmedic View Post
I don't think I ever tried an Iraqi energy drink.

I do remember when somebody (I think the Turks?) started making an ''Islamic Cola" and marketing it across the region. It tasted like malted battery acid, as somebody whose name I can't recall once described both Coke and Pepsi.
Since I don't have anything valuable about the topic to add, I'll point out that the "malted battery acid" is from a Bloom County comic strip. It's always stuck with me, too.

In an attempt to be actually helpful, I'll say: Hey, was Saddam's government ever up to anything in this area that could be tied back to this supernatural setting premise? Like WMD depots supposedly squirrled away there or anything?
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Old 12-15-2014, 02:39 AM   #63
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Default Re: Protocol and etiquette for command on US military bases

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Originally Posted by Icelander View Post
Excellent, so Col. Irmintraut wants to speak with Col. Rick Kaiser of the 20th Engineer Brigade. He will no doubt also call upon Col. Linder as a courtesy call if that officer is not otherwise occupied.

The officer in command of a whole base, even if it happens to be winding down, will have access to all sorts of surveillance and communications gear that he could lend to a fellow officer who did not happen to bring with him a sufficient quantity, right?
Actually, he might not. Actually, probably doesn't.

The Base Commander is more like a combination of landlord and mayor. For a major base, it's usually organized at the Wing level, with various squadrons attached to it with dual chains, namely, the administrative, some Civil Engineering, fire suppression, military police, motor pool, and a few others.

The Combat Wings/Groups may be stationed at the base, but not actually under the base commander. In such cases, the base commander sets the speed limits, the responsibilities in manpower for various base functions, but has no operational authority over the majority of units present.

The major command that "owns" the base is often headquartered at the largest major base under it... and the base commander and the various wings and groups assigned to the base all answer to the major command's commanding general.

As for the base commander getting intel data? Only if the Intelligence Squadron's CO thinks the base needs it, or their group commander does, or their wing commander. He can ask, and due to rank, that request has weight, but they don't actually answer to him.

Just like the mayor can't go to the local TV station and order them to broadcast his speech... but he can ask them to, and he's more likely to get it than most local businessmen.
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Old 12-15-2014, 05:05 AM   #64
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Default Re: Protocol and etiquette for command on US military bases

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Originally Posted by ak_aramis View Post
Actually, he might not. Actually, probably doesn't.

The Base Commander is more like a combination of landlord and mayor. For a major base, it's usually organized at the Wing level, with various squadrons attached to it with dual chains, namely, the administrative, some Civil Engineering, fire suppression, military police, motor pool, and a few others.

The Combat Wings/Groups may be stationed at the base, but not actually under the base commander. In such cases, the base commander sets the speed limits, the responsibilities in manpower for various base functions, but has no operational authority over the majority of units present.

The major command that "owns" the base is often headquartered at the largest major base under it... and the base commander and the various wings and groups assigned to the base all answer to the major command's commanding general.

As for the base commander getting intel data? Only if the Intelligence Squadron's CO thinks the base needs it, or their group commander does, or their wing commander. He can ask, and due to rank, that request has weight, but they don't actually answer to him.

Just like the mayor can't go to the local TV station and order them to broadcast his speech... but he can ask them to, and he's more likely to get it than most local businessmen.
Ok, but what Col. Irmintraut (PC) needs to ask his fellow Colonels, either the base commander Col. Kaiser or the Air Force commander Col. Linder, is for them to lend him transceivers, small microphones and other electronics gear, as well as allow his expert access to the machine shop.

That's something that the base commander can authorise, right? So it's a fairly favourable task using the Pulling Rank rules?
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Old 12-16-2014, 02:42 AM   #65
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Default Re: Protocol and etiquette for command on US military bases

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Originally Posted by Icelander View Post
Ok, but what Col. Irmintraut (PC) needs to ask his fellow Colonels, either the base commander Col. Kaiser or the Air Force commander Col. Linder, is for them to lend him transceivers, small microphones and other electronics gear, as well as allow his expert access to the machine shop.

That's something that the base commander can authorise, right? So it's a fairly favourable task using the Pulling Rank rules?
No, it's not. The electronics gear is from the intell shop; odds are their colonel most likely is elsewhere, and even if he's on the base, he's not beheld to the base commander's whims.

The machine shops belong to the air wing and/or the motor pool squadron and/or the civil engineering equipment squadron. He can order the grounds maintenance shop to let him use it, but not the field construction group (because they're command level assets, not base assets).

For routine operations, there are forms to request the stuff be assigned. Forms that require reasons, must be signed, and while submitted electronically now, usually require a physical signed copy just in case if the request is anything other than normal purview. And the base commander is just another client most of the time.

Pulling rank is a battlefield or emergency conditions action; doing it for something that isn't an emergency and isn't in the face of the enemy is a great way to wind up in a tiny cubicle in a basement somewhere. You can get away with it for getting into line, too... Doing so to someone not actually under your command outside of emergencies or combat can wind up ending your career.

Wing Commanders and Base Commanders are nominally equals, too... and interfering with another's command is a major no-no. If you need something special, you go through channels. You do the paperwork. You do not give orders for unusual stuff; you make requests. Seniority determines who salutes whom on the street, not who is in charge. Each has his areas of authority, and is expected to not cross outside them.

Likewise, Station Commanders and Group Commanders are nominally equals, too.

The level at which one is allowed to give orders outside one's direct chain of command for other than imminent battle, extant battle, or emergencies is when Congress makes one a General Officer (Army/AF/USMC) or a Flag Officer (USN/USCG/NOAA/PHS).
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Old 12-16-2014, 08:31 AM   #66
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Default Re: Roleplaying flavour and guide to Iraq in 2011

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Some observations of Al Anbar:


While the IPs are a bunch of unemployable idiots, and the IA is a bunch of thuggish gear-queers, the tribal shieks clearly keep their best guys back on the ranch.
To be fair, I probably would if I was a shiek too. I always wondered how they got past that problem.
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