Platoon Leader

A Platoon Leader is an officer in charge of an entire Infantry Platoon. The Platoon Leader receives mission objectives from a Company Commander, and must formulate a battle plan through which the Platoon's assets will complete those objectives. The Platoon Leader then enters the battle zone alongside the rest of the Platoon (as part of the Platoon HQ element), accompanying them as they work towards the objective, and adjusting the mission on-site to overcome any unforeseen difficulties.

The Platoon Leader himself is armed for combat, but will mostly attempt to avoid directly engaging enemy threats or exposing himself to enemy fire. His time is mostly spent examining the map, watching the troops advance towards their objectives, and giving out orders to the units over Platoon Net. In most missions, the battle plan needs to constantly evolve to tackle newly-arising situations, and it is the Platoon Leader's responsibility to make this happen. It is also his responsibility to get as many of his men out alive at the end of the mission.

In Platoon-level operations, the Platoon Leader is the highest ranking officer on his Side, and has complete freedom to decide how to complete his objectives, within the constraints of the mission as laid out by the Mission Maker. Even in Company-level scenarios, where the Platoon Leader is subordinated to a Company Commander, he is mostly independent and can make radical adjustments to the battle plan if necessary. Nonetheless, he must adhere to the Company Commander's overall plan.

Platoon Leaders are always experienced players, capable of handling the complicated task of commanding 45 men or more. They are in third or fourth line to inherit the Company Commander's position, and must be ready for this eventuality. On the death of a Platoon Leader, his role is inherited by a Platoon Sergeant (if present) or one of the Squad Leaders.

Equipment
The Platoon Leader is equipped for combat, but is not expected to actively participate in it. His gear very much resembles that of a Squad Leader, including an Assault Rifle and Grenade Launcher, but it is more biased towards assisting other units (via Smoke and/or Flares). The Platoon Leader carries very little ammunition, to help keep him light on his feet.

Primary Weapon
The Platoon Leader carries an Assault Rifle or equivalent weapon, designed for mid-range and close-range combat. However, he is not expected to actively seek or engage targets, instead opting to keep his position concealed from enemy eyes. He is a very high value target, and his death could be a serious blow to the effectiveness of the platoon.

The Platoon Leader does not carry a large amount of ammunition. This allows him to run over long distances without Stamina issues. Even with this low ammo count, he is unlikely to run out of ammo during the mission.

Grenade Launcher
The Platoon Leader has a Grenade Launcher, typically attached under the barrel of his rifle. If he carries HE Grenades or other offensive grenades for this weapon, he can use them against clusters of enemies, lightly-armored vehicles, or enemies in cover. This is preferable to shooting at enemies, since it is difficult (if not impossible) to pinpoint his position when he is using a Grenade Launcher.

Platoon Leaders tend to carry fewer offensive grenades than Squad Leaders or Fireteam Leaders, since they do not often come into contact with enemies. Instead, most of the grenades they carry will be Smoke or Flare grenades. The former can be used to help conceal friendly troop movements, but are also useful for marking targets (particularly for CAS) or Landing Zones. Flares can be launched to illuminate the battlefield at night, and can similarly be used to mark landing zones for aircraft.

Radio
Platoon Leaders carry two different sets of radios: A 343 short-range radio, and a 148/152 long-range radio.

The 343 allows the Platoon Leader to stay in contact with the rest of Platoon HQ, although they will often be in such close proximity to one another that no radio will be needed. In emergencies, the Platoon Leader can switch 343 channels to try and contact a unit that has lost its 148/152.

The 148/152 allows the Platoon Leader to speak with the leaders of platoon-subordinate units (e.g. the Squads), even at very great distances. This is the primary portion of the Platoon Leader's role - issuing orders and receiving report on Platoon Net.

In very low-tech scenarios, a Platoon Leader may have neither of these radios, and will have to handle everything with Runners, or personally by Voice.

Map
In normal scenarios, the Platoon Leader carries a map just like every other player. In low-tech scenarios, he may be the only player equipped with this item, meaning that he is solely responsible for navigation. In such scenarios, retrieving the map from his corpse if he dies becomes a very high priority.

Role
For the most part, the Platoon Leader is the commanding officer of all units on his Side. Even in Company-level missions, the Platoon Leader is often far enough away from his superiors to retain a lot of autonomy and a lot of responsibility. As commanding officer, the Platoon Leader must formulate a plan for the completion of all objectives given to him, and see to it that this plan is executed with as few casualties as possible, while exploiting the advantages of each asset under his command. Although he may or may not see any actual combat himself, his job is by no means an easy one - and requires an experienced and intelligent play to pull off correctly.

The Platoon Leader's job can be seen as having three distinct parts, each of which is explained separately below.

Planning and Briefing
Before the start of the mission, a Platoon Leader receives a list of one or more objectives from his Company Commander, along with a short survey of friendly and enemy assets. In Company-level missions, the Company Commander is an actual player, while in Platoon-level missions these orders usually come down directly from the Mission Maker or the Game Master - but there is little tangible difference either way.

The Platoon Leader spends a while examining all of this data and the map of the area to come up with a basic plan, which utilizes each of his assets towards the completion of all of the objectives (or as many as he thinks reasonable to plan ahead for). This includes determining the ingress route into the mission area, the general spread of forces along that route, and the taking of the objective itself. Many missions also include an egress or extraction phase, though this may or may not be planned out in advance. In defensive missions, the Platoon Leader spends more time figuring out which defensive positions will be best for each asset, instead of ingress/egress.

Once the plan is complete, the Platoon Leader will gather up his Squad Leaders for a briefing, to explain what the Platoon is going to attempt. He will usually put down a few rough markers on the map to illustrate the plan. Pilots and/or Vehicle Commanders may receive a second, separate briefing about their own tasks, as these may be very different to those of the Infantry. The mission itself only begins once these players have dispersed and finished passing on the briefing points to their subordinates.

Field Command
Once the mission is already in progress, the Platoon Leader has supreme authority for all units under his command. He uses Platoon Net to give those orders to his Squad Leaders and other team leaders, adjusting the original plan in order to tackle unforeseen complications that the original plan did not anticipate. He can also use the radio to signal the beginning of a pre-planned maneuver.

Squad Leaders are expected to follow the Platoon Leader's orders as closely as possible. However, because they often have a much closer familiarity with the actual tactical situation of their Squads, they may suggest a change of plans if they think an order is particularly suicidal or if another (better) option is available. The Platoon Leader can take suggestions under consideration, and will often acquiesce to requests if they make sense, but can always override his subordinates' judgment. It is ultimately his responsibility to make the best choice for the Platoon and its objectives.

The Platoon Leader must not only track the position of each of his subordinate assets, but also their condition. He will frequently ask for status updates over Platoon Net, to determine casualties, ammunition levels, and other tactical considerations. He must ensure that each asset is capable of performing the tasks he hands down to that asset, otherwise he could get a lot of people needlessly killed. If the situation is drastically different from what was expected during initial planning (see prev. section), the Platoon Leader can alter his original plan as far as he deems appropriate, at any given time.

Saving Lives
Although the Platoon Leader's ultimate duty is to fulfill the objectives he's been given, he also bears responsibility for keeping his subordinates alive until the end of the mission - or at least, as many as possible. Even in unwinnable missions (like Deploy Defense or Conventional Warfare), the Platoon Leader bears some responsibility for keeping his men alive as long as possible. Throwing one's men into certain death is acceptable only when doing so grants the necessary advantage required to get others out alive, or to complete a primary objective.

This responsibility is not an official measure - no one will get thrown out of ShackTac for failing to protect their troops. It's more of a matter of personal pride, being able to protect one's men while also fulfilling mission objectives. Again, in some missions it is completely impossible to get anyone out alive.

Chain of Command
In Platoon-level operations, the Platoon Leader is the highest ranking commander on his Side. Nonetheless, he may need to inherit the role of Forward Air Controller in case the FAC dies, otherwise he risks deterioration of the collaborative effort between ground and air forces.

In Company-level operations, a Platoon Leader must be prepared to take command of the entire Company, in case both the Company Commander and Company XO are killed. This applies to all Platoon Leaders participating in the mission, as they are all in line to inherit command.

The death of the Platoon Leader himself can cause all sorts of chaos in the chain of command if he is not replaced immediately. The responsibility for this falls first on the Platoon Sergeant, and subsequently to the Squad Leaders or even anyone else willing to take the position.

Upwards Inheritance
A Platoon Leader is typically the highest commanding officer on his Side, and is therefore not in line to inherit any position. This is particularly true in Adversarial missions, which are always Platoon-level actions. However, in Company-level operations, any Platoon Leader may be required to inherit the position of the Company Commander, in case both him and the Company XO are killed in combat. This event is somewhat rare, because Company HQ is a decidedly non-combat unit that will actively avoid combat if possible and is unlikely to be killed at all.

The first to inherit Company Command after the Company XO would be the Platoon Leader of 1st Platoon, followed by the leader of 2nd Platoon. Both men are, by definition, experienced players; they should be able to handle the responsibility without issue. However, the inheritor must now juggle Company command alongside commanding his own Platoon, which can cause some difficulty. The result is typically that the different assets making up the Company become significantly more autonomous, though they will still make an effort to remain as coordinated as possible on Company Net.

If the Company Commander, Company XO and both Platoon Leaders are all killed, the chain of command has essentially been broken. If the rest of the Company is still in good fighting condition, what will usually happen is a REJIP of some or all command officers. This allows the mission to go on instead of having to scrap it early. However, if the company is no longer in fighting shape, force cohesion can be allowed to break down entirely, and each individual unit in the Company will likely attempt to escape the area on their own.

FAC Inheritance
A Platoon Leader can inherit the position of Forward Air Controller, in case the FAC is killed. This is done in order to give the Aircraft participating in the mission a way to coordinate with the ground forces, otherwise their effectiveness could suffer. While this increases the Platoon Leader's workload, it is not a major distraction from his normal command duties, and should be manageable.

Note that more often, the role of FAC will be transferred to the Platoon Sergeant, if one is present. He has fewer responsibilities as-is, and therefore can slip into the role without complications.

Downwards Inheritance
On the event of the death of a Platoon Leader, command of the Platoon falls down step-by-step according to the following progression:


 * 1) Platoon Sergeant: The Platoon Sergeant's primary role, if he is present, is to serve as a replacement for the Platoon Leader in just such an eventuality. He is an experienced player and is ready for this task, and should be able to take control immediately without issue.
 * 2) Primary Squad Leaders: The original Squad Leader of the first Squad in the platoon (Alpha squad in 1st Platoon, Delta squad in 2nd Platoon) is next in line to inherit command. The Alpha/Delta SL slot is typically filled by players who are ready to take the responsibility, although doing so will put a major strain on them, since they also need to continue commanding their own Squad.
 * 3) Secondary Squad Leaders: Next in line are the original Squad Leaders of other Squads in the Platoon, namely Bravo and Charlie for 1st Platoon, or Echo and Fox for 2nd Platoon. They are typically experienced enough for the role, and may volunteer to take the Platoon in case Alpha/Delta SL has been killed.
 * 4) Any one else: If all of the above have been killed, but the remainder of the Platoon is still strong and in fighting condition, anyone might potentially receive command. Typically, the job will be handed to whoever volunteers for it, regardless of current role or squad. This will typically be a highly experienced player who takes it upon themselves to see the mission to its end.

Note that by the time the fourth level of inheritance is reached, the Platoon may no longer be in fighting condition at all. If this is the case, the Squads may become autonomous - still coordinating to some degree over Platoon Net or even 343 radio, but not operating under a unified command structure. If this happens late in the mission it does not necessarily mean defeat - but it can cause a lot of confusion and significantly reduces the effectiveness of the entire Platoon.

Map Markers
A Squad Leader has two separate markers for his position: An STHUD marker seen only by members of the Squad Lead Element, and a map marker displaying the position of the Squad Leader to all other players on his side.

Map
On the map, a Platoon Leader has a marker attached to him that signifies his location - and vicariously the location of Platoon HQ. This map marker is also useful for locating the Platoon Leader's body in case he dies.

The PLT HQ marker looks like this:

HQ XPLT


 * The central symbol is the NATO symbol for a Fireteam-sized Infantry unit.
 * "HQ" denotes that this is a Headquarters element.
 * X is a single-digit number representing the sequence of the Platoon within its parent Company.
 * PLT is short for "Platoon".
 * The entire symbol will be colored yellow, to distinguish it from any of the Squad markers. The color is similar to, but lighter than, the color used for Weapon Team and Logistics unit symbols.

When a Platoon Leader is killed, if any member of Platoon HQ inherits his role they will typically also reset this marker to follow their position from now on. This will be observed long as Platoon HQ remains a viable unit. If PLT HQ is completely destroyed, its members decide to join on another unit, the marker will be abandoned where it is and will stop being relevant.

Communications
Platoon Leaders can utilize all three methods of communications - Voice, 343 short-range radio, and 148/152 long-range radio. However, their role (as explained above) hinges primarily on the 148/152. In some situations, Platoon Leaders will be listening and broadcasting on two different 148/152 channels, if not more.

Voice
A Platoon Leader is constantly surrounded by other members of Platoon HQ, who will stick close to him at all times and do their best to defend him. This also puts them in range of his Voice.

Voice is used within Platoon HQ mostly for banter, as most of its members have few responsibilities and a lot of spare time. However the Platoon Leader can use Voice to confer with other members of the HQ element, for advice on planning and adjusting the mission. This is particularly true between the PLT Leader and Platoon Sergeant, his second-in-command, who can offer a lot of good feedback.

With a Forward Air Controller present, a lot of coordination between Ground and Air starts with Voice conversations between the Platoon Leader and the FAC. Any mission-relevant conversation between these two men that does not absolutely need to take place on the 148/152 Platoon Net channel will be done by voice. This primarily includes discussing potential Tasking for aircraft and the current status of aircraft.

The Platoon Leader may from time to time approach one of his Squads in order to get a good view of the battlefield from their perspective - at which time he can confer with that Squad's SL on any relevant issue.

Finally, the Platoon Leader delivers most of his briefings to the Squad Leaders in person, calling them all together to his location and explaining the plan while they all look at their maps. This is more efficient than trying to do so over Platoon Net, especially if the plan is a little complicated. Such briefings always take place before the start of a mission, but additional briefings can take place during the mission itself, when the Platoon has stopped at a defensible position prior to the next phase of the plan.

343
The Platoon Leader carries a 343 short-range radio which is set to the Platoon HQ channel, and typically assigned to the right ear. This radio allows him to stay in contact with every member of Platoon HQ, should they be outside voice range. However, such situations are quite rare; the members of Platoon HQ typically stay close together, and if one moves away for any reason they are also unlikely to be completely out of 343 range.

148/152 Platoon Net
A Platoon Leader's job requires him to spend a large part of his time sending and receiving messages on the 148/152 radio, using a channel called Platoon Net. Every element leader in the Platoon who has a 148/152 radio will be listening on this net. It is typically assigned to the left ear.

Platoon Net allows the Platoon Leader to send orders to individual Squads, Vehicle Sections and Weapon Teams, and allows the leaders of those teams to provide Situation Reports back to the Platoon Leader.

The Platoon Leader's callsign on Platoon Net is "Command", or (more rarely) "Lead". Any message to him will begin with this word, followed by the callsign of the unit attempting to contact him - e.g. "Command, Alpha", meaning "Command, this is Alpha". Conversely, the Platoon Leader will begin his messages by stating the callsign of the element he wishes to contact, followed by the word "Command" - e.g. "Alpha, Command", meaning "Alpha, this is Command".

148/152 Company Net
In Company-level scenarios, the Platoon Leader carries a second 148/152 radio set to the Company Net, a radio channel that allows different elements of the Company to speak with one another, and particularly with the Company Commander. This channel is typically also set to the left ear (together with the Platoon Net), which can be confusing at time. Different Platoon Leaders may choose to assign the two nets to different ears, as per their personal preference.

The Platoon Leader will receive his orders through Company Net as the mission evolves, and will also send periodic reports about his Platoon's progress to the Company Commander. This includes objectives fulfilled, problems encountered, and the general fighting condition of the Platoon. This allows the Company Commander, as well as other elements in the Company, to remain aware of the Platoon's situation at all times.

Note that very often, the Company HQ element will seek protection by sticking close to one of the Platoon HQs under its command. Whenever this is the case, the Platoon Leader may choose to use Voice instead of radio to give his reports, so as not to clutter the Company Net.

148/152 Air Net
The Platoon Leader does not normally need to converse on Air Net, a 148/152 channel dedicated to the Aircraft. Whenever he needs to send a message to aircraft, he will do so through the Forward Air Controller, whether by Voice or by transmitting on Platoon Net.

If the FAC is killed, the Platoon Leader will often inherit his role and will need to converse with the aircraft directly on Air Net. On this net, he may identify himself as "Ground" (essentially speaking for all ground forces). Aircraft on this net will identify themselves either as "Air" (speaking for all aircraft) or by their individual callsigns.

Callsigns and Terminology
The Platoon Leader is referred to by several different callsigns, depending on which type of communication is being used.

On Voice and 343 radio, the Platoon Leader will generally be called by his personal nickname. There is generally no need for formalities when using either of these methods to speak with or about him.

On Platoon Net, the leader's callsign is "Command" (or more rarely, "Lead"). Any message to him will be prefaced by this word, e.g. "Command, Charlie" (meaning "Command, this is Charlie").

On Company Net, the Platoon Leader identifies himself by the name of his Platoon - e.g. "First Platoon" or "Second Platoon". He may instead shorten this to just "One" or "Two", respectively. Note that in some past missions, Companies were split into "task-forces", each commanded by a Platoon Leader, in which case they identify themselves by different names specific to that mission alone.

On Air Net, the Platoon Leader often refers to himself as "Ground", since he is essentially speaking for all ground forces.