Commanding Officer Whitelist Application
Byond ID? not-so-quick
Player Name You Use Most? Garret 'Hammer' Steele
Make a list of links to all of your ban appeals as well as whitelist and staff applications (both accepted and denied) submitted within the past year. For appeals, provide an additional ban reason and the appeal’s verdict next to the link. N/A
Have you received any bans in the last month? No
What is your timezone in UTC? UTC-05
What is your discord username and handle? goodluck jonathan #9513
What do you think is the job of a Commander? I think the job of commander can be broken down into 3 parts.
1: Give the marine players a plan to follow and steer the combat/action of a round down the paths you intend on utilizing, all the while making minute to minute adjustments based on what you can see from CIC. This is what makes or break command IMO- how well they can adapt to the situation their marines are given. Communication and reactivity are the biggest skills I would say are necessary for
2: Be the face and voice of Marine command. Be there to take control of the battlefield when necessary, but give the Marine players a rallying point - a figure to rely on. Nobody appreciates a CO that panics and ignores Marines. You are there to coordinate, plan, think and make things happen.
3: Coordinate the shipside affairs. This means regular check ins with Req, engineering, medbay, POs, research and IOs. The USCM should function as one unit, from top to bottom. You are the very top of that chain, and arguably the most important support player in the entire faction (RO being a close second) and if there is something you can do for another player, do it.
There's also the large OOC question of whether or not the CO is there to get a Marine major in record time or if he's there to provide an enjoyable round. To me, it's both. I wouldn't want to throw a round because I dislike a map (I.e deploying everyone to LZ2 on Ice at 12:10) but I'm not going to attempt to force marines into overly complicated, unnecessarily boring plans just to get a win (having everyone consolidate at the FOB then evac at 12:50 because I know marines can hold briefing better than they can the FOB).
Why do you want to be a Commanding Officer? I want to be a CO primarily to be more capable of putting unique strategies into action. I'm also a fan of the medal system and want to utilize it to recognize the achievements of absolutely stand-out marines who go above and beyond. Interacting with High Command and having the capacity to change the way the game is played and felt from the marine faction is another huge plus.
I enjoy seeing unique commanders change up the battlefield in a drastic way - like how Juro got 90% of marines to do a bayonet charge into the xenos on LV, which unfortunately ended with a lot of deaths, but was super fun to be a part of. That's what I'm hoping to accomplish if I'm accepted for this WL- having fun experimenting with the systems already in game, and and providing an enjoyable experience that otherwise wouldn't be there.
What do you think you could contribute by being whitelisted? I think I could contribute (as a CO) more unique strategies for certain maps and am definitely willing to try something new where I can. I'm a particular fan of the early Charlie and delta drop, and would like to experiment more with that idea.
I don't expect to drastically increase the marine winrate or radically raise the standards for COs. I expect to spend most of my time in CIC and lose fairly often, but make up for the losses with interesting rounds.
How will your Commanding Officer behave? Describe their character. Garret will be a CO who isn't interested in arguing or drawing out disputes with the people on the ground. He will put a large amount of trust in the squad marines themselves, and make a competent cargo bay/req office his top priority. When presented with difficult situations, he will rely first on the word of those on the ground, or resort to his own intuition, leading to unorthodox outcomes that serve the interests of the round and the USCM.
As a person, his morals will be unwavering. He will fully dedicate himself to his current task. He places the well-being of others above his own. He will not always be completely serious and is quick to make sarcastic jokes. He will make leaps of faith, and worries about trust afterwards. He will never scorn a marine for trying - although failing to try will earn someone a thrashing.
Garret believes his duty to the USCM supersedes his duty to himself or even his crew. He is ready to spend the lives of his crew if necessary. He will not, however, waste those lives. If necessary, he will throw himself head first at whatever is disrupting progress.
When making tactical decisions, he will inform and ask SLs about their willingness to follow through with them, instead of announcing an order and expecting it to happen - though this does not mean he will allow insubordination or desertion.
Desertion in particular is a good way to get on Garret's bad side and earn yourself a permanent trip to the brig or the grave. To abandon your post without being ordered to is a grave sin in his eyes.
To Garret, respect is a two way street and vital to any operation. If the marines do not respect their leader, his orders will go unheard. If the leader does not respect his marines, his support will be misplaced and mistakes will be made at everyone's expense, and Garret understands this very well.
Name and briefly describe your Commanding Officer's own ship. The USS Two For Flinching is a relatively new, albeit beaten up and scarred frigate class anti raiding vessel. Originally commissioned in 2160 to address the threat of piracy in the outer rim colonies, it served as part of the Third Fleet during Operation Canton, where it was nearly ripped in 2 by a ramming action from a UPP destroyer, which it managed to destroy after a well timed broadside to its munition stores, completely igniting the destroyer and sending it crashing to the surface of Canton. The crew continued to fight for 12 hours in a near-destroyed state before being forced to pull out and rearm, spending the rest of the operation grounded due to severe engine damage.
Since that Operation, its continued to serve in the Third Fleet as an long range raiding vessel. It has an unconfirmed amount of kills on enemy combatants, but it's more seasoned crew count 15 destroyed CLF and UPP vessels of various classifications under it's belt.
The USS Two For Flinching's weaponry is dated, but its armor plating is not. Utilizing multi layered titanium alloy armor plating and coilgun based point defense guns, it is now capable of extended lone operations in enemy territory and has the crew to back that claim up.
Your story (potential topics listed below)
How experienced are you with the position of a Squad Leader (SL)? Very experienced. I have a good understanding of jtac and supply, and have spent a bit of time as SL for each squad. I'm pretty good at getting a group of marines to follow me into a head-on push, whether it be into the hive or into the queen.
How experienced are you with the position of a Staff Officer (SO)? I'm far more experienced as an SL, but I know how to provide decent overwatch and with firing OBs - although I generally wait for XO or CO to approve the coords before firing those.
How experienced are you with the position of a Department Head? Not very experienced, as these roles don't interest me as a player, although I understand their usefulness in normal round gameplay.
How experienced are you with the position of the Executive Officer (XO)? I've only played XO a few times but it's remarkably similar in structure to SL gameplay- and as a result a lot of my skills with communication, planning and adjustment of plans carry over quite easily. Using the tacmap and central console is pretty straightforward, as is handling req supply drops.
How familiar are you with Marine Law and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)? Not the most familiar with ML. The only times I've gotten the hard end of the baton (to the best of my recollection) are when I had a warrant for my arrest as an SL for a smashed squad req window, and when I got arrested for calling an MP stinky. Most of the things outlined in ML are either common sense or things that you may not ever experience (sexual harassment and illegal confinement) in game.
I know the basics of deployment rules and if I'm not certain, I have no issue with mhelping or just reading the wiki, which is as straightforward as they come.
When do you believe a Battlefield Execution should be used? List some examples of scenarios in which a battlefield execution would be correctly used. BEs are one of those tools that should be used once in a blue moon, when ever option you have is exhausted and there is no further recourse.
Example being: SL is demoted for refusing to follow orders, a new aSL is picked, who is killed by the former SL. MPs are unable to make an arrest and the now wanted former SL is trying to rally troops for a mutiny.
That is a situation where: you have tried a different avenue, it didn't work, and the person on the receiving end is no longer worth negotiating or de-escalating the conflict with because they're too much of a hindrance to the operation, or are being unnecessarily uncooperative.
Under what circumstances do you believe it is legal to pardon a prisoner? What are some examples of crimes you would pardon, and those you would not? I believe it's legal to pardon only major and minor crimes. So no murderers, traitors or deserters can be pardoned, but everything below is fine.
I personally would only pardon someone irreplaceable and of high importance to the operation. A squad marine would be the very bottom of the ladder, but a specialist would be considerably higher.
It also depends on the severity of their crime- when it was committed (during an emergency or evac order) as well as their tone towards both MPs and command.
I would not pardon a specialist who has been arrested for insubordination, and during the process of committing insubordination, told off his superiors and directly led to several marines being left behind during evac.
However, if that same specialist committed insubordination and exposed a gap in the enemy defences, leading to a massive push and expansion of the frontline, I would seriously consider pardoning them.
What is your routine after starting the round as either a Staff Officer or Executive Officer? Assume you joined round-start and are inside your quarters. As SO: introduce myself via command comms, ask the acting CO what today's plan is and when briefing starts, log into the overwatch console, introduce myself to my assigned squad, then head down to req and ask if they need any help.
As XO: Beeline to CIC, announce an LZ and briefing time, increase req budget, discuss an idea for the operations plan with the SOs, assign them to squads, pick up the command tablet, make an announcement with tacmap screenshot and arrows corresponding to where I want the squads to go, then head down to briefing to prepare.
How would you handle insubordinate departments? State what you would do for each department if they were insubordinate. Req: Get down to Req with MPs, figure out who was responsible for the insubordination and brig them accordingly. If it was the entire department, I'd have my SOs or XO temporarily man req and send down FOB crates only, keeping the req line closed until proper req staff return.
Engineering: If the power grid isn't set up, order the nearest available synth and a squad engineer to get it up and running. If OB isn't being loaded, have myself or the XO go down and reload it.
Research: Get the CMO to finish up any work that could be of immediate use (lowering DEFCON etc) and keep the researchers brigged for insubordination. Grant whichever researcher is willing to do their job a pardon, if applicable.
Medbay: Order either a synth or bravo squad medic to oversee operations with the autodoc systems and keep wounded patients in cryostasis until doctors and CMO are fit to return to duty.
MPs: Deputize SOs, fax high command to inform them of the situation, make arrests where necessary and follow high commands orders to the letter
How would you handle an understaffed CIC? What if you and the XO are the only available CIC crew? Announce at briefing CIC will be heavily understaffed and there will be a delay in the firing of OBs. Have my XO handle supply drops, OB loading and firing, and some light overwatch. Handle the tacmap, planning and coordinating of marines myself from CIC. Leave Delta explicitly with no OW to reduce load on the XO and to ensure delta is as independent as we need them to be.
If heads of staff are available to handle certain things (such as CE with OBs or RO with supply drops) I will inform them of our situation and tell them I need them to step up and fill in the gaps where we can't.
What would you do if you were deployed and a marine told you they were going to desert the operation? I would warn the marine that desertion carries a heavy price and if he does not return to his post, I will be forced to perform a battlefield execution, as neither myself or my MPs are willing to chase a deserter across the battlefield to detain them. Give them 3 chances, inform them if they do not return/promise to return by the 3rd chance I will make it my priority to hunt them down and execute them, as they are a traitor to the values of the USCM.
Do you understand that any player - even donors or staff members - can have their whitelist status revoked should they break our Server Rules or Roleplay Guidelines? Yes
Do you understand you cannot advertise or promote this application on any platform, including Discord? Yes
Do you also understand that you may not edit this application 1 hour after it has been posted? Yes