Commanding Officer Whitelist Application
Personal Information
Byond ID? Basedoperator
Player Name You Use Most? Daniel Morgan
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-06
What is your discord username and handle? johnathan#0228
Basic Questions & Story
What do you think is the job of a Commander? The Commanding Officer's positional value aboard the ship and during the game can be divided between accomplishing two goals, making the round enjoyable for those who play in it, and hopefully ensuring a victory for his battalion. A round as CO should be approached as a balance of these two values. The CO should hopefully experiment within reason to improve the experience, but not intentionally in a way that would inherently compromise marine victory or ruin the round for the people involved.
For example, choosing alternative LZs and drawing up unconventional plans for success (even if they do not work out) is a positive, but meta-grudging certain squads and giving them suicidal orders - or orders the CO knows they won't follow, ensuring a poor experience for those involved, should be avoided, as well as hive-rushing for a meta marine major. Ensuring a fun, interesting, and entertaining round for both sides is essential. The rounds I have enjoyed most have personally been ones with an adaptive and courageous CO/Queen, with evolving flanks and strategies that break the mold.
The actual work of the captain itself is varying but comes down to the simple principle: you lead the entire marine force. Whether you plan on sitting inside the CIC or leading the charge you are responsible for the coordination, communication, and delegation of not only your four squads, but every single shipside department. The job lies on your shoulders to lead the direction of the Almayer. Sometimes this may involve micromanaging (especially on lowpop), and those who play command should be prepared to give advice, be informed, and make decisions, as the person who calls the shots you must have knowledge of the positions those below you occupy.
Why do you want to be a Commanding Officer? I want to be a CO because I enjoy participating in the role of leadership and everything that comes with it when playing CM or SS13 in general. There's nothing more satisfying than leading the marines into a victory and nothing more intriguing than learning from your defeats. I also want to be a CO because I would like to organize and execute rounds for the marines that I think they would enjoy.
What do you think you could contribute by being whitelisted? I think there are a few qualities that I can contribute if I am whitelisted. I believe I approach CIC in a balanced and communicative manner, constantly listening to the marines and the departments as well as coordinating via announcements objectives and locations of enemies of interest. I enact within reason alternative plans, but do not stray into the realm of gimmickry. I also am usually active (despite my timezone) in hours where command staff is skeleton crew or absent, frequently playing as a solo XO and coordinating victory.
How will your Commanding Officer behave? Describe their character. As a captain I will behave pro-actively and decisively, but ultimately I will try to play in a way that leads to an enjoyable experience without compromising victory.
I understand that playing command will lead to the blame of things failing that are out of your control being pinned on you, and I think it's important that you don't sour your image with the marines even more with hasty PBing and detaining, or other spiteful actions. As CO when I play I will make sure that all aspects of the operation are running to the best of their ability, not necessarily direct micromanagement of every department but making sure those participating in their jobs are informed of the situation and carrying out orders.
I value communication, coordination, and information. I will command in a way that keeps everyone on the same page.
Name and briefly describe your Commanding Officer's own ship. -
Your story (potential topics listed below)
Experience
How experienced are you with the position of a Squad Leader (SL)? I play as a (preferably Charlie) SL quite a bit, and have good experience in leading the groundside without dying like most SLs do.
How experienced are you with the position of a Staff Officer (SO)? I have played SO infrequently in the past month, but often previously. I am experienced with the fundamentals and importance of the role.
How experienced are you with the position of a Department Head? I have played RO constantly and know Req like the back of my hand. I have played CMP a bit in the past month, and I have played CE and CMO occasionally in the past.
How experienced are you with the position of the Executive Officer (XO)? Very. I have played XO frequently in the past 2 months, especially on lowpop hours.
How familiar are you with Marine Law and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)? I admittedly have not played MP on a dedicated level until the past month or two, but in the time leading up to this application I have gone out of my way to do so despite previously thinking it to be not my cup of tea, to familiarize myself with Marine Law and the SOP. I have made a point to try and learn and practice it to the best of my ability.
Scenarios
When do you believe a Battlefield Execution should be used? List some examples of scenarios in which a battlefield execution would be correctly used. The entire concept of a battlefield execution rests on the foundation that you will be taking someone out of playing the round (an affair that could last an hour or maybe even four) permanently without appeal at your discretion.
This means that the battlefield execution should only be used in scenarios where it is absolutely necessary, such as an immediate lethal major threat to the safety of yourself, your men, and the operation, and one that cannot be handled by MPs or through standard execution protocol without further jeopardy and harm.
For example, a marine that has intentionally undermined your command, hinting at a willingness to kill/mutiny who has suddenly attempted to shoot at you.
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 the pardon is a tool a CO should use if the detainment of an individual is an operational detriment in their eyes. A pardon should weigh the consequence of releasing this person and the responsibility the CO will carry due to this, compared to the value this person shares to this operation.
For example, a smartgunner breaks into another squad req because it contains an SG drum that he cannot obtain because req is closed and his squad req was unvended. His value to the operation is important and the crime committed was done so to further his assistance in the operation. The risk of him committing any heinous acts on being released instead of serving his time is also low.
A crime I would not pardon would be a marine charged with assault with a deadly weapon after PBing another marine during a verbal altercation that the other marine had started. This would prove that the perpetrator would be a possible threat to the operation, due to his escalating nature, and a potential threat that outweighs his value.
It is illegal to pardon capital crimes without the express permission of HC.
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. My routine as XO follows,
I leave my quarters and, if aCO, immediately announce a brief time, authorize cargo points, and delegate the landing zone. After that, I go over to the crew manifest console and see what positions are filled and not filled, adjusting my round-start behavior accordingly, such as setting aSLs and compensating for a lack of POs, MPs, RO/CTs, etc. If there is a CO present I greet them and ask them what they would like regarding those judgements if they haven't done it themselves already.
After that, I immediately make my way to the AA and OB, informing the CO of their choices if one is present. Once that is set I either send a SO or myself to the medbay to retrieve medhuds for the CIC. If any departments need pre-deployment assistance or manning, I will take care of that (such as sending a synth to run req).
Once briefing comes and the CIC is squared away I will arrive at briefing and if the CO is absent, give my plan in a timely manner. After briefing I will announce the drop-time and squad orders again and inform the SOs to set those orders on the squad comms.
How would you handle insubordinate departments? State what you would do for each department if they were insubordinate. If I were dealing with an insubordinate command (SO, XO) I would implore them to understand that as CO my word is final, and that a divided and conflicted command is extremely harmful to the success of an operation. However, those who seek to play command roles should be hopefully more knowledgeable and reasonable than the average marine due to playing such an essential role, so my patience would be shorter and I would be less lenient than if I were dealing with other departments. However, I would respect their criticisms and advice if they were discussed in an appropriate manner, instead of contradicting my final word. If dealing with miscellaneous command roles such as the PO and VC, which can make or break operations, I will also be more directly involved and strict in those matters.
Medical, being civilians, aren't necessarily under my total military jurisdiction as a CO, but never-the-less must obey marine law. Usually they should be left to their own devices under the watch and control of the CMO, but if necessary I will order the MPs to take action if situation requires. If necessary especially on skeleton crew, if a synthetic is available I would assign them to medical operations.
Requisitions as I have noticed is where a lot of new players wishing to learn more ship-side roles end up, usually CTs but occasionally ROs (especially due to the lack of timelocks at the current time of this app). As someone who has played RO for a long time and knows the department very well, I would be more forgiving of their mistakes depending on how respectful they are and how intentional the insubordination was. If necessary I would send over a SEA or Synthetic to assist.
The CMP is directly in charge of all MPs and he will be the one who "watches the watchman". My tolerance for direct disobedience from MPs would be very low, because Military Police are a department that are supposed to follow orders to the letter whether they like them or not. They are held to a higher standard ICly and OOCly because of the job that they play and risk job/server ban if they do not meet that standard.
Engineering is a department that can usually be left to its own devices without any trouble, however due to their access to tools and dangerous Almayer equipment, it is essential that they are kept in line.
In general when dealing with insubordination, I would always give those accused of the charge a chance to explain themselves and a chance to follow the orders I have given. Errors in communication happen and conflict resolution is important as a CO else you risk being seen as rash or harsh. However at the end of the day an order is still an order, and if they repeatedly refuse to obey that order consequences will follow.
How would you handle an understaffed CIC? What if you and the XO are the only available CIC crew? I've played low-pop XO plenty of times, sometimes being the only one in command. In low-pop CIC I routinely make sure that all the squads are informed as I would announce frequently, as well as handling OBs, squad cameras, supply drops, and other SO duties when necessary. When it comes to shipside matters, I would have me or the XO handle it one at a time, or if I was alone, preferably the MPs or someone the most qualified to carry out my will unless it required my immediate attention. I've made it a routine to take care of the AA and OB if Engineering is lacking or out, sending the dropship from the console if POs are lacking, among other responsibilities one must take care of in a low-pop scenario.
What would you do if you were deployed and a marine told you they were going to desert the operation? When it comes to deserting/insubordinate marines usually theres a reason behind it. I would ask him why they feel that desertion is the best option. Understanding the morale and concerns of the marines is essential to playing good Command, and I would hear them out if they had something constructive to say. I would definitely try to convince them that desertion is not the answer, but at the end of the day if they persisted I would be forced to battlefield execute them, as is a just punishment for desertion especially in an active combat zone where MPs are unable to detain him.
Confirmations
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