Fireteams are the most fundamental combat elements of our platoon structure.

Each fireteam consists of around four members - a leader and three subordinates. As the rifleman, you will be under charge of the fireteam leader. He, in turn, will be under the command of a squad leader who leads the three different fireteams that make up each squad. Likewise, the squad leader will be under the command of the Platoon Commander, who commands the three squads that form the platoon.

Working as a Team

The key aspect of success is that of closely-knit teams - a rifleman by himself is not nearly as useful as a fireteam working as one cohesive unit. Fireteams look out for their own members as well as those of their fellow fireteams. They are the tip of the spear.

In order to play at the highest possible level of coordination, teamwork, and effectiveness, there are many things that each player must be familiar with. The key foundational aspects of this are in the 'basic responsibilities' of each fireteam member, and by association, every player in your group. In order to maintain cohesion and combat effectiveness, every player in the fireteam is expected to abide by these simple ground rules.

As a fireteam member, you must...

Know your squad and fireteam. With our command structure structure, squads are giving a callsign. Remember what team and squad you are in, as this allows you to pick out, confirm, and act upon voice orders relevant to you. Make sure you are familiar with your fireteam leader's voice, as well as that of your buddy team member.

Listen to your team leader and follow their directions. Fireteam and Squad Leaders are typically the more experienced players. Their role is to try to keep you alive and in the fight, while accomplishing whatever mission the squad may be tasked with. Listen to them and stick with your team.

Practice fire discipline and know the Rules Of Engagement. Do not be the one to give away a stealthy approach by accidentally firing your rifle or firing at a target without having been given clearance. Once things heat up, and the element of surprise is lost, you're usually free to shoot at anything that poses a threat. Until then, maintain good fire discipline, in accordance with the instructions of your element leader.

Maintain appropriate interval. Bunching up gets people killed. Keep several meters of interval between yourself and other players at all times. If not, a grenade, rocket, or machinegun is going to have a fun time with you and those you have clustered with.

Maintain situational awareness, avoid tunnel vision, and know where friendly forces are. This all helps to prevent being surprised by enemy contacts, prevents friendly-fire incidents, and gives you an idea of what areas may need more observation based upon how the squad or platoon is oriented. More on this in the "Situational Awareness" section, later.

Cover your sector. 360° security is needed at all times. This means that with a fireteam of four, every person should be observing/covering a different area. Good security means that your team is that much less likely to be surprised by the enemy, and thus is going to survive longer in combat. When halted, ensure that somebody is paying attention to rear security as well. If nobody else is, take it upon yourself to do so - your team will thank you later.

Scan for, spot, and call out enemy contacts. When giving the direction of contacts, relative directions (front/left/rear/right) can be used when the friendly forces are moving in a known direction and front/rear/right/left are known to everyone. Otherwise, compass directions and degree bearings should be used. More on this in the "Contact Report" section later on.

Know your target. Don't wildly shoot at everything that moves, as that tends to cause friendly fire casualties. If in doubt, don't shoot. Ask someone else in your fireteam to check out the questionable contact. If you're still unsure, ask the element leader and he can take it up the chain of command if necessary. Once you pull the trigger, there's nothing you can do to bring that round back. Don't be the one to shoot a friendly through carelessness!

Be concise on comms. Learn how to speak concisely on voice channels, to avoid cluttering them up when they're most needed.

Avoid crossing lines and lanes of fire. If you need to move past a person, always try to pass behind them. If you ever do need to move in front of someone in a combat situation, ensure that you call them by name and tell them that you're about to cross their line of fire. Obviously common sense will dictate when this is necessary - crossing in front of someone during general movement towards an objective is not a huge deal and does not merit a call, whereas running in front of someone during a firefight can get you killed and requires coordination with whoever you need to cross in front of.

Always work as part of a buddy team. More info in the "Buddy Team" section, next.

The buddy team concept ensures that every person has at least one other person looking out for them at all times. It simply means that you always move with, watch out for, and fight with another person at your side. Buddy teams are standardized in the platoon, though fireteam leads can choose to change the pairings as the situation dictates.

Your basic responsibilities to your buddy teammate are...

Stick with your buddy. When they move, you should be with them. Together you are far more effective than apart.

Communicate with your buddy. If it's important, let them know. If you're moving, say so, so that they can know to cover you. Good communication keeps everyone working together and aware of each other's status.

Cover your buddy. Cue off of your buddy's movements, sector of observation, and so forth. If they're watching one way, cover the other way. If they're going to cross a danger area (ie: street), cover them as they move.

Pull your buddy out of the fight if they go down. If you are incapacitated, you can count on your buddy to come to your aid. Likewise, if your buddy is incapacitated, you know to step forward and do your part to save him or contribute towards someone else, such as the medic, saving him. This may entail dragging him out of a danger area, carrying him to a medic, using smoke to conceal his position, or simply killing whoever tried to kill him. Remember that you are no good to him dead - if the tactical situation does not allow you to immediately help him, your task is to help make the situation more favorable - typically accomplished by killing the enemy, or coordinating with others to help kill or suppress the enemy.

If your buddy is hit, a rapid assessment must be made as to whether he is dead or wounded, and whether the situation allows for you to safely pull him to cover. A dead teammate can wait, whereas a wounded one may need immediate attention from a medic and your action may be the deciding factor between life and death.

If your buddy goes down, call out to the other fireteam buddy team and get them to cover you while you drag him to safety. Once you've made it to cover, call out to the squad medic and ensure that your buddy is treated. Depending on the tactical situation, you may want to stay to provide security to the medic or move back to the fireteam and continue fighting.

Living by these guidelines is a key factor of success in battle. Learn them, know them, and be sure to always practice them.

One of the most fundamental combat survival skills is that of situational awareness. This simply means that you are alert to your surrounding environment and can leverage your knowledge of the battlefield's state to make tactical decisions and judgment calls.

Maintaining good situational awareness is key to preventing friendly casualties. Proper situational awareness will allow you to spot the enemy before they spot you, detect an ambush before it is sprung, and notice unusual characteristics of the environment that may betray the presence of mines, booby traps, enemy vehicles, fortifications, and more. It is the responsibility of every member of the platoon to maintain a high state of situational awareness at all times.

To develop and maintain that situational awareness, heed the following initial guidelines.

Basic Situational Awareness Guidelines

Whether you're moving or halted, you should always be scanning for the enemy. Murphy's Law tells you that the moment you let your guard down and stop scanning is the moment the enemy will appear.

Cover whatever areas you have been assigned to, or cover whatever area seems to need coverage. Adapt to the situation as needed, and be able to pick out areas that may be more dangerous, and warrant more observation, than others.

When you're halted, take a knee, find cover if possible, and continue to scan.

Stay alert! There is no "safe" time in a combat zone. If you let your guard down, either you will die from it, or, worse, you will get a teammate killed because of it. Getting yourself shot is one thing - getting a teammate shot, that's something else best avoided.

Be aware of the risks of 'tunnel vision' and avoid falling into that state. Tunnel vision occurs when a player gets so fixated on a specific target or object/area that they neglect to stay aware of the "big picture". Remember that for every enemy you see, there are probably three or four (or more) others that you do not. Fixating on a single enemy at the expense of everything else is likely to get you flanked and killed. Stay alert and aware and you will greatly increase your odds of survival.

When a member of your squad has taken a hit and have gone down then you can provide basic medical aid depending on the seriousness of their wound.

Consult their casualty card to determine where the wound and the seriousness of the wound.

The casualty card will inform you how long they will live for without any form of medical aid.

Underneath that you will see what effects a field dressing will have on treating the casualty. This section of the casualty card will either indicate that a field dressing will put the player back in action or whether it will only buy them more time until a medic can treat them.

If a field dressing is all that is required then apply the dressing and the player will be back in action.

However, if further treatment is required, like fluids, then get the medic ASAP, or in the worst case then you need to CASEVAC the casualty.