AAR ARMA Reforger | Campaign Haitian Hammer | Operation Shock and Awe Reforger | 08NOV25 - 22z

[Pearl.F]

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT
​

Name of Combat Mission: Operation Shock and Awe Reforger
Campaign of Combat Mission (If applicable): Campaign Haitian Hammer
Number within campaign: 2
Game: ArmA Reforger
Server Hosted on: Training Server 1
Date of Combat Mission: 07NOV25
Time of Combat Mission (Zulu): 2200Z
Mission OIC: Captain Hilberg.A
Mission Controller(s):Sergeant First Class Geki.T, Specialist Pearl.F

Number of Attendees: 46

7th Cavalry Personnel Involved in Action:
Second Lieutenant Bishop.B
Corporal McGahan.L
Specialist Utters.M
Staff Sergeant Lucander.P
Staff Sergeant Crowley.T
Sergeant Carr.W
Specialist Van Auken.P
Specialist Valiante.M
Specialist Townsend.E
Specialist Reed.JH
Specialist King.MJ
Specialist Reddick.A
Specialist Keene.R
Specialist Johnsen.M
Specialist Hoover.R
Specialist Drezelan.O
Specialist Cade.B
Specialist Bowman.J
Sergeant Apollo.R
Sergeant First Class Mazinski.H
Private First Class Woods.F
Private First Class Madlock.B
Private First Class Garrick.S
Private First Class Bolte.D
Private First Class Anderson.TP
Master Sergeant Willson.JA
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Moskal.C
Captain Rodahl.S
Captain Davis.D
Corporal Zimm.L
Corporal Snow.B
Corporal Russell.JG
Corporal Mendoza
Second Lieutenant Corbin.R
First Lieutenant Molitor.K
Specialist Bayer.MW
Staff Sergeant Smith.DM
Specialist Webbel.R
First Sergeant Wiseman.L
Master Sergeant Westcott
Specialist Harrel.R
Specialist Howe
Specialist Nance.T


If your name is not listed, please first ensure your element lead posted their AAR response and included your name in their response. If your name is not listed by your element lead please contact them. If your name is listed in the AAR response, but not the master AAR list, please contact whomever posted this AAR.

 

[Corbin.R]

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT
​

Element Callsign: Bandit-6
Element Leader: Second Lieutenant Corbin.R
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Second Lieutenant Corbin.R
First Sergeant Wiseman.L

Pros:

• Had fun! Good group of guys to lead and work with.
• I heard good succession of command for the most part.
• Bandit-5 was on top of resupply & reinsert!
• Really well executed controlled detonation done by Wiseman & Mazinski.
• I thought we executed well and the FRAGOs were followed through on well, however we lacked resistance due to the mods and didn't face much QRF.

Cons:

• Due to the mod issues, the operation was easier intended but it was still fun.
• Not enough communication on SPOTREPs.
• Not enough people to fill out the full company, I hope to see a full company operation again in future get filled out!
• Radio problems made it difficult to get in contact with Company HQ directly. However, we managed with an RTO.
• Lacked communication on CAS strikes.

 

[Woods.F]

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT​

Element Callsign: Grizzly
Element Leader: Private First Class Woods.F
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Private First Class Madlock.B

Pros:

• Got flight time on the Chinook.
• Good comms when in range with ground and air elements.

Cons:

• Lack of communications infrastructure.
• Can't utilize the map function within the Chinook.

 

[Smith.DM]

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT
​

Element Callsign: Bandit-1
Element Leader: Staff Sergeant Smith.DM
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Moskal.C
Staff Sergeant Crowley.T
Corporal Zimm.L
Specialist Reed.JH
Corporal McGahan.L
Specialist Bayer.MW
Specialist Keene.R
Private First Class Bolte.O

Pros:

• Good OP, nice air assault
• Succession of command was good within squad (Kudos Bolte & Bayer)
• Good communication within the squad, good communication overall.
• Keene laid down his life for the squad (he took shots in his back, totally not friendly fire)
• Had to frago some parts of the original plan, worked out really well.
• PCC's PCI's were done very quick, and we got on the bird fairly quickly
• Security at the LZ was great
• Building clearing was fun
• We found the POWs

Cons:

• Some blue on blue due to miscommunication (RIP KEENE)
• DC issues in the server, major packet loss at the beginning.

 

[Mendoza.R]

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT
​

Element Callsign: Bandit-4
Element Leader: Corporal Mendoza.R
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:

Master Sergeant Westcott.R
Staff Sergeant Lucander.P
Corporal Snow.B
Specialist Townsend.E
Specialist Hoover.R
Specialist Drezelan.O


Pros:

• Bandit-4 was well utilized as the isolation element, providing security for the breaching teams
• Communication within the squad was excellent, including contact callouts, fire commands and movement orders
• All team members showed good restraint, not engaging until confirmed enemy PID
• Shift and Lift fire commands executed very well, providing suppressive fire for as long as possible while preventing fratricide

Cons:

• Plan for movement after dismount at LZ was not made clear by SL to the squad members prior to dismount
• The Carl Gustaf was bugged for this mission, rendering it useless

 

[Carr.W]

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT
​

Element Callsign: BANDIT-3
Element Leader: Sergeant Carr.W
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Howe.T
Specialist Webbel.R
Private First Class Clay.L
Specialist Nance.T
Captain Rodahl.S
First Lieutenant Molitor.K
Corporal Russell.JG
Specialist Harrel.R


Pros: (Sustains)

• Good platoon leadership, clear fragos, decisive shift in plan from company scale to platoon scale
• Platoon Medic was proactive and often on hand
• Excellent fire team clearing techniques led by Howe and Rodhal
• Webbel stepped up and acted as squad RTO when radios malfunctioned
• Squad reacted with good nature to terrible mod mess
• Good OPORD gave much to plan for as a small unit leader

Cons: (Improves)

• Bad mod integration caused much friction, many DCs, map markers breaking, radio comms breaking. Perhaps S3 consider reducing mod load after a big update (1.6) and keep all the tactical elements in place, just scrape off the mod icing. Grizzly flights could have been replaced by addnl Huey flights. Raiders could have been huey rocket ships. Even the map could have utilized the airfield at Koyleg etc. The seeming obsession with modded play feels unwise and counterproductive in situations like this, where so much friction is caused that Cav players simply leave when they see the frame rates and packet loss. I wonder what the "essential" mods actually are? Is S3 (and Battalion) asking this question? Perhaps in a situation like this in the future the "quality of life" mods are used (per the old Vanilla + Tac 1) as a healthy contingcy load, rather than trying the kitchen sink with less than a week to bug squash and seeing what happens. I respect the work that must have gone into the implementation, but it's possible there's a better way to work with the conditions in a future similar sitation.
• Bad comms between infantry and air elements resulted in danger close without any awareness on the ground and multiple red tags in my squad. What is the SOP for Chaos relating information to Platoon? In a COY mission, is COY only hearing about CAS? Why didn't Bandit-6 know about airstrikes coming in? This feels like an important improve for CHAOS and Platoon cohesion. Perhaps adding Radio Checks or an SOP around "At my command" from PL on the ground as Default rather than "fire at will". That way there is clear responsibility (I didn't hear anyone take responsibility for the Danger close casualties during the hot wash). If air elements fire at will when SOP is "at my command" by PL, then we know who's fault it is when it happens.
• No ENY QRF felt anti-climactic - no final stage showdown. Even with mod problems (see above) one finale eny aircraft gunship (piloted by GM) would have given some nice spice to the final "hold security at PZ". If "heavy QRF expected " is in the OPORD, infantry will be looking forward to it.

 

[Rutkowski.P]

Geki.T Pearl.F, per S3 SOP / Operation Life Cycle all operations names should be unique. Please pick a different one, since there was another operation called Shock and Awe this year. Thank you.

 

[Davis.D]

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT
​

Element Callsign: Choas-1
Element Leader: Captain Davis.D
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist King.MJ



Pros:

• Great coordination between Raider elements and myself.
• Worked great with the PL via vicinity chat on engaging the 2 KT targets that were danger close that were engaging us and keeping us pinned
• Kept all attacks on the next phase line to avoid blue on blue
• Very enjoyable operation that was quick paced
• raiders attacking the QRF on the bridge to thwart any momentum and surprise our friendly's
• the drone missile strikes added a sense of; am I next?

Cons:

• The lack of Radio tower that would require raider to leave station to communicate with grizzly
• The air raid siren at the very beginning was cool but as the long morning sunrise it became very hard to hear radio and annoying to the point i was looking for a kill switch for it
• Some elements pushing past phase lines and not with the plt movment or communicated it causing some abort codes to be used so friendlies werent blue on blue
• The NVG update kinda hurt us with the grainy filter and view distance with the NVG were still almost non-existant

 

[Apollo.R]

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT
​

Element Callsign: Bandit-2
Element Leader: Sergeant Apollo.R
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Bowman.J
Specialist Johnsen.M
Specialist Reddick.A
Specialist Valiante.M
Specialist Van Auken.P
Private First Class Garrick.S
Private First Class Anderson.TP
Staff Sergeant Borenstein.B
Specialist Vara.J

Pros:

• Amazing accountability and squad/fireteam cohesion
• Ammo conservation
• Sectors of fire/coverage throughout OP, Security positions were textbook.
• Breach and Clear fundamentals very present. Could use some work on the details but the fundamentals carried us through to the end
• Good communication with FTL's, Decent communications with sister squad (Bandit-1), they seem to have experienced Chain of Command issues (Unknown if true, just from my POV) but when on radio, comms were constant and allowed us to move in tandem
• Violence of action very present, very little waiting around, quick maneuvers and good B+C speed
• PCC/PCI phase went textbook smooth and quick, highly recommend finding out why it went so well so we can keep it in practice
• Perfect amount of contact and placement of enemies
• The flex to a completely different plan for both AOI's went very smooth

Cons:

• 2x Blue-on-Blue incidents. Need to put emphasis on PID
• In the same vein, squad lanes would have been tremendously helpful, not only with general communication and movement but also allowing us to be aware of friendly positions and an overall plan of attack
• Fireteam 2IC's could have been quicker to call up and respond
• I was told to call "shift fire" when needed but as I did not know where Bandit-4 was shooting I missed the chance to radio-in said call, Bandit-6 had to for me, this also relates to unclear platoon level movement.
• As stated in other posts, Air raid sirens and loud radios due to new mods severely hindered hearing
• Some troopers reported enemy fireteams spawning in front of them
• Chinook dismounts were confusing and hectic

All of my troopers expressed that they had a ton of fun and I did as well. It was a fantastic OP and the flex to a different gameplan went smooth enough for everything to work out in the end. I highly suggest some sort of order for Chinook dismounting, not numbering individual troopers necessarily but at least nominating a fireteam or even a single squad to get out first to avoid confusion and troopers popping out on top of the helo, in the rotors.

Thanks for having me for my last active membership OP for a while, it was a blast!

 

[Bishop.B]

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT​

Element Callsign: Raider-1

Element Leader: Second Lieutenant Bishop.B

7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Second Lieutenant Bishop.B
Specialist Cade.B

Pros

• Lots of work especially during the initial assault softening up the airfield and LZ's destroying numerous enemy armor and aircraft as well as eliminating countless enemy infantry and one red air that appeared to be attempting a CAS run on friendly forces due to the hammerhead turn it was performing at the time we released an Aim-92 and splashed it.
• CAS calls and communication and coordination with Chaos was excellent allowing accurate and effective strikes throughout the operation after control was lifted following initial insertion.
• Strikes were kept outside of the ROZ, past phase lines, or strictly to vehicles attempting to flank but well out of range of friendly forces with the exceptions of a call to strike an enemy fortified structure and a danger close call on two K17 Berezok's that had pinned down friendly infantry and was in close proximity to Chaos and Hitman-6 who approved the strike. Due to low visibility and mod issues we decided to make a low pass to perform ISR at risk of taking heavy ground fire to make an additional visual confirmation with Chaos to ensure the target we passed over, and the friendly position were correctly identified before turning back and performing an attack run. All 10 70mm HE M299 Rockets and the approximately 21 30mm HEI-T rounds fired were within 10m of the targets 0111 0147 NE-SW bearing 222 ±2 perpendicular to friendly lines.
• Took heavy damage screening to the Northeast and destroying enemy QRF approaching in an armored convoy at the bridge but managed to recover and continue supporting friendly forces performing an accurate strike on enemy fortified structure 0079 0077 NE-SW bearing 223 ±2, with guns and remaining three rockets. Of the approximately 27 30mm rounds fired 9 overshot the target midst maneuvering striking the embankment far past the established LOA and all rockets verified impacting target directly. We further managed to stay on station and provide screening while damaged until relief arrived.
• Although heavily damaged, airframe survived the entire operation.

Cons

• Comms issues due to range. Had to leave the overhead constantly to relay messages between Chaos to the airfield.
• Night grain filter added with update along with console view distance issues made operating during nighttime even with NODs awful. Thank you SFC.Geki.T who is aware and already looking into QOL mods to potentially remove the filter.
• Was forced to abort multiple attack runs during terminal attack phase due to friendly forces advancing into the target areas without communicating.
• After reviewing footage, I found no instances in any of Raider-1's strikes indicating possible friendly fire, there is some discussion that there may have been blue on blue which as far as we are aware of, could have only happened if infantry was out of position without reporting, or during the danger close called by Chaos and Hitman-6. In the case of the latter most likely being if they had left cover to approach the multiple active K17's either during, or following weapon release, and not reported as we had made an initial low pass to confirm before committing to an attack run at which time no friendlies were noted in the direct vicinity of the target.
• Although we are happy to fly and support as necessary it was required of us to switch airframes at the end for exfil to perform transport due to no shows.
• Map cannot be utilized while in the MH-47G.

 

[Rutkowski.P]

Geki.T Pearl.F, per S3 SOP / Operation Life Cycle all operations names should be unique. Please pick a different one, since there was another operation called Shock and Awe this year. Thank you.

Geki.T Pearl.F This operation cannot be processed without your input. I need your response in order to proceed and ask that you address this situation accordingly.

 

[Geki.T]

Geki.T Pearl.F This operation cannot be processed without your input. I need your response in order to proceed and ask that you address this situation accordingly.

Updated to "Operation Shock and Awe Reforger"

 

[Rutkowski.P]

Updated to "Operation Shock and Awe Reforger"

Thank you.

 

[Rutkowski.P]

S1 Locked.

 

[Donavan.CJ]

S1 Operations Processed