AAR Operation "Black Dagger" Campaign Breaking Dawn Part 2 | 18 JAN 2026

[Pannel.D]

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

Operation: Black Dagger
Campaign: Breaking Dawn [2/3]
Game: Squad
Server Hosted on: =7Cav= S3 Operations
Date of Combat Mission: 18JAN26
Time of Combat Mission (Zulu): 2000z-2200z
Mission OIC: Major Ryan.BF
Mission Controller: First Lieutenant Pannel.D , Captain Fisch.Z & Corporal Eldridge.C

​

Attendees: 51
General of the Army Kleinman.H
Major General Tharen.R
Brigadier General LaCombe.M
Lieutenant Colonel Maddox.D
Major Ryan.BF
Captain Fisch.Z
First Lieutenant Pannel.D
First Lieutenant McKinley.S
First Lieutenant Laui.M
Sergeant Major Barr.D
First Sergeant Miya.M
First Sergeant Hatchet.WX
Staff Sergeant Markel.Z
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Blackwater.N
Sergeant Wolfe.MY
Sergeant Mulholland.J
Sergeant Alexander.N
Sergeant Hartshock.P
Corporal Malave.N
Corporal Eldridge.C
Corporal Grey.T
Corporal Moe.J
Corporal Veal.T
Corporal Samson.C
Corporal Dee.J
Corporal Grey.W
Corporal Madish.X
Corporal Bird.X
Corporal McGahan.L
Corporal Lothar.S
Specialist Harpor.N
Specialist Fenrir.J
Specialist Johnson.JL
Specialist Bard.W
Specialist Horton.J
Specialist Hathcock.C
Specialist Berry.W
Specialist Kelly.C
Specialist Mahfoudh.K
Specialist Lesar.A
Specialist Barbosa.M
Specialist Gurney.R
Specialist Flow.Q
Specialist Kelly.S
Specialist Bahr.K
Private First Class Frost.D
Private First Class Tomeh.D
Private First Class Marshall.J
Private First Class Dhafeeri.M
Private First Class Alam.D
Private First Class Richardson.JD
Private Salcedo.I

If I missed you on this list please send a Forum PM to First Lieutenant Pannel.D

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[CENTER][B]DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT[/B][/CENTER]

[B]Element Callsign:
Element Leader:[/B]

7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:


[B]Pros[/B]
[LIST]
[*]
[/LIST]
[B]Cons[/B]
[LIST]
[*]
[/LIST]

 

[Ryan.BF]

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

Element Callsign: Dagger-6 HQ
Element Leader: Major Ryan.BF

7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Major Ryan.BF
First Lieutenant Laui.M
Corporal Moe.J
Specialist Barbosa.M
Specialist Hathcock.C

Pros

• Everybody enjoyed the OP
• Well paced OP
• Good teamwork and coordination with other elements and within

Cons

• Some internal pacing can be improved
• Darkness was sometimes an issue due to the lack of NVG

 

[Barr.D]

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

Element Callsign: Dagger-5
Element Leader: Sergeant Major Barr.D

7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Sergeant Major Barr.D
Specialist Kelly.C
Specialist Lesar.A
Corporal Dee.J


Pros

• People had fun, op had good flow
• Won the operation
• Team was adaptable to any problem faced on the field

Cons

• Low light operations made it VERY difficult to see
• Being shot in the back consistently was a chief complaint.

 

[Maddox.D]

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

Element Callsign: Dagger 7
Element Leader: Lieutenant Colonel Maddox.D

7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Horton.J
Private First Class Marshall.J

Pros

• Operation was well planned and organised.
• Elements under Dagger 7 command moved well, with good co-ordination and communication.
• Troopers within Dagger 7 enjoyed the operation with positive feedback on the mod assets and the mix of combat

Cons

• Lighting was the main issue, time of day without NVG's made target aquisition very hard.

 

[McKinley.S]

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

Element Callsign: Dagger 3
Element Leader: First Lieutenant McKinley.S

7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
First Lieutenant McKinley.S
Specialist Berry.W
Specialist Flow.Q
Private First Class Frost.D
Specialist Johnson.JL
Sergeant Alexander.N
Corporal Lothar.S
Private First Class Tomeh.D
Specialist Mahfoudh.K

Pros

• Had a lot of fun
• Well put together OP

Cons

• Visbility was minimal without NVGs

 

[Hatchet.WX]

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

Element Callsign: Eagle-1
Element Leader: First Sergeant Hatchet.WX

7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Sergeant Hartshock.P
Sergeant Wolfe.MY
Corporal Bird.X
Corporal Holmes.GS
Specialist Bahr.K
Specialist Fenrir.J
Specialist Gurney.R

Pros

• Very solid OP.
• Theme and format were great. Good kits. Loved the intel drops.
• Our Team did well.
• Everyone had a lot of fun.
• Mission planning + OPORD were good.

Cons

• We may want to consider asking cadre to perform in a manner that maintains the MILSIM immersion that Ops like this involve. Pre-firing an AR around a corner is not realistic. Having that happen all of a sudden kills the whole mood, and will cause people to start using Public Play tactics in these OPs.
• Thank you for testing the brightness. I think next time, we should have everyone perform a brightness check (can you see this enemy right there?) before mission start, or change to daytime.

 

[Mulholland.J]

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

Element Callsign: Eagle-4
Element Leader: Sergeant Mulholland.J

7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Sergeant Mulholland.J
Corporal Veal.T
Corporal Malave.N
Corporal Samson.CPrivate First Class Dhafeeri.M
Staff Sergeant Markel.Z
Corporal Grey.W
Private First Class Richardson.JD

Pros

• It was a very fun OP overall. We really enjoyed the silenced weapons.
• We completed the mission and no VIP's died.

Cons

• No player icons in game for anyone in my section making it VERY hard to play. We should have swapped to daytime.
• We had 2 Arma players making it even more complicated with no icons/night time

 

[McGahan.L]

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

Element Callsign: Eagle 2
Element Leader: CPL. McGahan. L

7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Corporal Grey.T
Specialist Kelly.C
Corporal Madish.X
Specialist Alam.D
Specialist Bard.W
Private Salcedo.I

Pros

• Great inter-section communication between FTL'S
• FTL's listened to direction and achieved great results with providing security to other units
• Troopers felt like the op was fair with enemy types and variety.
• Troopers enjoyed the special operations vibe.
• Good coms with command who did a grand job leading the sections.
• Medics played a vital role to keep section up and moving.

Cons

• Limited kit selections with restrictions on having silencers
• Enemys appeared to look the same in the dark.
• Enemy spawns felt unrealistic ay times but also observation was made we missed targets who snuck up behind too. Could have been this.
• Lack of NVG'S, Nobodys fault.
• Certain Trooper behavior reported happens but let's stay positive!

 

[McGahan.L]

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

Element Callsign: Eagle 2
Element Leader: CPL. McGahan. L

7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Corporal Grey.T
Specialist Kelly.C
Corporal Madish.X
Specialist Alam.D
Specialist Bard.W
Private Salcedo.I

Pros

• Great inter-section communication between FTL'S
• FTL's listened to direction and achieved great results with providing security to other units
• Troopers felt like the op was fair with enemy types and variety.
• Troopers enjoyed the special operations vibe.
• Good coms with command who did a grand job leading the sections.
• Medics played a vital role to keep section up and moving.

Cons

• Limited kit selections with restrictions on having silencers
• Enemys appeared to look the same in the dark.
• Enemy spawns felt unrealistic ay times but also observation was made we missed targets who snuck up behind too. Could have been this.
• Lack of NVG'S, Nobodys fault.
• Certain Trooper behavior reported happens but let's stay positive!

 

[Rutkowski.P]

S1 Locked.

 

[Murdock.T]

S1 Operations Processed / MILPACS Updated.