AAR EXFOR Operation Muttonchop 22FEB2026

[Roderick.S]

Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT
Name of Combat Mission: Operation Breakthrough
Game: Hell Let Loose
Server Hosted on: Training Server 1
Date of Combat Mission: 23FEB26
Time of Combat Mission (Zulu): 0030
Mission OICs: Lieutenant Colonel Mix.C, Corporal Rhodes.R
Mission Controller: Corporal Roderick.S

CRCON STATS​

Number of Attendees: 59 (+16 Guests, +2 RET, +1 Cav Recruit)
7th Cavalry Personnel Involved in Action:
Lieutenant Colonel Mix.C
Captain Swanson.B
First Lieutenant Sotelo.R
Second Lieutenant Angels.N
Second Lieutenant DAmico.J
Sergeant Major White.C
Sergeant Flick.J
Sergeant Giglio.M
Sergeant Heinz.B
Sergeant Koalafied.C
Sergeant Lewis.P
Sergeant Sibley.K
Corporal Basher.J
Corporal Bazzle.J
Corporal Doss.T
Corporal Feathers.A
Corporal Flanagan.L
Corporal Narayanaswamy.A
Corporal Noriega.D
Corporal ORegan.D
Corporal Rhodes.R
Corporal Roderick.S
Corporal Thrawn.N
Corporal Travis.W
Corporal Wagner.D
Corporal Williams.S
Specialist Atkins.DS
Specialist Austin.M
Specialist Banfield.H
Specialist Bas.D
Specialist Blade.B
Specialist Bonderant.F
Specialist Burns.C
Specialist Choi.S
Specialist Cross.E
Specialist Curry.P
Specialist Fortescue.C
Specialist Fox.F
Specialist Freeze.T
Specialist Ingram.M
Specialist Ives.G
Specialist Mustard.C
Specialist Pavlovec.J
Specialist Roscoe.N
Specialist Rowe.S
Specialist Stout.S
Specialist Stripes.P
Specialist Svenson.C
Specialist Travis.W
Specialist Von Knispel.K
Specialist Walker.TR
Specialist Yates.J
Private First Class Cross.JA
Private First Class Sinclair.M
Private Jorgensen.C
Private First Class Manley.H
Private Raposa.M
Private Vazquez.I
Recruit Stevenson.A
Recruit Sutherland.P

 

[Roderick.S]

S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT​

Element Callsign:
Element Leader:
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:



Pros:

Cons:

 

[Flick.J]

Element Callsign: Allies Green 2
Element Leader: Sergeant Flick.J
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Austin.M
Recruit Sutherland.P

Pros:

• Always love big organized Ops
• I really like how instead of it being the Cav against another group we integrated outside members to fill sides, Sometimes they acted a little unprofessional but whatever i learned alot from how they play in a group setting and they were still really fun to play with and against.

Cons:

• none

 

[Banfield.H]

Element Callsign: Axis George Tank Heresy's voice
Element Leader: Specialist Banfield.H
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Banfield.H
Sergeant Heinz.B
Specialist Pavlovec.J

Pros:

• Good to see comp stuff back in action!
• Great tank comms

Cons:

• dammed Allied tankers

Note:
Bring time earlier for EU guys

 

[Angels.N]

Element Callsign: Axis Infantry "Love" Squad
Element Leader: Second Lieutenant Nate Angels
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Corporal Aaron Feathers
Specialist Matt Ingram

Pros:

• A big shoutout for the turn out of troopers that came out. Very glad to see that this EXFOR starts off a good operation.
• Communication started off a bit hectic but came under control real quick.
• Great pings and good communication on where the enemy was coming from.
• Everyone had good coordination and everyone played fantastic.

Cons:

• Not a big con, Plan was a bit thrown at us on start up and had a bit of pressure last minute being called Platoon Leader but I did the best I could.

 

[Walker.TR]

Element Callsign: Axis Fox Squad
Element Leader: SPC.Walker.TR
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
SPC.Stout.S
PVT.Raposa.M


Pros:

• Very high-quality gameplay - well coordinated and competitive.
• Close to 50 v. 50, great progress for exfor
• Troopers worked very well together without needing constant management to stay on task.

Cons:

• Some SLs/TCs talking over each other early in game in command chat.
• Our task was quiet at times, but it seemed the troopers were happy to be productively engaged and understood we had an important task.

 

[Basher.J]

[B}Element Callsign: Dog - Artillery
Element Leader: CPL.Basher.J
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:[/B]

Pros:

• Great first operation for Exfor, with fun back and forth.
• Non Cav guests were cordial and professional.
• Communication was on point, with strong defense.

Cons:

• Unfortunately fixed artillery bugged and would not let us reload it.
• At the end of the match it felt like our main attack element needed a bigger commitment.

 

[Burns.C]

Element Callsign: Allies Red 2
Element Leader: Specialist Burns.C
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Fox.F

Pros:

• I liked the strategy meetings beforehand outlining the plan, if I wasn't sure, I just followed the line
• Lots of guys swapping squads to be the most useful, really good pings and call-outs as well to allow for easy decisions on where to go
• The teams were very balanced, and it didn't feel like one side was ever overwhelming the other.

Cons:

• I know we are supposed to stay as a line, but there were times I felt I could've pushed up to get a really good offensive garry or take down an enemy garry etc., so a bit more flexibility if a sector is clear would be good I think.

 

[Atkins.DS]

Element Callsign: Allies Papa Recon Squad
Element Leader: Specialist Atkins.DS
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element: Me, myself, and I (N/A)



Pros:

• Comms with Commander was a +1.
  
  Comms with troopers were +1.
  
  Comms with SL were +1.

Cons:

• The biggest dilemma I had with this EXFOR is using Discord, as well as the in-game comms can get a bit "disgusting"; trying to communicate with Command & the group I'm assigned with in Discord gets a bit rough.
  
  As Recon, my job was to call out things I deemed necessary. Trying to call out enemy tanks to friendly tanks in Command chat just to get overrun by the others gets tiring, causing "shutdown".

 

[Rhodes.R]

Element Callsign: Axis Commander
Element Leader: CPL.Rhodes.R
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
CPL.Rhodes.R


Solids:

• Fantastic team, very responsive, flexible.
• Strategy worked overall.
• Well organized Op, despite challenges.
• Command chat was solid and useful.

Improvements

• Command chat was loud.
• I don't know how to organize an EXFOR team, lmao.

 

[Sibley.K]

Element Callsign: Axis Tank Squad Alpha (Blood Spire)
Element Leader: SGT Sibley.K
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
SGT Sibley.K
SGT Koalafied.C
CPL Williams.S

Pros:

• Enemy (Allied) infantry AT squads were incredibly effective. Put huge amounts of pressure on our tanks and made it very difficult to do our jobs.
• Good overall plan. Commander kept garrisons up. Strong recon, good marks, and good back line pressure.

Cons:

• Command comms were messy and a bit hectic.
• Never really created a unified front to pressure the enemy point.

 

[White.C]

Element Callsign: Allied Blue Infantry
Element Leader: Sergeant Major White.C
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Sergeant Major White.C
Corporal Bazzle.J
Recruit Stevenson.A
White Man (Public member/recruit not yet processed into the Cav)

Pros:

• Communication was amazing.
• When difficulties arose, cool head prevailed. Problem solving helped allies to victory instead of falling victim to frustrated and demoralized comms.

Cons:
No Cons, fantastic OP.

 

[Rasmus.M]

Element Callsign: Axis Recon Element (King)
Element Leader: First Sergeant Rasmus.M (Retired)
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
First Sergeant Rasmus.M (Retired)


Pros:

• Always fun to play a regular match at high level, love the EXFOR.
• Good defense. Good commanding, kept moving and consolidating the elements.
• Good overall communication, callouts.
• Other clans guest were fun to play with. Good teamwork.
• Lots of explosive ammo box on the ground, it means flares forever.
• Our 2 Recon elements took out a lot of garrisons/outposts.
• Teams balanced !

Cons:

• At the end of the match I stuck between the 2 points throwing flares for too long instead of getting back into backline disruption. Lost effective time.
• Need to keep working on pushing as an unified frontline and filling the gaps between squads.

 

[Swanson.B]

Element Callsign: Allied Green 1 Platoon leader - Golf Squad leader
Element Leader: Captain Swanson.B
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Cross.E
Private First Class Sinclair.M


Pros:
I really enjoyed playing with my team. I asked them to be very responsive to my requests and to adapt quickly to changes, and they delivered every time. Whenever I asked for supplies, they were there within 30 seconds. When I asked for more flares, we got more flares. When I requested more people inside the strongpoint on defense, we immediately saw my guys do a full 180 and move back to secure it. That was honestly impressive to watch. The team was disciplined, attentive, and quick to execute.

I also want to highlight the great work from our commander, Mix. For an hour and a half, he worked non stop identifying weaknesses in our play as well as in the enemy's, and he positioned units where they needed to be with precision.

I really liked the idea of inviting external players to join our operations. We have something unique here. We are able to operate within concepts that very few groups can reproduce elsewhere. Why not open the door to other clans, or even players without a clan, and show them how we do things? And let's be honest, attendance at operations has not been at its highest lately, so filling the gaps with extra people is a good thing.


NOT Cons:
It's unfortunate that we can no longer fully employ the Airborne MOS in an offensive role because it is extremely powerful when used that way. I simply did not have enough troops to do it properly with the limited manpower available while also maintaining an Airborne defense posture. Doing both at the same time was nearly impossible. I had to accept that our offensive push would not come from us, but strictly from the frontline elements.

Balancing attack and defense as Airborne works in theory, but not at the same time. It is already hard enough to manage one front, imagine trying to manage two. Your focus naturally stays where you and your men are positioned, either attacking or defending, but not both. At the start of the match, I was committed to the attack deep in the enemy red zone. I even built a garrison very quickly that stayed up for dozens of minutes and was heavily used by our recon teams.

At the same time, I was expected to monitor another squad on defense and make sure garrisons 600 meters away were still standing while actively fighting to stay alive in enemy territory. That is not a sustainable way to command. I only have one brain.

Looking back, I should have adjusted my approach. As Platoon Leader for this operation, I should have stayed in the rear without a dedicated squad unless absolutely necessary, acting more like a conductor coordinating recons, artillery, and multiple Airborne squads assigned to offense or defense. I did not recognize that shift in responsibility, and that is what forced me into ending up fully defensive.

That said, it was not entirely a bad outcome because we performed extremely well on defense. We were very effective and pushed the enemy back to Maison du Crique while our offensive forces captured Sainte Mère Église.

I do have to ask, since when has the strongpoint defense element fallen under the Airborne doctrine?

It also seems that artillery coordination now falls under the Airborne Platoon Leader's responsibilities, which means I need to learn that system quickly. I am not familiar with the role, and it was difficult to give them clear instructions. Several times they asked me which role to take, what to do, or where to fire, and I was not able to answer them properly. That is something I will need to improve for future operations.

I also believe it is not wise to turtle up on the third point while committing little to no force toward attacking the fourth point for most of the match. That is playing with fire. One well placed enemy bombing run can break that kind of static defense and cost us the game. We should aim for a better balance by maintaining a solid defense on the third point, sustaining pressure on the frontline, and actively applying pressure in the enemy red zone to keep them off balance.

None of this is really negative because in every situation we adapted, succeeded, and came out on top. For me, it was a big learning experience, and I come out of it more mature as a leader.

 

[DAmico.J]

Element Callsign: Axis Blue Team 2
Element Leader: Second Lieutenant DAmico.J
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Corporal Flanagan.L
Sergeant Lewis.P
Specialist Freeze.T

Pros:

• The opposing side did a pretty nice job of placing mines.
• The coordination with our guests was really top notch. Some minor things could be improved upon from my end, but nothing too crazy. It went smoothly overall.
• The match was relatively even and a tough fight for both sides.
• All of our guests enjoyed the game, and they would like to come back for the next one.
• The flares started out sporadic, but they became more consistent as the match went on.
• On the fly adjustments across the board showed flexibility in our gameplay and were a big positive from the night.

Cons:

• The opposing side did a pretty nice job of placing mines. D:
• Rousseau.A should be banned from all operations for killing me with mines. And no. I refuse to learn to look for them, no matter how many times they get me. D:<
• Had some trouble forming up the line for most of the match. Lots of gaps, and the enemy kept slipping through.

 

[Roderick.S]

Element Callsign: Axis Baker Squad
Element Leader: Corporal Roderick.S
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Corporal ORegan.D
Corporal Wagner.D

Pros:

• Great op, had ton of fun
• O'Regan showed up and did well for someone who isn't from 2-7
• Wagner did great fighting off Disconnection and coming back to fight again
• Overall had great time and I thought the non-cav members did great job collaborating with us.

Cons:

• Had some heavy comms at times, was hard to hear some of the commands. Will need to revisit on comms needed from troopers to SL

 

[Sotelo.R]

Element Callsign: Allied Armor Lead - Tank 1 "Cheap and Easy"
Element Leader: First Lieutenant Sotelo.R
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
First Lieutenant Sotelo.R
Corporal Thrawn.N
Private Vazquez.I

Pros:

• Crews executed with great skill today. Slow start at first, but once we found our flow, we took down dozens of enemy assets and over 50 infantry.
• Tank-to-Tank comms were pretty smooth, Gigs' tank and our guest clan tank did an excellent job flex and reacting to an ever-changing enemy attack vector.
• Infantry's armor callouts were plentiful and quick to update or clear if no longer accurate. Truly owe our kill-count today to the infantry.
• Team control of the zones around SME proved to be quite effective, enemy pushes were well countered and our line held quite tough.
• German team really made us work for the win tonight.

Cons:

 

[Travis.W]

Element Callsign: Allies Red 1
Element Leader:Corporal Travis.W
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Stripes.P
Private First Class Manley.H


Pros:

• Good simple OPORD with basic zone placement for infantry units.
• Absolutely loved having three squads to flex troopers around with. Both Yates and Burns were dependable SLs.
• I really enjoy the "platoon" structure we use with the separate discord calls. It really allows for flexibility.
  • I hope it wasn't too annoying for Burns and Yates, who did an amazing job, but I started tasking them to different areas which they responded to with great success!
• It is a delight to be able to trust the leadership quality represented tonight. Being able to say that an issue or problem observed by one of my troopers was being handled by another unit is so liberating. It is very beneficial to leave problems outside my AO to other units so I can focus on how to best tackle my task at hand.
• Troopers were extremely responsive to calls for supplies, rockets, MGs, or redeployments. Very proud of Stripes, Manley, and SPC.Fox.F

Cons:

• Was a little confused with the lack of clear defense units. So I shifted some focus down there while we stabilized. Then had to shift back up to attack and hold south side of St Mere.
  • This caused Red team to have a more defensive stance for half the game. This slowed our recapture of middle point.
• Lost track a couple times between which channel to use with command comms and discord comms causing a tiny bit of unnecessary noise in command comms.
• I messed up with the coordinating of the node placement. Telling my engineer to go to the wrong HQ multiple times. Causing delay and confusion for my dear Manley.
• We never really had full control West of St Mere so the front line felt dangerously close to the hardpoint for almost the whole game.
  • We could almost push our left flank into the redzone to collapse back to assist the northern flank but that would have put us very far our of position when it came to the attack from Rue. So we spent a large chunk of time just chilling in the two grids south of St Mere.

 

[Giglio.M]

Element Callsign: Allied Tank (Trenchfoot)
Element Leader: Sergeant Giglio.M
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Von Knispel.K ,Specialist Curry.P


Pros:

• Great Turnout
• Good coms from team/command
• Good cover from infantry from A.T.
• Good logistics for assets on map

Cons:

• Not much,some lag spikes.

 

[Mix.C]

S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT​

Element Callsign: Allied Command
Element Leader: Lieutenant Colonel Mix.C
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element: NA



Pros:

• Entire event was the culmination of a massive effort by many hard working parties. To see it come together so well and be so successful is a wonderful thing. I can see a very bright future for EXFOR
• Having guests was highly successful and improved the OP considerably
• It seems that all parties had fun. The minor frustrations that come with all operations seemed far outweighed by the general good spirits.
• Allies were able to implement a decent approximation of the EXFOR doctrine and it proved largely successful. Many details to tweak but I feel we are onto a good system.

Cons:

• Some growing pains with discord. Happily solved in the end but too late to implement as hoped. We can work on getting guests slotted in next time.
• Very much a first try with implementing the doctrine. Allies had more than a few gaps in planning and execution (entirely my responsibility) and understandably, Axis command, who heroically stepped up last minute, had a less clear idea of the vision. I expect we will make massive gains on this front over the next month as we refine and disseminate the EXFOR Doctrine.
• Need to do some work on interface of AB, Recon and Artillery. watching all parts of the map simultaneously is a huge challenge and possibly wants rethinking.