Jeff,

You may want to consider having the option to replace one standard fighter squadron with a F-111 squadron Y177 plus.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Wednesday, March 17, 2004 - 05:31 pm: Edit

Trent,

Good suggestion. I will include it as a variant option along with the all bomber force option. (please note, that using F111's and Bombers in this mission/role may not be approved by SVC. We'll just have to see what happens!).

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Tuesday, March 23, 2004 - 10:56 am: Edit

Here is a draft idea for IFS. As it is, its too long and will need serious editing. As always comments are welcome.

By Year 180, the Federation had redeemed territory lost in the Klingon invasion of year 171, re-established defenses on the liberated colony worlds and destroyed some of the Klingon Border BTS’s along the original Fed/Klingon neutral zone. The war in the Fed/Klingon border had stagnated as the main battle fleets had moved on to other theaters leaving smaller ships of the Frigate, War Destroyer and War Cruiser classes to maintain security and prosecute the war as best they could along the 5,000+ parsecs of the front.

One factor of “the war of attrition” that developed was the importance of logistics and supply. the loss of a key base or supply point could collapse the defenses of an entire province. The Federation theater commander was quick to recognize that while both border fleets were relatively equal in numbers and ship types, neither side could overwhelm the other or decisively defeat the other in the face of static defenses such as fighters, PF’s, bases or planets that were reinforced by the border fleet warships. Neither side had sufficient ships to complete all of the missions that they desired to accomplish. If one of the combatants built a mobile bse, the opponent would be quick to organize an attack on it before it could be upgraded to BTS status. As the war of attrition progressed, base building (and destruction) became important to both sides as they strove to prosecute the war.

The Federation Theater Commander anticipated that the war would eventually fall into the pattern described above, and prepared some “surprises” for his Klingon opposition. One of the steps taken, was the organization of several provisional fighter groups of F18 independent fighter squadrons. by ordering 1 replacement fighter diverted from each of the PDU’s and Bases in the theater, he “freed up” 42 fighters (3 squadrons of 12 and 6 ‘spares’). The personnel were recruited in a similar manner, with the exception that deck crews with a history of impovisation and initiative were given a priority. At the same time, an ad hoc group of shuttles and 3 free traders was organized into a shuttle convoy/logistical support echelon to enable the provisional fighter group to deploy.

Using the normal supply grid, the personnel of the 1st Provisional Fighter Group were deployed to a liberated colony world in the former neutral zone. (It should be noted that the inhabitants of the world (New Bougainville) had suffered under the Klingon occupation, and the survivors were enthusiastic supporters of the Federation and no longer could be considered “pacifistic”.) The strike group, along with its support elements did not have to go to the very center of F&E hex 2215, Only to a point where the fighters could launch a strike from covert casual bases.

Once established in its casual bases, the Fighters had enough fuel, spare parts and munitions to complete 3 strikes: one (the initial attack) against the presumed mobile base that the Klingons would be building in Hex# 2215, as well as 2 ‘attacks against targets of opportunity’ prior to retreating back to New Bougainville.

This mini campaign recounts the efforts of these Independent Fighter Squadrons to attack the enemy. The orders that were issued to them were similar to those issued by USN Admiral Chester Nimitz in World War 2. “Inflict maximum damage on enemy by employing strong attrition tactics.” In a special Letter of Instruction, the force commander was told “In carrying out the task assigned...you will be governed by the principle of calculated risk, which you shall interpret to mean avoidance of exposure of your force to attack by superior enemy forces without good prospect of inflicting as a result of such exposure, greater damage on the enemy.” (Quote from History of the United States Naval Operations in WWII. Vol. 4 Coral Sea, Midway, and Submarine Actions, May 1942 -August 1942. Page 84. Samuel Eliot Morison, Published by Little Brown & Co. Copywrite 1949, 19th edition, 1989.)

There are 3 scenarios in this mini campaign, the initial attack. an attack on a convoy (using only the suviving fighters from scenario #1) and an attack on the first responder.(again using only the surviving fighters from scenarios #1 and #2).

The object of the mini campaign is to destroy more klingon ships and bases than the fighters take in casualties. It should also be noted that at the conclusion of the operation, the first provisional fighter group will be broken up, the fighters returned to the bases and PDU’s that they were diverted from and the personnel returned to the Replacement depot for reassignment.

We may want to include the option that the Klingons discover the retreating shuttle convoy and have a "rear guard" action of the fighters covering the disengagement of the shuttle convoy...

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Saturday, November 26, 2011 - 01:58 am: Edit

Been a long time, but I was inspired to put some more effort into this project.

What follows is some data that is related to the support of a IFS operation.

Independent Fighter Squadron
Campaign Submission
year 180
Equipment Lists

Unit	Type	Qty	Size	Spd	Phsr	Drn
1st Prov	F-18B+	11	1	15	2xP-3-FA	2xIF 2xSpec 2xVIF
	F-18E+	1	1	15	2xp-3-FA	2xVI
2nd Prov	Admin	12	1	6	1x360 D p-3
3rd Prov	HTS	6	2	6	-	-

ID,rank,Duty
1, Cmdr,CO FtrSq,F-18B+1
2, Lt,Pilot,F-18B+2
3, Lt,Pilot,F-18B+3
4, Lt,Pilot,F-18B+4
5, Lt,Pilot,F-18B+5
6, Lt-jg,Pilot,F-18B+6
7, Lt-jg,Pilot,F-18B+7
8, Lt-jg,Pilot,F-18B+8
9, Lt-jg,Pilot,F-18B+9
10, Lt-jg,Pilot,F-18B+10
11, Lt-jg,Pilot,F-18B+11
12, Lt-jg,Pilot,F-18BE+12
13, LtCmdr,CO,Admin1
14, Lt,Pilot,Admin2
15, Lt,Pilot,Admin3
16, Lt,Pilot,Admin4
17, Lt,Pilot,Admin5
18, Lt-jg,Pilot,Admin6
19, Lt-jg,Pilot,Admin7
20, Lt-jg,Pilot,Admin8
21, Lt-jg,Pilot,Admin9
22, Lt-jg,Pilot,Admin10
23, Lt-jg,Pilot,Admin11
24, Lt-jg,Pilot,Admin12
25, LtCmdr,CO,HTS1
26, Lt,Pilot,HTS2
27, Lt,Pilot,HTS3
28, Lt-jg,Pilot,HTS4
29, Lt-jg,Pilot,HTS5
30, Lt-jg,Pilot,HTS6
31, CPO,Ftr Maint Chief
32, PO1,Engine Tech
33, PO2,Engine Tech
34, PO2,Structure Tech
35, PO2,Systems Tech
36, PO3,Electrician
37, PO3,Ordinance Man
38, PO3,Fuels Specialist
39, E3,Deck Hand
40, E3,Deck Hand
41, CPO,Ftr Maint Chief
42, PO1,Engine Tech
43, PO2,Engine Tech
44, PO2,Structure Tech
45, PO2,Systems Tech
46, PO3,Electrician
47, PO3,Ordinance Man
48, PO3,Fuels Specialist
49, E3,Deck Hand
50, E3,Deck Hand
51, CPO,Ftr Maint Chief
52, PO1,Engine Tech
53, PO2,Engine Tech
54, PO2,Structure Tech
55, PO2,Systems Tech
56, PO3,Electrician
57, PO3,Ordinance Man
58, PO3,Fuels Specialist
59, E3,Deck Hand
60, E3,Deck Hand
61, CPO,Ftr Maint Chief
62, PO1,Engine Tech
63, PO2,Engine Tech
64, PO2,Structure Tech
65, PO2,Systems Tech
66, PO3,Electrician
67, PO3,Ordinance Man
68, PO3,Fuels Specialist
69, E3,Deck Hand
70, E3,Deck Hand
71, CPO,Ftr Maint Chief
72, PO1,Engine Tech
73, PO2,Engine Tech
74, PO2,Structure Tech
75, PO2, Systems Tech
76, PO3,Electrician
77, PO3,Ordinance Man
78, PO3,Fuels Specialist
79, E3,Deck Hand
80, E3,Deck Hand
81, CPO,Ftr Maint Chief
82, PO1,Engine Tech
83, PO2,Engine Tech
84, PO2,Structure Tech
85, PO2,Systems Tech
86, PO3,Electrician
87, PO3,Ordinance Man
88, PO3,Fuels Specialist
89, E3,Deck Hand
90, E3,Deck Hand
91, PO1,GunnerAdmin1
92, PO1,GunnerAdmin2
93, PO1,GunnerAdmin3
94, PO1,GunnerAdmin4
95, PO1,GunnerAdmin5
96, PO1,GunnerAdmin6
97, PO1,GunnerAdmin7
98, PO1,GunnerAdmin8
99, PO1,GunnerAdmin9
100, PO1,GunnerAdmin10
101, PO1,GunnerAdmin11
102, PO1,GunnerAdmin12
103, PO1,EWO F18BE+12
104, Capt,MarineMarine BP-1
105, 1Lt,Marine, XOMarine BP-2
106, Sgt,1st SquadMarine BP-1
107, Cpl,RiflemanMarine BP-1
108, L-Cpl,AutoRifleMarine BP-1
109, PFC,RiflemanMarine BP-1
110, Sgt,2nd SquadMarine BP-2
111, Cpl,RiflemanMarine BP-2
112, L-Cpl,AutoRifleMarine BP-2
113, PFC,RiflemanMarine BP-2
114, Sgt,3rd SquadMarine BP-3
115, Cpl,RiflemanMarine BP-3
116, L-Cpl,AutoRifleMarine BP-3
117, PFC,RiflemanMarine BP-3
118, Sgt,4th SquadMarine BP-4
119, Cpl,RiflemanMarine BP-4
120, L-Cpl,AutoRifleMarine BP-4
121, PFC,RiflemanMarine BP-4
122, PO2,Corpsman BP-3
123, PO2,Corpsman BP-4
124, E3,DriverTruck1
125, E3,DriverTruck2
126, E3,DriverTruck3
127, E3,DriverTruck4
128, E3,DriverTruck5
129, E3,DriverTruck6
130, E3,DriverTruck7
131, E3,DriverTruck8
132, E3,DriverTruck9
133, E3,DriverTruck10
134, E3,DriverTruck11
135, E3,DriverTruck12
136, Lt,Flight SurgHQ Staff
137, Lt-jg,Head NurseHQ Staff
138, PO2,CorpsmanHQ Staff
139, PO2,CorpsmanHQ Staff
140, Lt,IntellHQ Staff
141, Lt,Ord OfficerHQ Staff
142, Lt,LogisticsHQ Staff
143, Capt,Chief StaffHQ Staff
144, Lt,CommunicationsHQ Staff
145, Lt,SecurityHQ Staff
146, Lt,Grnd COGrnd Crew
147, Lt-jg,Grnd XOGrnd Crew
148, E3,CookGrnd Crew
149, E3,Cook AsstGrnd Crew
150, E3,Cook AsstGrnd Crew
151, E3,SanitationGrnd Crew
152, E3,QtrmstrGrnd Crew
153, E3,QtrmstrGrnd Crew
154, E3,YeomanGrnd Crew
155, E3,YeomanGrnd Crew
156, E3,Load MasterGrnd Crew
157, E3,Load MasterGrnd Crew
158, E3,Load MasterGrnd Crew
159, E3,Load MasterGrnd Crew
160, E3,Load MasterGrnd Crew
161, E3,Load MasterGrnd Crew
162, E3,Load MasterGrnd Crew
163, E3,Load MasterGrnd Crew

Definitions:
BP=Boarding Party
DC=Deck Crew
CB=Casual Base Shuttle park

200 drone spaces in stock pile
(80% type I drones, 20% type VI drones)
160xType IF
40xVIF
Additional Fighter supplies:
12 Cargo Pods. NA
12 Phaser 3 Pods (+12)BPV
1 Sensor Pod (?)
12 EW Pods
CHAFF (+12)BPV
11 x F-18B+ (+121)BPV
1 x F-18EB (+11)BPV
COI: 12x Warp Booster Packs (+12)
Drone Speed Upgrade Cost: BPV: +68
sub-total: 212 BPV
Trucks: 12 (0.2x12=2.4) BPV
Recharge Generator for phaser 3 pods (see rule J13.221)

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Saturday, November 26, 2011 - 02:05 am: Edit

Its late, I'm tired and I'm not going to spend more time trying to format the table anymore.

couple notes, the roster of personnel reflects a FGB-M staff, a dozen fighters and 2 support squadrons, one of 12 Admin shuttles (2 of which come with the FGB-M) and 6 HTS.

the Admin shuttles can (with the pilots flying their own F-18B+ fighters) can carry all but 6 members of the unit... the 6 HTS pilots.

The HTS shuttles carry 50 cargo spaces each, and carry 300 cargo spaces.

The 30 shuttle parks on a normal casual base each holds up to 50 cargo space points of "stuff"... or a total of 1500 space points which means up to 5 round trips for the HTS, or (if the Admin shuttles are used as well) 480 cargo points per trip... and only 3 trips needed to move the whole unit.

Next step is to figure out if there is sufficient room for all of the needed materials to make a IFS casual base effective in the role the scenario calls for.

By Richard Sherman (Rich) on Saturday, November 26, 2011 - 07:31 pm: Edit

The F18E is a 2-seat fighter. You need an extra crewman for that fighter.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Saturday, November 26, 2011 - 07:53 pm: Edit

Richard,

See line #103:

"103, PO1,EWO F18BE+12"

I am calling the slot a PO1 enlisted billet for service as EWO (Electronic Warfare Officer) for the F-18BE (fighter #12 in the squadron of 12 fighter shuttles).

I encluded it in the section for the gunners assigned to the admin shuttles of the 2nd Provisional shuttle squadron.

I may have to change that to a Lt-jg.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Saturday, November 26, 2011 - 08:05 pm: Edit

Had some problems posting the whole file to a table... lets see if I break it down makes it work better:

F-18B+ fighter Squadron roster.

ID	rank	Duty	comment	Assignmt
1	Cmdr	CO FtrSq	F-18B+1	CB1
2	Lt	Pilot	F-18B+2	CB2
3	Lt	Pilot	F-18B+3	CB3
4	Lt	Pilot	F-18B+4	CB4
5	Lt	Pilot	F-18B+5	CB5
6	Lt-jg	Pilot	F-18B+6	CB6
7	Lt-jg	Pilot	F-18B+7	CB7
8	Lt-jg	Pilot	F-18B+8	CB8
9	Lt-jg	Pilot	F-18B+9	CB9
10	Lt-jg	Pilot	F-18B+10	CB10
11	Lt-jg	Pilot	F-18B+11	CB11
12	Lt-jg	Pilot	F-18BE+12	CB12

(note 2nd seat in EW fighter #12 filled by crew member #103, at this point designated a PO1 EWO.)

(Note:CB# refers to the shuttle Bay/park assignment on a 30 bay casual base.)

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Sunday, November 27, 2011 - 03:52 pm: Edit

This portion refers to the 2nd provisional shuttle squadron. Again, I had trouble with the full files, so here is another bit.

2nd Prvisional Admin shuttle Squadron:

ID	Rank	Duty	Comment	Assignment
13	LtCmdr	CO	Admin1	CB13
14	Lt	Pilot	Admin2	CB14
15	Lt	Pilot	Admin3	CB15
16	Lt	Pilot	Admin4	CB16
17	Lt	Pilot	Admin5	CB17
18	Lt-jg	Pilot	Admin6	CB18
19	Lt-jg	Pilot	Admin7	CB19
20	Lt-jg	Pilot	Admin8	CB20
21	Lt-jg	Pilot	Admin9	CB21
22	Lt-jg	Pilot	Admin10	CB22
23	Lt-jg	Pilot	Admin11	CB23
24	Lt-jg	Pilot	Admin12	CB24

Note:gunners/copilots of the Admin Shuttles listed later in the roster.

Note:I have the CO of the squadron listed as a Lt Cmdr. Haven't verified if that is correct, just assumed that any squadron cmdr should have more rank.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Sunday, November 27, 2011 - 03:57 pm: Edit

This portion concerns the 3rd Provisional shuttle squadron (Heavy)

3rd Provisional HTS Squadron

ID	Rank	Duty	Comment	Assignment
25	LtCmdr	CO	HTS1	CB25
26	Lt	Pilot	HTS2	CB26
27	Lt	Pilot	HTS3	CB27
28	Lt-jg	Pilot	HTS4	CB28
29	Lt-jg	Pilot	HTS5	CB29
30	Lt-jg	Pilot	HTS6	CB30

Note: there are 30 casual shuttle landing areas in a normal casual base, and this adhoc shuttle group reflects using all 30.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Sunday, November 27, 2011 - 04:16 pm: Edit

This portion details the personnel of the 12 deck crews assigned to the IFS ground crew element.

Deck Crew support element

ID	Rank	Duty	Comment	Assignment
31	CPO	Ftr Maint Chief	DC1	CB1
32	PO1	Engine Tech	DC1	CB1
33	PO2	Engine Tech	DC1	CB1
34	PO2	Structure Tech	DC1	CB1
35	PO2	Systems Tech	DC1	CB1
36	PO3	Electrician	DC2	CB2
37	PO3	Ordinance Man	DC2	CB2
38	PO3	Fuels Specialist	DC2	CB2
39	E3	Deck Hand	DC2	CB2
40	E3	Deck Hand	DC2	CB2
41	CPO	Ftr Maint Chief	DC3	CB3
42	PO1	Engine Tech	DC3	CB3
43	PO2	Engine Tech	DC3	CB3
44	PO2	Structure Tech	DC3	CB3
45	PO2	Systems Tech	DC3	CB3
46	PO3	Electrician	DC4	CB4
47	PO3	Ordinance Man	DC4	CB4
48	PO3	Fuels Specialist	DC4	CB4
49	E3	Deck Hand	DC4	CB4
50	E3	Deck Hand	DC4	CB4
51	CPO	Ftr Maint Chief	DC5	CB5
52	PO1	Engine Tech	DC5	CB5
53	PO2	Engine Tech	DC5	CB5
54	PO2	Structure Tech	DC5	CB5
55	PO2	Systems Tech	DC5	CB5
56	PO3	Electrician	DC6	CB6
57	PO3	Ordinance Man	DC6	CB6
58	PO3	Fuels Specialist	DC6	CB6
59	E3	Deck Hand	DC6	CB6
60	E3	Deck Hand	DC6	CB6
61	CPO	Ftr Maint Chief	DC7	CB7
62	PO1	Engine Tech	DC7	CB7
63	PO2	Engine Tech	DC7	CB7
64	PO2	Structure Tech	DC7	CB7
65	PO2	Systems Tech	DC7	CB7
66	PO3	Electrician	DC8	CB8
67	PO3	Ordinance Man	DC8	CB8
68	PO3	Fuels Specialist	DC8	CB8
69	E3	Deck Hand	DC8	CB8
70	E3	Deck Hand	DC8	CB8
71	CPO	Ftr Maint Chief	DC9	CB9
72	PO1	Engine Tech	DC9	CB9
73	PO2	Engine Tech	DC9	CB9
74	PO2	Structure Tech	DC9	CB9
75	PO2	Systems Tech	DC9	CB9
76	PO3	Electrician	DC10	CB10
77	PO3	Ordinance Man	DC10	CB10
78	PO3	Fuels Specialist	DC10	CB10
79	E3	Deck Hand	DC10	CB10
80	E3	Deck Hand	DC10	CB10
81	CPO	Ftr Maint Chief	DC11	CB11
82	PO1	Engine Tech	DC11	CB11
83	PO2	Engine Tech	DC11	CB11
84	PO2	Structure Tech	DC11	CB11
85	PO2	Systems Tech	DC11	CB11
86	PO3	Electrician	DC12	CB12
87	PO3	Ordinance Man	DC12	CB12
88	PO3	Fuels Specialist	DC12	CB12
89	E3	Deck Hand	DC12	CB12
90	E3	Deck Hand	DC12	CB12

Again, DC refers to "Deck Crew" and "CB##" refers to the casual shuttle bay/plot of the casual base.

I used the example of the deck crews from the POL roster that Garth Getgen created for the ranks and duty titles of the personnel... I wonder if a fighter squadron would have a more varied skill set and specialists?

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Monday, November 28, 2011 - 03:33 am: Edit

Jeff: "I wonder if a fighter squadron would have a more varied skill set and specialists"

Probably, tho I'm not sure what they would be.

One thing I would do with your list above is mix up the ranks a bit. You have every Fuels tech, Electrician and Ordinanceman as PO3. Might I suggest that a couple should be PO2 and perhaps one being a PO1? Likewise, you could drop a couple of the PO2 down to PO3 to balance it out.


Garth L. Getgen

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Monday, November 28, 2011 - 01:24 pm: Edit

Garth, thanks! I will change the ranks around... what I posted is simply a cut and paste job since there were 60 positions to fill, it was easier and faster.

Same with the boarding parties (when I get around to posting the positions).

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Monday, November 28, 2011 - 01:33 pm: Edit

Enlisted co-pilots/gunners on the Admin squadron (Provisional squadron#2), and the EWO enlisted 2nd seat for f-18BE in Provisional Squadron #1.

I made all of them PO1 partially because I'm not certain who and how many might actually be officer ranks or even more senior enlisted/CPO or warrants. I imagine we'll clear it up in the "fullness of time"

Gunners & EWO enlisted roster:

ID	Rank	Duty	Comment	Assignment
91	PO1	Gunner	Admin1	CB13
92	PO1	Gunner	Admin2	CB14
93	PO1	Gunner	Admin3	CB15
94	PO1	Gunner	Admin4	CB16
95	PO1	Gunner	Admin5	CB17
96	PO1	Gunner	Admin6	CB18
97	PO1	Gunner	Admin7	CB19
98	PO1	Gunner	Admin8	CB20
99	PO1	Gunner	Admin9	CB21
100	PO1	Gunner	Admin10	CB22
101	PO1	Gunner	Admin11	CB23
102	PO1	Gunner	Admin12	CB24
103	PO1	EWO	F18BE+12	CB12

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Monday, November 28, 2011 - 01:45 pm: Edit

Proposed Ground Security Force.

ID	Rank	Duty	Comments	Assignment
104	Capt	Marine	Marine	BP-1
105	1Lt	Marine	XO Marine	BP-2
106	Sgt	1st Squad	Marine	BP-1
107	Cpl	Rifleman	Marine	BP-1
108	L-Cpl	AutoRifle	Marine	BP-1
109	PFC	Rifleman	Marine	BP-1
110	Sgt	2nd Squad	Marine	BP-2
111	Cpl	Rifleman	Marine	BP-2
112	L-Cpl	AutoRifle	Marine	BP-2
113	PFC	Rifleman	Marine	BP-2
114	Sgt	3rd Squad	Marine	BP-3
115	Cpl	Rifleman	Marine	BP-3
116	L-Cpl	AutoRifle	Marine	BP-3
117	PFC	Rifleman	Marine	BP-3
118	Sgt	4th Squad	Marine	BP-4
119	Cpl	Rifleman	Marine	BP-4
120	L-Cpl	AutoRifle	Marine	BP-4
121	PFC	Rifleman	Marine	BP-4
122	PO2	Corpsman		BP-3
123	PO2	Corpsman		BP-4

Note: a FGB-M normally has 2 BPs, not 4, but I doubled the number assigned (and will have to post a BPV value for the Commanders options points used).

Given that this IFS anticipates moving casual bases, (rather a lot of moves) it didn't seem reasonable to leave 1 BP behind at each move and 1 BP in the initial wave.

Even 2 BPs seems low, but the assumption is base security rather than combat defense. If the enemy discovers the base, 4 BPs won't be enough. Safety in the event of discovery lies in escape in the shuttles which is why 100% of the personnel can be carried in a single lift by all the shuttles at the same time.

Some may question why the ground force is a Captains rank instead of Lt, the assumption is he commands the ground base when the Major and the XO are on missions (or havent arrived yet, depending on what phase of the casual base rotation is...)

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Monday, November 28, 2011 - 01:55 pm: Edit

Star Fleet Ground base personnel (proposed).

ID	Rank	Duty	Comments	Assignment
124	E3	DriverTruck	1	CB1
125	E3	DriverTruck	2	CB2
126	E3	DriverTruck	3	CB3
127	E3	DriverTruck	4	CB4
128	E3	DriverTruck	5	CB5
129	E3	DriverTruck	6	CB6
130	E3	DriverTruck	7	CB7
131	E3	DriverTruck	8	CB8
132	E3	DriverTruck	9	CB9
133	E3	DriverTruck	10	CB10
134	E3	DriverTruck	11	CB11
135	E3	DriverTruck	12	CB12
136	Lt	Flight Surg	HQ Staff
137	Lt-jg	Head Nurse	HQ Staff
138	PO2	Corpsman	HQ Staff
139	PO2	Corpsman	HQ Staff
140	Lt	Intell	HQ Staff
141	Lt	Ord Officer	HQ Staff
142	Lt	Logistics	HQ Staff
143	Capt	Chief Staff	HQ Staff
144	Lt	Communications	HQ Staff
145	Lt	Security	HQ Staff
146	Lt	Grnd	Grnd Crew
147	Lt-jg	Grnd	Grnd Crew
148	E3	Cook	Grnd Crew
149	E3	Cook Asst	Grnd Crew
150	E3	Cook Asst	Grnd Crew
151	E3	Sanitation	Grnd Crew
152	E3	Qtrmstr	Grnd Crew
153	E3	Qtrmstr	Grnd Crew
154	E3	Yeoman	Grnd Crew
155	E3	Yeoman	Grnd Crew
156	E3	Load Master	Grnd Crew
157	E3	Load Master	Grnd Crew
158	E3	Load Master	Grnd Crew
159	E3	Load Master	Grnd Crew
160	E3	Load Master	Grnd Crew
161	E3	Load Master	Grnd Crew
162	E3	Load Master	Grnd Crew
163	E3	Load Master	Grnd Crew

The 4th in Command of the unit is the #143 Chief of Staff, and commands when the #3 (#104, Marine Captain) is away (setting up a new casual base).

The Load masters are specialists in loading shuttles and HTS's for combat loading (enough so that if ammunition and or additional fuel is needed at the new casual base, there is a portion loaded on each shuttle in addition to the spare fighter stores, trucks and personal baggage of the crew.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Monday, November 28, 2011 - 10:26 pm: Edit

Cargo Space values for selected items:

type	cargo space
Chaff Pack	0.2
type VI drone	0.5
type I drone	1
fighter pod	1
booster pack for ftr/shttl	4
booster pack HTS	8
truck	10

There are 200 drone spaces worth of drones in the drone stock pile (160 type I, 80 type VI half space dog fight drones).

I have no idea how much storage space fuel will be required, nor how much food will be required for 163 people for up to 6 months of operations.

the casual base has a capacity of 1,500 cargo space points.

I need to figure out where the emergency shelter rules are found... I know its been publshed but have not come across them yet... IIRC it was a 8 person emergency shelter and I think it was in one of the captains logs (#20 perhaps?!?)

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - 12:16 am: Edit

Jeff, do you need six months of food on-hand? I would think a 60-day supply of real food with shipments scheduled in every 30 to 45 days, plus another 60 days worth of e-rats would be plenty.

By the way, I've had a non-combat (background info) story in mind for a while that kind of plays along the same theme of what you're doing here. If I acutally sit down and wrote it, please don't think I "stole" your idea. I'll have to pop you an e-mail tomorrow about it.


Garth L. Getgen

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - 12:34 am: Edit

Jeff: "I made all of them PO1 partially because I'm not certain who and how many might actually be officer ranks or even more senior enlisted/CPO or warrants."

There are no Warrant Officer pilots in SFU. For the love of the gods, I can't figure out why SVC is so adament about that, but he is and that's that. I thought he had reversed himself because Warrants are listed in a Prime Directive book, but he told me, quite firmly, that he did not and never intends to, and also said that info was an error that slipped thru proof-reading.

Ergo, I look at it as enlisted co-pilots must be PO1 or CPO as a cross-train only rating.

As to the deck-crew lists and PO3 / PO2 / PO1, perhaps a better idea is just list them as "PO", and then have a note saying that there are "X" number of PO3, "Y" number PO2, and "Z" number of PO1 spread more or less evenly across the rates and teams.


Garth L. Getgen

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - 09:24 am: Edit

Garth,

That is all cool, 60 days of rations is easier to deal with than trying to haul around 180 days worth.

About the story, I'm fine with whatever you decide, I'm interested in working on the background and welcome each new episode with enthusiasm.


about the warrant officer thing, thanks. saves me from getting chewed out for submitting something that they won't accept.

Good idea about the PO thing with a foot note.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - 10:09 am: Edit

I've just realized something... the proposed method of deploying the IFS to casual bases might be counter productive. I have no idea how detectable a shuttle is in this situation, the D17 tactical intelligence rules help, but without specifying an exact location we couldnt actually "run the numbers"...

Lets just assume (for arguments sake, dispensing with D17 rules for a moment) a base 1% per shuttle per mission flown that a Klingon (or enemy base, if you will) can detect a single shuttle in flight to a (supposedly) secret casual base.

the idea posted earlier of the 12 f-18B+ fighters, 12 Admin Shuttles, and 6 HTS (30 total fighter/shuttles) would mean (in general terms) a base 30% chance to detect a shuttle flight to the casual base. Given the cargo capacity of all the shuttles amounting to just under 500 cargo points capacity, and needing just a bit more than 3 full trips to the casual base to fill up the full 1,500 cargo points of materials, fuel and food needed to sustain the operation, would mean that approximately 91+% chance of an enemy detecting a shuttle/fighter fluying into the casual base (adding in the return leg and the number of shuttles involved in combination would seem to indicate that it is statistically certain that the enemy would detect one or more shuttles flying into or out of the casual base over time.

This is not good.

As an alternative, I wonder if the initial phase should have the personnel and all of the supplies, (including the fighters admin shuttles and HTS delivered as crated equipment) and personnel delivered by VFS (as suggested by SPP back in 2004) with the 100 cargo space capacity?

That means the 1,500 cargo space constraint would now include all of the tactical fighters and shuttles as well as the need to transport the 16 crew units(see the 163 person roster posted earlier) would be delivered by one (or more) VFS shuttle(with warp dash pods) to a staging casual base at maximum shuttle range from a supplied federation base or planet.

Then, once at this casual base, the VFS would continue to make regular supply runs keeping the base insupply. (lets call it a weekly flight, so the base chance of detection of the supply shuttle falls to 2% per week...one flight in and 1 flight out.)

that means the casual bases where the attacks on the enemy would use the HTS squadron for strategic and tactical movement within the area of operations. It also means that once the fighters leave the staging base, they would not return.

the fighters would depart the ataging base for the first combat casual base (lets call it "Base Able"), refuel and then depart on its first combat mission.

mean while, the deck crews emergency shelters fighter supplies and any and all other equipment (except for a single deck crew and provision for refueling the surviving f-18B+s) depart to establish a new casual combat base (lets call that one "Base Baker".

The fighters, having completed the combat mission, return to base Able, refuel and (if needed repair critical systems) rearm with the remaining fighter supplies, launch for base Baker, followed by the personnel and any left over equipment loaded on HTS.

Once at Base baker (and taking time to rest, repair and refuel) repeat the procedure.

The change to using just fighters and HTS (instead of using the 2nd provisional Admin shuttle squadron) drops the detection chance of camp Able, Baker (and any other casual bases used in the operation) to about 12% per mission.

(1% per fighter, there being initially 12 fighters present) and a two HTS'. far less than the 91% talked about earlier, but still sufficiently high that each subsequent mission has a measurable level of risk of detection.

the problem is the risk increases with each addition flight, and the cumulative effect presents the enemy the opportunity to detect the pattern.

I guess I'll have to rethink this again.

By Alan Trevor (Thyrm) on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - 01:23 pm: Edit

Jeff,

You say

---

Quote:

the idea posted earlier of the 12 f-18B+ fighters, 12 Admin Shuttles, and 6 HTS (30 total fighter/shuttles) would mean (in general terms) a base 30% chance to detect a shuttle flight to the casual base

---

By Alan Trevor (Thyrm) on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - 01:42 pm: Edit

One further point to the above; if you do wish to break detections down in detail, you need to have some kind of estimates for both "type-I errors" and "type-II errors". In this context, a type-I error is a false alarm. Your sensors "detect" something that isn't really there. The type-II error in this context would be when your sensors fail to detect something, even though something is out there. Neither the type-I nor type-II error rates will be zero, though one or both of them may be very low. Note however that there is at least a partial inverse correlation between the 2 types. Actions you take to decrease the type-I errors (for example, applying very strict filtering so that any "detection" needs to meet stringent criteria before it is displayed "on scope" to the operator) will tend to increase the number of type-II failures to detect. (Something was out there but the signal parameters were a bit outside those required by the strict filters, so it was never displayed to the operator.) And actions to decrease type-II errors (for example, applying very loose filters so that almost every spurious "detection" is displayed to the operator) will lead to high false alarm rates.

Historically, real world military sensors have tended toward the latter case since false alarms were considered less serious then failures to detect at all. But there are problems with this approach as well. If your "scope" is showing a bunch of threats but most of them are false alarms, you may be blindsided by the real threat while reacting to the false detection you think is a real threat.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - 02:09 pm: Edit

Alan,

I won't argue the statistics with you. It was simply an attempt to illustrate the idea that many shuttles performing multiple identical round trips between a set of fixed points in space, would increase the chances that a sharp enemy might discern a pattern, and thus determine where the base is hidden.

Note that the 12 fighters(using cargo pods and substituting 4 cargo spaces for the EWO in the rear seat) + 12 Admin Shuttles + 6 HTS would require more than 3 round trips for every shuttle to deliver 1,500 cargo space points to the casual staging base I mentioned earlier.

That would make the equation 1-(.99⁹⁰)

I was trying to suggest that replacing 90 trips by fighters, admin shuttles and HTS with 15 trips by a VFS might be less risky.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - 02:25 pm: Edit

Alan, considering you 1:42 pm post.

That actually seems to be the main concern of the IFS mission. ie the premise that shuttles and fighters might be able (assuming they come from an undetected casual base near the target zone of operations) escape detection in order to carry out attacks of opportunity on enemy assets. (I imagine small freighters and enemy resupply missions to various bases, planets and "other useful places" occupied by the enemy.

The trick is to not "tip our hand" by committing a type II error while behaving in a manner that leasds the enemy to think our shuttles are type I errors...and conclude that it was a false alarm.

I just think that one weekly VFS shuttle a week to the staging base is less likely to trigger either a type I or type II event than running 30 shuttles during the same week, making 3 round trips to the same place would.

the flights to and from the casual bases (labled "Able", "Baker" etc) using fewer shuttles (fighters and HTS only) would by a higher risk level, but also would be the combat part of the operation... risk is inherent in the operations.

But what is the correct risk levels, and how does that impact the planed IFS operations?

guess we'll will just have to make an educated guess.