Hi folks I'm an anthropologist. Don't shoot!

[Therian]

Ok so I'm seeing a little bit of a pattern here and that's why I'm glad I was too sick to write that questionnaire. My thesis will be strongest if I describe what I find here as opposed to writing about what /I think/ about this place. So the pattern I'm seeing relates to what impressed me most while watching Jester814 YouTube clips and that is your communicative and leadership practices. Bakhtin once wrote that the word in language is half someone else's. That's one of the many wonderful 'good things to think' (an Apache saying about philosophising) that I picked up in undergrad anthropology and I've applied it variously in all kinds of registers so for. I mention it here because it speaks of communication in ordinary 'civilian' circumstances as being somewhat imperfect. I'd argue that human communication has systematic limitations in terms of its ability to convey meaning e.g. Chinese Whispers &c. And when I say I've applied it as an analytical metaphor in other registers, here is an interesting example which shows the fluidity/ambiguity of meaning in ordinary circumstances (from here read civilian when I write ordinary circumstances). I was reading a while ago about an Israeli anthropologists experience of how her ethnicity/identity was 'read' variously depending on where she was. She was Mizrahi and according to her, that made her somewhat second class in what she referred to as 'First Israel'. She did a bit of research in - I think she said Tanzania - and she said the locals viewed her as a privileged white person. In South Africa she was refused entry to a public swimming pool because a white South African said 'no blacks' (on account of her skin being rather tanned). Then when she visited the U.S. she said she was welcomed with open arms on account of her being an Israeli academic. I hope I've made my point about meaning being a somewhat fluid and ambiguous business. Obviously this won't do in the military where the actions of individuals must be coordinated in order that they perform as a cohesive unit. Meaning can't be left open to interpretation. That's why I thought it was really cool when I noticed some statements being prefaced by 'interrogative' for example. That leaves the listener with the unambiguous understanding that an answer to a question is required of them.
So my point is - and this gets back to the pattern I mentioned above - is that a number of you said that playing Arma3 is a way to acquire and sharpen leadership skills among other things, which you can then apply to real life. So I guess one question is, did you hear that this was a good place to learn about this stuff or did you just realise this after being immersed in this experience over time?

[SPC (Ret) Ciancio]

...a number of you said that playing Arma3 is a way to acquire and sharpen leadership skills among other things, which you can then apply to real life. So I guess one question is, did you hear that this was a good place to learn about this stuff or did you just realise this after being immersed in this experience over time?

For most of us, we discovered this unit in the same way you did, i.e. seeing Jester's videos on youtube. With that said, I personally had no intent on becoming a leader or never did I join the unit with the mentality that I would acquire and practice leadership skills. Also, its important to note that the unit does not actively go around trying to convince people that this is a place to learn leadership skills, but some may have been brought here by word of mouth, through other online communities or friendships where that may have happened. But, like I said, most people found their calling on youtube.

Of course this varies from person to person, you'll probably have to take some kind of survey in order to clarify some things, especially regarding the intent of each individual. I would imagine most of the members that join do so with a certain level of humility, not with the intent of becoming a leader, but with the intention of doing the best that he or she can, and to be part of something unheard of in any other gaming platform: simulated military operations with the aspect of role play and real-life tactics/radios.

I would also imagine that there is a percentage of new recruits that have high expectations of themselves, that foresee themselves becoming leaders one day, similar to what you see in Jester's videos.

I personally have come to learn that leadership is not something that you can force; it comes to you. It comes to those who put forth the effort to learn and grow, and to those who are willing to take what they have learned and pass it on to others, not as a dictator, but as a team. A person's brilliance does not come from what he says he can do, but what he actually can do. True brilliance can only be seen by others, and when it is bright enough for long enough, the opportunity for leadership comes knocking on your door. Then you have to ask yourself, "Will I answer that door, or go hide in the kitchen till the responsibility goes away?"

[Therian]

Thank's man. So leadership comes from proficiency in all the lessons learned in OSUT? That's a kind of learning by emulation type of deal. Do any of you have any interest in the philosophical underpinnings on leadership? I read /Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters/ and James N. Mattis is interesting too. I saw a meme about Mad Dog Mattis which attributed this quote to him; "Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet". I thought that was strangely funny so I looked into him and thought it was interesting that he always kept a copy of the /Meditations of Marcus Aurelius/. A central theme to Meditations is to analyse your judgement of self and others and developing a cosmic perspective. That's really interesting in terms of leadership because if you practice it you wil be a shrewd calculating machine in terms of your interactions with people. Maintaining a cosmic perspective is also interesting because I'd imagine its function is to help leaders make objective decisions regarding the fate of men under their command.
Anybody any thoughts on leadership?

[LaPrade]

Leadership is an interesting concept, especially here. I view the 506th as more of a gaming community that incorporates the hierarchy of an Army unit. So, to me the question I often ask when conducting myself here is, "What can I do to make myself and by extension my team more efficient." One important thing to remember, is that no matter how capable, or how efficient you are there is always room for improvement. In general, I think this philosophy is probably something adopted from western ideology, but yes there is an element of the dramatic often attributed to leaders (such as Gen. Mattis or Gen. Patton, for that matter) because of how a sub-culture teaches. As you accurately stated: Most of what is learned here is probably through emulation; each job requires a certain function of its actor (or member). Overall, most of the success comes from community efficacy, but there isn't really a compulsion to do so, but I think it comes intrinsically, as a result of wanting to have the most fun possible. And as a result, people will step up and take responsibility for providing that entertainment. So becoming a leader here is less about fulfilling your ambition (because let's face it, it's a game), and more about fulfilling a standard required of you, so others can experience virtual entertainment, in the venue (military hierarchy) that they voluntarily came here seeking.

Hopefully that makes sense, and that is just my perspective.

[CW2 (Ret) O'Neill]

That's quite the family legacy you have there.

Thank's guys and I agree with SPC Grimm regarding CPL O'Neill legacy - wow. Closest I come to that is my father was a member of that famous Irish revolutionary movement but he left after his mother and aunt convinced him to do so.

I appreciate the kind and respectful words. I have some big shoes to fill for sure.

CPL O'Neill, as you say, this community is made of people from hundreds of different backgrounds. I've been looking around and I agree. I'd even say that there are many different reasons for playing. I may be wrong but I'm assuming that some folk play Arma3 as preparation for service or because they are veterans who miss the camaraderie they found during service.

How does your community turn gamers from a wide variety of backgrounds into competent members of a fighting group? Also, Like I said further back in the thread about watching those British gamers on foot patrol,  do you ever have an Arma 3 session where you might be involved in a battle but do very little yourself?

Dave

Dave,

This community, to me and many others, both members and followers, is very special. It is a place where many of us can share in a passion that almost seems childish but on an adult standard. We come here to have fun and play Army man basically. It sometimes looks more complex than that, especially when you look at our policies, procedures, standards and other more professional aspects of the unit, but in reality we are a group of men and women that think to ourselves, being a soldier is very respectable and just cool. I have always looked up to my dad as a hero. He is coming up on something like 28 years of active duty service ever since he was commissioned out of college and I know full well that he rarely had bullets fly by, he never kicked in doors and cleared building (as much as he lead my siblings and I to believe as children), he never shielded his platoon members from grenades or participated in any very close quarters combat, but regardless he is still my hero. I say this because while he has never done those things himself, for nearly 3 decades he has trained the men and women that have done those things and I have overheard my dad talk on the phone many times with soldiers, junior enlisted, NCOs and officers, that called him to thank him for training in one aspect or another that saved lives. That is the level of respect that I see in every aspect of the Armed Forces community as a whole. Leading is more than just charging a machine gun nest single handed. Leadership is about being able to teach others how to be a professional in every aspect of their work and in the military, one of those aspects is keeping oneself and others alive.

This community is largely made up of people who either are those kinds of leaders, resemble those kinds of leaders, or like to be around those kinds of leaders. We're here to have a good time and the best way to do that is to have people that not only know what they are doing but also put the time and effort in to doing it because they care for all the rest of us, regardless of us never having met and sometimes never sharing a single word together. For example, I don't think I have ever said a single word to CSM De Leo and in return he has never said a single word to me, but I respect him because I know he has put A LOT of time and effort into making this a great community for all of us which shows a certain level of care for everyone in the unit. At the end of almost every operation or training exercise we would have a debriefing where we discuss what went well, what could be improved upon, and any comments or complaints in general (again, asking for input to make the community better) but more importantly, leaders like our Zeus Operators will ask if we had fun. They specifically break away from all the seriousness to ask us if we're having a good time as a gaming community because they know this wouldn't be nearly as popular and as bonding if we were an all work, no play organization.

I first started watching Jester814's, SSG Drumheller's, videos when he was a member of the 15th MEU. I watched him and many others first establish the 506th IR. I loved the weapon mods and the capabilities of the game, I loved the huge number of players he was interacting with (we usually have 50-70 players in one server during FTXs/Operations), and I was especially attracted to the immersion that the unit provided. I joined in late September 2015 to get in on this awesome action and fun. At first, I like many other newcomers, was nervous and even reluctant to talk to certain members because they were a higher rank than me. There were a few people in the unit that really made it feel more homely and as a community of gamers rather than my original impression, feeling it was almost like a part time job. Some of my first leaders in the unit really helped me feel more comfortable here and took some of the rigid seriousness away so that no matter what, in mission, after mission, in the middle of the day, on the forums, etc they made sure that I felt like a welcome member of a great community.

As I said, I want to be an Army officer in the next 4 years. That is a soldier that is a leader of many other soldiers and is responsible for their well being. Right now, I'm a Corporal in the 506th and by the next promotion cycle, I'll make Sergeant. I am Havoc 3-2-A Fire Team Leader, which means that I lead a team of three others in operations and trainings. I am responsible for the organization of my team and the well being of my team members, including whether or not they feel welcome and if they're having fun. I don't have to work very hard for this, it's not a really big job, but I do what I can to make sure everything that is required of me is done and further more that I can go beyond my responsibilities to my teammates and try to give them an enjoyable experience and have some fun with this place, because to me that's what this is all about, having a good time. To answer your question if there is ever a time when we are part of a battle but do very little, that really depends on your definition of doing something. For example, the average PFC will have more kills in an operation than say a Platoon Sergeant or Platoon Leader. Your first thought might be, "Wow a PFC does a lot more than the LT." While actually pulling on the trigger and taking guys out is hard to do, especially in our realism game, it can be, and in my opinion it often is, much harder to lead an entire platoon of soldiers through an operation. Keeping track of soldiers and trying to direct troop movements so that objectives are completed and people stay alive can be far more tasking than putting rounds out.

Another example I often think of is in regards to Jester814, Staff Sergeant, and formerly . Formerly, he was the Battalion Commander, the leader of every member of the 506th, and recently he has stepped down. From my speculation only because no one really told me EXACTLY why he did so, I believe he did so, first to allow another ranking member the opportunity to lead the battalion, but secondly the then Major Drumheller, filled in for every single operation and FTX that he could as a simple foot soldier designated as a Specialist (a junior enlisted man) and I believe that he missed his days of being a more simple foot soldier from back in the 15th MEU and he wanted to get back in to those small unit tactics. So he decided first of all that he is an excellent leader and his skill set would best be utilized in the unit in some leadership billet, but he also wanted to be a combat soldier and work in the fight along side other combat soldiers. He stepped down from his position and became a Squad Leader in Havoc 3. To put that in perspective, that is only one leadership position higher than mine as a Fire Team Leader. It is an excellent choice to utilize his skills as a leader effectively, and I believe he might be happier to have somewhat less responsibilties and be more in the action of our weekly operations. That was him being a part of the unit and simultaneously feeling like he was doing too much logistically and not enough enjoyably. He also works as a professional YouTuber and may have felt that his content would be more enjoyable to his audience if he saw more action and operated in smaller unit tactics rather than as a task force commander or a battalion command element. I know that his "Special Forces" style operations, (not required, we do them to have fun and variety while still maintaining a certain level of realism) are some of his most popular videos on YouTube. In these missions he usually operates as either a foot soldier following the orders of someone designated as the leader or as the leader of a small group such as a squad. These make great content and I know are in popular demand on his YouTube channel.

(All of the above about Jester814, SSG Drumheller, is my own speculation and should not be viewed or referenced as facts in any way, shape or form. I have the utmost respect for his real life military service, his work in both the 15th MEU and 506th IR, and as a professional YouTuber. If anyone knows anything I have said is false, or the SSG would personally speak out against what I said, I apologize for any misconceptions and/or disrespect.)

I'm not trying to label anything in the unit or define the unit or any of its members in anyway. These are my views and mine alone of this community that has become such an awesome part of my life. Only been here for about 8 months now but I have had some incredible experiences and made some close friends and acquaintances here. I'm very grateful that I can be a part of this unit and I'm excited to continue my career here as a Fire Team Leader and one day, as a Squad Leader and who knows what else.

V/R
CPL O'Neill

PS. This "essay" is what happens on a Monday night when I'm bored and finished my homework already. 

[SSG (Ret) Beard]

Very well said, Corporal. Impressive.

Loved the disclaimer at the end too.

One question, has anyone sent up their COC to see if Dave can jump on Team Speak? It would be a very interesting experience having something of a group discussion. We could call it Armaholic's anonymous

Joke aside, thank you Dave for starting such an interesting thread. I have learnt quite a bit about the Ladies and Gentlemen that share the wonderful place the 506th is. I would love to read that thesis when it's done. Maybe with a little more acknowledgement in intellectual circles, those in the MILSIM community with wives won't cop such a hard time over playing 'computer games with their little friends'.

Keep it up!

V/R,
SGT Beard
FTL, Havoc 3-2-B

[1SG J. Brewer]

I'm at work so I'll make this short and sweet. Our TS is open to people not in the unit. The info is in a public part of the forum. As a leader, rct chief and osut instructor, if you ever wish to speak in TS my door is open.

[Therian]

Thank's guys. Firstly, SGT. LaPrade, it may be a game but Huizinga suggests that play is primary to and a necessary condition of the generation of culture. Google Homo Ludens if you are interested ... the wiki page provides a good summary. The concept of culture is not very well defined in that it means many things to many people and theorists can pick and choose aspects of its various definitions depending on what they are analysing - which I suppose is a good thing. But I like a particular Wittgenstein quote which helps me conceptualise what culture is and it goes something like this; "The limits of my language means the limits of my world". He is famous for among other things, saying very profound things in a very concise little statement. So in that statement lets substitute the word language for the 'this is how we do things around here', or, the rules governing behaviour in a given group of people. So Arma3 the 'game' has rules which were established and operative before you joined. So in that sense the 506th is a culture, an imagined community that Benedict Anderson wrote about, whose rules were learned by you as a new member and then passed on to other new members through you in practice. And although it may be a game, the lessons learned here can and I assume have been applied in the 'real' world as some of you have already mentioned. I was talking to Sebastian Junger - who thinks my research is important by the way (sorry for name dropping but it made me feel good when he said that because I had moments where I was thinking it was absurd) - and he made the point that veterans miss the military because of the sense of camaraderie they gained there. Camaraderie/community is a theme which has popped up in this thread a few times and its something I'm interested in because groups of people and the logic's they live by are the bread and butter of sociocultural anthropology. I was watching a documentary a while ago and a Navy Seal was talking about fear on the battlefield when he said; "We don't fear being shot or blown up on the battlefield. We fear seeing our buddies being shot or blown up". I thought that was a really important statement because brotherhood and unit cohesion/morale have been heavily theorised with regard to military training and education - the buddy system. That's the military 'proper', whereas we are talking about milsims here. Would any of you care to talk about the type of friendships you've made here or comment on anything I've just written for that matter?

P.S.

CPL O'Neill, thank's for the essay. You clearly don't have the word count anxiety I picked up from undergrad. Keep that up man, writing is a good skill/habit to maintain and I'm sure you will put it to good use in the future. I understand why you started by saying that playing Arma3 seems childish and I think its anything but. I get a similar sense that I'm weird or a war junkie because of my interest in this topic. Comte wrote many years ago that; "Standing and paid armies once established, the business of a soldier having thus become the pursuit of a particular class severed from the general population". That idea of being a particular class severed from the general population interests me for many reasons. The whole idea that war is a dirty business and best not to think about is wrapped up in this situation. Without going too deeply into it and especially staying clear of politics in as much as I can, let me state my rough position. In as much as I would like to see the spirit of the brotherhood of man take hold in the hearts and imaginations of the entire world, I don't see it happening anytime soon. Lets face it, war happens, there are people with guns who are batshit, and therefore I am grateful that there are people willing to serve in the military, police, medicine &c. But Comte described the nature of that 'particular class' as a feudal one. And unless I'm mistaken, I think that holds true in that there is a definite hierarchy, oaths &c. which in my opinion leaves military power open to manipulation which leaves brave men and women putting it all on the line for reasons which are not always clear or ultimately beneficial. I'm struggelling to make my point but I guess what I am trying to say is that I see soldiers as brave warrior/athletes whose sacrifice should not be abused cynically by greedy mad men. So my research is really about values and how well they are understood. My brother is a sergeant in an Garda Siochana. He's a good guy doing a very tough job. When he was an armed detective he had to confront members of criminal gangs armed with assault rifles and our government is too cheap to provide him and his colleagues with bullet proof vests. That annoys me to say the least. During anti-austerity marches members of an Garda Siochana were obviously used as crowd control and inevitably they were seen by protesters as representatives of 'the enemy'. But I happen to know that police wages were cut in half and their state pension was gambled away on the open market by their idiot government. An Garda Siochana were still doing the same very tough job throughout. My point is that the military, the police &c. are our brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers &c. and I would rather see that the structures governing their world isn't used in a weaponised way to work against their own people. I'm ranting and I have to go. I hope I haven't offended anyone and I hope some of what I've written raises some discussion.

[B. Black]

Well I'd like to say let's all be careful with the politics before a higher-up comes in and shuts it down . To continue on what you said about military cohesion and buddy teams within mil-sim, I do believe that they are important in an environment such as ours. Buddy teams are just something we practice in combat so an individual isn't shot, laying on the ground and forgotten, but getting closer with your squad mates and team members will make your stay within the 506th a more enjoyable time overall. This is a fun place, and if you're surrounded by people that you don't enjoy being around, then without a doubt the time within the unit will be a miserable one. I find myself lucky that I'm in a squad (Spartan 2-4) with people I enjoy being around and talking to outside of official training's and operations, hell all of Spartan 2 is pretty cool and that's what makes me come around.

I would also say yes, that I have made real friendships with people not only in this unit, but previous groups that I have been apart of. Internet friendships may seem fake to people, but if you think about it, the slight anonymity you have can really be used to express the true 'you'. So I believe the relationships formed here can sometimes be a bit more sincere than others in a weird type of way, and I do believe that some of the friends I have made here can last longer than this unit's lifespan.

[P. Grimm]

I can tell you that before I joined the unit, I had 5 friends on Steam, 1 was my brother, another my wife. After 9 months or so in this unit, I have over 30 people on my friends list. This place is special in regards to the connections you can make with people all over the world. My wife is also a part of the unit, we joined to be able to enjoy a hobby together, and now we spend most of our nights in TeamSpeak hanging out with our friends (most of whom are in our squads) either playing games or just sitting in a channel together.

I think being friends with your squad mates really solidifies that squad's ability to handle a lot of hard situations within game; we know each other. We can almost tell where they will be without having to look around for them. There is a certain flow to our movements that we all can read and know exactly where our individual place within that movement needs to be. I wouldn't be anywhere near as effective if I didn't know my squad mates on a personal level. And I don't think my squad would be either.

P.S. I think we have found the 506th's personal news correspondent in our new friend Dave here.

[Therian]

Thank's CPL. Specter, I promise I'll leave politics at the door. It was mentioned above that you only play against AI. Why is that? I watched loads of Jester814 clips and the most enjoyable were the large scale coops and I assumed the enemy were other milsim gamers. The AI must be pretty good in Arma3?
What's team speak?
And SPC Grimm, what do you mean by the news correspondent comment? If there is such a role to be filled I'd be happy to take a look and see if there is anything I can do. After all, you have been very kind to take the time to help me out so I would be happy if I could return the favour.

[1SG J. Brewer]

The enemy is AI for all official operations or trainings. Most importantly we use them for operations due to how many people we can have on the server as well as performance. If the enemy we faced were other players, we would not be able to have a full "Task Force" of 60-70 people on the server. In addition to the potential damage fighting each other could do to unit morale and comradery.

TeamSpeak is a computer program that is much like Skype and things like that. It is our main form of communication in addition to our forums. A way for us to actually speak to on another. Without TeamSpeak we would not be able to do what we do. Or hang out and chat with those in our group of friends. It is not uncommon to have well over 100 people connected to our TS all in different areas, talking to different people.

[SSG (Ret) J. Hart]

I think being friends with your squad mates really solidifies that squad's ability to handle a lot of hard situations within game; we know each other. We can almost tell where they will be without having to look around for them. There is a certain flow to our movements that we all can read and know exactly where our individual place within that movement needs to be. I wouldn't be anywhere near as effective if I didn't know my squad mates on a personal level. And I don't think my squad would be either.

This is exactly right. If done right, the different subcategories within the 506th turn into families more or less. When people leave for reserves or life gets to busy and they take a discharge, there is a genuine sadness felt by the "family" they were a part of. And this leads me right back over into leadership:

The way the 506th is structured, down to the fireteam level with 2ICs, overtime allows natural leaders to surface within their fireteams. As positions open up, these natural leaders can/will step up and take them, provided they have the training and experience to do so. While the basic tactics and whatnot can be taught, much of the ability to effectively lead a group of people, from the fireteam up to the task force level, comes down to experience and a natural ability to understand situations and respond appropriately to them. This again helps bring out the natural leaders to fill leadership positions.

A good leader will maintain the respect and commanding presence toward his/her subordinates when appropriate, but will also befriend their subordinates. Becoming a friend rather than an enemy will allow a leader to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of their team. As people trust their leader more they are more willing to follow their orders to the very best of their ability. Subordinates are also more willing to provide feedback to their leader, both positive and constructive criticism, which in turn makes the leader a better one.

As you become friends with people and work with them more, you gain an instinctive sense of where they are and what they are going to be doing. When this sense extends through an entire squad, you become quite a force to reckon with.

Teamspeak is a voice chatting software that allows us to get together in various channels and communicate verbally with one another. If there is ever any need for you to communicate in that manner with any of us, download and install the software, and our TS server information can be found in the public forum here.

[P. Grimm]

And SPC Grimm, what do you mean by the news correspondent comment? If there is such a role to be filled I'd be happy to take a look and see if there is anything I can do. After all, you have been very kind to take the time to help me out so I would be happy if I could return the favour.

I was just goofing around. Kind of like how reporters and writers follow army units around, and they go to Iraq or wherever and pal around with the troops to understand life in the military and write about it for the "folks back home".

[SPC (Ret) Ciancio]

Do any of you have any interest in the philosophical underpinnings on leadership?

This is my mentor, and who has the best philosophies on leadership in the post-modern world in my opinion:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkqcY4CAuBFNFho6JgygCnA/videos