All Activity

An RTO is responsible for configuring the communications of the element they’re the part of. The best way to show what this means is by showing an example. Let’s take a look at a battle group composed of infantry and some assets. We can already see a clear command structure. Overlord is the high command (usually zeus/mission maker). Godfather is the command element within the combat group. They command three squads of infantry of which one is mechanized and works with a Bradley callsign Hammer. We can also see three M1A2s commanded by Sword 1-1 and two JTACs linked with Godfather that manage air support from two Blackhawks and two F-16s. Every element is written down in this order: Callsign | SL, COC (chain of command) | Internal radio freq/asset. This visualization of the command structure serves to ease communication. As you can see there are six different long range radio channels. Without a couple RTOs this unit is not battle ready. This is one of many ways of creating what is sometimes called a “tree”. The most important rules are that it clearly shows the command structure, chain of command and communication channels.

The equipment that you will need depends on your task and the assets you have to complete it. In Arma it will also depend on what kind of mods you use. Map and navigation Map Compass Map Tools Map flashlight (dependent on ACE settings) GPS cTAB MicroDagr/Dagr Target designation: Colored smokes Vector 21 (or other rangefinders) Laser designator IR Grenades Chemlights Flares Colored Panels IR Strobes Grenade launcher with colored smokes, flares etc. Tracer rounds IR laser Comms: Short range radio Long range radio SATCOM antenna cTAB Keep in mind some of the equipment is mod dependent and might not be available to you at all times. As you can see there is a ton of equipment that can be useful in the field. And as you can probably imagine there is absolutely no way you can carry enough of everything. That’s why equipment optimalization is key when playing as RTO/JTAC. It is as important to fit your mission as it is to fit your terrain, time of day or equipment of friendlies and enemies.

Land navigation is a skill that every mil-sim player should possess. Without it you become absolutely useless the second you lose your GPS. Thankfully using a map, a compass, map tools and your brain is not that hard. I’ll cover the equipment necessary, how to read a map, how to lo Equipment For basic navigation you’ll need: Map Compass Map tools Additionally remember to bring a flashlight when operating at night. Map reading Maps in Arma are very accurate, that’s why it helps a lot to know how to read them. I will show an example of a map fragment from Altis to illustrate some of the basics. I am using the Enhanced Map Ace Version mod which makes maps a bit more realistic. Using this button we can switch between satellite view with topographic markings and clean topographic map. The latter is usually better for navigation because there’s less clutter on the map. Roads are marked with different colors depending on how big they are. Usually the brighter the color the bigger a road. Here we can see grey marking a relatively small road and yellow marking mor major road. Boxes with symbols in them mark certain structures. On this fragment we can see windmills on the west and a church in the town of Abdera. Additionally some smaller symbols show up like chapels by the roads and more importantly rocks in many places. Buildings like in this small town are marked with grey boxes resembling their real shape. Sometimes powerlines are marked on maps giving us yet another reference point to navigate by. These numbers mark the height above sea level. They are not hill numbers but only their height. Communicating by using the numbers as names of the hills can be misleading. Possibly the most important take away from this example the contour lines. Contour lines are all of the tiny brown lines that litter the entire map. They show us at what height above sea level a certain place is. On this map we can see that every interval is 5 meters in elevation which means every line is 5 meters above or below the line next to it. Additionally the slightly fatter lines are in this example 25 meters apart. In Arma the map is interactive, which means it will change the level of detail as you zoom in and out. That also applies to the contour lines. The distance between the lines will change abut it’s always shown in the bottom left corner. Because the vertical distance between every line is the same we can easily tell if a hill is steep or not. The closer the lines are to each other, the steeper the slope and the other way around, the further they are the slope is less steep. By learning to read contour lines we can easily not only orient ourselves in the terrain but also find suitable routes that give us enough cover. Contour lines are also drawn on water where they symbolize the depth. Of course there are many more symbols on maps, but I think they are pretty self-explanatory. Of course the green is trees and the blue is water. And in the middle of the fragment we can see a landing strip marked. Using the map tools Map tools can be found in the Tools section in the arsenal. You do not have to equip them in any specific slot, but only have them somewhere in your inventory. To open them on the map you use ACE self-interact (default: ctrl+win) while your map is open. You select Map Tools and then small or normal map tools. Those lines are used for measuring distance. They are exactly 1kmx1km no matter how much you zoom in or out the map. The line on the side of the tool is 3km long and is also used for measuring range. The circle in the middle of the tool is used for measuring azimuth on the map. The inner circle is marked with degrees and the outer with milliradians. By holding alt and left click you can rotate the tool to fit whatever you’re measuring. To drag the tool hold left click and move it around. And if you need to draw a line (ctrl+left click) on what you’re measuring the tool will make sure it is straight. Orienting the map To start creating a route we first need to know where we are. For that purpose we have to find a way to locate our position on the map. There are a couple ways of doing this: Landmarks – if we are next to a high tower next to a river, it will be easy to find a tower on the map and the river next to it. Then we just have to double check it with something else like terrain features and we’re good to go. Terrain association – this is a process of looking around, noting the terrain features (hills, rivers, buildings, etc.) and trying to find a place on the map that resembles it. Triangulation – for this you would have to see some landmarks. If you do you can measure an azimuth (using a compass) to each landmark and then draw a line on that azimuth from each landmark. The place where all three lines intersect is your position. If you have a rangefinder or some other way of measuring range, you can do this with only one land mark. You simply draw the line on the correct azimuth and measure how far away from the object you are. Then mark that position on the map. When trying to orient the map, altitude is your friend. The higher you are, generally, the more landmarks and terrain features you see. That allows for greater detail in locating your position. Planning a route I will not focus on the tactical planning of a route one should take to have the most advantageous position in case of a contact. I will show only how to move from point A to point B without getting lost. And for that there are two ways. In this situation I have to move south towards some position. The position is not clearly marked and has no real features so it might be easy to miss. The first way of doing this is to set an azimuth towards the target and start walking. This is generally the preferred method only if there are not landmarks to guide you. Using this method it is easy to deviate from the path, miss the objective and worse. The preferred way of doing things is finding waypoints that we know will be easily to locate if we can get in their general area. In this example I decided to head for a house with a driveway. It will be easy to locate even if I miss it by a 100 meters or more. Then almost directly south of the house is a ridgeline. I choose the highest point of the ridgeline as a waypoint because it will probably be visible from the house itself and even if not, it will be easy to find even once I’m on the ridge. From there I go almost straight south. This is where the issues start but thankfully the lowest point of the valley floor is clearly visible on the map. I go looking for that. Once I find that I follow the valley floor and it leads me straight to my objective. Most of the time setting waypoints will take time and the route will be longer, but it will save you from getting lost. Often when anticipating enemy contact you will move from landmark to land mark anyways because that might give you the best cover.

Single letters transmitted over radio can be misheard which on a battlefield can have dire consequences. That’s why for decades now armies have used certain words to be used instead of letters. The most common nowadays is the NATO/ICAO phonetic alphabet used by many militaries and civilian air transport. Symbol Code word English respelling A Alfa AL fah B Bravo BRAH voh C Charlie CHAR lee (or SHAR lee) D Delta DELL tah E Echo ECK oh F Foxtrot FOKS trot G Golf golf H Hotel ho TELL I India IN dee ah J Juliett JEW lee ETT K Kilo KEY loh L Lima LEE mah M Mike mike N November no VEM ber O Oscar OSS cah P Papa pah PAH Q Quebec keh BECK R Romeo ROW me oh S Sierra see AIR rah T Tango TANG go U Uniform YOU nee form (or OO nee form) V Victor VIK tah W Whiskey WISS key X Xray, x-ray ECKS ray Y Yankee YANG key Z Zulu ZOO loo

An RTO (Radio Telephone Operator) is one of the most important roles in a unit. Without a radio the unit has no information. Without information a unit is useless. That’s why the RTO communicates with other elements. Most of the time it will be comms between squads, assets and the HQ but an RTO is often tasked with calling in supports such as artillery fire or coordinating helicopter transport and MED/CASEVACs. A JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller) is often a part of a TACP (Tactical Air Control Party) responsible for controlling all air activity and air support in an AO. In Arma JTACs are usually attached to infantry squads and are responsible for guiding in CAS to support the ground element. JTACs are also capable of calling in artillery support, transport and MED/CASEVACs. The base knowledge of any RTOs or JTACs work should be how to take care of their radios as otherwise they are useless. In Arma it means knowing how to squeeze everything out of your radio by knowing every feature it has, but also knowing it’s limitations. For basic radio information check out the guide I made on it, but remember that skill comes with experience.

Congrats @MoistShaft

I have no idea why you are not already an Enlisted group member, I see that you joined the VG Army Club back in January of 2025. I'll add you to the group now, and you'll be able to access that applications form. Just give me a few minutes.

I'm very sure I've gone past the 30 day requirement, but still I am unable to apply for advancement. I know it says to contact semler but I think that through this process it could help others who are experiencing it aswell. If ever that this somewhat ruins the process of things... I apologize. -Moist

This will be part two of infantry formations in open terrain. As the part I was focused more on strictly moving formations this time I'll touch on security formations and morphing between formations. 360 or Circular 360 or Circular formation is not a moving formation like the ones mentioned before. It is used when taking a break or a defensive position. It does not have to be a perfect circle, but every direction should be covered. The safest way to create a 360 is to stay next to cover. It is easy in a forest but can be a challenge in open terrain. The squad leader will often say something along the lines of Create 360 around me. That’s why he will often be in the middle of the formation giving him the safety he might need to plan the route, communicate with another element etc. In other situation the squad leader can command the squad to create 360 around a terrain feature, building or a vehicle. One of the most common uses of 360 is covering an LZ right after dismounting from a helicopter or right before boarding it. 180 or Semi-Circular 180 or Semi-Circular formation works in the same way as 360, but can be used when we know one side is safe like next to a natural feature providing cover, after moving through a gate formation or after dismounting from a helicopter with a rear ramp like the Chinook. 2 and 4 Man Gates Gates exist to allow a column to cross a road with both directions of the road covered. The 2 man gate is created by two members of the formation who previous to encountering the road run ahead and set up on it as shown on the image. Then the rest of the column runs through the created gate with the last man hopefully saying Last man to let the gate know when to collapse. After crossing the road the column runs to the nearest concealment (usually a forest) and either creates a 180 and waits for the gate or continues making the gate catch up by sprinting. The 4 man gate works exactly the same but uses 4 members of the squad to cover the road. It is imperative to conduct this maneuver smoothly and stay exposed to the road as little as possible. An alternative to this is just sprinting through the road previously checking if it’s clear, but it has its own risks. Morphing Formations Morphing or transforming a formation means changing it into a different one. With practice formations can be morphed on the move with ease. Column to Line Column to Wedge Column to Staggered Column Understanding what formations should look like is only one part of the problem. The most important knowledge comes with time using them. Experience lets us understand better what our role in the formation is and what to do in certain events that might be hard to anticipate otherwise. Speed in formations One thing that people struggle with in Arma is keeping a consistent speed to not run into each other. That's why everyone in the formation should know of all the speeds of movement in the game. There are four main speeds: Walking [ctrl + C] Jogging with weapon up [2x C] Jogging [default speed] Sprinting [shift] All of those have their advantages and disadvantages obviously. In every situation there is also the option to lower your weapon [2x Ctrl]. It is the squad leader's job to set the speed of their formation. If they don't do it, it's up to the point man. If neither do it and the people in formation aren't experienced enough to adjust their speed on the go, the formation will either fall apart or be ineffective in watching some sectors.