Airsoft Action 02 - Nov 2011 | Seite 75

LOCATION SKILLS ROOM “Hello Charlie this is Zero, send Loc-stat [location] over.” “Charlie. Jasmine Way, over.” “Zero. Roger, out.” OVER AND OUT “Charlie receiving Zero.” “Go ahead Zero.” “RVP 1600HRS sf base, over.” “Received Zero, Charlie out.” Here the team leader identified the location of one of his subsections and indicated that he has understood the transmission – and the communication is concluded. If the team had come under enemy contact a similar transmission might be as below (enemy engaged). Here, I have asked part of my team to meet me at a specific time at a specific location and, in turn, have received a short message from the recipient that my orders have been understood. Short, accurate and to the point – this sort of transmission is effective as it is easily understood by both parties, and does not take unnecessary time. PAX “Contact front, ridgeline, 100m, centre of axis, four pax.” ENEMY ENGAGED “Zero this is Charlie. Contact Jasmine Way. Wait out.” The unit has signified to the team commander that he is being engaged by the enemy, and where. ‘Wait out’ indicates further transmission is not appropriate at that moment. When referring to enemy numbers, it is common for them to be referred to as pax. Here the transmission indicates enemy contact, a rough indication of the enemy location, distance, direction and rough enemy numbers. I can illustrate how efficient communications can be effective in games of airsoft, using an event I attended with my small patrol team as an example. We had to hold a specific firebase for a certain length of time, and the enemy had to assault and capture it. If it was taken before the time was up we lost the game. If not, we won – so it was all to play for. I crawled forwards into the enemy area and secreted myself under a bramble bush where I couldn’t easily be seen. The enemy were planning their assaults well within earshot and I was using correct radio procedure to feed this information back to my team. By keeping transmissions short I reduced the chances of being overheard and was able to tell my team from which direction the next assault was coming. They were then able to re-deploy forces according to the direction of the next attack and defeat each assault. With the clock ticking down, the enemy team launched a full-frontal assault. I was then able to engage them from their own lines, with my team firing from their front. They were sent packing just as ‘Endex’ was called. By using good radio comms and not firing a shot until the very end of the game I had significantly altered the outcome and the objective for the day, winning by good radio communications rather than brute force and ignorance. This shows that effective communications can be mightier than… an AEG. www.airsoftactionmagazine.com 075