Commanding Officer Application - AwkwardStereo
What is your BYOND key?
AwkwardStereo
What is your Discord ID?
AwkwardStereo
What is your timezone in UTC?
UTC-8
Player Name You Use Most?
Kurtiz Steinbach | Junia Cochrein
Ban Appeals, Whitelist and Staff Applications:
N/A
Have you been banned in the last 3 months?
N/A
If so, why?
N/A
Command Knowledge:
How familiar are you with command positions?
I am familiar with the command structure of CM from top to bottom due to my playtime in a variety of roles in equally various circumstances. This familiarity comes with a complete confidence in my ability to lead, to execute a plan, and to communicate to others a goal or my intention with a maneuver in furthering that goal. I have led smaller teams to strike at objectives away from the main force, maneuvered flanks in conjunction with oversight from higher leadership, and supported planetside operations in CIC alone. I don’t always get it right, but the game wouldn’t be as fun if you couldn’t lose.
For what it’s worth, on TGMC I have hundreds of hours of experience in command, between CIC as Captain and groundside as SL. I’ve managed entire shipside operations (Req, Medical, Engineering [OB reloads mostly], and CIC) completely alone at both high and low pops. While the tools and execution are different here on CM; the mistakes I learned from and techniques I refined from my time on TGMC (and many other places) have already served me well here.
Hours in XO:
62
Hours in SL:
87
Character Information:
Why did your character decide to become the CO of a ship?
Steinbach has always felt as though being in the USCMC completed him. It fills him with a sense of purpose and fulfillment that civilian life was never able to. The camaraderie he felt in the Corps fueled a desire within himself to achieve further. With support from his command, Steinbach pursued higher education with the intent of commissioning as an officer. This move, he hoped, would further his career in the Corps and to be able to give back to those under his command. To further improve the lives of those under his command and to prove to himself that he is worthy of the recognition that he receives from those around him.
How did your character attain the position of CO?
As a reconnaissance sergeant, Steinbach received support and encouragement from his command structure while pursuing a degree between deployments. After receiving his degree and graduating from OCS, he continued his work in reconnaissance particularly in anti-insurgent operations in remote colonies. Steinbach’s upward career progression as an officer would be slow, but his reputation as a reserved but dependable officer would eventually see him promoted to Major following a transfer out of his reconnaissance unit as a political favor.
Provide a short story of your CO.
Command Actions:
When do you believe it’s appropriate to pardon a prisoner?
When as close to the full story is told as possible. From questioning what information the MPs have, what the accused recounts in their telling of events, what I was able to observe, and the repercussions that their actions had for the rest of the operation (shipside or groundside). Beyond the facts, what can be gleaned from the would-be pardon-recipient’s attitude after the inciting incident? If they’re apologizing and accepting responsibility for what they’ve done we can look into things further. It may not be a pardon, but it could be something else. As far as other agents in whatever mess we’ve found ourselves in, what is motivating them? Is this a misunderstanding brought about by incomplete information? A form of unjustified retaliation? Above all else is approaching the situation as objectively as possible, even if I may not agree personally with the deserved outcome.
Give some examples of when you would or would not use pardon.
Well into an in progress round, medical is urgently requested to Requisitions. After some time, an arrest is made and a cargo tech is brigged. From listening on the radio, it sounds like the CT was arrested for manslaughter after cycling the elevator while the Quartermaster was on the lift. While talking to the QM, they testify on behalf of the CT, insisting that they are a newer lad and that it was an accident. The CT says that they did not see the QM on the lift at the time, and was definitely not aware of the fact that being sent down the ASRS lift would cause people to be mulched. Requisitions during this time has been in disarray recovering from the chaos and catching up with the needs of the frontline. A pardon is issued in this case. The CT is only a PVT and the QM insists that it was a simple mistake. Better to get req running smoothly again and move on.
The doors to the Brig are shocked following the arrest of a squad marine. During the MPs’ investigation, it is revealed that a maintenance tech was responsible for this small act of sabotage. The MT is arrested, processed, and brigged. While processing their appeal it is revealed that this same MT also interfered in the arrest of the previous. There is no mention in the slightest of regret, and if they had I would assume they were being deceitful given the string of actions that was put together so far. A pardon is not issued in this case.
While deployed alongside marines (2nd drop), the gunship pilot commits to an unfortunate strafe that kills multiple marines. The frontline will easily recover from this and the GP’s performance to this point has been exemplary. The XO, in the heat of the moment, declares on MP comms that the GP is to be arrested. With how easily marines will recover from this fumble, and given the GP’s performance to this point, I instead countermand the arrest order invoking my pardon authority. Not wanting to dishearten the XO, I inform them I’ll monitor the situation and determine in the future if that course of action will be necessary.
Late into the round, after marines have retreated to the FOB and are currently under siege, a staff officer intending to drop supplies onto the FOB accidentally sends an incendiary OB. Casualties abound, cades are extensively breached, and evac is ordered. The staff officer is newer, but they made a calamitous mistake. MPs are ordered to arrest the SO and they are shortly thereafter brigged. Hopefully, their arrest will keep marines from mutinying. I’ve dropped some pretty bad OBs in my time either as an SL or as the person firing it. When things go wrong in that way, to an easily overlooked mistake, the consequences of a lapse in attention can be disastrous. A pardon is not issued in this case. They will be made to serve out their sentence.
When do you believe it’s appropriate to use a Battlefield Execution?
As an absolute last resort to regain control of a situation already spiraling out of control. To remove variables so difficult to control that the only solution is to remove them from the equation permanently and immediately. These situations would have the integrity of the operation, the ship, or the life of multiple people in peril. When civile procedure is simply insufficient or not feasible and action must be taken. It is my, possibly naive, hope that it will be many months between needing to perform battlefield executions.
In addition to that, losing your cool over people badmouthing you is a good way to inflame an already hot attitude and leave a lasting impression. It’s a small community, and the way I see it I will have to play with these people again and again, in a variety of situations, with roles changing constantly between rounds. To use such a privilege liberally is to be a corrosive element in a game that is predominantly held together by a small, tightly knit community. Eroding at the core of what makes CM so fun isn’t exactly a winning formula. It pays to work with people instead of killing them.
And as far as using it to punish LRP behavior, it mostly seems like a reward to the offender. They got that reaction out of me, something that so seldom happens in the normal course of gameplay. Plenty of people on /tg/ would goad me as an admin solely to get a reaction of some form or another out of them. Better to send them off with the MPs or the CMO for a psyche eval. Not really worth it unless they’re shooting people up in Briefing.
Give some examples of when you would or would not use Battlefield Execution.
During a round where I have deployed alongside marines (2nd drop) to lead from the front, the mortar operator becomes noteworthy in the worst possible way. Multiple fire missions have landed directly on marines’ heads, and the casualties are starting to spiral out of control. Multiple calls from squad leaders, SOs, and myself to mortar to CEASE FIRE have seemingly been ignored. Investigating the frontline mortar pit, I find a mortar operator slurring their speech. After telling them that they are relieved of their duty as mortar operator, they begin channeling to fire another shell. Electing to not see the results of this incoming fire mission, a battlefield execution is performed immediately.
In a round nearing completion, with the final xenos being hunted down planetside, I am informed that research had begun xeno experimentation without permission. Arriving in Research Containment, I find a Queen on ovi with a hive core secured in confinement. Questioning the researchers, it is revealed the CMO concealed the fact that permission had been denied and misled them to develop greenos. With the round nearly ending, and the situation reasonably well contained, MPs are summoned to Research to arrest the CMO for Sedition. The Queen is left alone to finish out roleplaying with the researchers. A battlefield execution is not performed.
Marines evacuate after a completely disastrous deployment groundside. After landing, a select few marines communicate openly their intention to mutiny against command. While in CIC, an SO reports the names of a Squad Leader and several others moving towards CIC with weapons in hand. While attempting to defuse the situation, ARES announces an in-progress mutiny and CIC is breached with explosives. The Squad Leader, alongside a few marines, enter CIC and begin firing on personnel contained within. MPs are fortunately fast to respond to the call of mutiny and proactively rush into CIC as things explode. A gunfight ensues between CIC personnel and MPs versus the mutineers. Some of the mutineers dive deep into CIC and are gunned down, while others take cover near the exploded entrance and shoot inside. The remaining mutineers are gunned down from behind by loyalist marines. A battlefield execution is performed only on the mutineers who stormed deepest into CIC during the shootout while it was active.
A cargo tech is arrested after shooting a marine to death in the req line. It is not an incident of M2C’ing, but directed specifically at one marine. MPs inform me the CT shot a marine to death as they repeatedly harassed req for a MK1 to the point of jumping the table and shoving them repeatedly. To be clear: Req had no MK1s left to give at this point. While I sympathize with the CT, MPs were present on the ship and were never called by them. A battlefield execution is not performed as the situation is well in hand by the MPs.
