Commanding Officer Application - Bongosz
What is your BYOND key?
Bongosz
What is your Discord ID?
iamtheguy
What is your timezone in UTC?
GMT-5
Player Name You Use Most?
Sam ‘Riverside’ Catcher
Ban Appeals, Whitelist and Staff Applications:
“Submitted within the past year.”
None, all of my apps exceed the +1 year limit
But I had a synth app, a pred app, a CO app, spriter app all in 2020
A MP jobban in around 2021
Most recent was CO app of 2024
Have you been banned in the last 3 months?
No
If so, why?
N/A
Command Knowledge:
How familiar are you with command positions?
I’m good at it, my biggest strenght Is layering orders into steps, for marines to follow. It makes things less confusing for everyone.
My biggest weakness on the flipside is that the Overwatch windows cover my chat, so its difficult to read it while i’m manning a console (I hope an old version of overwatch gets added)
Hours in XO:
142 h
Hours in SL:
167 h
Character Information:
Why did your character decide to become the CO of a ship?
Sam Catcher? He is a simple man, he doesn’t stick to one role forever, he climbs above what his limits are to accomplish the mission, even if it means running risks more dangerous that he can ever forsee, he tips between recklesness and professionalism, he is a man that always taps along the edges of both worlds, and does it because for him, it is how life and warfare is, sometimes you have to roll up your sleeves and embrace the chaos that comes with being a leader. Efficiency pales in comparison to experience and a cool head.
How did your character attain the position of CO?
Bureaucracy, he was given the rank after some sweet talking from W-Y Suits to the top brass, overinflating his achievements after rescuing an executive of importance to them (Which will be covered in a future story wink wink)
For now, he rescued a suit, and he receives a suit! How simple the work is when you have friends in high places.
Provide a short story of your CO.
Sam meets a Deserter in a botched OP
Command Actions:
When do you believe it’s appropriate to pardon a prisoner?
When pardoning someone the circumstances of the crime, the size of the punishment, and the overall situation on the ship should be taken into consideration, IC, my character is always interested in listening to what complaints and requests prisoners would make, however a very big factor is making sure that the MPs also do not feel like their job is being rendered useless as a result of my decisions, I would take council on the MPs and hear any extra details related to the prisone’rs behavior, and try to find whatever “middle ground” can be found, at the end of the day, I reserve full responsibility for any actions taken thereafter by the pardoned marine.
Evidence is everything for my character, and I will believe always a MP when it comes to their testimony, but I will always seek for proper proof that justifies their actions if the crime warrants it.
If the only crimes are minor, such as breaking a window, and there is no proof but testimony, I will always believe the MP, but in higher, more serious charges I will always “err” and try to look at it from the point of view of the marine, mind you, not trying to take sides, but more of figuring out the accuracy of such and such charge the more serious they get, obviously, pardoning implies the person has been found guilty, but I always want to make sure that there’s enough room for doubt to be made and to not overlook any details that MPs could have missed, that could change the situation at hand.
This above, is the essence of pardons for my character, it isn’t about the marine saying “I’m sorry CO” when I listen to their pardon, but for the marine to say “I have context that you should listen to, CO”
With evidence aside, a pardon is overall, about balancing the evils with the goods, and finding between both parties understanding of my shotcalling and the priorities I have towards the operation at hand, and even then, IC, I am reserved the authority to deny any pardons if the character of the marine is in poor condition (disrespects the MPs, or shows little care for the consequences of their actions) because for my character, the last thing he needs is another reason to wake up with a migraine.
Give some examples of when you would or would not use pardon.
#N.1#
My Delta SL gets arrested for calling my XO a “Stupid monkey” for setting up Delta in FOB duty, he is brigged before first drop and they both have a back and forth in the CIC comms, the XO and the SL start measuring where their authority begins and ends and all the usual ML talk when someone gets arrested, the XO calls the SL back insults and tells him “To go eat shit” which is unprofessional (even for my standards) both sides are in the wrong here, and even if the SL doesn’t show signs that he is not going to do FOB duty, he still crossed the point of no return for my character, the ship sails the moment that I see there’s no respect shown in an unapologetic manner (If he gets worked up over FOB duty, imagine what he would do if I remind him to follow orders!) my XO is in the wrong too, I don’t mind a small explanation of his actions, but once you steer away from the original conversation, that’s where I draw the line, you don’t “win” over your SLs, you “win” together!
As for the pardon request, I would have to tell the SL that he needs time to cool down and remember our orders are for the sake of everyone in the corps, the pardon is denied.
#N.2#
The Bravo SL rushes to the Alamo cockpit and calls up the Alamo to the almayer during an intense FOB siege, several marines and I see this and begin to question the SL actions, and he says “I saw the queen running up trying to capture the cockpit!” regardless the SL is sent to brig for “Neglect of duty” and “Insubordination” as the FOB gets wiped by the queen and her cronies down there, during my listening he testifies that he had seen her weed the eastern wing and was trying to infiltrate, and indeed, the cameras show that the alamo had weeds in the eastern wings, which shows the SL had to make a split second decision between choosing staying at FOB or launching the alamo, and he picked the latter.
This is a very difficult choice to make, for there are no “wrongs” done in this scenario, but unfortunate series of events that lead up to this, IC, my character would sympathize with the SL and say that in the heat of battle, people like him must do difficult choices, however I need to reiterate, actions carry consequences, and these are the consequences, the SL is not pardoned, less because he did something wrong, but because his actions were a gambit, and an unauthorized one, and he must bear the burden of responsibility now.
#N.3#
My SO is in the req line, buggering the CTs and the QM about some random requests about attachments and the like, he’s obviously green and thinks he should get all the shiny toys, regardless, I tell him to return, but he insists “CO, just a little more time, I’m at the req line!” while my Captain is losing hairs at CIC and I’m handling 4 squads and a possible CLF Narco-Terrorist onboard, the clock is ticking and no sign of the SO, so I call for the MPs to find him and detain him for NoD, when he requests my presence, he explains how he wanted to get guns and attachments and laser designators and more, I ask him if he really thinks he will use all of that, and IC, I am going to act like his father, tell him that his job is CIC, if I tell him to do ten push ups, he has to give me a hundred and if I tell him to go to CIC, he has to go to CIC, he seems to catch the memo, and pinky promises that he will not do this again, and since I have a lot on my plate, I accept his unruly behavior for now, but with a stern warning.
His pardon is granted.
#N.4#
One of my SLs blows up doors to medbay, when he is detained and brigged, he explains his squad marine was dying of OD and needed immediate care, as jarring as it is, the CMO was at research and the doctors were handling a recent request of medevac from normandy, yelling about late stage larvas. Since everyone was busy, no one stood watch by the door and the SL bulldozed in as a last ditch effort, he shows that he knows that he did wrong, even if he insists that what he did was right, IC, I would understand his actions, but at the same time, he must understand the actions of my MPs, and tell him that in the ML a crime is a crime, and it must be met with proper punishment, insisting in doing the “right” thing doesn’t always cut it, regardless, I summon the MPs concerned with the case and we discuss in a closed room our options, and come to a conclusion that the SL, even if his attitude was somewhat unjustified, does not need to be confined in brig while the operation is on-going, and his presence is required.
His pardon is granted.
When do you believe it’s appropriate to use a Battlefield Execution?
In my opinion I would never use a BE, its one of those things that never carry good news and barely solves anything (Wow a dead body! Guys the CO shot somebody!) its one of those things where I would only use if a marine was actively griefing marines, but then again, its a very delicate subject, because the window for BEs is always short and in my experience I only did it once. IC my character would threaten a little bit with the mateba, maybe brandish it a little, maybe do some revolver Ocelot type of shit with it, but never seriously use it on his men, he thinks its a waste of expensive ammo and in his words “Why shoot a guy when we already got the tools to arrest one?”
Either way, I would use a BE if I am forced to protect:
Myself
Those around me
The operation (this includes also my command or leadership status)
Simply put, If I, someone from my ship get shot at, I am opening fire, this means I am not going to sugarcoat it, if a marine opens fire on me, disablers be damned. Obviously, always “err” in the sense that this is so rare I’m not going to find this as a “tool to solve all problems” but the last resort of last resorts.
Since this is so rare I am just going to share my anecdote of my only time I BEd someone, it was one of my first rounds as CO and I was walking to req when I saw a MP trying to arrest a marine and the marine opened fire, naturally, since I got no other tools but the Mateba, I was forced to open fire on the marine (If he shoots an MP in front of me, god knows who else he shoots next!) The MP died but got revived, and the marine got cremated, end of story.
Give some examples of when you would or would not use Battlefield Execution.
Since I’ve said WHEN to shoot a guy dead in the face, I would like to share when NOT to shoot a guy dead on the face
When someone is disruptive in the briefing, I wouldn’t open fire on someone for just bonking people in the head, we have the MPs and non-lethals to handle situations like these.
When someone says “Fuck command, its incompetent, I’m doing my own thing” some things are out of my control, and I cannot always win the good graces of my men, and I don’t want to be a slave for their whims, realistically speaking, I would ignore the nay sayers and focus in the job at hand, instead of “winning” on them by BEing them or getting in long winded arguments.
When there’s a person blowing up doors, because shooting someone in the face is not going to fix it, and again, we have MPs for these kind of things, no reason to open fire.
Now for the spicy one, lets say a SL has called for my head, because of a shitty OB and is spreading seditious nonsense, and on top of that? The XO is trying to mediate the situation by talking to them, trying to calm them down and keeping things normal and smooth, yet at CIC, things turn ugly and suddendly a MP pops a flashbang and hell breaks loose, the XO is running away, do I BE my XO for mediating and possibly trying to sympathize with the marines? No, I don’t, he’s my right hand man god damn it, and more importantly, not a seditionist, he is my man. But the others? Different story, anyone who doesn’t give up arms is an active threat to my command, and I am not going to be Judge Dredd but I will seek for their neutralizations dead or alive.
