Commanding Officer Application - Harrysno
What is your BYOND key?
Harrysno
What is your Discord ID?
harrysno
What is your timezone in UTC?
UTC-5
Player Name You Use Most?
Michael ‘Ponyboy’ Calhoun
Ban Appeals, Whitelist and Staff Applications:
N/A
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 very familiar with the basic layout and aspects of CIC, meaning the overwatch consoles, inputting OB/Supply Drop Coordinates, and managing the techweb.
In terms of competence as a commander? I consider myself very familiar with thinking up plans for the various maps in rotation, whether it be doing a split drop in an effort to rescue survivors or sending select squads out on a flanking maneuver. I’m competent when it comes to deciding the appropriate times for marines to fallback, push forward, or hold their ground. I have (what I consider) to be oodles of experience when it comes to the timing and utility of the various OBs and consistently make efforts to get marines to recognize the importance of CAS and Mortar when in leading positions.
When it comes to groundside I have a fair bit more experience, as my playtimes would suggest, and I consider myself highly adept in maintaining clear and active communications between groundside and CIC both as SL and as a deployed SO. In the continuing vein of communication, while I may not have excessive experience in the roles of other heads of staff I do consider myself familiar with the roles they are meant to play and the importance of respecting different department boundaries.
Hours in XO:
42.1
Hours in SL:
79.5
Character Information:
Why did your character decide to become the CO of a ship?
Calhoun never intended to become the CO of a ship or to serve as an officer in the USCM’s Third Fleet, for the most part he stumbled his way into being an active member of the military. In an effort half meant to piss off his parents and half out of a misguided sense of patriotism, he attended a recruitment seminar being held at his town hall. After displaying interest in the marines, he was plucked out of his graduating highschool class and enrolled in officer training school in Virginia where he quickly proved himself to be a level-headed and highly personable trainee.
He quickly found the life of a commissioned officer to be his calling, and over the course of 18 long years he ultimately developed a goal to be given command over his own vessel.
How did your character attain the position of CO?
Calhoun proved his mettle in the many ongoing operations against the Colonial Liberation Front, showing himself to be highly efficient at routing out entrenched CLF positions with minimal casualties and equipment costs compared to many of his fellow officers. It was for this reason that he was promoted to Captain of the USS Worcester, a retrofitted Destroyer.
He was promoted to Major after the events of Operation Nightly Double.
Provide a short story of your CO.
Command Actions:
When do you believe it’s appropriate to pardon a prisoner?
Pardons in and of themselves are an exceptional action for a Commanding Officer to take, as such I believe they necessitate exceptional circumstances if they are to be issued. In my opinion a Pardon needs to meet at least 2 of the following criteria:
- The offending personnel must be critical or highly important to the success of the operation (e.g. Specialist, Smartgunner, Sole Intelligence Officer, or Pilot Officer).
- The offense must not be violent or heavily impact the trustworthiness of the offender (e.g. False Testimony, Subterfuge, Assault, or Manslaughter).
- Offending personnel must be remorseful for the pardoned offense. Remorse is automatically invalidated if the offender was being belligerent towards the MPs or Command Staff.
Give some examples of when you would or would not use pardon.
(1) Prior to briefing a Smartgunner blows open the door to the command bubble, steals the megaphone, and proceeds to use it to crack jokes at the assembled marines. The CMP witnesses them doing this and accordingly arrests them for Trespassing and Theft. The Smartgunner is immediately apologetic over general comms and claims that they only did it as a joke because they were bored. While their apology was certainly lackluster, due to the harmless nature of their offense and the limited availability of their role I would pardon them.
(2) A Doctor and a Marine get into a fight prior to first drop that results in a heated argument which is broken up by MPs. At some point during the round that same marine returns to the ship to receive surgery for a fractured limb and the Doctor refuses to treat them due to their earlier argument. The Marine repeatedly shouts this over comms and the Doctor is arrested for NoD. The Doctor is not remorseful for their actions but they are the only available/online medical personnel and bodies are beginning to pile up outside of Medbay. I would pardon the doctor SOLELY due to the urgency of their duties and issue them a HEAVY warning to not re-offend.
(3) Most of Charlie’s personnel have been killed or captured over the course of an operation, due to this Charlie’s Specialist was promoted to aSL (and given access to command comms). This specialist repeatedly disagreed with and refused to follow orders given to them and their squad, at some point they return shipside to get surgery and are arrested by MPs for DASO and Major Insub. I would NOT pardon the specialist due to the fact that they cannot be trusted to follow orders and be a productive member of the operation.
(4) A Squad Leader is testing out a Heavy Pulse Rifle in the firing range prior to first drop when one of the marines in their squad decides to run into their line of fire, they are resultantly decapitated because they decided to wear a beret instead of a helmet. The MPs arrest the Squad Leader for Manslaughter, yet they are belligerent over general comms and repeatedly refer to the arrest as bullshit. I would NOT pardon the Squad Leader due to the obvious lack of remorse and disrespect towards the MPs.
When do you believe it’s appropriate to use a Battlefield Execution?
A Battlefield Execution is one of those actions uniquely capable of bringing someone’s round to an early end, as such it obviously shouldn’t be getting used frivolously or without legitimate and serious considerations being made. Realistically a BE should only be getting used in situations where it is not feasible or otherwise possible for MPs to handle the situation through normal means, meaning that I’d be most inclined to use it when leading directly from the ground or at low-pop hours where there aren’t any available MPs.
However, in situations where there is a major possibility of or ongoing violence against the life of myself or threats to the success of the operation it would be more than viable to utilize a BE onboard the Almayer. This would also take into account LRP behavior, threats of mutiny, or ongoing efforts to hinder the effectiveness of myself as CO or the wider command staff.
Give some examples of when you would or would not use Battlefield Execution.
(1) As briefing is about to start a marine strips out of their armor and begins screaming random profanities at the assembled Command Staff inside of the briefing bubble. Assuming there are MPs online I would leave the handling of this individual to them, however if there were no active MPs I would BE the marine for being a major disturbance in briefing, undermining the authority of Command, and generally being LRP.
(2) I am leading a major assault from the frontlines and actively attempting to coordinate the efforts of multiple squads. Whilst doing this I notice a marine setting up their M2C immediately behind the frontline and beginning to open fire, not caring if they take down several other marines in the process. Assuming the surrounding marines didn’t gun them down first, I would BE the marine on the basis that they are deliberately hindering the success of the operation and posing a massive threat to the lives of groundside personnel.
(3) An MT is running around the ship hacking doors so that they no longer need an ID requirement to open. The CE has been actively patrolling the ship to repair these doors and undo the damage, but the MT has yet to be apprehended by MPs. While on my way to the hangar to deploy and lead the marines from the frontlines I spot the MT hacking the doors to research. While the MT may have been actively sabotaging the ship I would NOT BE them as there is both a sufficient force able to apprehend them and the damage they are doing is being actively undone.
(4) While on my way to briefing the XO shouts over command comms that a marine is chasing them in an attempt to steal their ceremonial sword. The XO requests that I move to their location and protect them by BEing the marine for assault and attempted theft. I would NOT BE the marine not only because MPs have access to command comms and would be aware of the situation, but because attempted theft of a ceremonial sword is not remotely worth ending someone’s entire round over.
(5) I feel obligated to add that the murder of Jones would incur a swift .454 to the dome.