Okay so this is going to be long, but that is because - make no mistake - the meta in CM is leadership. And not some idiots idea of LARPing what they think an officer or Squad Lead is, but actual leadership. And before you say “this is just le space game”, ill include my background in case you wonder why I am posting this:
My background IRL, and why CM is the best leadership training you can get
I got my start playing leader in gaming communities. Then in real life, I served as an officer in the RNZAF (NZ Air Force), and the NZ Army (Signals Offficer). I did my officer training twice, and was the first ground officer (non pilot) to graduate top of the officer training class. After the military I ended up running my own company, which I’m CEO of (well, two companies now). I also did my degree in Management. So I learned command, I learned management - but through all that … the only thing that really works is leadership.
My background In-game
I play as “Kolton Murphy”, mostly as either a medic or as a Squad Leader. Mostly for Charlie.
You’re the one looking at the map, not the scoreboard
Any guide on here for SL, SO, XO, or any of those that talks about loadout will be a travesty and that is a hill I will die on. The fact is, your loadout is inconsequential. There are certainly items that I would strongly recommend, but you are not going to be out there fragging. A leader’s loadout is clarity, comms, and calmness in combat.
I’ll give a few things I think a SL should strongly consider carrying (unless they are FOB SL, which is a whole different loadout):
- Laser Designator. You need this to call in orbital bombardments (OB), supply drops, and maybe CAS strikes. Make sure you are constantly getting potential OB coordinates as you move. Radio them through as options.
- Radio Pack. Comms will be unreliable, you need the RT. Answer it. Call CIC with information. Call the normandy for your medics. Call req for your marines to get them equipment to forward coordinates.
- Roller. This is the stretcher you carry your marines on.
- CAS Flares. The primary use is to throw these down for paradrops. Always save some for that. SLs need to be someone the pilots can always depend on to throw these down.
- XM51 Breaching Shotgun. This is your “get to marines” or “get through a door”. You’re supposed to be that person. However, its not a primary weapon. The breach isn’t going to kill anything. It might piss off anyone you shoot with it but sometimes they won’t even notice.
- C4. Most marines expect a SL to have some. Be careful and tell marines when you place it. The international sign of “C4 near” is a SL lying down, so thats good to do when you place it. Use it to blow up traps, or clear out walled areas.
- Whistle. Forgot this on the guide initially, it is really useful. Use it when you need to call attention. I’m not actually sure if it really works, or I just tend to use it at times it seems like it works. It feels like, to me, it gets marines to focus and look around.
- Primary Weapon. Something that you can kill stuff with. I go with the pulse and I run AP ammo, I’m careful with my shots. I combine it with a large mag pouch. I recycle my magazines.
The best leaders see around corners
Anticipate the needs of your soldiers and your commanders. If you take only one lesson away on leadership, whether in CM or real life - this is the key one. People will put up with almost anything if a leader, whether a commander or subordinate, if they can see their leader can “see around corners”.
This is about anticipating what those under your command will need to be effective, and then extends into anticipating what may happen, allowing your to “peak into the fog of war”. It requires a mix of observation, experience, communication, and a healthy amount of empathy. If you are anticipating what your soldiers will need - they will feel incredibly well supported and be very, very loyal.
Actions
- Carry a XM51 Breaching Shotgun and use it to clear pathways at chokes, get to downed marines fast, or clear firing lines for M2Cs or SADAR.
- When you become hungry, throw the first few items out of your MRE to your marines and point at it as you move
- Carry extra HEDP packets if your spec is Grenadier
- Keep note of your SADAR specs rounds, call for extra for them. If you see a drop for them and they aren’t there, carry it to them.
- Ask your SG how they are doing on ammo and order for them
- Call req mid round to ask for forward delivery of food and AP ammo
- Carry a toolkit in your hands, until first contact. Fill it with batteries and APC boards (two each) and put the screwdriver behind your ears. Repair APCs as you go. Drop at first contact.
- Set your SL tracker (Alt + Click) on the SL tracker marker to whomever you are following (CO/XO) or another SL if you are moving with them. Always have it set to something.
- Carry a Laser Desginator. Carry them where you can one click them. I store them in my armor, and I right click on the armor and select (select action mode) so that if I click on the armor, it is instantly in my hand. If you stop, take them out. Observe. Check the flanks.
Fly the plane into the ground
Another classic mistake for XOs and occasionally SLs. You don’t ever give up. Especially not on your soldiers. Courage isn’t being the best most unga, courage isn’t winning decisively. Courage isn’t being stupid either. Courage is trying to “fly that plane” for every second until you “hit the ground”. You don’t stop.
This cuts into an important principle of being consistent, you need to be a rock for your soldiers and your commander. Your soldiers can’t see you yelling, losing control, blaming other people. You will not earn anyone’s trust or respect doing this, no matter how right you are. Leaders that lose control of themselves, lose control of their soldiers.
People often make the mistake of not realizing that blaming is giving up. It is, in fact, worse than giving up. You’re using your authority against your soldiers, you’re doing worse than leaving a leadership void - you are entirely destroying the morale of your unit.
Actions
- Never, ever, give up. Change your strategy, accept defeat or failure - but that does not mean you have to give up. You keep trying until you simply cease to exist.
- Do not ever lose control. There is a difference between calmly or sternly reprimanding someone and blaming someone. If you have to blame someone you are not fit to be a leader. Leads take control and responsibility. They don’t pass it.
- Work the problem. No panic. No emotion. Just process. You don’t solve a crisis by reacting — you solve it by thinking. O-O-D-A. Observe, Orient, Decide, Act.
Do not risk your soldiers for your pride
I see a lot of SLs, a lot of XOs, and almost without question all COs that do not understand that a foolish sacrifice is no sacrifice — it is a failure to lead. If you risk your soldiers (and your own) life for no reason, that is not courage. I have heard it described to officers as “Do not risk your soldiers for your pride”. I wish that phrase popped up on the screen every round a CO signs in. So I will say it again, do not risk your soldiers for your pride.
Never, ever, abandon your soldiers
In the context of “a foolish sacrifice is no sacrifice”, this is a complex one. Needlessly throwing yourself away to try and get a marine is not good for your soldiers. But, if you want to build trust, bonds, and loyalty among your soldiers - there is nothing better you can do than have their ultimate welfare in mind.
If they go down, note where they are. Tell someone where they went down, yell out when you see downed marines. This is the single most important thing a SL can do. In real life, when people die - they yell for their mothers. In CM, they yell for their SL in squad chat. Find them. Get CIC to help you find them if needed.
Actions
- Carry at least three HEDP grenades, throw them two squares (so one empty square) in the opposite direction of where you want to “bounce” a downed marines body.
- Tell other marines where a marine is down, YELL IT, repeatedly. Gather a small possy and get that marine.
- Aggression is powerful. It is consistently surprising how often you can charge at xenos when they least expect it to get a downed marine. If you throw a HEDP as cover, that gives you a few seconds.
Indecision kills more soldiers than the enemy
A clear, hard truth. Courageous leadership is about making the call, and owning it. Momentum is a weapon, or as we say in mountaineering “speed is safety”. Make a decision. Right or wrong, make it. The chain of command depends on movement.
Fear may be present, but violence of action and decisiveness win the day. People bemoan “fear RP” all the time. Fear RP is the absence of the fighting spirit and there is only the leaders to blame, only. It is never the soldiers fault for this to be missing - it is always the leaders. If you are a leader who yells at their soldiers because of this, you do not deserve to lead soldiers. Period. No ifs, no buts.
If you can’t communicate clearly, you can’t lead clearly
If you don’t communicate your intent, you’re just hoping for obedience — not leadership. Leadership is not obedience. Nothing shows someone who does not understand leadership more, and is LARPing as an officer, than someone who doesn’t understand the difference between leadership and command. They both have their place, command is important in an emergency. Quick action. Automatic responses. Leadership is always more effective long-term. But it requires really good communication.
“Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say”. Reflect on that. This is a huge problem for a lot of XO’s, they don’t listen to the soldiers on the ground. If this propagates to the SLs, it is over for the marines. To lead is to listen — not just to respond, but to understand.
Actions
- Say something friendly on squad comms within the first few minutes of waking up
- Tell your squad what todays spec is, and anything that is helpful about the spec such as with the SADAR, ask your soldiers to tell others to yell “Keep clear for SADAR!”
- Tell your squad how many medics there are, especially if there are none (tell marines to do buddy aid), or only one (tell marines to guard them carefully)
- Always remind your marines to do CPR, and maybe strip armor (sometimes though, medics do not want marines to do this).
- Remind marines to review tacmap during the Alamo ride to the LZ
- If you have M2C gunners with you, remind your marines to collect the M2C when they go down, and put it back on the M2C gunners. I use a FT to help people know who they are
Leaders take responsibility and share credit
If you are an outstanding leader, it is the most obvious non-obvious thing in the word. That is to say, everyone knows an outstanding leader not by their actions, but by the actions of those they command. Set your SADAR up for their shot, supply your medic and strip armor so they can top revives.
When something goes wrong, take responsibility but in a way that inspires confidence. If you simply “fall on your sword” and say you are a failure - you are not inspiring confidence. But when something goes wrong, make it your responsibility even if it is your soldiers fault. Help them move past the mistake.
Actions
- Recommend your marines for medals when they perform well, you can do this using the OBJECT > Give Medal Recommendation verb.
- Reinforce good behavior or culture through comms. If your unit is doing or did something well tell them so.
- Celebrate your soldiers achievements at the end of the round in a genuine and heartfelt way
- Your soldier accidentally fragged the team. Remind them mistakes happen, help them move past it
- Your CT can’t remember how to repair a broken APC. Teach them calmy. You might have to step in and do it for them (TASK outweighing INDIVIDUAL, in functional leadership terms) - but even if that is the case try reassure them its okay. It happens.
“Leaders eat last” - Simon Sinek
The single biggest mistake I have seen from people in leadership positions, is they mistake leading with doing. Your aim should not be to have the best decisions, to be the best soldier, or to be the fastest. Your aim needs to be to support your soldiers and earn their trust.
Time and again I see XOs and SLs bemoan that “nobody listens to then”. They then go on to yell at their marines. If you earn the respect and trust of your marines, just as in real life, they will follow you anywhere.
Look for opportunities to demonstrate to your soldiers that you have their welfare at heart, take every opportunity to do this and earn their trust.
Actions
- Give away some spare items from your vendor, such as a large magazine pouch
- Get some spare Medihuds from your vendor and throw them in the prep area, tell the marines through comms. You get them very cheap.
- Ask if anyone wants the squad kit. If nobody does, get the Basic Engineering Supplies and give the supplies to your CTs. If there are no CTs, give them to Bravo.
- Offer to store extra equipment for your specialist
- You arrive at the same time as someone else at req, let them in front of you
- Pack some extra rations to give your soldiers
- Give up AP mags when one of your soldiers says they are out of ammo
- Give away your armor set, wear light armor. You’re not there to fight, you’re there to help and inspire your soldiers to fight.
- Always carry some basic medical equipment. Hold up (SHIFT + Middle Click) the medihud or splint or what you are going to do. Help your marines, especially if there isn’t a medic around.
- Carry tricordizone. Two auto-injectors in your helmet. Hold it up to show you are dosing it. Medics don’t tend to carry a lot of it, and an OD on it isn’t too bad if medics are around. If someone is flashing and you see they went down. Give it to them, stopping a marine from dying saves medics a lot of time resing.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” - Thomas Jefferson
The most impactful thing you can do as a leader is to support those you are leading and that starts by assessing what they value and want to do. In Functional leadership, we see the tradeoff between TASK, TEAM, and INDIVIDUAL. At different times, you will need to put different emphasis on each. If you act as a tyrant constantly, commanding constantly - you may well not have the trust of your soldiers. Find out what your squad wants to do, what are their aims, what are their strengths and weaknesses. Approach them for feedback on this. Make yourself available.
Having said that, draw your lines in the sand on principles - especially when it comes to how people treat your soldiers. If there a time to be disobedient - it is when someone higher than you is disrespecting your soldiers. I won’t hesitate to dress down an SO who is belittling soldiers. I’ve done it in real life, and I’d do it again. If you don’t have the courage to protect your soldiers against bad leaders - how can you expect your soldiers to trust you have the courage to protect them from the enemy.
Actions
- As Bravo FOB SL, ask who wants to leave the fob and assign them to a FT if they want to do so.
- If someone asks for an assignment to Intel, support it. If they want to do mortar, help them do mortar. If you team clearly wants to do something, see how you can work around that. If they see you trying to support them and not work against them - they will demonstrate fierce loyalty.
- Do not stand for your soldiers to be disrespected. Follow a reasonable escalation, and keep it RP. But In real life this happens. Some officer disrespecting soldiers is going to get called out by an SNCO. This matters a lot. That is courage. Be that person. Do it for the right reasons, and try be professional. But make it clear, you will always defend your soldiers. From the enemy, or bad leaders.
Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge
Another great quote from ‘Leaders Eat Last’ is “Your first job as a leader is to make your team feel safe. If they feel safe, they’ll rise”. This starts with PVTs. I am convinced, the best marines are made in the first few hours they play CM. PVTs are the most valuable thing in CM, they have no idea what is happening and you can help them.
It is your responsibility to train them, and the payoff is incredible. Don’t expect them to know. Train them. Don’t expect them to trust. Earn it. A leader’s tone becomes their team’s culture. Lead with care, and they’ll follow with pride. This extends across your whole team. Set the culture, lead with that culture. Junior soldiers don’t need your frustration — they need your focus. Teach with presence.
Actions
- Open up the squad manifest immediately and keep it open for the whole round (click on the SL tracker).
- Assign FTs. I use FT3 for any “special” assignments. Might be the SADAR and their loader. Or my M2C gang.
- I personally use FT2 for PVT assignments. I use the rhyme “if you see the two, you know they are new”.
- Try meet the new PVTs before they drop, if you can’t ask someone else to check on them. Talk nicely to them. Ask them if it is their first drop
- Make first drop privates promise you they will not run out and be a hero. Make it clear you want them back safe, that is your top priority. Tell the squad that as well.
- Give new Privates the task of observing. Tell them to spend the drop slightly back, watching how marines move and adapt to what is happening. This gives them a clear, safe, and achievable task. Otherwise, they will run into fire.
- You will never, ever, get a more powerful moment than rescuing a PVT on their first drop. If you demonstrate leadership, courage, and compassion to those new privates - they will carry that forever on CM.
