16AA

16 Air Assault Brigade [16AA] is an online gaming unit playing a variety of games, specifically Armed Assault and Americas Army. In the past it has played Joint Operations : Typhoon Rising, Battlefield 2, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 : Ravenshield, Ghost Recon : Advanced Warfighter and SWAT 4. It is a multi national unit based out of its website. It's operating language is English.

Aims and motivations

[16AA] was set up to bring together individuals who are looking for a more realistic, teamwork driven and team focused approach to online gaming in first person shooter (FPS) scenarios. It aims to provide a good compromise between completely real tactics and tactics that work in game to maintain its core values of teamwork, friendship, realism and the drive to succeed.

Formation and subsequent growth

[16AA] was formed on the 29 August 2007 by ex members of the online unit 75th Ranger Regiment with the intention of creating an online unit that follows realistic army tactics and doctrines and to provide an enjoyable gaming environment for gamers who want to play in a similar way. With a starting membership of 10 at it's formation [16AA] consisted of one platoon of 2 sections lead by Second Lieutenant Hutson and Sergeant Andersson.

Since then the unit has continued to expand, emphasising commitment and shared philosophy and goals above skill and ability.

On 26th October 2005 with a ballooning membership of 26 and a highly active recruit section the decision was made to expand from a single platoon to a company with 2 platoons. A Company was initially commanded by Lieutenant Hutson and Staff Sergeant Reilly, with A Company 1 Platoon commanded by Sergeant Andersson and A Company 2 Platoon commanded by Sergeant Moffat. On 5 November 2005 Corporal Hollow and Sergeant Moffat were commissioned to the rank of Second Lieutenant to lead 1 Platoon and 2 Platoon respectively while Corporal Harlow was promoted to act as 2 Platoons Sergeant. Following a slow down in recruitment and a number of members retiring or moving to reserves due to outside commitments A Company 2 Platoon was disbanded on 6th June 2006 and [16AA] entered a period where members moved to reserves or retired at a rate roughly equal to new members joining. This lead to a very large reserves list and a relatively small active core of members.

After a complete member review in November 2006 which removed all inactive members, retiring the majority of the reserves and brought the rest back to active duty the unit was reinvigorated and motivated to expand and improve on it's solid base. Following the release of Armed Assault in Germany on 30 November 2006, a highly motivated and successful advertising campaign to encourage new applicants and the streamlining of the recruitment and training process the unit went through a period of rapid expansion, bringing in a large number of highly motivated, highly skilled players from the Operation Flashpoint and new Armed Assault Community, many of those with military backgrounds being drawn to the professional nature of [16AA].

[16AA] continues to expand and take on new recruits, particularly since the release of Armed Assault in the UK. Recruiting from across the globe the unit now has a solid core of dedicated members with wide ranging experiences from military, law enforcement and civilian life.

[16AA] also maintains contact with a larger community of ex members who have left the unit on good terms. These members are considered retired and have the option to return to active duty as privates after going through a refresher course on tactics but without the need to go through the entire recruitment process.

Current and future expansion plans

With the growing number of active members over filling A Company 1 Platoon and the continued improvement and success of both basic and company training, [16AA] is planning to reform A Company 2 Platoon by the second half of 2007. The unit is also looking at possible future expansions to form specialist sections under A Company once A Company has a basic complement of 3 Platoons of 3 Sections each (a minimum of 62 members). These specialist sections could include an air core, and organic reconnaissance section and a land vehicles section.

Structure and Organisation

[16AA]'s unit structure is based around that of a "standard" British Army Brigade. It is intended to expand from the bottom up, with promotions only being given out as expansion requires it and merit deserves it. This structure provides both meaningful and practical organisation with the chain of command being utilised to ensure every member has someone they can turn to for help with in game, administrative and real life issues. It also ensures that the burden of work is evenly spread out and that command in game is well understood and defined.

Currently the unit consists of 3 full sections forming 1 platoon commanded by Second Lieutenant Moffat and Sergeant Southern which in turn forms A Company, commanded by Captain Hutson and Staff Sergeant Mason. Additionally there is an HQ Section containing Lieutenant Hollow and Sergeant Harlow, who command the Recruitment and Retention non combat office, and Corporal Van de Kamp, who commands the Base Maintenance non combat office.

Recruitment Process

There are several steps to the recruitment process, which has been adapted and changed over the years we've been operating as a unit, to ensure that we get the right sort of people as members.

Application

The first step is to submit an application to the unit in the enlistment area. Once a member of the recruiting office approves it you will be scheduled for an interview.

Interview

The interview will last about 30 minutes during which we will attempt to get a feel for your character. If you pass your interview you your application will be Approved and you will progress to our Recruit Training program.

Recruit Training

The recruit training program runs over a series of sessions (on Monday and Wednesday evenings).

Phase 1

This phase is a short session on teamspeak to familiarize the new recruit with how the 16AA operations, both in game and on the forums.

Phase 2

This phase consists of the following subjects Contact Drills, Formations, Basic FIBUA, Defensive Theory, along with several others. It is essential that every recruit that passes knows how the unit operates as a whole an what their role is in any position on an op.

Company Training

The 16AA runs a number of company training sessions each week these include; practicing different tactics; running courses for our membership (Signals, JNCO/SNCO, Flying, Recon, Weapons, Map Reading, etc).

All of which bring the unit together to run in a more realistic and streamlined way when on op.

Community Areas

The 16AA participates in a number of community ops with a number of groups.

NATO Gaming Community (NATOGC)

We are a member of the NATOGC which runs several large games every two weeks - all operations are run in a realistic manner with orders passed through radio operators via teamspeak, to achieve the objectives of an evening.

The Real 16 Air Assault Brigade

[16AA] is based on a real British Army Brigade, The 16th Air Assault Brigade, which was formed on 1 September 1999 by merging 24th Airmobile Brigade with elements of the 5th Airborne Brigade to form a highly mobile rapid reaction force consisting of Parachute units and airmobile units which employ helicopters.