Who's in the squadron??

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Hedgehog
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Who's in the squadron??

Post by Hedgehog » Tue Mar 01, 2022 10:32 am

I pretty regularly keep an eye on the Squadron Recruiting section of the ED Forums to see what's going on in other DCS squadrons. One thing that baffles me is the common element of no squadron roster whatsoever.

Many so-called squadrons are simply a Discord server. To join the squadron, to be a "member," you simply connect to their Discord server and you're in! You are now a member of that squadron!

Does that mean you are no longer a member of that squadron when you disconnect from their Discord sever? :1huh:

Other squadrons have an actual website, but, again, no pilot roster shown. How do you know if you're actually in the squadron? Conversely, if you resign, how do you know if you're no longer in the squadron?

Some squadrons measure their success by sheer numbers. Their goal is to have the largest number of pilots on the roster, by any means. As a result, you are automatically in as soon as you apply, and it is virtually impossible to quit. We're had guys apply to VFA-41 who were members of another carrier squadron. Of course that's contrary to our regulations. But they were literally unable to quit their old squadron! The other squadron would not remove them from their pilot roster, despite never showing up and repeated resignation requests.

So it's understandable when we've had guys send an application and show up to our Discord Recruit Reception area with 'VFA-41' already in front of their callsigns. They're used to the typical DCS squadron way of doing things, where the moment you click SUBMIT on your application, you are a member. They ask, 'When's the next mission?!' and seem genuinely shocked to learn that you are not a Black Ace until and unless you are offered a commission.

It's worth knowing that less than 25% of applicants are ever offered a commission in VFA-41. As you know, we're never looking for a large number of members, but rather the right number of members. Many of us are refugees from some of the huge, dysfunctional squadrons out there. Once you've been there, it's easy to see the benefit of limiting the size of the organization. It's also important to understand that each slot in the Black Aces pilot roster is valuable. We would rather have an empty slot than a slot occupied by someone who is not a good fit.

Why 12, though?? Why can't we add more slots??

The limit of 12 comes from the Jane's days. In that sim platform, the most pilots you could have in a multi-player server was 8. With 12 roster slots, and accounting for empty slots and guys who couldn't make Sunday flights for one reason or another, we typically ended up with no more than 8 to fly missions, which worked out pretty well.

Moving forward, and with no limit to the number of pilots in the DCS World platform, we have found that 8 is still the sweet spot for mission builders. Of course, we always make up to 12 slots available in case everyone shows up, but to keep missions do-able and not just a giant cluster-fuck (as many of us have experienced in the huge, dysfunctional squadrons we're been in before), keeping tasking limited to 8-12 aircraft has worked for us for a long time.

Also, keeping the roster capped at 12 reminds each Black Ace that he is a valued and integral part of the squadron. We don't have an infinite number of roster slots and aircraft. We have 12. If you want one of them, you have to be willing to commit to the participation requirements we have always had in order to be offered one of them, and the privilege of keeping it.
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