Candidate Biondo's Fire Team: Case Study

The history of the fire and emergency medical services in Quilcene as we know it today was established in 1954. Through the intervening 61 years the community was protected by an all-volunteer force. During this time and especially now, in the present there has never been much of a rank structure, nor any forward thinking about who would take control when the fire chief leaves without much notice.

Candidate Jordan delivered an in depth five paragraph order. SNC posted security ensuring that the safety of the fire team was not put at risk. SNC had a good initial plan and proceeded to move the fire team towards the objective. SNC moved the fire team through the woods with minimal opposition; SNC maintained communication and good dispersion. Upon receiving enemy fire SNC suppressed the enemy by assaulting the enemy. SNC pushed through the objective to ensure that all enemy were killed. However, SNC forgot about the weapons cache and commenced to conduct a hasty 180, followed by a consolidated 360, and then an ACE report. SNC, in his haste to complete the problem, completely forgot that the mission was not only to subdue the enemy

SNC gave a detailed brief that outlined a precise plan that was coherent and directed towards mission accomplishment. SNC contradicted a well thought out plan of action with a monotone voice and his use of filler words, such as, uh and um, coupled with a lack of passion. The lack of passion was seen in his sense of urgency as SNC spent 80% of his time briefing his 5 paragraph order that adversely affected his sense of urgency. SNC was able to secure the objective quickly, but loss situational awareness of his surroundings and enemy position that initially created confusion when engaged by the enemy. SNC was able to make clear and concise decisions in an appropriate amount of time that efficiently utilized his fellow candidates. This expedited

Candidate Perras delivered the five paragraph order in the correct order and covered all details; however, he did tend to take long pauses that did not allow for the order to flow. During the execution phase, SNC lost sight of the tactical mindset by allowing a member to pass off his weapon. Even though the fire team remained focused on accomplishing the mission, at times they seemed lathargic. SNC maintained solid communication with the security. Upon realizing that his initial plan of attack was not going to work, he quickly devised a new plan without hesitation. He was able to use all of the fire team members effectively and they followed his lead without hesitation or conflict. SNC remained calm and confident and there was no question

Candidate Hays' attempt to brief the initial five paragraph order and take charge of his fire team did not work in his favor. There were times when SNC reiterated certain briefing points which displayed a lack of confidence rather than a sense of clarity. Other than the Mission, SNC failed to brief all the key points of the order. SNC seemed unclear on the mission and what needed to get done although, SNC did verbally address an initial plan of how to attempt negotiation of the obstacle, prior to the actual execution. SNC made the vital mistake of not briefing nor posting security. Upon execution of the problem, SNC's initial plan did not appear to be well thought out and unsafe as he attempted to have his fire team along with himself

Overall, Candidate Friederick's lack of confidence hindered both her operations order and her execution of her assigned mission. Her delivery lacked enthusiasm and interest. While her lack of confidence indicated unfamiliarity with the five paragraph order, SNC did brief a detailed mission statement with a task and purpose. SNC also briefed some details of her scheme of maneuver and some tasks to her subordinates, but the lack of detail and her confidence ultimately failed to inspire the other candidates in her fire team. As her fire team moved from order to execution, SNC appeared lethargic with little to no awareness of her surroundings as the team approached the objective. SNC both heard and saw the enemy combatant and demonstrated

Candidate Goff immediately addressed security before briefing his order. SNC briefed in a rushed manner using many “ums” and “uhs,” showing he lacked confidence in his plan. When briefing, he referred to the scenario as an obstacle instead of treating it as a tactical situation. His fast brief was difficult for his fire team to follow, evident by their confusion at the beginning of the mission even though the initial plan was well developed. SNC had to direct his fire team’s actions he had just briefed in order for them to execute. This candidate lost his tactical and situational awareness, evident by his loud instructions throughout the task and the fire team dragging their weapons through the sewer tunnel making the execution extremely loud.

Candidate Huff did not brief the admin/logistics and command/signal paragraphs of his order. The rest of his order was briefed with shaky confidence involving heavy use of "ums." SNC did not establish security during his brief or during execution. SNC demonstrated inefficient use of his time by spending nearly sixty seconds re-slinging the teams rifles in the beginning of execution. Due to a lack of an initial plan following the brief, the team had to begin execution whileconducting reconnaissance and orienting to the problem. Once oriented, SNC was hesitant in deciding how to engage the problem. Once a scheme of maneuver was developed, he was able to communicate his guidance to the team members and begin driving his team toward mission

After receiving a grant from the Office of Juvenile Affairs, Camp Fire brought two new members to the team to foster the relationship with the Hispanic families as well as to increase their involvement in the different programs.

Candidate Lewton presented his brief confidently and with command presence. He showed a good understanding of the order and conveyed that in his brief hitting all the key points of the five-paragraph order. SNC failed to post security upon execution of the mission and did not realize this mistake. SNC’s initial plan was successful in getting one team member onto the wall with the first attempt. SNC was calm, confident and fully engaged throughout the mission. They were able to make it onto the second wall on their first attempt as well. Candidate Lewton used his subordinates giving orders from the rear and using his team as his eyes to survey the area for him. SNC’s fire team was able to make it to the ammo can but due to the time expiring,

Candidate Ozuna was very confident and briefed the five paragraph order clearly and thoroughly. SNC ensure his fire team had a clear understanding of the mission by repeating it and asking if there were any questions regarding the mission. He gave specific orders of where each fire team member was to place themselves in the formation as well as what the succession of command would be if he were to become a casualty. During the patrol, SNC ensured proper dispersion of the fire team as they patrolled. He was constantly keeping eye contact with his fire team members and utilized hand and arm signals well. SNC was able to make quick and sound decisions at the point of friction. He ensured the buddy rushes were done in a manner that was able

Upon issue of his order to his fire team, it was immediately apparent that Candidate Woodgie took time to think about and develop a clear initial plan. SNC briefed a scheme of maneuver that both outlined his plan to negotiate the obstacles from start to finish and included anonymous, sequential, and thorough tasking statements that painted a very clear picture for his team what needed to be done. This was followed by both specific tasking statements but also the assignment of specific roles in the fire team. SNC also briefed very specific coordinating instructions as tactical control measures indicating an keen understanding of the five paragraph order format. More importantly, those clear instructions further amplified the plan for his

Candidate Hamm briefed his order with confidence and displayed an understanding of the OSMEAC orders process and its organization. He briefed a thorough enemy situation by applying DRAWD analysis. His coordinating instructions also included extra information including order of march, base unit, and consolidation instructions. However, SNC did not brief a scheme of maneuver in the order, forcing him to develop a plan after his brief had concluded. His succession of command was a repeat of the order of march instead of who would assume his billet. SNC was confident in his brief and it was apparent throughout execution that he was in control of the team. Even after friction caused the team to falter, SNC was quick to re-focus the team and maintain

Candidate Huguelet started briefing his order before setting security. During his brief, SNC sounded confident and covered all areas of the order. He did not repeat the mission twice and failed to use the verbiage “in order to” in his mission statement. Throughout this mission, SNC did not embrace the fighter leader concept and hung back trying to direct his fire team from afar, which proved to be very ineffective as he was not able to fully assess the situation. SNC lost sight of the tactical situation when he decided to use voices commands in a POW camp with known enemy in the area and allowed his fire team members to noisily progress through the scenario. One fire team member was penalized, and when he came back into the scenario, SNC failed

Candidate Taylor provided a shoddy five paragraph order. The mission was a statement of a basic plan to accomplish the task. The enemy situation did not even contain the expected enemy actions on contact, which was provided by the evaluator’s brief. The Execution paragraph was made up of information already provided in the Enemy Situation and billet assignments as tasks containing no purposes. There was no scheme of maneuver. SNC’s delivery was very choppy in the first few paragraphs with intermittent pauses because SNC would lose track of where he was in his notes. During execution, SNC maintained a very tactical posture throughout. At points of friction, SNC placed himself where best to facilitate his team’s movement. Communication flowed