Case 3: The Leader
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In the previous case, we examined the role that a commander assumes within a force. In this case, we will examine the leader’s—or officer’s—role.Â
As a leader, your primary goal is to put into action your commander’s plans. To execute these plans properly and effectively, you should know what the operation entails and its desired outcome. Knowing one’s own capabilities, the enemy’s capabilities, and the environment the battle is to be fought upon are essential for achieving your objective.
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You may not be the only leader within your force. Should other leaders be present, you are expected by your commander to work together in a cohesive group. If all leaders are not working in tandem, the force’s information network will become skewed and create a weakened force.
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There are different types of roles a leader may fulfill, whichwe will explore below:
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Chief of Staff (XO): A commander’s principal officer; often considered to be the second in command. He directs the coordination of the leaders directly beneath him to ensure efficient and rapid response.
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Personal: Leaders that work directly under the commander. Theirgroup is separate from the authority a XO may have; the staff group, however, interacts with the XO on a near-daily, if not daily, basis. This group may consist of officers from the medical team, reconnaissance team, and external personnel. The commander holds the authority to set up his staff group as he sees fit.
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Coordination: A coordinating officer works under the XO and are responsiblefor general tasks. They hold accountability for the breadth of all the commander’s responsibilities. Typically, a leader in this group holds a higher rank within the company; a commander may however establish an officer’s authority even if it is not inherent with his rank. The group is limited to advising, planning, and coordinating actions within the commander’s interests and may act on specifically assigned actions through added authority and responsibility from the commander. Coordinating officers have interests in what their other officers are doing, as they acquire information and interpret it for command. A coordinating officer must make quick and accurate recommendations for the commander to make the best and most informed decisions.
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Special: A special officer helps in a technical or professional capacity for the force. An officer in this group may be a munitions or engineering officer, ensuring that the force is at peak fighting strength. Special staff falls under the orders of a coordinating officer, but may deal with more than one coordinating officer at a time.
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From these groups, we have an ad hoc command hierarchy. From the greatest to least in the amount of authority:
1.    Commander
2.    Personal Officers
3.    Chief of Staff (XO)
4.    Coordinating Officers
5.    Special Officers
Sometimes, the Chief of Staff’s (XO) and Personal Officers’ authority in the force are at the same level. Both Coordinating Officers and Special Officers are under the overall authority of the Chief of Staff, yet Special Officers may receive orders from Coordinating Officers. In terms of size, Special Officers are the highest in number while Personal are the lowest.
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There’s a saying that a leader is born. I consider that a false statement; a leader can be made from a living person if given the proper training and means to act as one. So one must ask themselves: what qualities define a leader? Looking throughout history, there are many traits that differ as you go from leader to leader, yet a few common traits are evident:
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Competence: Incompetent leaders in a force areas if the force had no leader at all. A leader must be competent in all aspects of his role and know his role better than any other man or woman. They must express familiarity with the roles of other officers in their group in order to create the best decisions possible. A commander will expect a leader to know the correct recommendation, not a guessed recommendation, and must be able to admit when they do not know how to proceed.
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Initiative and Judgment: A leader should know how to anticipate and adapt to changes in the environment, and how to make the proper decisions. A commander will not always be giving the tasks out; a leader should be able to figure out a commander’s intentions and be able to operate within them. In a hierarchy, they should know what the plan is two levels above their own position in order to better coordinate with the other units in the force. Additionally, a leader must report their actions to a commander as soon as possible.
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Creativity: A leader may not be Eorzea’s next greatest artist, or premiere chef at the Bismarck, but they do need a touch of creativity. A leader should always be looking for new and innovative ways to tackle operations. If they cannot recommend a proper course of actions, they must look for an alternative. In addition to a leader’s own creativity, he should be able to utilize the creativity that the other leaders and the commander possess in the force.
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Flexibility: A leader should possess a mindsetthat will not be overwhelmed by changing requirements and priorities in the environment. Commanders may change their decisions at whim, and it is up to the leader to properly adjust to the needs of the commander. The leader should know how to prioritize tasks and manage multiple commitments simultaneously. Should a leader not be able to make the adjustment in time, they must inform the commander before the allotted time expires.
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Confidence: A leader has confidence and inspiresconfidence in those below them. Even if the commander may reject a recommendation, it is of the mind that everything the leaders do is to serve the commander’s needs and perform at their best at all times. They must develop recommendations withoutbias, in order to generate the best solution possible. Four bells worth of leader work may only be worth two minutes of the commander’s time. Despite the ratio, you have saved the commander’s time by completing a task he would have to research instead.
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Loyalty: An officer who does not hold loyaltyto their commander or soldiers beneath them should not be deserving of their role. A loyal officer will ensure the best—and correct—information to the commander. If the information is ‘bad news,' the commander will want to know about the issue and work to fix it now. An officer’s loyalty to his soldiers is essential, as all work they do will affect the soldiers beneath them in some shape or form.
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Leaders should be effective communicators and managers, much like their commanders. They must carefully consider resources and time and be able to manage effectively. They must be good with the resources that the force is granted, and diligent in their efforts to avoid wasteful actions. The leader should be able to articulate their orders to brief groups and individuals. A leader should know how to interpret tools, such as maps and books, and be skilled with the pen. To transform the commander’s intentions into a tangible, effective plan of action is the primary goal of a leader.
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So now we know what makes a leader. The question now is what can a leader do? With the advent of Magitek and rifles in Eorzea, there are some changes in battles. Nevertheless, many of the tactics I will explore may be applied with all types of units, whether they are gladiators, marauders, arcanists, or another type of combat user.
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A leader is not going to be exercising large-scale strategy for the force, as that is the commander’s role. What a leader does is execute actions at the commander’s behest. First, we will examine a few soldier formations a leader may employ.
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Wedge: Formation that utilizes one person on point and all other units spread out behind them, spaced 5-10 yalms apart. On the outside edge of the wedge should be heavily armoured units, while the inside should consist of spell casters. At the back end of the wedge, soldiers are facing the rear to provide cover from behind. The wedge has good all-round security and is a flexible formation, yet is not the fastest of the three. Controlling the wedge requires some skill, but most leaders should expect little to no trouble.
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Column: Formation that sets all units within a line. The spacing between soldiers is the same as the wedge, but you are limited in how far out you may spread. In the middle of the line should be the spell casters, while the front and rear are more heavily armoured units. The column effectively disperses your force and provides all-round security like the wedge. Flanks are improved, the unit moves quickly, and the formation is both flexible and easy to control.
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On line: Formation that sets all units at the front of the line, with supporting units right behind them. This is an excellent formation for when you need to assault a place or force and when the terrain allows it. While on line provides unmatched frontal security, it sacrifices the rear and flanks. The formation is inflexible and some leaders may struggle to control it. The formation speed is the lowest of all three formations here.
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An additional note: Moving in a straight line makes you predictable and easy to assail.
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Within these three formations, you may also assign movement patterns. Like with the formations above, we will discuss three movement patterns:
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Traveling: Used when enemy contact is not likely, but the unit needs to move quickly. Set the distance between soldiers to 10-20 yalms apart. The technique maintains control and speed, yet limits the dispersion and security of your unit.
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Traveling Overwatch: Used when enemy contact is possible. Split the unit into odd and even numbers, spacing apart the soldiers by 10-15 yalms. Traveling Overwatch keeps control, dispersion, speed, and forward security in check.
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Bounding Overwatch: Used when enemy contact is likely, or when crossing a dangerous area. One soldier takes position while another soldier moves to the next position.
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The ability of the force—and your unit—to move depends on the leader’s movement skills and all of the soldiers’ movement skills. To ensure that you move effectively, there are a few things you may do. Firstly, you should stop, look, and listen before moving. Have the next position in sight before leaving your current position. Secondly, you should look for concealed routes on which to move; a force that isn’t easily spotted by the enemy maintains the element of surprise. Thirdly, cross roads and trails only at places that have sufficient cover. Lastly, avoid cleared, open areas and the tops of hills and ridges.
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Inthe movement techniques, we introduced “enemy contact.†Enemy contact is, quite simply, when the force or unit you are a part of sees or engages the enemy force or unit. We will now discuss ambushes, enemy contact that was not planned or expected by your force or unit. While you should make efforts to engage the enemy first with the smallest force necessary, the enemy will not always work according to your plans. There a few types of ambushes an enemy may employ:
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Killing Zone: The area the enemy planned for the ambush. If this is done properly, the way where your force walked into the ambush should be blocked off.
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Planned Ambush: After the initial ambush is an assault where the enemy is fighting on top of you. Your force or unit has little chance at survival and fighting the enemy will encourage friendly fire.
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Hasty Ambush: Ambush that is neither a killing zone nor a planned ambush. The enemy makes contact with you first and decides in the moment to ambush your force. It is recommended you withdraw when confronted with a hasty ambush.
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There are times where you will not be fighting outside of the city, and may need to move throughout a building to encounter an enemy. There is an entry method that I’ll explain below effective for infantry-only units. For my example, I will be using a room that has two doors, one on the north and one on the south, and is a square room of 35 yalms length by 35 yalms width.
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Stack: The process of forming your unit in preparation for a breach. This involves waiting outside of the room leaning up against the wall. Let’s assume that we have four people making a breach. The first person in the line is next to the door and gives the signals on when and how to breach. The second person acts as frontal security for the four-man group. The third person covers the flanks while the last person covers the rear.
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Preparation: The process of making sure your entry into the room is safe. The people in the line should ensure that there are as few traps as possible when making their way into our example’s square room, lest they walk into unexpected trouble.
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Breach: The process of entering the room. There are four different breach methods to explore. In “Breach Right,†all soldiers move along the wall of the door they entered through. In the case of the south door, all soldiers move along the wall going east. In “Breach Left,†the soldiers enter through the south door and move along the wall going west. In “Breach Left and Right,†soldiers split into odd and even numbers and conduct both a Breach Right and Breach Left. In “Breach forward,†the soldiers move in a straight line after entering through the door, keeping their backs towards the wall that is closest to them.
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Security: After the breach, the soldiers should ensure that no enemies enter the room right after they do. In our example room, we place soldiers one and two at the north door and soldiers three and four at the south door. Each soldier should take care not to be in a direct line of fire from the doorway, but still be able to see any enemies that may pass by.
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This concludes the Leader case. As a reminder, you should conduct training and research beyond this case. This does not encompass everything that creates a leader; it only highlights and makes known certain parts.
