Utilize this guide to progress to the rank of E7 within the USMG. This is a reference that will always be available to you to go back on and review. You are free to use this during your tests and evaluations. This document is updated regularly, and is to be considered doctrine for planning, enforcement, and documentation purposes.
Click on each drop-down box to expand details of each topic - mastery of each topic is essential as a Noncommissioned Officer in the United States Military Group
Topic 1: Advanced Administration
Rank Requirements:
The requirements for the ranks within the USMG can oftentimes be fluid and confusing, but there is no need to fret over this. You need to understand that as a Senior NCO, you are now looked to for guidance, mentorship, and help with people’s ranks. It is imperative that you are always ready to refer people to the USMG handbook in order to help answer their rank related questions. If you at any point see a discrepancy between any two documents, rank graphics, or sources of information, simply reach out to the CiC to have those concerns remedied. Understand that all rank requirements are concrete, and be able to explain this to new and returning members of the USMG. Elaborate how bias does not play a role in our rank enforcement system, and how all members of the USMG are entitled to a competitive system of ranks that keeps all members of the community engaged.
Awards:
Awards in the USMG can often be confused by new and returning members alike, but like ranks, guides for awards are housed in the “Awards” section of the USMG handbook. Feel free to reference this section for award requirements, XP worth, and criteria.
Schools:
It is imperative that you emphasize the availability of various schools to members of the USMG. Understand that you as a senior NCO should be on hand to help members within your organization pursue and accomplish these schools. You are no longer just looking out for yourself, rather, you are now here to facilitate and enable the success of your subordinates. Their accomplishments are your accomplishments, and their failures are your failures. If you are passing every school on the books, but the people you are in charge of are not, you are failing as a leader.
XP:
We utilize clanlabs for all XP related functions. XP can be gained from awards, schools, attending events, and spending time in the Academy. Ensure that you a proficient with all XP related functions that the group has to offer, and please refer to clanlabs documentation if you have any questions.
Auditing:
The USMG audit log is public for good reason. We intend for every person that joins our group to have full transparency, and see that we do not in fact freerank. Moreso, this audit log becomes useful for ensuring that people are being honest about their previous time in this community, and that no staff are abusing their rank or power. It is also essentially to routinely check your people in order to ensure that they do not have duplicates of awards or XP. If they do, contact your nearest Officer in order to remedy this situation.
Topic 2: Drill and Ceremony
(Note that drill varies between Branches of the USM)
Drill is a way of teaching discipline, teamwork, and pride. Although it has no use in combat, it is commonly used in military settings to instill these values and is also used for ceremony. To begin drill you must first fall into a formation. When commanding drill, one must stand at attention. When you’re drill commander snaps to attention and says “(Platoon/Company/Battalion/Brigade) FALL IN” you are to fall into a formation with four squads (rows) and as many columns as necessary to make a perfect rectangular formation. They will address the formation as a different unit depending on the size of the unit they are commanding.
Nearly all commands have a preparatory command and command of execution. The preparatory command prepares you for the drill movement, and gives you time to think. The command of execution tells you when to execute the movement. For the purpose of this Guide, I will be using a platoon sized formation to explain things.
Here are some basic commands, with slashes indicating the break between a preparatory command and command of execution.
Platoon/ Attention: Platoon must stand at attention, which means no moving or talking
Platoon/ Fall In: Platoon falls in as instructed before, from the front of the formation first all the way to the rear, from the right to the left. You fall in at attention.
Parade/ Rest: Heels are placed 12 inches apart, with hands at the small of your back, facing straight forward, no talking or moving
At Ease: Has no preparatory command, same as parade rest except hands are resting on rear
Left/Face: Turn 90 degrees to the left on the command of execution
Right/Face: Same as left face except to the right
About/Face: Turn 180 degrees around, spin to the right
Dress Right Dress: Adjust yourself in the formation to match the DCID of those around you
DCID stands for dress, cover, interval, and distance. You always dress to the right, meaning you will always be aligned with the person to your right. Cover means that you will be directly behind the person in front of you. Interval means that the leading individuals in the formation are all one arm length apart side to side. Distance means that the people at the far right side of the formation have about 40 inches of space between the back of the person in front of them and their chest.
Marching commands are difficult to execute in Roblox, due to the inability of character models to stay in step. Therefore the only command typically given will be forward / March for all of the unit to step forward or platoon / halt for them to stop. However, column of files from the right may be given to form a line with soldiers. The commander will give a right face so that the formation is in column form and say “COLUMN OF FILES FROM THE RIGHT” the squad leaders 1-3 will say “STAND FAST” and at the same time the squad leader all the way to the right (4) will say “FORWARD”, the commander will reply “MARCH”. The squad to the right will step off and the leader directly to their left will say forward harch when the first line has passed, and so on.
Topic 3: Advanced Obby Training
This is just a basic outline of tips to improve your chances of completing an Obby in the USMG. By using this guide it will help you complete Obbies that you may be assigned to in an event.
First off, TURN ON SHIFT LOCK. Shift Lock will allow you to make cleaner movements. To turn on Shift Lock, make sure to go to “Settings” and enable it. Then, press the left Shift button on your PC. Now that Shift Lock is working for you, once you turn any direction your screen will be “locked” to that position. This makes it easier to jump and complete difficult tasks during an Obby.
Obbies are NOT a race. This means that instead of focusing your attention on other attendees that may be ahead of you, instead be relaxed. By going faster than you normally would you could make more mistakes, and possibly have to start over.
Pay attention to where you are going to jump. Some jumps are easier to complete in first person. First person allows you to adjust your jump in an easier fashion. However, you may also be required to look down to where you are going to jump. From experience, looking down in Roblox during a jump makes it easier to land.
Sometimes, follow what other people are doing. Study the best players that are also trying to complete the Obby. By copying their movements, you could learn about what they are doing right and use the new skills you have learned to complete the Obby easier.
Regarding #4, make sure to be open minded as well. You do not always have to copy what other people are doing. Do what you think you should do and do not always rely yourself off of others.
Be aware of the time you have to complete the Obby in. Some Obbies require you to complete it before a certain time. This time will be displayed to you on your screen as well.
DO NOT CHEAT. Trust me, cheating will only get you in trouble. The Hosts of an event will know when someone cheats. They would rather you fail the Obby then have you cheat and complete it. Also, cheating gets you nowhere. It is harder to learn from your mistakes by cheating.
Learn from your mistakes. If you did something that messed you up in an Obby, ask yourself, “How can I improve?” This makes it so when you come back to the part you messed up on, you will do better than the last time.
Practice, practice, practice. Practicing Obbies will only make you better. They will also prepare you for other, harder Obbies that you may experience.
Topic 4: The Role of Officers in the USMG
Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with a memorandum published by SECDEF Happyelephant19 in late 2017. This goes a long way into understanding the thinking behind the purpose of officers in the USMG, and will aid in understanding how to best enable the Officers that you are charged with assisting.
As an officer in the United States Military, it is a given that you are a career military officer. You did not enlist like the others, by definition, you were commissioned into the USMG. You were granted this position as an officer because a superior saw promising qualities in you. But what does it mean to be an officer? Allow me to share a few lessons I’ve learned in my tenure as a former officer in the USMG.
Officers do not command, they lead. They rarely give out orders. They lead by example. If you find yourself as an officer giving out orders and constantly having to deal with insubordination, reevaluate your leadership style. People can and will serve you, but only if they know that you as an officer are serving them right back. Never give out an order to those below you that you would not perform yourself.
Officers befriend those that they lead. Your E7 is giving you an attitude, don’t attack them for it. They may have their own personal issues. A good officer would at the very least, get to know those that they lead. If not, how can he build on their strengths and help to compensate for their weaknesses? Yes! It is impossible to befriend all of those that you work with, but as an officer you are expected to be composed, proffesional, and polite to all of those under your purview. Fraternization is classified as having an inappropriate relationship with another member in our armed forces. This does not only apply to dating another member of our group, but taking gifts from them publicly, etc. Such things kill the morale of the corps and should not be tolerated. It is good to have friends, but do not let friendships or relationships interfere with the mission at hand.
Officers are masters of technical knowledge in their field. An infantry officer should be a subject matter expert on every aspect of their job, including anything from knowing how to use every gun script, sword fight, knowing how to organize a raid, file post-raid reports, etc. The higher your position in the USMG, the more you are expected to know. This means that as an Army Division Commanding General, you should be familiar with every last aspect of your division. This includes thoroughly knowing the purpose and function of each and every unit under your purview, like how your logistics units will assist in maintaining you combat ready status, how your armored corps will impact the battle, and how your division will interact with other divisions, and even other branches. Keep in mind that there is no excuse not to know something. You should constantly strive to stay updated on all of the current information relevant to your job, and sharing it with everyone else you can.
Officers are jacks of all trades. Officers are expected to recruit, lead, train, evaluate, and execute. A good leader is a good follower,. Officers should be looked up to by the enlisted corps due to their professionality, vast stores of knowledge, willingness to mentor their peers, and improve their branch to the best of their ability. An officer should be able to adapt to any situation and use the tools at their disposal to handle the situation properly.
Officers are leaders. To be a good leader, one must first be a good follower. The best renowned officers can put themselves into the shoes of those whom they lead at any time, and lead by example by being loyal to their superiors and following orders given to them to the best of their ability.
Officers are to be considered deities by the enlisted corps. Gods among men. An officer simply does not “crack” under pressure. An officer does not show fear, even when they are terrified. An officer does not show exhaustion, even when they have been grinding at the same damn patrol base for hours. An officer does not show apprehension or stress, even when they’re on the verge of losing their job. Officers, when given a seemingly impossible task, adapt and overcome any obstacles necessary to attacking that obstacle head on. An officer, when giving a stupid or seemingly useless task can argue all they want about it when a superior officer, but only behind closed doors. When that officer is in front of those that they lead, they will carry this order out to the best of their ability, and endorse it wholeheartedly as if it was their very own grandmother’s dying wish. Your superiors always have a plan in mind, and they cannot execute it unless the plan is completely endorsed by those who are expected to perform it. It takes an amazing leader to swallow their own pride and complete a task that they don’t want to do, let alone lead others to complete that same task.
Officers grind nonstop to better themselves, their peers, and those that they lead. They can swallow their pride to ask for help or admit that they are wrong, and mentor others to be amazing.
Officers share the collective vision of bettering the USMG.
Officers adapt and overcome nonstop. There are no closed doors to an officer of the USMG.
Officers will never say “I don’t know”, they will simply find the answer. Officers, when given a task, will never say “I can’t”, not doing is not an option.
Officers are positive, and lift others up instead of dragging them down. This is reflected purely through their attitudes and actions.
Officers are professional in every sense of the word.
Officers are teachers, guides, mentors, experts, leaders, role models, and images of greatness.
Officers are loyal to a fault.
One of the many tools in an officer’s toolbox is the ability to give those he leads (and himself) a solid direction to lead in. The only way that this can be done is through Goal Making. Making goals will give people a direction, timeline, stepping stones to achieving a final product, and a means by which people can all contribute towards one common purpose. Goals must meet the following criteria outlined in this acronym: SMART
Specific
Measurable
Action Oriented
Realistic
Timely
Specific
If you set a goal that is not specific, you will have no idea where to focus your efforts and the efforts of your team
Example: “Make the USMG better”. There is no way that all of your people can focus on “Making the USMG better” when they have no idea how to do it.
Measurable
If you create a goal that is not measurable, it will be incredibly difficult to keep motivation for this goal. Not only will it be hard to find motivation, it will be even harder tracking your progress toward this goal, or realizing if you need to speed up your pace or slow down.
To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as…… How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?
Action Oriented
Know what actions you need to take to reach this goal.
Non Example: “I want to be less stressed.”
Example: “I will attend a stress relief workshop on campus every Thursday.”
Realistic
For the sake of yourself and those pursuing these goals with you, do not pursue goals that you know are impossible or not achievable within your current means or time frame.
Timely
Ensure that your goals have a solid deadline and hallmarks
This can be completed through the use of a calendar, and establishment of solid objectives on the path to achieving this goal.
Please do keep in mind that when you create goals, they will mean nothing if you do not have “buy in” from the people that you are planning these goals with.
Buy in as defined as “agreement to support a decision.”
Example: “the CEO got a buy-in from all his vice presidents to launch the new product”
This means that all of the people you are working with need to be involved in the goal making process. There is no reason to be involved in a goal that you had no part in making; a goal that has literally nothing to do with you is no goal at all.
The use of goals can inspire, motivate, and drive a unit to accomplish more than it ever has before. Goals are an excellent tool only if you bother writing them down, have buy-in, and have them displayed in a place where you can all be reminded daily to pursue them. Goals can be for individuals, divisions, units, or even the entire USM. Its up to those making the goals.
Topic 5: Basic USMG History
Please review the following page to refresh your understanding of USMG history, and how it pertains to where we are today.