AAR for 6&7 April

[Ersatzjack]

Okay, I got the go ahead to try something new. I want to put together an after action report for the April 6th and 7th event that was held near Yorkville, Il (see the Great Event thread). The intention here is to create a useful document that can help recognize superior performances and outline shortcommings as well so that future events can build on old mistakes. I will act as the editor. This isn't a thread where I want discussion going back and forth in public and the point here is that if you have good things to report or bad then PM me. I am not a club officer and nothing coming to me gets out to "the authorities." That is, feel free to tell your likes and dislikes and suggestions for improvements. Then using my former experience in writing these up for Air Force exercises I will complete an AAR that hopefully will incorporate all the inputs for publication below this post.

So let me reiterate --- NO POSTS OR REPLIES BELOW THIS ONE. If you want to participate, you may PM me with your contributions - Nothing is off limits here as only I will see it -- then sit back and wait to read the results. Let's try this folks. It will speed up the maturation of our association and make future events even better.

14 Apr 07 - This NO POSTS remark is recinded. See post below and add your 2-cents if you feel like it.

[Ersatzjack]

Well...

If you don't try something you never learn if it is going to work or not. This idea is admittedly and unabashedly a failure. I received one response from a well intentioned participant and they offered up an immersive rendition of events (like Ernie Pyle, sorta) but this wasn't what I was really after.

So this after action report is going to be my impressions alone. Blame me. First, let me qualify any remarks below with the caveat that I am aware of the difficulties in organizing any event and understand that there is a lot of work behind the scenes and am despite what follows very appreciative of this effort and of those that tackle it. If you were involved in the organization of the event you should be applauded and thanked. I have organized events before (a WWII reunion for the 440th Troop Carrier Group in Milwaukee in 2001) and while it wasn't an airsoft event it did take up much of my time for a week and although I had some negative feedback, most was positive and instructive. That's my purpose here. I want succeeding events to get even bigger and better. Here goes,

The Falaise Gap event of April 6th and 7th, 2007 - After Action Report

This event had many days of preparation and plans broadcast on the WWII Airsoft Forum and as such should have been an exceptionally well prepared event. Days before the actual event preparations were made on the field by volunteers from both sides and these meetings should have allowed time for scenario planning and scripting. Here we have the dilemma. Do we want an event that has adult supervision and oversight or do we want to have more of a Huck Finn approach to these affairs and let the younger members run amuck. Not derogatory here but said with a sense of nostalgia for my days of youth and all my non-supervised pick-up games of football and baseball. Adult supervision would have ruined those. We didn't really have adult supervision on the first day.

Friday - troops from both camps started arriving for the day. The American forces were first on the scene and arrived in numbers earlier than this writer so lets say they were on scene before 1400 hrs and already established deep in the woods beyond axis observation. No one on the axis side knew where the enemy was or what their strength was. As part of the axis team we arrived in two groups. At about 1400 hours, three adults and one minor arrived and were instructed as to where to begin making camp. We were told by the American host (Tommy Gunner) that the war was on and we should be ready for anything. Well we proceeded as best we could and started making our fortifications and setting up camp. It was cold. The weather was about 25-degrees and overcast and it became colder in the evening dropping to about 18-degrees. This was the temperature on a car thermometer at about 0430 on the 7th. More about the weather later. The posts leading up to the event described the overall theme of the event but there were several promised pieces of information that were lacking. The main thing was that the promised broadcast of field limits for the guns involved never was publicized. As a first timer this seemed like a safety violation. Also, the chain of command for the event publicized the leaders of both sides but this didn't help on Friday. The leaders and most of the club officer types arrived on Saturday and thus Friday was a toss up. It was workable and I'm not saying that things didn't get done on both sides but again, a distinct chain of command was not set up. Three more Germans arrived later that night and built the axis side to seven people. The Allies were significantly more numerous. Again, his is not a criticism but a fact reported. The exact number of Allies on the first night is not known to this writer but I'd estimate 20 bodies or more. They didn't have the adult leadership that the axis side had however. The axis ate well, thanks to 9th SS and preparations by their members and had a fairly comfortable camp thanks to a warm fire and shelter halves. A modern tent spoiled the mood but this was new participants and as soon as daylight dawned the tent was taken down and concealed. The allies on the other hand seemed less well prepared for the cold weather (their uniforms are not as favorable for this) and some were completely without food or provisions. In the morning a truce was reached while some allies partook of axis hospitality around the camp fire. Now the night was not without action. A German team of three tried to infiltrate Allied positions but were captured and at approximately 0430 the German camp was for the most part overrun by an allied sneak attack. Those Germans that had taken shelter in a nearby farmhouse (heated garage) were not captured or killed and eventually the Americans reconnoitered the farmhouse and shared its heat with the German occupiers. This was needed to warm feet and bodies. One allied soldier braved the cold for the entire evening but was taken to the garage in the morning as he was clearly in distress and could not stop shaking. He was given warm fluids and his parents came and took him home. After warming in the garage for a bit it was obvious that his spirits were returning but the wheels had been set in motion and he had to leave. He posted his disappointment at missing out on the battles of Saturday but he should be not too disappointed. The memories of Saturday will fade but those of the cold of that evening will stay with the participants. If we are reenactors of a sort, then we experienced a small slice of what our predecessors experienced and experience is always a good teacher. Anyway, the event broke down into three periods in my mind. The Friday period was unstructured and had no pre-planned anything and was fun just because of that. There were no field limits established and no Axis really knew the field boundaries or for that matter cared to venture to far in unknown territory in the dark (actually kinda like it would be). The fact that no chrono testing was done was a concern since I thought this safety measure would be in place. Still overall, my impression of the participants for the Friday portion into the early Saturday morning time frame was very positive. All the players had high morale and endured the cold and conditions with a sense of humor and at least at the axis camp, provisions and skills were shared and camaraderie was evident. On Saturday, the event leaders arrived and some of the more experienced players from previous events showed up. The German numbers swelled and all told the Germans picked up more players than the Americans and the balance seemed more suited for fun play although the Americans still outnumbered the Germans. Axis adult participation was still on a ratio basis higher than the American side. The Saturday event organizers arrived late and had lots of things to do to prepare for the day. They were busy. No one here is faulting them for this but here come some ideas for improvement. The Saturday battles (there were two) kicked off without an all hands meeting. There was no explanation to all the participants of what was to follow. There was again no chrono testing of guns or for that matter even an announcement of field limits. There was no (that I witnessed) time for the Friday players to report their accomplishments and experiences to the senior players that arrived on Saturday. Believe it or not, the younger players look up to the senior guys and I didn't see alot of "wow, you guys really had a tough night", or "How did you guys make it through the evening?" I did see this later on in several of the posts by senior leaders so it's good to see that the travails of the younger kids didn't escape your attention but it would have been more immediate if an all hands meeting could have been held to recap the nights events. The two scenarios kicked off and seemed well balanced and were hard fought and fun. I think everyone had a good time at these. Despite any of my above comments, my overall impression of the association was only improving as the day wore on. Everyone seemed in high spirits and I didn't see any unsafe play or bad sportsmanship. There was again at least on the axis side a missed opportunity for team building. First, the arriving leaders didn't ask anyone that was there on Friday for a status report. This would have been a good idea just to play the part better. That is, even if a status report wouldn't help you, showing others the proper way to take over command would set a good example. The other missed opportunity as I saw it was mixing the units. I would have liked to see the separate units fight together more. This would build unit integrity. Allow for sub commanders at the unit level. Instead, at least on the axis side it was the senior players barking off orders at different groups and not so formal. I'd like more formal but I'm just one voice. The biggest missed opportunity of the day was the early end to the event because the police arrived at the request of the owner who hadn't been notified and thus the event was canceled. I understood that we were about to enter some training scenarios and this could have resolved many of my above comments of a critical nature but now I have no way of knowing this. I would have greatly liked to participate in a training scenario. maybe next time. Okay, back to positive...

The one thing I did want to mention was that the weather caused the gas guns to have fits and that there were about 4-5 new players without uniforms and these players got help from other participants, myself included, get them outfitted and get them some weapons to use and thus they didn't have a bad experience but hopefully a positive one. Oh for those that weren't there... Saturdays two events had the first scenario as a capture the flag thing with both sides launching attacks on the other sides HQ (I think the Germans won this one and by winning I mean we did better but still didn't take their HQ before the time expired and the other event was the Germans on defense. Here the allies did very well and had a slow but thorough enfilade attack through thick rose bush country and killed just about every German on the property. This was an attrition standstill with only a couple of survivors. The Germans were well dug in with a bunker and MG42 but the allies really did well. I'd give that battle to them. I don't think they took the bunker but it was surrounded with no reinforcements and would have fallen with the next wave.

Slightly off topic but worth mentioning is that my Custom Mauser worked great and so I'm building my second. I can't wait for the Indiana event.

I want to thank everyone for making this a fun event. This report is only intended to make the next one even better. If you have comments now - the PM method is not the way to voice them. Just post below and take the heat as I'm sure I will.

[2nd Bat]

Not having been there your report is a great way to experience the event vicariously. While one mans perspective is never the full picture, it gives thoughtfull insight. The lack of formality and safety preparation and the owner of the land not being informed is extremely disconcerting. Sounds like a recipe for bad publicity for airsoft WW2 or otherwise.

The participants sounded eager and enthusiastic and that carrys a lot of weight but the lack of organization and especially safety concerns would keep me from flying in and attending without assurances that these issues were resolved.

It sounds like the group needs a boost of maturity and that comes from putting the things on and delegating responsibilities while assigning leadership and having it mean something. Most everyone seems to shirk that in airsoft but it is a requirement in anything beyond a simple pick up game.

As, suggested, in the spirit of improvement, hopefully worthwhile lessons were learned that will be acted upon. It's a fledgling undertaking at this stage. Folks in the Chicago area have been hoping for an event for a long time and I'm delighted to see they finally got a decent sized one under their belt. Sometimes to get started you have to "Just do it" as hoping for perfection is a sure way to be sure no event ever occures. Total lack of preparation however is a sure way to prevent them from ever happening again.

Thanks for taking the time to do an after action report. Bigger and better with the next one! Your comments have probably damned you to have to help with the next one and I suspect that would be a really good thing.

[ersatzjack2]

Great post Ersatzjack - now, some input of my own -

Best memories 1) watching the allies limp into the german camp in the morning hours to warm themselves by our resurrected campfire and feeding corned beef hash and eggs to some of them along with to the german army. I enjoyed the spirit of shared provisions as the germans shared soup, breakfast, coffee, apples, cheese, sausage and bread. They also shared the work of perimeter defense and fire building. It was cold but it didn't seem quite so cold in the german camp. 2) meeting people that you had previously just seen in the threads. These thread administrators and leaders equipped quite a few unprepared soldiers. 3) Being shrewd enough to capture a farmhouse and to thereby defeat the weather to some degree (no pun intended).

Not so best memories - Being assigned in the second battle to guard a flank which was already fairly impenetrable. Along with pak75, MG42, and ersatzjack, this move took 4 germans pretty much out of the battle. There was an opportunity during the battle for the four of us to advance thru the brambles and cross the creek undetected into the american flank but as we attempted to do this and maybe take out 5-6 americans who were unaware of the four of us on their flanks we were ordered back to our positions. When the germans were losing their main camp I'm sure the four of us could have helped. And, we were never called back to assist. Instead, like good germans, we adhered to our orders and essentially sat out the second action. Also, as the four of us had prepared most of the original defences and braved the night, the posting of us to this non-sector was a disappointment. 2) wishing for a porta-potty when there wasn't one.

[CharleyNovember]

As 2ndBat said sounds like growing pains guys. This is not the first WW2AA game in the Chicagoland area I don't think but it is the largest in awhile I think. Looks like you have some things to work on and some things to be proud of. Nothing wrong with that. You can always work to make the next one better. I am a little concerned about the no chronograph and the mix up with the land owner as both of those can be big problems waiting to happen. Anytime the police arrive at private property you don't have permission to be on things can go bad even when you don't have replica weapons to scare the bejesus out of them. I look forward to your next big game and have already looked into tickets which are quite reasonable give advanced warnning.

Sounds like what you could work on (Please noone take offense)
is in order.

Safety...Should always be number one
Proper permission from land owners
Scenarios
Props
Overall organization of the game
Chain of Command

Sounds like what you got right was:

Good camraderie amongst the players
Excellent uniforms and period equipment
Helping new players with gear
Fun!!! Even with some problems and old mother nature against you sounds like you guys had fun!

Good job guys. I hope Jacks AAR will help you improve your next event and it will be even better.

[Gordak]

"When the Germans were losing their main camp I'm sure the four of us could have helped. And, we never called back to assist. Instead, like good Germans, we adhered to our orders and essentially sat out the second action"

And you should be proud of this fact, since we really are supposed to maintain a line of defense and follow orders. Ive driven 6 hours to the gap and didn’t get to fire one shot at the enemy a few times now. Originally it pissed me off, later I felt proud of the fact that we followed our orders to a T, while other units broke ranks to go play cowboys and indians.

Seriously it is an achievement in itself, to follow orders and maintain the honor of the unit.

You guys did maintain the line and cover the flank, I salute you!!!

However!!!!!, I agree with you,

I think in these little games, where everyone is really excited and basically very new to the hobby, Should have a built in “everybody fights” policy.

Usually we have this type of battle at the end of the day (remember we got cut short this time)

So at one point in the day, everyone can just keep slaughtering eachother in fire fights. The uber-realistic events are to come in the future when we have larger more experienced units. And some people who got over "begginer trigger lust" and now want to fight like ww2.

Having played airsoft many many times since 1995, I knew, allot of guns would go down in the cold, and people would loose out on trigger time due to game rules and orders.

I loaned 5 guns out, added uniform items to people, brought hot chocolate for the campers, And did all I could to make sure everyone had the best time possible, and I was probably the least signifigant helper at the event!

A applesauce load of work went in to this. Yeah is not going to be perfect for awhile, but look how far weve come, We looked awesome, Tons of great impressions!

During the battle we sent back the allied POWs so they could play, this probably caused the 2nd game to go to the allies, but there is no sense in being a POW your whole first game. Sitting in the cold and listening to gunfire just plain sux. So we sent emm back to the allies

I think the focus now should be fun, trigger time, combat and camaraderie. And this was mostly the case at this game, but some things fall through the cracks. Sorry guys! we will work on it!

LATER, (and yes it is coming), I’m talking about the Future of ww2 airsoft.
I think it should be just like the real deal. The

“damn I stood in mud for 8 hours listening to the battle and then went home and it sucked”

post, will become the=

“Damn I stood in mud for 8 hours listening to the battle and then went home and it was AWESOME! When is the next event!?”

post

A perfect event for me, is wearing my uniform, being with friends, and maintaining the honor of my unit I dont need to touch the trigger once.

If you guys noticed I didnt stop smiling at this event, this is because I was so grateful that I did not have to run it!!

Im serious, it is really hard to run these things, especially when everyone is meeting eachother for the first time, learning how to use their gear and weaponry while under fire LOL,

its really hard guys,

as you can now probaly guess,
My opinion, It was an awesome event we got to wear our gear, carry our guns and play ww2airsoft!

I thought it ruled when the allies encountered the mg 42, and lost alot of guys. But they worked relentlesly, stayed in good spirits, (I saw guys in the swamp in the prone position doggedly fireing back) and they finally mannaged to take it out.

That ROOOOOOOLED!!!!!

-Gordak

[2nd Bat]

As I always say "Even a bad day of airsoft is a great day." and this sounds like it was by no means a bad day. Keep it up guys and I know what you mean Gordak when you say sometimes it just fun to be able to show up and just play. The last time I got to do that was at Hac Bao.