Fire Team Leader

Fireteam

You are running a team of 4 men, including yourself. The loadout types vary slightly but stick to a general rule:

Knowing what each role does and how to use them will improve your leading, your teams performance, and overall enjoyment of gameplay.

• FTL - The leader of a fireteam. Carries a radio to communicate to his Squad Leader and a short range to talk to the fireteam. Typically has an underbarrel GP launcher with a few HE and different color smoke rounds.

• Auto Rifleman (AR) - Second in command of a fireteam. If FTL dies, he grabs his radio and keep the fireteam going. Typically has a fully auto machine gun of some nature.

• Assistant Auto Rifleman (AAR) - Carries spare ammo for the AR but also helps to keeps situational awareness for him while he maintains fire towards a target as well as spotting with binoculars if engaging at longer ranges.

• Grenadier (GREN) - Equipped with an underbarrel GP launcher with a few HE rounds as well as smokes, can be used to clear out groups of enemies and create smoke cover for movements or to obscure an enemy positions vision for an approach.

• Rifleman AT (RAT) - Standard rifleman only with some type of anti-tank launcher in his equipment launcher. A very important member to keep alive as you may run into light/heavy armor contacts and hes got the tool to remove it.

• Marksman (DMR) - Carrying a Marksman Rifle of some form, the DMR is useful for providing long-range cover against the enemy or for holding position and covering a teams approach.

• Flexible Rifleman (FLEX) - Standard rifleman however can be used however a squad leader or fireteam leader needs, most likely to be a RAT or Grenadier, this role should be prepared for any kind of assignment.

Fireteam Leading SOPs

• Always mention what formation you want prior to movement.
• Always mention what team you want on each side of your formation prior to movement.
• Always place your fireteam members as priority.
• Always keep your squad leader informed (Casualties, ammunition, TIC, etc...)
• Always be as vocal as possible

Movement

In regards to movement, there are numerous ways to operate as a Fireteam. As a Fire Team leader it is important you know how to use your fireteam in safest and most effective way to ensure success of your objective and the longevity of your members.

Many times as a fireteam leader you will have to choose a formation to move your squad in. There is no 100% perfect formation to call but there are some that usually work well in certain situations.

For a quick review of the formations you can call, reference Formations

Regardless of formation, always keep your color teams together and provide cohesion amongst the two.

Jungle

For jungle movement, the overall most used formation is column. This keeps all units able to keep an eye on each other as they move through dense foliage as well as keeping visual in all directions. As soon as contact is taken, you will make a line and engage. Ensure that your team isn't too spread thin.

Open or exposed terrain

Bound teams to areas of cover, use other elements to cover/suppress. Keeping your group together and watching a full 180 will help you to spot units that might be in both the distance and the direction you are moving.

City

For urban enviroments, most common formations are column or a staggered column depending. Mostly it will be column because of keeping sectors watched and for making crossing roads and open lanes easier and safer. These are used when taking contact from a flank is more likely. It leaves the front and rear slightly weaker but ensures that you cant get hit from the sides. The safest way is to keep your FT against a wall so 1 out of 4 directions are always safe... mostly.

Roads

For roads or long paths, You will almost always want to run a staggered column, unless the other FT is running side-by-side with you in which case it will be just a column. Staggered gives both sides a close to equal amount of firepower and visibility as the team moves and keeps the spread apart in case of very close contact.

Qualification

You can find the FTL qualification guide at this link.