[Master Thespian]

Looks very authentic, z. You could put anything up there and I wouldn't know the difference, but it's good to know you wouldn't, lol.

[Elite Force Cobra]

Great Graphics keep up the good work!

[samantha]

Nice.

[zuludelta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Master Thespian

Looks very authentic, z. You could put anything up there and I wouldn't know the difference, but it's good to know you wouldn't, lol.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elite Force Cobra

Great Graphics keep up the good work!

Quote:

Originally Posted by samantha

Nice.

Thanks guys, glad you appreciate the diagrams... cause here's a bunch more (ha ha).

Spent the weekend finishing and refining the organizational diagram. I compromised a bit by using some common but otherwise unofficial APP-6A conventions, such as using dotted lines to indicate a subordinate detachment sourced from another command/organization. Also, some of the icon combinations I haven't seen anywhere before, but I don't think any of them violate the rules of APP-6A icon construction as far as I know, although if anybody out there reading this knows better, please let me know. I also adjusted icon placement to allow for page dimension concerns, so the graphical order of precedence of units might not be APP-6A accurate, but since the specific combination of units I'm using for the GI Joe team is pretty much not really found in any existing unit, the prescribed precedence rules, in my estimation, don't really apply. Those of you who've been reading earlier iterations of the organizational structure will notice some minor changes.,, that's what they are really, just moving certain units for better functionality, but in terms of personnel and internal unit structure, the main organization is virtually unchanged, save for the Aviation Element, which I spent a lot of time revamping (not so familiar with current C-130 detachment staffing, so I had to look up the minimum manning requirements for "travelling aircrews").

I've decided to divide the diagram into multiple portions, because having them all in one image would result in a very very wide document (at least 5000 pixels wide, if I want it to be readable). Click on the thumbnails to view the various portions of the document in full.

Main Organizational Diagram (click to enlarge)


Command and Control Element Detailed Diagram (click to enlarge)


Support Element Detailed Diagram (click to enlarge)


Direct Action Element Detailed Diagram (click to enlarge)

... continued in next post...

[zuludelta]

... continued from previous post:

Aviation Element Detailed Diagram (click to enlarge)


Clandestine Service Element Detailed Diagram (click to enlarge)

[Tyroc]

Awesome work Zulu, really keen to see who you've got for your aviation support crew (any others beyond the guys from Special Missions?) and the Airlift pilots. Have you repositioned some of the flyers away from the strategic planners/advisors?

actually don't tell me. I'll just be patient and wait for the next installment

...even though the wait is killing me

[zuludelta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyroc

Awesome work Zulu, really keen to see who you've got for your aviation support crew (any others beyond the guys from Special Missions?) and the Airlift pilots. Have you repositioned some of the flyers away from the strategic planners/advisors?

actually don't tell me. I'll just be patient and wait for the next installment

...even though the wait is killing me

I'll tell you anyway

Most of the pilots have been re-made as airlift pilots, except for Ace and Slipstream, who I've kept as fighter pilots employed in a combat aviation advisory role. Wild Bill and Lift-Ticket were a bit problematic, since they're Army pilots and the Army currently doesn't really have medium fixed-wing airlift capability (and hence, no "official" training or MOSes for the specialty). I'm going out on a limb and hoping that by the time I finish the document later this year, the C-27J (it's basically a C-130J power plant jammed into a smaller and more maneuverable airframe... the Army's new tactical airlift aircraft meant to replace the aging C-23 Sherpa light airlift aircraft) will be integrated into Fort Rucker's inventory of aircraft available for training, and the putative training backgrounds I've written for Wild Bill and Lift-Ticket will be real-world accurate.

[Master Thespian]

Looking good, z. I'm also eager to see who was added to fill out those ranks. So are helicopters out of the equation now? If so, how does that work when they need one? As far as the C-27J goes, your document should be accurate/relevant for at *least* the next 5 years or so, so if you jump the gun on one section by a couple of months, I'm sure it'll be OK.

[zuludelta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Master Thespian

Looking good, z. I'm also eager to see who was added to fill out those ranks.

It's a problem I'll tackle when I'm actually at the point where I need to make the images and backgrounds for the maintenance crews. As they already exceed the actual number of "named Joes" in existence, I'll have to make them up from scratch. I think I'll start looking in my tool box for code name inspiration

Quote:

Originally Posted by Master Thespian

So are helicopters out of the equation now? If so, how does that work when they need one? As far as the C-27J goes, your document should be accurate/relevant for at *least* the next 5 years or so, so if you jump the gun on one section by a couple of months, I'm sure it'll be OK.

Thing is, helicopters have been on the way out for special ops air mobility doctrine for a while now (the 160th SOAR being the exception). Helicopters don't have the range, the speed, or the stealthiness required in rapid deployment contingency operations (a perfect example of the current "fixed wing only" spec-ops aviation doctrine is the current AFSOC... they've phased out helicopters for air mobility operations for the most part). And since the Joe team is an airborne unit, that means they can get to places with no landing fields. Just airdrop all day. Faster and more efficient than helicopters.

Since my take on the Joe team is that it's a unit with intrinsic within-36-hrs-global reach and given that I'm trying to work with a self-imposed limit on unit size, ditching the helicopters in favour of STOL fixed-wing airlift aircraft like the C-27J and the C-130J seemed a reasonable approach. The perfect solution would have been to use the V-22 Osprey, but the V-22 is too small to be useful for platoon-scale deployments. The unit would need at least nine V-22s to match the joint personnel carrying capacity of a C-130J-30 and a C-27J, and those V-22s wouldn't be able to carry any real useful ground transports (maybe an ATV each), while the C-130J-30 and C-27J could carry at least five full-sized unarmoured SUVs between them.

If the Joe team needs helicopters, they can always call on the 160th SOAR for them. But I saw no need for an organic helicopter section.

[Master Thespian]

I didn't know that. Cool beans. So how does extraction work? I'm not questioning your choices, but my limited military knowledge included helicopters, so I'm not sure how things work without them.