Team Training

[RandyT0001]

Does it say what type of training recon teams are given prior to freezing? Does it say how long the training period lasts? Is a team trained as a unit together from the beginning or does the MP do initial training like the military (boot then MOS) and after evaluations form units that undergo additional training as a unit?

I can think of a few things:


Physical Conditioning
Firearms
Vehicle, MP General
Vehicle, Mission Specific
Radio, personal
Land Navigation (includes use of NavCom in vehicle)
Organizational command and control structure
Radiation Effects
First Aid


This training takes anywhere from three months to six months to complete, possibly followed by another three to six months of more specialized training for individual positions, jobs, general psychology of post traumatic survivors, etc.

Any thoughts?

[Gelrir]

If you have a long training period for (say) five guys ... what happens if one of them washes out? Do the other four guys have to re-take the whole training? Obviously not.

For our current (classic-era) campaign we've worked up the training schedule for an "ordinary" Morrow Project member. The bigger MARS and Science teams might be a bit different, of course.

http://asmrb.pbworks.com/w/page/45958424/Morrow%20Project%20Character%20Generation%201

--
Michael B.

[stormlion1]

I figure the teams as a whole went through a Boot Camp together that lasted on average six weeks getting them used to firing a rifle, basic survival, getting fitness levels up to par, sundry briefings like dealing with radioactive environment, familiarity with all project vehicles, training designed for the time period they were going to be deployed in. After that they were split into there teams for more 'localized' training and team building exercises, if team was to deployed in Florida they trained to be deployed in Florida for example. This training would probably last three to six months. After that a few months training in there actual roles they were expected to do. If they were a medical team they would train in triage and radiation treatment, if recon how to sneak and shoot and evade, etc, etc. Call it a year of total training before being frozen.

[northdoc]

I'm thinking in my game of just sending teams to already established training schools whenever possible. There are tons of survival, shooting, driving, and medical courses and certs available, oftimes quite cheaply when compared to the cost of maintaining a facility.
I'm interested in a version of the Project who basically spent all its money on freeze capsules and unlicsensed fusion reactors. Now theres little money left for fancy toys like armoured vehicles and 30mm chain guns.
I want to see the look on their faces when they realize most of the gear is either from Walmart or the Korean war.:p

[Gelrir]

If you're building a secret underground bunker with cryoberths and a fusion reactor, for (say) every five people ... I'm not sure it makes financial sense to skimp on the supplies and training. I can understand arguments that the Project is too militaristic for a "rebuilding" goal; but the opposite of "armored vehicles and chain guns" is not "Walmart and the surplus store".

Unless the Project is small: not more than a couple thousand people, say.

Security is another issue: having all your newly-recruited Project members scooting all over the country would make a lot of opportunities for leaks; sudden romances with non-Project people; the temptation to tell new friends to "avoid big cities in late 1989"; etc.

I'm not saying it can't be done; but you'll have to ponder what the Project is, how large, etc. A "less formal" Project, without numbered training manuals, a big pyramidal command structure, dozens of security grades, etc. would be an interesting change, maybe.

--
Michael B.

[northdoc]

I've always found the entire idea of a giant non-governmental organization building secret underground bunkers all over the country more than a little farfetched. Training a private army on US soil? Disappearing thousands of personnel from contemporary life? Transporting tons of military grade hardware all over the world without anyone noticing? How do you even start a recruiting pitch that ends with "and then you'll be frozen with experimental technology while everyone you've ever known dies?".
The story makes no sense and never did. And that doesn't matter. All that matters is that it sets up tremendous games. And the complex questions posed by the backstory makes it easy for a PD utilize different strategies to make a game challenging and memorable. Waking up with substandard replacement gear could be the result of a lot of things, from the original equipment being seized at a police roadblock or a law enforcement raid, or the Projects desire to randomize purchases more to obscure patterns.
And at the end of the day, again, who cares? As long as the games satisfies everyone, what more needs to be said. Some guys love the "big PX in the sky" where half your time is inventory,; others dont. A leaner game reflecting a strained and far less omnipotent Morrow Project has been popular with my group.

[stormlion1]

Well the building bunkers bit is quite doable. How many people actually pay attention to road gangs doing construction? Or private construction on private land? Bolt Holes are essentially build and drop in a hole and walk away so putting Bolt Holes in should be relatively easy and hidable, same with the caches and those would be even easier I would think there not as large and are usually in out of the way spots. Larger facilitys are an issue though but from what I have read there almost always out in the middle of nowhere and hidden as other things so even that's not a issue. And there are tons of militias operating across the USA and Canada and a lot of the training is classroom as well so training people for TEOTWAWKI should be doable with a bit of effort. The manpower is the hard part, one of the reasons I believe the Project itself would be much smaller than shown with teams AOR being much larger to compensate. The main problem is the people going missing all at once. Not everyone can get away with the excuse of a business trip. And people with family'? Forget it right there. The only real people I see them recruiting are loners and ex-military with no familys and the occasional rational hippie who can be trained to do whats needed.

[Project_Sardonicus]

By any standard MP training couldn't work to provide much more than lots of green infantry.

Most basic infantry training take 3 months or so, elite units 6 months and special forces a year.

Bearing in mind that until this is combined with a year or so experience these troops are considered hopelessly green. From lack of instinct, to just freezing when needing to fire at a lethal threat these are big problems.

Not least of all because unlike the army the MP isn't recruiting from the youngest, fittest men and women in the country. With their need for mixed skills, right mindset etc the MP may have some less than A1 candidates.

I think the solution they would go for would be straight out of MKULTURA or the Manchurian candidate. As well as extensive technical, scientific and military training, there would be days of training the team members would have no recall of.

Days spent in a trance like state, practising combat skills and scenarios. So when the day comes that they wake up they know when to shoot, how to shoot, how to not miss and not to freeze. A less than physically prime team member carrying less equipment than someone younger and fitter, may not be able to afford the ammo to miss or provide covering fire and in a hand to hadn encounter may win if they use their issue bayonet with more agression and determination then their foe.

They may well be shocked how well they do in their first encounter, even scared and unsure of themselves.

And of course with a dangerous approach like this, it may well prove to lead to break down and psychosis, team members finding it hard to disengage from kill or be killed mode.

An other alternative maybe that this training only works with young, fresh minds. So the team is divided into experienced old salts with declining fitness and sharp, programmed youths with out the wisdom to back this up.

[ArmySGT.]

I always considered that groups were broken up and switched around in every training cycle. The MP was rightfully paranoid about creating bandits, warlords, and dictators from their own ranks.

In this way everyone is highly trained and fully vetted going into cryotubes but, complete strangers to the people that they wake up with.

Every training along the way has psych evaluations, fitness evaluations, and peer review evaluations.

Washing out of the Programs doesn't mean your washed out of the Project. You just go to a installation like a depot, power plant, hospital, or supply base where there is more structure and eyes on each other.

[Project_Sardonicus]

This seems sensible the recon teams seem to be everything from diplomats, to scouts and even scratch basic infantry.

The kind of skills this requires maybe quite unique and it might be quite a find to get the round peg to fit the round hole.

Of course if a recon member turns out to be a cold eyed killer, they maybe swept into MARS.

One thing is for certain there'd be a lot of focus on paramedic training, even if the project wasn't sabotaged there wouldn't be any 911 medics.

[Gelrir]

For our current campaign, a "Classic Era" Morrow Project:

Pre-Training Medical

Medical examinations take only a day or so (though some of the results take up to a week to get back from the lab). From about 1984, recruits are mildly encouraged to get an appendectomy (presuming they still have their appendix). Older recruits, especially women, are encouraged to undergo a cholecystectomy (gall bladder removal). Recuperation from these procedures adds more than a month between induction and the beginning of training. If you go for the gall bladder removal, you'll have a scar about 18 cm long on your right side.

Removal of the gallbladder has not been known to cause any long-term adverse effects, aside from occasional diarrhea (especially after large, fatty meals). About 20% of the world's population develop gallstones at some point in their lives. Prior to 1990, the only medical specialty performing laparoscopy (minimally invasive surgery) on a widespread basis was gynecology.

Very few Project members availed themselves of the gall bladder surgery; perhaps 15% requested an appendectomy. Many - but not all - of the Project members undergoing surgery are treated in a Med Unit, partly to provide more training for Project medical personnel.

Training

The Project's training schedule (for playable teams, at least) takes about 8 months. For Recon branch members, it includes, in approximate order:


Project goals, plans and methods (2 weeks, ALWAYS the first course for each platoon)
- this includes the "why we fight" stuff, what the Project knows or can guess about the War, how the Project will support your team, Project security levels, and basic indoctrination
- this is about the only training conducted in proper buildings; trainees get to sit in proper classrooms for this segment

familiarization with branch weapons, and basic issue gear, concurrent with initial physical conditioning - the most "boot camp" portion (4 weeks, always the second course for each platoon)
- branch weapons for Recon teams includes the M2HB machine gun, the M174E3 grenade launcher, and the Mh202 autocannon. Everyone gets laser training, though -- it's easy and fun!
- not considered fun: exposure to tear gas (not CN-DM though) while learning to don gas masks

operation, safety and support for Project electrical power systems (1 week)
- mostly what to do, and not do, with the fusion reactor. This course wasn't offered before 1985; instead, you got training on how to operate the gasifier

driver training for V-150, Ranger, Scout and XR-311 (2 weeks)
- this does include motorcycles, if the trainee doesn't already know how. The motorcycles used in training are regular, gas-powered "dirt bikes" -- the Project wasn't quite clear on whether there would be electrical motorbikes.
- some "cohorts" of trainees also get driver training for the SK-5 hovercraft, or other odd/scarce Recon vehicles (goofy little 6-wheel ATVs, for example)

operator training for heavy construction equipment, including stuff not used by the Project (1 week)
- how to operate a bulldozer, backhoe, forklift, crane, cement mixer, tanker, and a few other vehicles
- this is usually where the trainees will get to witness some HAAM suits in action

locomotive and train operation (2 days)
- a very popular course. How to set and remove the manual brake, operate speed controller, open and close track switches, operate couplings

railway track repair (4 days)
- a very unpopular course

use of Morrow Project computer systems (1 week)
- for Recon team members, this is mostly how to use the AutoNav, and the vehicle computer. The Autonav is technically a computer, but it's not very programmable.
- depots, large MARS and Science teams, and Prime Base have various "big" or "small" 1984-era computers installed. None of them are in any way anachronistic. Oooh, there's a GRiD Compass for the MARS team! 4.6 kg weight, no internal batteries, and the CCOS is not very compatible with other Project computers. Ahh, the Gavilan SC laptop, not even converted to used Project batteries, but much more compatible with the usual Project systems. Unless you're going to be assigned to use one of these, you don't get much more than a look at them.

radio operator familiarization, and post-War communications procedures (1 week)

emergency medicine training to EMT level (5 weeks)

a course in handling mass casualties and radiation-related illnesses (1 week)
- includes instruction on donning, doffing the whole suite of CBR gear, use of antidotes, decontamination procedures

a short course in demolitions (1 week)

a short course in SCUBA, and a check on swimming proficiency (3 days)

a wilderness survival course (3 weeks)
- eating nasty things, what NOT to eat, fishing, hunting and trapping, dressing game, building shelter, finding water, making fire ... lots of Boy Scout skills. Includes a week-long "camp out"

cross-country skiing, use of snowshoes, building igloos, and other cold weather skills (1 week, usually November through June)

a course in mountaineering (1 week)

refugee camp construction class -- water & food distribution, power, shelter, etc. (4 weeks)

decompression, filling of personal effects boxes, and final psych evaluation and counseling (2 weeks, always last)


Some courses change position in the list to suit weather conditions or equipment availability. There's usually a couple of weeks of "rest" included, and a good percentage of recruits have to re-take one course or another. Also, if too many people "wash out" of a platoon, it might be folded into another platoon at a slightly different point on the schedule. Everyone gets all the courses eventually, though. See this page for a description of the training experience.

Members of Science and MARS teams spend at least three more months in training, due to the greater variety of vehicles, equipment and weapons they use. MARS team members usually spend a month or two after completing their training, acting as security at some Project training camp.

Facilities for training change fairly often, and it's made clear to recruits that no permanent Morrow presence should be expected at these sites -- don't expect to find the Project there after the War.

********************

Of course, that's just our campaign. The training is meant to make sure everyone meets the "briefing" standard (3rd Edition, pg 61): " ... Each of you is fully trained and can operate all of the standard issue equipment in the Project given to yourself and your team. It is assumed that your knowledge of the team's weapons is complete and this would prevent you from making any ignorant mistakes."

--
Michael B.

[Project_Sardonicus]

That's very thorough I especially like the focus on useful for a succesful project training, like the refugee camp and train services training.

Do you think there'd be war gaming and practise training, getting members used to being shot at and thinking underfire.

[Gelrir]

Hmm, in this campaign, no more than the Army provides in 1970s/80s basic training ... which means maybe the "crawl under wire while machine guns fire overhead" at most.

It's up to each referee/PD; I deliberately went with a minimal level of "build a fighting force". Partly since anything more isn't mentioned explicitly for Recon teams in the 3rd Edition; partly for the drama of letting the player-characters grow into battle-hardened veterans (if battles occur). "Ordinary people", as the tee-shirts say.

--
Michael B.

[Gelrir]

Here's the description of the training process, provided to players in our campaign:

We know roughly what courses of instruction were provided during training; but how did the trainees experience their last eight months before armageddon?

You had a Project agent managing your "separation from society". Once that was accomplished, you were picked up by a motor coach, and taken with a couple dozen other new recruits to an anonymous office park somewhere. Later on you learned that (besides the driver and a couple of security guys), one of the other recruits on the bus was actually an undercover security agent of the Project. For a week or two, you lived in a cheap hotel or on cots in the office building.

Those two weeks were spent filling out paperwork (oddly enough), obtaining whatever personal effects you'd need for the next eight months, and the most "talkative" stage of the training. Project staff (including psychologists) interviewed you again, and formed up the cohorts. The classroom sessions were much more in the way of indoctrination, and preparing trainees mentally for the world after the War. Asking the "frequently asked questions" was encouraged here. Immunizations and final medical checkups also happened at this time; if you agreed to have your appendix and gall bladder removed, that procedure and recuperation adds about a month to the induction process. The Project attempted to have all trainees in a cohort preparing for the same branch -- Recon, Science, MARS, etc.

After induction-and-indoctrination, each training cohort spent the next few months at eight or ten camps, for anywhere from ten days to five weeks at each camp. Transportation of trainees between camps was usually in motor coaches, large enough to carry a cohort and its personal effects, plus a cohort supervisor, two drivers, and a three-man MARS team. Stops for gas and food by these coaches were always stressful for the MARS team -- trainees would wander around, get in trouble in bars, carry on indiscreet conversations, etc. Some travel to cold-weather or mountaineering sites was accomplished in chartered aircraft. Personal effects were limited to a suitcase or two -- the cohort had to fit all the luggage in the motor coach. Except for discreet (and licensed) pistols carried by the security team, nothing in the motor coaches would draw much attention. No materials which might be a security risk were allowed during transport - no Project manuals, for example. Before most travel, a Project security agent would go through the trainees' bags, but the number of ways to hide things from the agents and supervisors was pretty high.

The camps were located in remote areas (mostly in Nevada, Wyoming, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, North Dakota or Alaska), and were themselves temporary -- they moved to new locations every year or so. Living conditions weren't too bad - if you like living in a mobile home. The usual "trainee bunkhouse" mobile home was a 14' wide, 70' long single-wide, with four bedrooms (two-person bunk bed in each), two toilets, two shower stalls, two sinks, two shallow closet/lockers in each bedroom, air conditioning ... and not much else. The trainees cleaned the bunkhouses very thoroughly before moving on to the next camp -- both for security and sanitation. Training staff had slightly nicer quarters (three single bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen); other trailers or skid-mounted sheds provided electrical power, kitchen and food storage, sick bay, communications and security, laundry, storage for training materials, etc.. Depending on the course, there were firing lines, simple sheds for vehicle parking, quonset huts or Butler buildings for workshops, and (usually) a big military tent for classroom exercises and group dining. Some camps combined two separate training programs; for example, the SCUBA/swimming program was often conducted at the same camp as the wilderness survival training.

The usual camp had 5 or 6 trainees bunkhouses, a couple of "instructors" mobile homes, a couple of mobile homes for security staff, a couple more for service and support staff, etc. -- about 13 to 15 "single wides" before any structures needed for training. Here's a typical camp circa 1980:

http://asmrb.pbworks.com/f/1337751945/Morrow%20Training%20Camp.jpg

On the right is the quarters area; to the left is the actual training area. Security was maintained by a six-person MARS team, both at the camp and out around the perimeter of the training area.

Exceptions to the "trailer park" camps: some courses were held at Boy Scout or National Guard camps, with pre-existing wood-framed tent housing, cinder-block shower/toilet buildings, etc; and much of the wilderness survival course was spent "camping" in the outdoors.

There were televisions and radios available, but reception was usually poor and the formats limited: radio stations were often gospel, country, Spanish language, religious (often Mormon), or very middle-of-the-road music. No telephone service, and usually no utility service of any kind. Usually when a cohort completed a course or a major training milestone, there was a beer night, with something like a barbeque cookout (depending on conditions).

Female trainees were grouped together into "women-only" tents or mobile homes. A typical cohort of 40 trainees would usually have only 3 or 4 women, so they usually each got a room to themselves in their bunkhouse. Fraternization and romance was slightly frowned on by the Project, but instructors didn't usually take much notice unless it was causing problems with training.

Except for the physical conditioning training early on, the Project wasn't trying to "wear you down and build you up". No screaming drill instructors, no gig lines or yes-sir-no-sir culture; but hours were long, and the rest periods were spent entirely at Project facilities -- no contact with the outside world for trainees once they started (except for those short bus stops). About half of the Recon and Science team trainees had some prior military experience. Project coveralls and insignia were never worn; trainees wore sort of "oil field worker" garb, either their own or provided by the Project. Each camp had a vague and often forgotten cover story: oil drilling site, geology graduate student training, paleontology dig, and environmental monitoring were common. Most camps had their own hard hats with appropriate markings.

The weapons training segment (4 weeks long) was conducted in US army uniforms, under the cover of being a National Guard training area -- but the appearance of the supposed National Guard camp wasn't very convincing (depending on your opinion of the National Guard). This segment was thus conducted on the largest possible secure area, with more MARS teams for security.

Clothing in the camps was a mix of blue jeans, army cargo pants, chambray shirts, plaid shirts, and tee-shirts; work boots; and various hats (including, fairly often, construction-worker hard hats). Facial hair wasn't allowed if it would interfere with the fit of a gas mask, but hair was otherwise unregulated. Cigarettes and cigars were discouraged -- the Project would rather you ditched that habit before going into cryo-sleep. Hard liquor in the bunkhouses wasn't allowed, but could be gotten anyhow. Also found in the bunkhouses: posters (women and rock bands were the commonest), cassette players and tapes, playing cards (unsurprisingly, high-stakes poker games were common), plastic plants, bowls of chips and salsa, canned beer. Personally-owned firearms had to be kept locked up in the camp armory. Some camps had videocassette players, but the selection of tapes was always poor. When the trainees weren't too tired, there were sometimes crude exercise facilities: a weigh machine, or a basketball hoop on the side of a shed ...

Minor injuries would be treated in the camp, moderate injuries were taken to a local hospital, but major injuries (especially involving firearms or explosives) sometimes involved moving the injured persons quite a ways, by plane or Project-owned vehicle, to a safe (Project-controlled) facility.

Hard drug usage (cocaine, most often) was very rare, and was grounds for a washout -- either to rehab and re-entry into training, or to (it was rumored) an involuntary cryo-sleep program. Marijuana and methamphetamines were used a bit, but the remote camps and lack of money made supplies scarce. Drinking could be a problem in some cohorts.

Since cohorts had little contact with each other, the teams as a whole didn't have a well-defined subculture. However, some traits did appear: a definite "Marlboro man" masculinity, with an emphasis on hard work and unconcern for personal safety. A particular cohort might be notable for religious issues, gung-ho survivalism, rowdy brawling, too many serious accidents, dedication to/jealously over the female members, heavy boozing, trouble between factions (most often seen when cohorts were combined), suicides or other breakdowns ...

A seriously broken cohort might have its members divided among other, more stable cohorts. Project psychologists, therapists and security agents visited camps from time to time, but weren't always successful or respected.

Thus, you spent 8 months or so traveling with the same 40 or so men (and maybe a few women), from camp to camp. If cohorts got too small, due to injuries or washouts, they would be combined with another understrength cohort. Cohort supervisors stayed with the cohorts through the entire training cycle. At the end of training, the team you were assigned to was almost always formed up from members of your cohort. About half-a-dozen teams in the same branch had spent a lot of time together in the cohort; you would all be flown in a chartered aircraft to some nice place for a week of secure relaxation. There was a speech or two by Project staff, some gag gifts and awards, black berets were handed out, and usually a lot of beer drinking. Some recently-graduated trainees got stressed-out by reading their last magazine or watching their last television programs ...feelings of alienation or impotent frustration could get pretty strong.

The final R&R locations were chosen first on the basis of security; mountain resorts and island hotels were typical.

After that, final interviews, filling of personal effects boxes, a briefing by the Project on where your team would be and any additional standing orders, and zoop into your cryoberths you went.

Trainees were sometimes dropped back to a later cohort, most often due to serious injuries. Also, at the end of training, the remaining members of a cohort might not match up with the needs of the Project -- some graduated trainees would spend a month or two as instructors or Morrow staff members, until they were grouped with the "correct" team for freezing.

[Project_Sardonicus]

Team training's an interesting conundrum particularly for recon teams. They have to infiltrate a wide area full of unwelcoming locals and probably battle hardened marauders. They need to scout without being spotted and possibly carry out acts of violence and sabotage.

It's not the kind of thing a basic infantry man would do, it's more like the tasks of a Green Beret etc.

Which recon most certainly aren't.

I think they'd probably look to the second world war when the Allies between 1939-41 had to come up with some response to the far more militarly powerful Nazis.

So they formed SOE a combination resistance, spying organisation. Like Morrow they had a narrow range of candidates, basically people willing to do the job who spoke fluent French.

training could be broken down into.

1 Key technical skills, spy trade craft, radio operations, coding etc
2 Basic fitness and infantry skills, enough to get by if things went wrong.
3 A few specialized skills like sentry removal or basic demolition.
4 A lot of silly nonsense to build their confidence, like Defendu.

The main thing was finding people with the right stuff. Confident, calm, quick thinking and able to live in the lion's mouth for years at a time.

So I guess Recon would probably be trying to find the right people, rather than train the wrong ones. I suspect this process would be broken into two parts.

First of all recruiting the right people before they even enter the project. Using personality assessments etc much like many corporations do, but backed up psychic skills.

Secondly agressively washing out trainees with the wrong stuff. Somewhere the project may have a very large warehouse filled with frozen, unsuitables who would one day be trained up, hopefully.

I do think the project would put any trainee group through a hard week of field training, to see how they perform in a real world setting.

[ArmySGT.]

Wait until you try to justify the existence of the "touchy feely" jobs...... How and why does a social worker become a Morrow specialist. Where do you get sociologists versed in group dynamics in disaster? How about crisis councilors?

Those people that become specialists in the Scientist teams. How do you convince a political science major to give up his or her 250,000k a year job in government for the Project?

It stretches plausibility very thin.

[Project_Sardonicus]

I think social workers and sociologists may well be attuned to the collapse of civilisation more than most.

[ArmySGT.]

I think social workers and sociologists may well be attuned to the collapse of civilisation more than most.

Probably so but, how do you recruit them for the Project? MARS and Recon ought to be fairly simply from veterans and law enforcement.

[stormlion1]

Might be as simple as a want ad and a thorough interview process. Maybe advertising to develop a third world country and don't spring the freezing bit and the nuclear war bit until the Project is certain they would be a good match.