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:

1. Physical Conditioning
2. Firearms
3. Vehicle, MP General
4. Vehicle, Mission Specific
5. Radio, personal
6. Land Navigation (includes use of NavCom in vehicle)
7. Organizational command and control structure
8. Radiation Effects
9. 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/4595...Generation%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.

[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.