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Hello everybody.

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2019 6:02 pm
by bo_staff_assassin21
I figured I'd wait to introduce myself until I became somewhat familiar with the site and the culture of night ops. So...to start things off, I'm 17 years old. I've been doing night op related things for over a year now. I was oblivious to this online community until about a week ago. I must say, this website is fucking glorious. Endless resources. Incredible. Anyway, I have a team of friends that op with me occasionally, but I work alone most of the time. My team has five members (I know, that's a lot). We're relatively inexperienced, so we've only done low-risk ops so far. I save the more risky ops for when I'm by myself. That's all there really is to say about me. I'm basically just a dumb kid with a hunger for adventure. I look forward to getting to know you guys and sharing ideas and stories and all that good stuff. Glad to be here.

Re: Hello everybody.

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2019 10:35 pm
by Xanatos
At least you're smart enough to realise you're a dumb kid, which already makes you smarter than most people your age.

Have you ever opped with all 5 of your friends at once? How do you guys communicate & coordinate while remaining stealthy? It took us a few ops during NOPCON to get things down-pat.

Re: Hello everybody.

Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2019 2:50 pm
by bo_staff_assassin21
Yes, I have opped with all five of my teammates at once. And to answer your question, we don't really communicate. Haha. Our first op didn't go so well. We completed the objective, but the execution was sloppy. None of us knew what we were supposed to do, and we were too spaced out to talk to eachother. It was a bit of a free for all. Mostly my fault for not planning well enough. But we just ordered a bunch of Bluetooth earpieces, so hopefully the next one will go a lot smoother.

Re: Hello everybody.

Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:50 am
by Xanatos
Bluetooth hooked up to phones or some sort of radio devices? I'm personally against bringing personal accoutrements on ops (phones, wallet, keys, etc).

Re: Hello everybody.

Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 6:54 pm
by bo_staff_assassin21
Yeah, that's what we're going for. I haven't done any high-risk ops yet, so I don't worry about my cellphone as much. I just keep location services off.

Re: Hello everybody.

Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2019 5:29 am
by Xanatos
It's less about having people track your devices so much as dropping personal effects in the AO. If I accidentally lose a piece of gear I want it to be easily replaceable and not have it traced back to me.

Re: Hello everybody.

Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2019 5:54 am
by bo_staff_assassin21
I see, I see. While the beginner's corner in the library has been helpful, do you have any other useful tips or advice for a noob such as myself? Like something you wish you knew when you were just starting out?

Re: Hello everybody.

Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2019 9:28 am
by Xanatos
Don't carry unnecessary gear. The more you bring, the more you have to lose and the more noise you'll make.
When working in groups, set up a covert system of communication and move in a loose formation (point man, tail-end-Charlie, etc). It's easy to lose each other in the dark.
Don't panic. You'll see and hear strange things in the night - just keep your wits about you and don't succumb to fear.
If something proves to be too difficult, dangerous or otherwise challenging, there's no shame in pulling out. Any op you make it home from unscathed is a good one.
Move carefully, but make haste nonetheless. Too often I took my time on an op and had to race the sunrise back home.
Commit to any plan you make. If you hesitate, you will fail. But be ready to adapt & overcome, because nothing goes according to plan.

Re: Hello everybody.

Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2019 3:25 pm
by bo_staff_assassin21
Thanks. I'll screenshot that. Good advice.