Commanding Officer In Training (COiT)

COiT will provide trainees with the needed experience to become a CO on a ship. During training, candidates will write, email, and post mission briefings; do pre-mission tasks; participate in the mission's debriefing; edit and email transcripts; write and post logs; manage crew conflicts; ensure crew does all tasks related to mission; manage Subspace; evaluate the crew; and command the crew throughout the mission arc.

Throughout the 5/6-week training, the COiT will receive help and feedback from the SM and the crew. This will give the COiT the needed experience and learning environment to develop the needed leadership skills and administrative abilities required from command staff, such as CO.

Below is a detailed list of tasks the COiT will perform during the arc. This list offers links to examples and a clear run down of how each should be performed. If any questions arise pertaining these tasks, email the Paula Greene's SM and/or CO (acting as XO for the duration of the COiT training) for help.

Note: COiT may look a lot like XOiT. However, the COiT will ultimately be in charge of the ship and the decisions. Also, since the trainee has more experience than people going through XOiT, the COiT will receive less guidance and help from the SM and PG CO and the trainee will get more problems and issues to deal with. Plus, let's face it, the COiT has a much better chair than the XOiT! Who wouldn't want to sit in The Big Chair (tm)?

Mission Briefings

Once the SM sent out the mission orders, the COiT will need to write mission briefings. These should be sent out at least 48 hours before mission.

Mission briefings should include a sentence that sets the tone of the briefing by reminding the crew what the aim of the mission is about. Then, each crew member (or department) should be assigned a relevant task they can perform during mission. Finally, the COiT should close with a general and/or motivation sentence.

Mission briefings should be emailed to usspaulagreene@startrek.acalltoduty.com and posted on the PG Boards inside the COiT's own forum. The title of the email and of the thread should be: Mission Briefing SD (write stardate of mission here).

Examples of mission briefings: here and here.


Pre-Mission Tasks

The COiT should be in the mission room and OOC room at least 15 minutes prior to mission. During those 15 minutes, the COiT is to perform the following tasks:

* Ensure that all players are in both rooms with the proper nickname.
* Perform a location check so that everyone knows where they are starting from.
* Ask players if they have any questions about the mission briefing and the mission.

Before performing the location check, the COiT should put the crew at attention. Then say that s/he is doing the location check. In turns, COiT should name each position and allow the player to tell where s/he will be at the beginning of the mission. Once all players have given their position, the COiT is to give his.

Attendance

The COiT is not required to keep stats on attendance. However, COiT should be aware of who is at mission and not and keep an eye on attendance patterns from players. COiT should also ensure that crew notifies command staff of possible absences at least 24 hours before mission.


During Mission

Throughout the mission, the COiT is to keep an eye on both rooms and answer questions/comments directed to him in a timely manner. COiT should try to keep all crew members busy during the mission.

COiT is to deal with all problems that may arise in either room. It is the COiT's ship for the duration of training and the trainee is expected to act like the CO of the ship.

The COiT will be given moderator powers (aka a gavel) in both rooms.

To help the COiT never miss a line directed towards him/her, it is recommended to us MS Chat macros.

MS Chat Macros Tutorial

Debriefing

Once the mission is finished, two debriefings will be done. The first one will be concerning the mission. The SM, COiT and XO will each give their comments about the mission and the weekly tasks (such as emailing/posting of logs).

Then, the COiT will be asked to come in a separate chat room where the SM, Paula Greene CO, as well as a random PG player, will give the COiT feedback on the mission and weekly tasks s/he performed. This feedback will be key in helping the COiT improve and learn.


Logs

The COiT is to write a short log pertaining the mission. Logs should be emailed to usspaulagreene@startrek.acalltoduty.com and posted on the PG Boards under the relevant mission briefing at least 24 hours before the following mission. The title of the email and of the post should be: Position Rank Name SD (stardate here). For example: COiT LtCmdr John Doe SD 10603.31.

The COiT is to ensure that crew writes, emails, and posts logs.


Transcripts

The COiT will need to edit the mission transcript. The edited transcript is to be emailed as an attachment to usspaulagreene@startrek.acalltoduty.com and transcripts@startrek.acalltoduty.com at least 24 hours before the next mission. The file name of the transcript should be PaulaGreene*stardate* (Example: PaulaGreene1060331.rtf). The title of the of the email should be "USS Paula Greene Transcript *stardate* (Example: USS Paula Greene Transcript 10603.31). The body of the email should be something like "This message includes a Star Trek: A Call to Duty mission transcript of the USS Paula Greene. The transcript is for entertainment purposes only and cannot be redistributed or copied c. 2006."

Examples of edited transcripts: here. Our best example of an edited transcript can be found here.


Monitoring Subspace

During training, the COiT will have moderator power over the forum assigned to him/her on the Paula Greene Boards.

COiT is to ensure that posting is done properly. If there is double posting of logs, logs posted in the wrong thread, mistakes in stardates, etc., COiT is to take action by either editing the post or asking the player to correct the mistake.

Posting on the boards should follow ACTD guidelines.

Subspace Tutorial

Crew Evaluations

Part of the CO's job on a ship is to evaluate the crew every few months with the help of the XO and SM. In the week after the last mission of COiT, the trainee will meet with the SM and PG CO in a chat room. There, they will discuss crew performance and possibility of awards being given. Although PG crew cannot be promoted, it will be discussed in crew evaluations if players would be eligible for promotions and why on a "normal" ship. SM and PG CO reserve the right to give or not the awards to the crew. The crew evaluation session will be conducted by the SM.

ACTD Crew Evaluation Guidelines

Mock CO Interview

After the last mission, the COiT will undergo a mock CO interview. This will allow the candidate to experience what an interview would be like for a CO position and better prepare for an actual interview. The interview will occur in chat at a time and day determined by the SM and COiT. Questions will be from real interviews conducted by ACTD SMs to find a CO.

Candidate Evaluation

At the end of training, the crew will evaluate the COiT with the COiT evaluation form. The SM will then send the COiT a compilation of the comments crew gave about the trainee's performance. Below is a link to the Evaluation Form the players will be using to evaluate the performance of the trainee.

COiT Evaluation Form