Assessing the Results

Posted on Tue Jul 10th, 2012 @ 7:35pm by Lieutenant Commander Joseph Thompson & Lieutenant Amanda Owens & 1st Lieutenant Michael Watters

Mission: Episode 1.0 - "Enduring Legacy"
Location: Holodeck I, USS Yorktown
Timeline: Mission Day 04, 0913 Hours

ON: [[Holodeck I, USS Yorktown, Mission Day 04, 0913 Hours]]

As a chime signaled the jump to warp - and thereby the completion of the training mission, Lieutenant Amy Owens (NPC) held back a sigh. Things had gone well at first, with each team effectively dispersed to simultaneously attack both boarding parties. It didn't take long, though, for things to go downhill; the Security team had suffered five "casualties", one of them herself. She hadn't done this poorly since the Academy, and what made it worse was that the marines had only "lost" two men and gotten another "injured". As she took the PADD offered to her by Lieutenant Watters (PNPC), Amy felt certain her leadership had drastically reduced the effectiveness of her team. Sure enough, as she read the results on the PADD she saw that of the top ten scores, only two of them belonged to Security. The overall joint operation score itself was discouragingly low, despite the fact that they had finally completed their mission. This meant, Amy knew, that she had not handled joint operations well.

Michael had devoted a considerable amount of attention to monitoring their collective progress throughout the exercise despite also having taken part in it himself. There was no doubt in his mind things could have gone a lot better, but he was equally aware things could have gone a lot worse, this being their first joint operation together. Their priority now would be to address those areas which required the most improvement, preferably before the Yorktown was scheduled to depart.

"Private Tommy...front and center," Michael barked out as the individual in question moved forward from the assembled marines, "What did you think of the exercise, private?"

If Amy was surprised that Watters had directed his question at PFC Tommy, she was even more surprised that he answered without restraint. "Lieutenant Owens' tactics were flawed," the marine said matter-of-factly. "She ordered Security forces into positions already covered by marines; it showed a lack of trust that the marines could complete their mission without Security oversight." Amy flushed. Now that she thought about it, she had been doing that, but who was he to point it out? She opened her mouth to say something, but then something about his face caught her attention. It was familiar - where had she seen it before?

"The most important thing about joint operations under any conditions is communication," Michael said slowly to emphasize his point, "doesn't matter if it's verbal or non-verbal. Neither side was doing a very good job communicating this morning which is why we saw marines and security personnel trying to carry out the same tasks or occupy the same spaces."

Michael paused and turned his attention to the two teams waiting for further instructions from their superiors. While he was just as much concerned with assessing their performance as Lieutenant Owens, this certainly wasn't a conversation they needed to have in front of everyone. There would be plenty of time for debriefing their respective departments once they'd had a chance to sort things out amongst themselves. "Have Alpha Squad assemble in one hour for a debrief, Gunny," he said to Hernandez (NPC) before glancing toward the security team, "and I'm sure Lieutenant Owens will be expecting something similar from you all as well. Dismissed!"

It wasn't until the PFC stayed behind while everyone else left that a sudden suspicion made the connections in Amy’s mind; she knew who he was. Her face flushed with embarrassment as the two men regarded her.

“Well?” Joe asked the lieutenant. “Were we incorrect in our assessments? Or do you have something else to add?”

“Nothing else a, Sir,” Amy said stiffly. “But I’d prefer it next time if I was actually informed about everything in the mission.” Turning, she strode out of the holodeck.

Joe glanced at Watters. “Considering how I threw her in there like that, she did pretty well,” he told the marine lieutenant. “Today really wasn’t all that bad.”

The marine had watched the young woman leave without saying so much as another word. Assessing an individual's ability to carry out his or her duties was one thing but this certainly would not have been his preferred method for doing so. If the lieutenant's final reaction had been any indication, their little exercise might actually have done more harm than good. "I hope you aren't planning on putting her through that again," he said while his gaze lingered on the large holodeck doors.

Joe shook his head. “No,” he said. “It accomplished what it needed to. Anything more is just pushing for division in the department. She’s already mad; I’ll give her time to cool off before we do some more training.

OFF

A Joint Mission Post by:

Lieutenant Commander Joseph Thompson
Chief Security/Tactical Officer & Second Officer
USS Yorktown

First Lieutenant Michael Watters (PNPC)
Marine Commanding Officer
USS Yorktown
Played by: Capt Naros

Lieutenant Amanda Owens (PNPC)
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Yorktown
Played by: LtCmdr Thompson

and

Gunnery Sergeant Victoria Hernandez (NPC)
Marine Sergeant & Alpha Squad Leader
USS Yorktown
Played by: Capt Naros