Task Force Jackal
USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81)
Naval Specialty School
Setup Loadouts
Basic Terminology and Shipboard Directions
Mounting, Dismounting, and Walking on the Ship Safely
Helicopter Landing Procedures; Refueling, Rearming, and Repairing
Launching and Recovering the Deployable RHIB
Steering the Ship and Speed Commands
Basic Knowledge of ACRE
DYEL Keybinds, Moving Crates and Objects on the Deck
1 - Setup Loadouts
All loadouts should be created and saved using the limited arsenal onboard the ship. If it’s not in our arsenal - then we don't use it. Your loadout should include the following essential items :
AN/PRC-117F
AN/PRC-343
Medical Equipment
Vanilla Toolkit
Map and Map Tools
Maglite XL50 or Fulton MX-991
The standard crew loadout consists of your base uniform, DDG-81 cap, and, if necessary, any secondary weapon in the limited arsenal. Our custom uniforms are modified to hold more than the largest vanilla ArmA backpack, therefore you should be able to fit everything you need into just the uniform. This is your default uniform for duties onboard the ship.
2 - Basic Terminology and Shipboard Directions
This image provides definitions for terms applying to spatial orientation in a marine environment in relation to a ship. Directions should always be called out relative to the ship according to this image.
*The highlighted terms are the most commonly used directional terms.
Aboard: onto or within a ship, or in a group.
Above: a higher deck of the ship.
Adrift: floating in the water without propulsion.
Aground: resting on the shore or wedged against the seafloor.
Amidships: near the middle part of a ship.
Ashore: on or towards the shore or land.
Athwartships: toward the sides of a ship.
Bottom: the lowest part of the ship's hull.
Centerline: an imaginary, central line drawn from the bow to the stern.
Fore or forward: at or toward the front of a ship or further ahead of a location (opposite of "aft")
Inboard: attached inside the ship.
Outboard: attached outside the ship.
Keel: the bottom structure of a ship's hull.
Port: the left side of the ship when facing forward (opposite of "starboard").
Starboard: the right side of the ship when facing forward (opposite of "port").
Stern: the rear of a ship (opposite of "bow").
Bow: front of a ship (opposite of "stern").
Astern: toward the rear of a ship (opposite of "forward").
Aft: toward the stern (rear) of a ship.
Waterline: where the water surface meets the ship's hull.
On deck: to an outside or muster deck (as "all hands on deck")
Onboard: somewhere on or in the ship.
3 - Mounting, Dismounting, Walking on the Ship Safely
CUP 10x10 platforms and the WMO_ACE mod provide the ability to walk on the deck seamlessly while the ship moves.
Two ways to get to the walkable back deck. Get into the RHIB and dismount, or use the scroll wheel option ‘TP to Deck’.
Always sit in a chair after using the ‘TP to Deck’ option, or you may not appear on other people’s screens. Sitting in a chair resets your character position relative to other people’s screens. You will be unable to communicate with ACRE if people can’t see you.
To enter the internal crew seats of the ship, go to amidships and use the green scroll wheel option ‘Get in Ship’. Internal seats will be discussed later.
Do not run into or collide with objects on the deck while the ship is moving, especially the .50 cals. The faster the ship is moving, the greater the chance to receive significant injuries if you bump into a simulation-enabled object. Stand clear!
Climbing ladders at speeds above 15 km/h is dangerous.
4 - Helicopter Landing Procedures; Refueling, Rearming, and Repairing
A custom script is used to attach helicopters to the aft deck of the ship.
Pilots should always use the custom orange ‘Attach Heli to Deck’ scroll wheel option, not the green ‘Secure Helicopter’ option organic to the HAFM mod.
Seamless landing without the use of the script is dangerous and inconsistent. Only physically land on the deck with the intention to attach, and do it as quickly as possible. Do not hold down your ‘Collective Lower’ key after making physical contact with the deck.
The engine state of the helicopter is saved and locked when the helicopter attaches to the deck. The engine state cannot be modified when attached to the deck. This is an ArmA engine limitation with no known workarounds.
The green ‘Secure Helicopter’ option is known to break and will not consistently give a prompt to unattach the helicopter. If this option is accidentally selected, simply use the ‘Attach Heli to Deck’ option while attached. This bypasses the attachment system organic to the HAFM mod.
The boat must be stopped to refuel. The fuel hose does not recognize the constantly changing position of the fuel nozzle. The hose will freeze mid-air over the ocean and will need to be recovered if dropped.
To refuel a landed helicopter, use the ACE interact key on the fuel nozzle and select ‘Take Fuel Nozzle’. Walk up to the helicopter and attach the fuel nozzle. The maximum hose length is 20 meters.
Use ACE interaction to pick up the fuel hose when refueling is complete. To return the fuel hose, use ACE interaction on the fuel nozzle and select ‘Return Fuel Nozzle’.
To customize pylons on any compatible helicopter, Use ACE interaction on the helicopter and select ‘Configure Pylons’.
To rearm a helicopter, use ACE interaction on the ammunition pallet and take the needed ammo into your hands. Walk up to the helicopter and ACE interact and select the ‘Rearm’ option.
To manually repair a helicopter using the ACE system, the boat must be stopped and you must have a vanilla toolkit in your inventory. Use ACE interact and look at the component that needs repairs.
The pilot is responsible for using the scroll wheel option ‘Repair Helicopter’. This can be done while the ship is moving and takes 30 seconds for a full repair.
5 - Launching and Recovering the Deployable RHIB
To enter the RHIB, use the green scroll wheel option ‘Get into Zodiac’ while in an internal crew seat.
You can also physically move to the RHIB located at amidship starboard and use ACE interaction to get in. You need to use this method if you will be the gunner on the RHIB.
To launch the RHIB, freelook towards the boat and select the green scroll wheel option ‘Extend Cranes’.
To recover the RHIB, position yourself near or ahead of the starboard torpedo launcher and freelook towards the ship. Use the ‘Load Zodiac into Ship’ scroll wheel option to recover the RHIB.
Do not ram into the ship at high speeds in the RHIB or you will risk an explosion.
Do not physically step onto the RHIB while it is attached to the ship, you will become injured from collisions.
The .50 cal gunner, if the ship is moving, should dismount before recovering the zodiac back onto the ship to avoid collision injuries.
6 - Steering the Ship and Speed Commands
Use the DELETE key to set the speed limiter using ACE.
To set the ship on an automatic course, set the speed limiter, and hold W at your desired speed then switch seats (do not enter the RHIB when setting a course). The ship will maintain speed and current heading after switching seats.
The speed limiter turns off when entering the driver seat again.
Water depth of at least 7 meters is required to not run aground.
All Stop - 0 Km/h
Dead Slow - 10 Km/h
Slow - 15 Km/h
Half - 20 Km/h
Standard - 36 Km/h (Hold W)
Full - 45 Km/h
Flank - 55 Km/h (Hold Shift+W)
All speed commands except all stop should be given with a direction modifier e.g. Slow Ahead, Slow Astern.
7 - Basic Knowledge of ACRE
The HAFM mod was built with TFAR integration in mind, not ACRE. There are no integrated radio racks on the ship.
All sailors should have an ACRE AN/PRC-117F inside of their invisible backpack, and an AN/PRC-343. Work compartment handy talkies, ship intercom system, and satellite communication to ground forces are abstractly represented by using these radios.
8 - DYEL Keybinds, Moving Crates and Objects on the Deck
Never use the ACE carry system to move any object on the boat.
Dropping unattached physics objects onto the decks can cause severe bouncing and even make the ship explode.
If you accidentally pick up any object using ACE carry, simply drop it overboard.
Use Shift+C to pick up and drop objects using the DYEL mod. Objects dropped on the deck using DYEL are automatically attached to the nearest detected surface.
Use Shift+Arrow Keys to adjust height and orientation of an object you are carrying.
Use Shift+Left click to throw an object in your hands.