OK D-Day 4th ID

Well first off, We had a great time, but there is some issues that we felt should be brought up to the staff. I hope what I am about to put on here does make anyone mad, but it must be said.

1) The entire DDay experience is a vacation for alot of us, so we should not feel that we need to work during the week. I did not mind helping out with the HW's, the O-tent or even with the training that we did in the woods. There were, however, times that we felt as if we were being guilt tripped into doing what others had committed to do or wanted the unit to do. Yes, we said that we would help, but in my opinion, we went above and beyond what was expected.

2) Meetings were called at times that most people should be resting up for the next day ahead of them. I only require about 6 hours of sleep, but when it is raining like cats and dogs, you start to get run down. Yes, we only had 2 days of rain, but they were both doozies. I am not saying that we should not meet and communicate, I am just saying that we should meet at times that are reasonable and everyone should be on time.

3) Arrival prior to games was unheard of. We were being asked to be at the loading site about an hour early. With the heat the way it was, I would think that we would want to get there just a few minutes prior to loading the buses. While carrying all of that weight while it is hot, spending less time in the shade with the loadouts is important.

4) The amount of players that were onsite but did not play in most of the mini's, to me hurt us on Saturday. We were not together on alot of things, yes we got the job done on Utah, but after that we were lost. I am not sure if this was TOC related or not, but it did not look good. I had about 15~20 people that I was able to communicate with because we had played together all week. Hopefully next year, we will be able to get more people out there during the week.

Now, I have spoke my peace and will probably get alot of grief for doing so, but it must be said. I heard alot of others that felt the same way but may be afraid to put it in writing. Hopefully, there will be no hard feelings, but if there is, so be it. I was raised to speak my mind and do it in a manner that does not degrade someone and I believe that I have done that here.

I do want to say it again, we had fun, but could have had more fun with less of the above concerns.

Thanks, Icehouse....

Icehouse: I agree with you and support you on pretty much everything you said.

I understand that not all these problems can be avoided but they are things that a solution should be worked towards.

Overall, I had a great time. My company had a great time. I look forward to D-Day next year. Thanks guys.

ya, ill see you guys next year, and be ready to kick some german ass!

Everyone already knows my opinion on the things that Icehouse posted above.This is mt take on these things.It is simple,if you tell/commit to someone you will help them get a job done,DO IT.If everyone would have gave 1hr of their time to work on the heavy weapons then they would have been done in 2-3hrs instead of 2 days. Most of the people that workd on them did not even have them on their side of the beach.

Meetings.I do understand the importance of them but wish they could be scheduled earlier also.

As far as the mini's are concerned.Why come to a paintball event and be there all week and not play the mini's?These are some of the best paintball games you will play and the perfect place to work with your company on tactics.This is like on the job training.

I also want to thank all the 4th ID for their efforts on the field.This was one of my best years at D-Day.

I would also like to thank the Rasta's,Team Inner Demon,OK Sabre,Jedi and all the rest of Uniform and Tango company for working & communicating so well together on the beach and after the beach.

I am going to agree with the points raised. The Heavies should've been a group activity, not a 2 man job! I am at fault for this, but at times I running late myself, and that is not meant as my excuse. I am at full fault for not moving my ass to help.

Charlie did a good job of sticking together. It was mostly the core members I had from the beginning of the week. Namely Zack Pinoy's group and JD's. Caleb did a good job of going above what I asked of him. I am sure Adam did a fantastic job with Tango, as I heard. He was certainly a asset to Charlie last year, glad he did even better this year for Tango. Though for most to of the game I had only around 16 guys tops, but he got the job done because Charlie squads stayed mostly intact.

I agree with Hitman, people committed to the O-tent, and people who weren't supposed to still be there, stayed and did their part. JD even stopped on his way to camp to help out. I saw Falkyte, Hitman and Jedi helping out.

The meetings should've been earlier. I understand Cam gets some of this information later, and I had no problem hanging around.

Icehouse, thanks for stating your opinion, this how things improve, not just saying how well things went. Thanks for getting out in the open where we can discuss it.

I had a awesome time this year, and it went fast. I enjoyed it very much, despite my lateness. I really enjoyed the "group therapy" at the end of the day!

Ya, I'm sorry i couldn't help with those, but next year, if my parents will let me camp, don't worry I WILL HELP, so if i forget, and I'm camping there, please don't hesitate to wake me up or whatever.

Alright guys... time for me to weigh in.

1. Times: This year D-Day was my only vacation. And even then I don't get vacation pay this year. So essentially I'm losing money coming to this. I understand that vacation is vacation and should be treated as such.

My command meetings didn't even start until 8. In order to put out information and get set for the next day, we had to have our meetings as late as we did. I tried not to waste anyones time.

Most nights I didn't get much sleep myself.

2. Putting on the schedule certain times to gather for minis is the only way I know of to make sure people are actually making it out there instead of waiting until the last minute and then missing everything.

3. Meeting before the game on Saturday was so early because in past years the game staff has been riding us to get gathered and on the buses ASAP.

4. People should have helped with HW's and other stuff. That's a given.

All in all, we got our jobs done and, personally, I think that this years schedule was a lot better than last years. It went from needing a major re-working to minor tweaking.

1) I understand about your command meetings starting so late, but how about having the CO meetings the morning after your meeting? Just a thought!

2) I totally understand what you are saying Farris, but to have people standing around in the heat, waiting for everyone to show up is hard on people. I am not pointing fingers at anyone and I understand that you are put in a bad spot as well. To me, in the future, have the CO's personally escort his company to the mini's, at a reasonable time prior to the game or get a number the night before of who will play. Just a thought!

3) The statement about Saturday's game, I can live with that. I guess it is hard to get all of those people out to their respective spots in the time allotment given.

I hope that some of the suggestions that will be given will be considered for this next years event. I WILL BE THERE, EVEN IF YOU WORK ME TO DEATH! LMFAO!!!

I had thought about having the meetings in the morning. But with the mini games in the morning that made our time short and there could be some OCD/procrastinating folks like me that take forever getting ready.

It's virtually impossible to get a number for the games more than about 10 minutes before it starts. That's just from my personal experience.

I understand Farris, but I am older and little smarter than some, not all, so next year I will be hanging in the shade until about 30 minutes prior to buses leaving.
Us old folks can't hang like you younger guys can!

As far as the mini's, I will play all of them except the night game and the civil war. So you can go ahead and write me down for those.

If you need my help with anything at all, please let me know. This thread was not started to cause any problems or hard feelings, just trying to get some stuff off of the old man's chest.

Truly enjoyed the action, as well as the week. Looking forward to next year already!

Put money into the old fun account today. Hopefully next year I will have enough to buy me some more new toys.

Icehouse

I don't think anyone will take what you've said personally, just some suggestions to help make us better! I believe we can talk about issues that will make the week even more enjoyable for us.

My one regret in the 4th is that I didn't meet more of you guys last year instead of this year! I can't believe it will be a year before we get to do it again.

When are the winter meetings? I have a few gripes that I would like to personally tell Dwayne about. I will probably already have them out in the open, when the DDay forum gets back up on Wednesday. I am not one that takes kindly to be cheated and we all know that they did.
Anyway, already planning for next year. We talked about it all of the way home. Everyone is excited and had a great time, minus the heat and the cheating. This just gives us fire for next year!HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

There is a summer and winter meeting. I believe it is by invite only, but I could be wrong on that.

Feel free to post on the D-day forum.

Everyone, try not to be drugged into a war of words with the Germans. We proved what we needed to prove on the field. That's where it counts! If you post concerns as suggestions, it may be more effective getting your point across. IMHO

Yeah... the meetings are for staff and commanders only. Otherwise it'd get really crowded really quick. I can't make them but I'll pass along suggestions.

Wow, it's that time again. D-Day 2009 has come and gone, and 2010 sits on the horizon. As many of you know, planning for the next year begins immediately, make sure all AAR's are submitted soon while it is fresh on your mind so all thoughts may be heard.

This year for me was bittersweet; seeing all the friends I've made over the last 4 years, making new friends for the first time, and playing the game we all love were all highs. There were unfortunately, as many lows. It seems as though most of the bases have been covered, so I will not continue beating that horse. Many valid points have been raised, and it is my hope, they can all be corrected.

I do not take my job lightly, I pride myself in what I do. As I have stated numerous times, I take it personal if you all do not have a great time. I do all the things I do to ensure you will have a good time. That being said, I also do not think for one moment, anyone takes that for granted. It is not my belief, that the buck was passed with the expectation that I would complete all the tasks. I understand that is the nature of the beast. I do appreciate any and all help I received with the Heavys and any other tasks. It is my hope, no one felt pressured to help by anything I said or did, that was not and never will be my style. If that happened, you have my sincerest apology.

Now back to business--

Not truly an AAR, more or less just my thoughts on Oklahoma D-Day 2009


Camping-- The camping areas were decent enough, although could have used a more recent mow. The relocation of the portable toilets eliminated some prime camping real estate; the "Cadillac of Dumpers", happened to be on the best tent site in the 4th campground. The aqcuisiton of the GP Large was a great asset.

Water--Obviously the logistics on this were bad. There were at least 3 water buffalos sitting by the radio tower prior to game on, why weren't they in the field? The sulfer water provided by the 899th was better than nothing, however it should not be the players responsibility to supply all the water in an 8 hour game.

Sponsor--Crap Paint! Need I say more? In 2006 I paid $65 for a case of Marbalizers...MARBALIZERS, good paint; JT is entry level at best. Not sure what the thought process was in getting them as a sponsor, but Dewayne had a few too many that night. The volleyball court and big screen theater was a nice addition though. The techs were mostly useless, didn't have parts, made excuses, took hours to make repairs.

Field--The field was in poor condition again this year. The weeds were overgrown, barbed wire still had not been removed, etc.

Watching the battle unfold on Utah was impressive, great job to those of you that repeatedly assaulted the large bunker on the Northern tape line. It was a nightmare of a bunker. Thanks to the 101st Pathfinders for their help. Following Utah, Tango, Uniform, and myself went to the valley. We met moderate resistance around SME, slightly heavier around the bus DZ. I ran out of water around 1300 and had to hike all the way to the causeway DZ. Once there, I discovered the only water there was hot sulfer water, it was however wet, and kept me hydrated. Many 4th IDers were in the DZ at this time. After a short hydration break, rather than returning to the valley, I joined part of the 4th and the 899th to move up the causeway.

At the peak of the causeway, to the west side we met resistance with elements of the 91st Luftlande Division and the 6th Fallschrimjagers. Unfortunately, they had good defensive positions and we met heavy casualties. Upon my return to the DZ, many of the same players were still in the DZ, due to lack of water. I caught a bus to the Colleville Allied DZ to get water and remained there until reinsertion. The final battle at Colleville was lost due to two main points of interest.

The first being the lack of paint supply. The truck at the DZ RAN OUT OF PAINT! When asked how long before paint would be available, we were told 10-15 minutes. In reality, it was closer to 20 minutes. Wouldn't have been a problem except for the reinsertion that happened in between. Troops were reinserting with very limited or no paint supplies. When the truck did get more paint, it was only 15 cases or so. That too was gone in a matter of minutes, with no more to be delivered. That was our single biggest issue, next to water. Air seemed to be fine, early in the day I was filling around 4300, but never filled less than 3500. There was some reports of players even filling close to 5000.

The second point, lack of motivation. The game ended 20 minutes early. The horn didn't blow until 1700, but essentially the game was over around 1640. Players simply wouldn't move up, wouldn't fortify captured bunkers, and generally seemed to lose interest. The shakeup in German High Command earlier in the year seemed to be a motivator for German forces, while the Allies seemed to become complacent.

I myself witnessed only a handful of cheating incidents; a few wipings, several players "playing-on", a couple of people "shooting hot", and one incident of last years paint being used. Overall, I'd say pretty fair play throughout the day.

Ok, then here we go:

1) Why do the germans get to go out to the field on Friday and change things around. There is no way that they did all of that on Saturday morning, did they?
If they are allowed to change the field, then we should be given the same amount of time to make changes ourselves! We should see the playing area that we are being asked to play in as it will be when we play. There are some safety concerns that could arrise from this as well. If they are past the closest berm before start of game, they should be removed for the first hour of play.

2) If someone is caught shooting old paint (Utah beach) or even rubber balls, as was stated by some at Colleville, they should be gone!

3) If any shenanigans are seen, accused or found after the fact, the team that it benefits should all be sent to the DZ or points taken away! No questions asked. If you rush a blue flag and it will not raise after trying it because it is tied off, then we should all be in the DZ! Cheating should not be allowed by any of the staff. It was happening this year.

4) No one should be able to change the foliage around a insertion point. It is this way for a reason. When we trained, we did not try to mow it down or even stomp it down. It was to our advantage the way that it was.

5) Radio's were being jammed. I know it, I am not that dumb! There should be some reprimands for this. There are safety concerns as well as fair play that should be mentioned. They knew what channels we would all be using, it is not that hard to do.

6) WATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why did the Germans have water, but we did not? Sounds to me like we were not suppose to win, or even have a chance to stay in the game. This to me is BS!!!!!!!!!!!! All that I heard from Dwayne and his staff all week, HYDRATE, HYDRATE so on and so forth. Then we go to the hottest area of the game and have no water. I do not want to here any BS about not being able to get it down there. They got it there last year and it was up on the hill.

7) Cease fire!!!! Does this not mean to stop all play? Why were they moving while cease fires were called? I promise this, either Dwayne puts a stop to it, or next year, you move on me during a cease fire and someone is going to get lit up! We stayed where we were when they were called, not so for the germans. This is suppose to be an honest game, no cheating allowed. This was clearly cheating to the point that many people were ready to fight.

Bending the rules! Down in the valley, we were at a DZ and here comes a bunch of germans surrounding the bus. When we were told to move out/insert, they started firing at the area that we were in and when we returned fire, they got mad. To the guy that I shot about 8 times to the mask, I am NOT SORRY! When the ref finally arrived, we were told to move down the road, I would just as well have stayed where we were and fought it out. They were the ones taking the beating. Dumba&#'s!!!!!!

9) How about letting the allies defend in a couple of the mini's this next year. We were all worn out by Saturday, as we were the aggressor's all week, except for the night game.

I will have several more after I think about it some more. Until then, this is all I have...

Stay tuned.... I am not done.....

This was a very gray area, that I felt was compromised fairly. The rules state
"SPECIAL NOTE: There will be no engagement or game play allowed within 50 feet of a Dead Zone. All participants in play must stay at least 50 feet from the Dead Zones. Dead Zone "camping or ambushing" (sitting right outside a dead zone to ambush players as they reinsert) is not allowed. You cannot engage players leaving a Dead Zone until they have been signaled as "in play" by the referees."

The problem here is threefold. The Orange shirt gave us a reinsertion and signaled us as being "in play" where we stood, right next to the bus. The Germans, who legally were 50 feet away, opened fire, and naturally we returned fire, using the bus as a bunker. When a DZ is being contested, the ref should have (as we eventually came to an agreement on) allowed us the opportunity to reinsert safely in area controlled by our own forces. The Germans should have recognized the DZ as being off limits and not opened fire, and we should have been at least 50 feet away from the dead zone before engaging.

There was three parties involved, all of which made bad decisions. Ultimately it comes down to the referees making sure all rules are being followed. When that does not happen, incidents like the above take place.

I don't mean to sound argumentative, but they were not 50 feet away from that DZ! The one that I nailed may have been 20~30 feet away, max.
He was close enough that I could hear him telling his buddy standing next to him to shoot at the front of the bus, we were coming out!

I was unaware they were that close. Doesn't change the fact the situation wasn't controlled properly by the refs.

With this I agree!