General Operating Policy

The General Operating Policy defines the role and scope of fleet departments, the names and composition of fleet units, and other core procedures within the fleet, such as the chain of command. This policy is controlled by the Bravo Fleet Commanding Officer and Bravo Fleet Executive Officer. Questions about this policy should be directed through your chain of command.

1. Department Structure and Staff

1. Department Overview — Departments are the primary support system for Bravo Fleet’s community. A department oversees a service, or range of services, offered to/for the fleet community.
2. Department Staff Roles — Each department is led by a member of the Bravo Fleet Senior Staff as specified in Article III, Section 2 of the Bravo Fleet Charter.
   1. Department Heads — Department Heads have overall responsibility for managing their departments, including the appointment and removal of staff, as well as the creation and revision of policies and other documents.
      1. Authority to Change Policy — Department Heads must consult with the BFCO or BFXO before making major changes to their departments’ policy documents, a major change being something more impactful than reorganizing the document or correcting typos. This consultation will ensure that policy documents align with the Charter, the Judicial Code, and the policies of other departments.
   2. Department Deputies — Department Heads may, with the consent of the BFCO or BFXO, appoint Deputies to assist in operating their departments.
      1. Number and Status of Deputies — Each department may have up to one Deputy and said Deputy is a non-voting member of Bravo Fleet Command, as specified in Article III, Section 2 of the Bravo Fleet Charter.
      2. Acting Department Head Authority — Deputies act as Department Heads during their Department Head’s leave of absence but may not change department policy.
      3. Prohibition on Holding Multiple Deputy Roles — No member may hold more than one Deputy position at any given time, though TFXOs or TFCOs may concurrently serve as Deputies.
   3. Staff Officers and Staff Assistants — Department Heads may, with the consent of the BFCO or BFXO, appoint Staff Assistants and Staff Officers to teams or committees which assist in operating their departments.
      1. Number of Staff Assistants — Each department may have any number of Staff Assistants, who are members either assigned to various teams or committees within that department or assist in that department in a general sense.
      2. Number of Staff Officers — Each department may have one Staff Officer per team or committee within that department, and Staff Officers lead those teams.
      3. Purpose of Teams — Each department’s policy should specify any team’s and/or committee’s purpose and/or mandate.
      4. Status of Non-BFC Staff — Staff Officers and Staff Assistants are not members of Bravo Fleet Command.
      5. Holding Multiple Non-BFC Staff Roles — Members may hold more than one Staff Assistant or Staff Officer position, but Department Heads should consult with one another before appointing a member to their department if the member is also on another department’s staff.
3. Chartered Departments — The Bravo Fleet Charter specifies the position titles for the Bravo Fleet Senior Staff in Article III, Section 2, and the following departments are derived from them:
   1. Bravo Fleet Intelligence Office — maintains and develops the fleet’s canon through the Bravo Fleet Wiki, controls the asset registry, coordinates major fleet story developments through Campaigns and Fleet Actions, and sets general policy related to writing within Bravo Fleet.
   2. Bravo Fleet Office of the Chief of Staff — maintains the fleet’s roster and administers competitions, awards, and promotions.
   3. Bravo Fleet Operations Office — supervises unit leadership and oversees the fleet’s RPGs.
   4. Bravo Fleet Communications Office — coordinates recruitment and the fleet’s social media presence, moderates the fleet’s Discord server, and supervises the fleet’s graphics service.
   5. Bravo Fleet Engineering Office — develops, supports, and maintains the Bravo Fleet Management system and other online infrastructure.
   6. Bravo Fleet Security Office — supports online video gaming for the membership.
   7. Bravo Fleet Academy Office — oversees the creation and operation of Bravo Fleet Academy courses.
4. Bravo Fleet Judge Advocate General’s Office — The Judge Advocate General’s Office is not per se a department, but it is listed alongside the departments on the fleet’s staff page.

2. Fleet Units

1. Fleet Unit Overview — All members of Bravo Fleet are assigned to a unit, as specified in Article III, Section IV of the Charter. Task Forces contain the bulk of the active membership, and Starbase Bravo contains the Bravo Fleet Senior Staff and the Bravo Fleet Judge Advocate General. Inactive members are assigned to the reserves.
2. Task Forces — Task Forces are the primary organizational unit of Bravo Fleet and provide members with a support structure of staff members to help them thrive in whichever activities they choose to participate in.
   1. Opening and Closing Task Forces — Task Forces are opened or closed by the Bravo Fleet Commanding Officer, pursuant to Article IV, Section 1 of the Bravo Fleet Charter.
   2. Task Force Staff — Each Task Force is led by up to two staff members, both of which are charter-defined roles subordinate to the Bravo Fleet Operations Officer: the Task Force Commanding Officer and Task Force Executive Officer.
      1. Task Force Commanding Officers — Task Force Commanding Officers (TFCOs) have the overall responsibility for leading their units, including nominating awards and promotions as appropriate, encouraging a sense of esprit de corps, mentoring new members, and coordinating with department heads.
         1. Appointment of TFCOs — Pursuant to Article III, Section 2 of the Bravo Fleet Charter, Task Force Commanding Officers are appointed by the BFCO.
      2. Task Force Executive Officers — Task Force Executive Officers (TFXOs) assist Task Force Commanding Officers in their duties and take over for their TFCO during an absence or vacancy in the position.
         1. Appointment of TFXOs — Candidates for a TFXO position are nominated by the relevant TFCO to the Bravo Fleet Operations Officer, who will consult with the BFCO and BFXO to consider the appointment.
   3. Task Force Mandates and Headquarters — Each Task Force has a mandate and headquarters, determined at the time of the Task Force’s opening by the Bravo Fleet Intelligence Officer. Changes to a TF’s mandate or headquarters must be approved by the Bravo Fleet Intelligence Officer.
   4. Task Groups  — Each Task Force is divided into two Task Groups, numbered in honor of previous Bravo Fleet Task Forces.
   5. List of Task Forces, Task Groups, and Mandates — The Bravo Fleet Commanding Officer has authorized the following Task Forces and Task Groups:
      1. Task Force 17 — Fourth Fleet Deep Space Operations
         1. Task Group 9
         2. Task Group 38
      2. Task Force 47 — Fourth Fleet Pathfinding Operations
         1. Task Group 13
         2. Task Group 63
      3. Task Force 72 — Fourth Fleet Diplomatic Operations
         1. Task Group 21
         2. Task Group 99
      4. Task Force 86 — Fourth Fleet Border Operations
         1. Task Group 25
         2. Task Group 64
      5. Task Force 93 — Fourth Fleet Humanitarian Operations
         1. Task Group 44
         2. Task Group 58
   6. Former Task Forces — The following task forces are no longer in operation, and are listed here with their former mandates or areas of operations.
      1. Task Force 9 — Fourth Fleet Frontier Operations
      2. Task Force 21 — Fourth Fleet Beta Quadrant Operations
      3. Task Force 25 — Fourth Fleet Reliquary Operations
      4. Task Force 38 — Fourth Fleet Delta Quadrant Operations
      5. Task Force 44 — Fourth Fleet Intelligence Operations
      6. Task Force 58 — Fourth Fleet Raeyan Operations
      7. Task Force 63 — Fourth Fleet Security Operations
      8. Task Force 64 — Historical
      9. Task Force 99 — Alternate Reality
   7. Task Unit Policy — Further policy details for Task Units and Task Unit staffers may be defined by the Bravo Fleet Operations Office.
3. Starbase Bravo — Starbase Bravo contains the Bravo Fleet Senior Staff and the Bravo Fleet Judge Advocate General so that these members may maintain objectivity during large fleet events involving competition between the Task Forces and to accommodate their position in the Chain of Command.
4. The Reserves — Members not in an active unit (a Task Force or Starbase Bravo) are placed in the Reserves. By definition, members in the reserves may not participate in any fleet activities unless they transfer to an active unit.

3. Chain of Command

1. Chain of Command Overview — The Chain of Command (CoC) is the path that members should take to ask questions and resolve issues related to their own progress or standing in the fleet (including but not limited to awards and promotions) or seek mediation for disputes between themselves and other members.
   1. CoC in Nominations Process — Pursuant to the OCS Policy, the Chain of Command is also used to coordinate nominations for promotions and awards.
2. Chain of Command Process — If a resolution cannot be reached with the first person in the CoC or if a member of the chain of command is either on an LOA or unavailable, the question/issue should be brought to the next person in the chain of command, and so on.
3. Other Channels — This policy is intended for the resolution of members’ private questions/concerns through the appropriate staff channels and is not intended to prevent from asking general questions on Discord or from consulting the JAG Office.
4. Order of the Chain of Command — Members should start with their TFXO, as laid out here:
   1. Task Force Executive Officer
   2. Task Force Commanding Officer
   3. Bravo Fleet Operations Officer
   4. Bravo Fleet Executive Officer
   5. Bravo Fleet Commanding Officer

4. Leave of Absence (LOA) Policy

1. LOA Policy Overview — Staff members are expected to attend to fleet business in a timely manner to ensure the smooth and efficient operations of the organization, but we recognize that there are times when this isn’t always possible. A staff member who will be out of contact or otherwise unable to fulfill their duties should declare a Leave of Absence (LOA), which signals to those above and below them in the chain of command that they are unavailable.
2. LOA Policy Scope — This policy applies to Staff Assistants, Staff Officers, Task Force Staff, Department Deputies, Department Heads, and the Bravo Fleet Executive Officer.
   1. BFCO LOAs — Leaves of Absence for the BFCO are defined by Article IV, Section 2 of the Charter.
   2. BFJAG LOAs — Leaves of Absence for the BFJAG are defined by Section 1.3 of the Judicial Code.
   3. RPG Manager LOAs — Leaves of Absence for RPG Game Managers are defined by the Roleplaying Games Policy. If a staff member is also an RPG Game Manager, they should make sure their LOA follows both policies.
3. Declaring an LOA — Leaves of Absence must be declared in the appropriate staff channel on Discord with the expected start, and end dates of the LOA made clear.
   1. BFC LOA Declarations — Members of the BFC must note their absence in the #bfc-loa channel.
   2. TF Staff LOA Declarations — Task Force Staff must note their absence in their task force lounge channel.
   3. Other Staff LOA Declarations — A staff member declaring an LOA must indicate to whom members can direct inquiries in their absence (such as their TFXO/Deputy).
   4. Multiple Staff Role LOAs — If a member has more than one staff position, they should ensure that their LOA is known to all of the appropriate teams.
   5. LOA Declaration by Proxy — If a staff member does not have sufficient warning to declare an LOA on Discord, they may inform the member above them in the chain of command and that member may declare it for them.
   6. Unexpected Absences — If a staff member unexpectedly loses contact, they should get in touch with the members above and below them in the chain of command as soon as possible, to either declare an LOA or have one declared by proxy. This LOA would start from the day they lost contact and be subject to the duration restrictions in section 6 of this policy.
4. LOA Threshold — A staff member who knows that they will be out of contact for 48 hours or longer should declare an LOA. As a courtesy, shorter absences may also be noted, though this is rarely necessary for anything less than a day.
   1. Partial Unavailability — Sometimes life circumstances will make it so that staff members will be delayed in their responses, but won’t be fully unavailable. If staff are aware of such a situation that will persist for multiple days, they may note this, but this is not an LOA.
   2. LOAs While Still in Contact — Sometimes staff may wish to take a short break from their staff role(s) to focus on their own activity as a member without being out of contact. This is permissible with the consent of the member above them in the chain of the command and the member who would be taking over their responsibilities for a period not to exceed the standard LOA limits.
5. Ending an LOA — A staff member ends their Leave of Absence by stating so in the same area(s) that it was declared.
6. LOA Duration — Generally, Leaves of Absence may be up to two weeks (14 days) long.
   1. Extended Leaves of Absence — Staff Members needing more than two weeks (14 days) should consult with the person above them in the Chain of Command as soon as possible upon learning of the predicted absence. A leave of absence of this duration will be considered a request.
   2. Extended LOAs Approval — LOAs of more than two weeks (14 days) for members holding Staff Officer, Staff Assistant, TFXO, or Deputy roles may be approved or rejected by the relevant Department Head.
   3. Extended LOA Approval for Members of the Electorate — LOAs for more than two weeks (14 days) for members of the Electorate may be approved or rejected by the BFCO.