Publication and delivery
This course is published for study. Publication does not confirm an available class, appointed instructor or completed practical validation. Before booking, obtain a session brief naming the organiser, instructor and assessor, equipment access and any independent review arrangements.
Before live assessment, the organiser must record the current LIVE build, validation date, ship and equipment used, tasks checked and any known limitations. If a required mechanic is unavailable, defer the affected assessment rather than certify an unobserved outcome. A material game update calls for a check of affected tasks, not cancellation of earlier academic achievements.
Your brief
For search coordinators allocating search crews from incomplete reports.
Civil Practice uses observation time to prevent a whole response following a repeated but stale location report.
The newest message contains the older position
Practice case · CS 180 · 2956 teaching edition
- At case time 09:10, a direct caller confirms Search Point A.
- At 09:14, a second caller reports Point B but says the information was heard at 08:55.
- Two crews are available. Neither report alone establishes current casualty status.
Before you begin: entry and equipment
Complete these courses
Bring or arrange
Volunteer locations or a tabletop map, two search roles and communications.
The organizer must confirm equipment access before booking. No ship purchase, pledge tier or donation is required.
Technical knowledge and game skills
Practical instruction revision 1 · 9 October 2026
Search patterns and reproducible location reports
Turn a distress report into a search origin
Ask for system, body, named facility or nearest quantum marker, time of last movement and whether the caller can share a beacon or party location. Have them describe a visible landmark if possible. A marker may show the right horizontal position while the casualty is underground or inside a different floor. Establish the likely access route as well as the coordinates.
Search a defined area
Fly parallel visual search legs using named endpoints or reproducible landmarks, keeping speed low enough to inspect the terrain. Choose spacing from actual visibility rather than an invented universal scanner radius. Record which side and altitude band were examined. Ship scanning can help locate some objects; do not claim it will reliably detect every downed player through terrain.
Refine and transfer the find
When a clue appears, report what was actually observed before moving the entire response. Confirm the casualty’s identity, access and local hazards by contact or direct inspection. Give the recovery team a usable approach and an alternate if the nearest landing point is unsuitable. A negative search report identifies the area and visibility, not “nobody is there.”
Practical drill
Locate a consenting, stationary participant from a deliberately incomplete surface report. Log two search legs, refine the location with one new clue and guide another crew to the correct access point.
Observed-skill checks
- Another crew can reproduce the search origin and leg boundaries.
- Search speed and spacing match observed visibility.
- The final report distinguishes finding the marker from reaching the person.
Use these checks to document the technical evidence supporting the course outcomes in your agreed role. Record what you personally performed, what assistance you needed and what remains unobserved. A discussion or simulated action does not certify live equipment handling; Crew Support evidence does not confer Pilot qualification.
Game references and build-sensitive details
The linked pages were read for this revision. Community references mix release eras; each source note identifies what is used and what is excluded. Technical explanations below are an Academy synthesis, and drills and performance checks are Academy-designed. Before practice, compare the named actions with the installed LIVE build and actual equipment. Bind actions by name rather than copying old default keys. Research is not an in-game validation.
- Star Citizen Wiki — Quantum drive
Spooling, calibration, obstructions, orbital markers and interdiction. Its proposed quantum-boosting section is not used as a live procedure.
- Star Citizen Wiki — Controls
Control categories, movement axes and targeting concepts. The page contains legacy bindings and flight-system descriptions; use the installed game’s bindings, not its key table.
- Star Citizen Wiki — Medical
Body-part injuries, Hemozal, symptom medication, BDL, bed tiers and regeneration. Ship tables, resource costs and ranges change; inspect the actual bed and tool.
Check the official LIVE release notes and record the session build, equipment and observed limitations before practical sign-off.
Learn the method
1. Establish the last confirmed report
Ask who observed the location, when they observed it and how the search team can make contact. Separate the caller’s estimate from a confirmed position. The wording of the first note will influence every search assignment that follows.
Make the location report usable to the search crew: named body or facility, a reproducible reference, last observed time and a contact method. Ask whether the caller is describing their own location or relaying someone else’s. Do not present a shared marker as confirmed access until the assigned crew can actually use it.
- Practise
- Take a location and status report.
- Ready when
- The intake identifies source, observation time, confirmed facts and estimates.
2. Divide the search deliberately
Give each resource a task, reporting point and withdrawal condition. Check that the assignments cover different work rather than duplicating the same unverified lead. Keep capacity for a new report or recovery need.
Allocate by search hypothesis, not simply by dividing the available ships. One crew might verify the last confirmed position while another checks the reported access route. Specify what counts as a completed check and when silence triggers contact. A negative report has meaning only if the crew describes what it examined and under what conditions.
- Practise
- Prepare a search board for two available crews.
- Ready when
- Each crew has a distinct task and knows when to report or withdraw.
3. Change the search when the evidence changes
Compare a new report’s source and observation time with the current plan. Record why you move a crew or keep it in place. Keep the earlier report so the next coordinator can understand the decision.
An updated search board should preserve the evidence behind each hypothesis. A later message that repeats an old estimate adds no new location observation. Retask a crew when the new evidence changes the best use of its effort, and explain what area or lead will become uncovered as a result.
- Practise
- Respond to a conflicting location report.
- Ready when
- The update traces the change to evidence and assigns the next verification task.
A worked decision
A later caller repeats an older guess. The coordinator checks the source rather than moving both search crews away from the last confirmed position.
- Record message time and observation time separately. Keep the direct 09:10 observation distinguishable from the second-hand 08:55 report.
- Assign one crew to verify A and a second a distinct supporting or verification task, with report and withdrawal conditions.
- Do not send both crews to B merely because that message arrived later. Ask for its source and revise only when the evidence warrants it.
Try it yourself
Take both calls, prepare the search board and explain which observation drives the first assignment. Issue a status update that preserves uncertainty.
What changes during the exercise
A second caller gives a different location.
Keep this record
- Caller / message time / observation time / location certainty
- Crew / search task / report condition / withdrawal limit
- New evidence / changed allocation / next verification
Plain-text worksheet with this case, your working fields and the assessment criteria. Fill it in privately; downloading does not submit work or record completion.
Check your reasoning
Which matters more: when a message arrived or when the location was observed?
Compare your reasoning
Both matter, but message time is not observation time. A new message can contain old information. Establish the observation and source before moving scarce search resources.
Answer first, then compare. In a later session, explain the decision using a changed case without referring to this answer.
How completion is judged
An intake note, search allocation and individual decision log.
The assessor checks your own work against all three “Ready when” criteria above. Use the observed-skill checks in the technical chapter to establish the applicable game-handling evidence in your agreed role. A successful team result does not replace an action they did not observe.
Findings, another attempt and review
- Demonstrated
- Your observed work meets the criterion in the agreed role.
- Further practice required
- The assessor identifies the observed gap and the specific practice needed.
- Interrupted
- Equipment, staffing or personal circumstances prevented a valid assessment. This is not a failure.
- Not assessed
- There is not yet enough evidence for this outcome.
A fresh attempt
Give the newer message a fresh direct observation. The learner must change the decision when source quality genuinely changes.
Reassess the missing outcome, plus any linked skill that needs new evidence. For prior learning, compare existing work with the same criteria and observe any missing practical action.
Ask for the reasons behind a finding. Reviews must be handled by someone independent of the original decision; defer the review if that person is not available.
Read the Academy Ordinance and review rulesFor instructors
Session setup and coaching
Prepare the session
Volunteer locations or a tabletop map, two search roles and communications.
Assign crew stations and tell each learner what they will practise. The instructor must be able to hear the calls and see the action being assessed. Brief the callsigns, channel, route and expected duration. Replace the example locations with the places you will actually use.
- Ask the learner to explain the relevant earlier procedure without notes; correct any gap before the practical.
- Teach and demonstrate the technical chapter using the actual game indications. Run its drill with feedback before connecting those skills to the three methods and worked decision. Use the observed-skill checks to identify missing handling evidence.
- Let the learner complete the normal procedure first, then introduce the change described in the exercise. Give them time to respond without coaching. Keep unrelated failures out of this attempt.
- Record the learner's action against each criterion. Give one specific next step for any gap and transfer unfinished operational work before closing.
What to watch for in CS 180
Ask the learner to identify the age of the observation, not just the timestamp on the message.
If another attempt is needed
Give the newer message a fresh direct observation. The learner must change the decision when source quality genuinely changes.
Running the exercise
Before the crew assembles, try the exercise in the ship you intend to use. Check station access, equipment and the route. Brief the crew on any faults that affect the task. If a bug prevents someone completing it, repeat that part once it works; do not record a failure for a broken mechanic.
Brief the command “Stop exercise” before starting. On that call, cease the drill and tell the instructor what needs attention. For weapons practice, identify the participating ships and crew; anyone else entering the area is a reason to hold fire.
Session administration: use player handles in your notes. Ask before recording voice or video, and agree when the recording will be deleted. Academy rules and review procedure.
Sources and edition
Lex Astra · School of Civil Practice
Course CS 180 · edition 2956.3 · 2956 teaching edition · revised course text.
Case CS–3: one berth remaining
Civil Practice case issued by CDR Yuki Tanaka-Reis in 2956. These variants use present-day service responsibilities and new training lists; they are not transcripts of the Pyro Station Alpha response.
Professional references and instructional revision
Instruction revised 9 October 2026. Lex Astra cases supply the teaching situations. Professional references inform communication, decision-making and instructional design; they do not confer external qualifications. LIVE capabilities remain subject to the recorded session check.
Editorial context and teaching basis
The lessons are current Academy teaching, not newly discovered historical records. Lex Astra opened in 2891. Historical sources keep their original issuer and date; all case callsigns, quantities, times and conditions are supplied for practice.
Your session brief names the instructor, the crew assignments and the equipment provided. Contact the teaching office above to arrange a place.
Course-text revision: 8 October 2026. Educational references were reviewed for the framework on 8 October 2026; they inform the teaching approach, not external accreditation or current game-capability claims.
Teaching research and its limitsWhere this leads
Civil Services requirementsCourses that use this work
Course records retain the edition and role assessed. New teaching text does not erase earlier achievements.