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 command candidates admitted to the Crucible.
The Crucible integrates Lex Astra’s specialist work across a seventy-two-hour scenario. Real sessions and relief are agreed separately; the panel examines judgment, not endurance.
An operation the next watch can inherit
Practice case · CT 399 · 2956 teaching edition
- The case links a fleet movement, industrial load and civil receiving task.
- Phase one ends with an unresolved cargo item. Before phase two, receiving capacity falls.
- The operation is taught in agreed bounded sessions. The next leader did not hear every earlier decision.
Before you begin: entry and equipment
Complete these courses
One completed specialist certificate or an independently approved equivalent outcome portfolio, with evidence reference and reviewer.
Reasoned command recommendation or independent entry review; no insider sponsor is required.
Bring or arrange
Confirmed crews, assessors, stop authority, tested mechanics and agreed sessions.
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
Command a sustained, technically credible operation
Establish the capability baseline
Before the first sortie, obtain evidence of flight handling, mission access, cargo transfer and medical or engineering tasks required by the chosen scenario. Build the operation around trained roles and present equipment. A large roster does not produce additional simultaneous stations if the same players are assigned to several of them.
Maintain resources across sorties
Track fuel, ammunition, medical supplies, bed resources, cargo space and crew availability after each return. Use the actual remaining inventory rather than resetting the board to the original plan. Reduce scope before depleted equipment or departing players remove recovery capacity. A second sortie needs a fresh readiness check even if the first succeeded.
Hand over a reproducible operational state
Provide the incoming team with current locations, mission status, verified resources and the next decision trigger. Mark scenario-only developments as supplied exercise facts. Close the portfolio with individual observations and abandoned alternatives as well as outcomes, showing why the chosen course was feasible at the time.
Practical drill
Lead two linked sorties with a real relief between them and one resource loss. Preserve the specialist assessments and present a portfolio tracing command decisions to the actual reports and actions.
Observed-skill checks
- The initial plan uses demonstrated specialist capabilities.
- The second sortie reflects consumed resources and changed staffing.
- Relief and portfolio allow another leader to reconstruct the current state and decision basis.
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 — 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.
- Star Citizen Wiki — Engineering
Engineering terminals, components, fuses, heat and fires. This community overview is incomplete; verify each interaction and vessel’s support in the session.
- Star Citizen Wiki — Cargo
SCU, container geometry, grids and ownership. The page also contains obsolete automatic-loading descriptions and future design intentions; these are not instructions for the present cargo interface.
- 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 — Defend Occupants
A specific lawful bunker mission, shared access, allied NPCs and friendly-fire consequences. Other contracts have different conditions. Squad drills below are Academy teaching methods, not claimed game rules.
Check the official LIVE release notes and record the session build, equipment and observed limitations before practical sign-off.
Learn the method
1. Make the exercise ready to run
Confirm candidate entry, crew roles, equipment checks, observers and independent stop authority. Agree the actual session windows and handovers. The seventy-two-hour operation is the scenario’s timeline, not a requirement to remain continuously online.
Plan continuity across sessions explicitly. The scenario may advance while players are offline, but every supplied update must have a stated source and time within the exercise. The incoming team needs a coherent situation brief, not an obligation to reconstruct hours of fictional events from scattered messages.
- Practise
- Audit the exercise pack and player-session plan.
- Ready when
- The pack covers bounded sessions, viable relief and observation of each required outcome.
2. Lead through the change
Delegate work, hear specialist advice and compare the developing situation with the plan’s limits. Explain a decision to continue, reduce scope or stop, then confirm the affected teams understand it. Hand the next leader the open decisions, not a polished success story.
Exercise command through decisions that specialists can execute and challenge. Set intent, hear constraints, delegate bounded work and revise the mission when its conditions fail. Resist the temptation to perform every technical task personally: the assessment concerns leading the operation while preserving the distinct responsibilities of the crew.
- Practise
- Lead an observed phase and transfer it to relief.
- Ready when
- Your decisions stay within authority and participant limits and the next leader accepts the handover.
3. Defend the record, including the gaps
Submit the original plan, revisions, decisions and work still open. Explain your own contribution and one correction you would make. The panel judges the published outcomes and gives reasons; a course finding is separate from a command appointment.
Build the portfolio as an argument supported by evidence. For each required outcome, identify the relevant decision, contemporaneous report and observed action. Include abandoned options and unresolved work where they explain the judgment. The panel should be able to distinguish a sound decision with an adverse outcome from a lucky result produced by an unsupported plan.
- Practise
- Answer panel questions about the portfolio.
- Ready when
- Each required outcome has individual evidence and the panel can trace your reasoning.
A worked decision
Three agreed sessions portray a longer operation. The candidate stops a phase when reception fails, carries that decision into relief and defends the reduced scope at review.
- Before starting, check the resource and observer plan against each required outcome. Do not start a phase that cannot be observed or stopped independently.
- At the break, preserve the unresolved item and transfer the changed receiving capacity. The incoming leader revises the next movement within delegated limits.
- Submit original plans and revisions together. Explain why the reduced movement or hold was chosen and what remained for the next service. Accept a reasoned panel finding rather than treating completion as an automatic commission.
Try it yourself
Lead one observed phase, transfer it and defend the decision record. Staff supply a fresh assessed variant; this public case is for rehearsal.
What changes during the exercise
A resource changes between two agreed sessions.
Keep this record
- Session boundaries / resources / observers / stop authority
- Decision / evidence / delegated action / crew acknowledgement
- Relief: current plan / open items / next decision
- Panel criterion / individual evidence / finding and reasons
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
A phase ends without completing the planned delivery. What should the panel examine?
Compare your reasoning
Whether the candidate used the available evidence, respected limits, explained the decision and handed over the remaining work. Neither a dramatic rescue nor an aborted mission alone determines the finding.
Answer first, then compare. In a later session, explain the decision using a changed case without referring to this answer.
How completion is judged
A portfolio, observed decisions, relief brief and independent panel finding.
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
Reassess the unmet command outcome in a comparable phase with a different resource change; repeat linked work only where fresh evidence is needed.
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
Confirmed crews, assessors, stop authority, tested mechanics and agreed sessions.
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 CT 399
Test the incoming leader’s understanding before allowing the outgoing candidate to explain away missing information. Keep panel independence and individual evidence intact.
If another attempt is needed
Reassess the unmet command outcome in a comparable phase with a different resource change; repeat linked work only where fresh evidence is needed.
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 · Command Studies programme
Course CT 399 · edition 2956.3 · 2956 teaching edition · revised course text.
Case CT–2: relieving an unavailable commander
Command Studies case issued by CDR Maren Haldorsen in 2956. The course variants develop its test: can the next leader continue without access to the original planner’s private assumptions?
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
Command Studies requirementsCourse records retain the edition and role assessed. New teaching text does not erase earlier achievements.