FO 214 · Convoy planning and cargo movement

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 convoy coordinators, cargo custodians and receiving crew.

The two-vessel exercise joins Case FO–7’s missed contact with the receiving discipline taught in the Academy’s incomplete-delivery case.

Five received, one inaccessible

Practice case · FO 214 · 2956 teaching edition

Aster carries crates A1–A4. Relay carries R1–R2.
Both crews have the same rendezvous and agreed lost-contact instruction.
Relay misses a contact. At receipt, R1 is accessible; R2 cannot be accessed.

Before you begin: entry and equipment

Complete these courses

Bring or arrange

Two suitable vessels, participating crews, a receiver and small training loads.

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

Flying a convoy with physical cargo

Load for the route and unloading order

Match each container’s dimensions to the cargo grid and loading aperture, not just total SCU. Keep exits and work paths clear. Put the first delivery where it can be removed without unloading every later consignment. Verify grid attachment and the manifest after loading; a crate near the ship is not necessarily aboard or secured.

Maintain position with relative velocity

Choose an offset from the lead ship with a clear escape direction, not a position directly in its exhaust or braking path. Close with a small speed difference and reduce that difference before reaching station. Look at relative motion as well as separation. The lead announces turns and slowing early; a slower hauler sets the pace rather than chasing an escort’s maximum speed.

Synchronise travel without relying on automatic linking

Each ship verifies destination, fuel and drive readiness. Use group quantum linking only if the session demonstrates it working; otherwise jump individually to the same named destination and report arrival. A missing arrival triggers the briefed hold/contact procedure. At the receiver, unload by consignment and verify mission or terminal acceptance before releasing custody.

Practical drill

Load two small consignments, hold a loose offset formation without collisions, complete a coordinated quantum leg and unload in order. Deliberately delay one arrival; the other crew holds rather than starting a speculative search.

Observed-skill checks

Container fit and unloading access are demonstrated.
Formation corrections reduce closure before reaching the assigned position.
Arrival, physical unloading and receiving acceptance are recorded separately.

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 — 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 — 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.

Check the official LIVE release notes and record the session build, equipment and observed limitations before practical sign-off.

Learn the method

1. Connect each load to a person

Give each vessel a crew contact, load list, destination and alternate. Name who answers for each load until Receiving accepts it. Read the brief with both crews: a common route does not establish common custody or matching departure instructions.

Build the movement around the least flexible load or vessel. Check cargo dimensions and access as well as nominal capacity, then confirm the destination can receive the particular consignment. Put crew contacts and custody in the movement order so a substitute pilot does not accidentally become the assumed owner of every unresolved cargo item.

Practise: Write and brief a two-vessel movement order.
Ready when: Each load has an accepted custodian and receiving point.

2. Decide lost-contact actions in advance

Choose a rendezvous, a contact method and a limit after which the crew will hold or withdraw. Have each vessel repeat the instruction before departure. Do not send both vessels chasing the other’s last reported position.

A rendezvous needs a recognisable location, an arrival window, a waiting action and a release condition. Select a point both crews can identify in their actual game interface. The contact plan must not depend entirely on the channel whose loss it is intended to handle; brief a workable fallback before departure.

Practise: Rehearse a missed contact with both crews.
Ready when: Both crews follow the same agreed contact and hold or withdrawal procedure.

3. Count what Receiving can actually accept

Compare the departure manifest with the receiving count. Distinguish missing cargo from cargo that is present but inaccessible. Leave a discrepancy open with an owner and next check rather than changing a number just to close the movement.

Reconcile by identifier and unit before reconciling totals. Five containers may represent a different volume from five SCU, and an accessible crate may still be at the wrong receiver. Record what was physically checked and what the receiver accepted; preserve separate contractual or sale confirmation where the task requires it.

Practise: Reconcile two vessel reports with one inaccessible crate.
Ready when: Every vessel and load is accounted for or explicitly unresolved with a follow-up owner.

A worked decision

Aster carries four crates and Relay two. Receiving can access only one of Relay’s crates. Five are received; the sixth remains with Relay for an access check.

Use the briefed contact and hold procedure instead of sending Aster to search an unverified position. Leave Relay the current instruction.
Receiving checks A1–A4 and R1. Enter five received and R2 inaccessible; do not reduce Relay’s departure quantity.
Relay keeps the follow-up for R2 until another custodian explicitly accepts it. The next watch receives the location, access problem and next check.

Try it yourself

Brief both crews, handle the missed contact and reconcile the six identifiers. Give the receiver a report that distinguishes vessel arrival from cargo acceptance.

What changes during the exercise

Relay misses the rendezvous acknowledgement.

Keep this record

Vessel / crew contact / cargo identifiers / custodian
Rendezvous / contact limit / lost-contact action
Dispatched / received / inaccessible or missing / follow-up owner

Download FO 214 worksheet

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

The convoy arrived together. Can the movement report say that all six crates were delivered?

Compare your reasoning

Only if Receiving checked and accepted all six. Vessel arrival proves a movement, not a cargo count. Report five received and one inaccessible until the sixth is verified.

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 movement order, individual coordination observation and receiving report.

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

Make one crate confirmed at origin instead of inaccessible at destination. Require the learner to choose and explain a different follow-up.

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 rules

For instructors

Session setup and coaching

Prepare the session

Two suitable vessels, participating crews, a receiver and small training loads.

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 FO 214

Ask a different crew member to explain the lost-contact instruction. Matching written copies do not prove both crews understood it.

If another attempt is needed

Make one crate confirmed at origin instead of inaccessible at destination. Require the learner to choose and explain a different follow-up.

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.

Reading into practice

ATP 3-21.8 · Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad · United States Army (11 January 2024)

Read: Chapter 2, Section II: Troop Leading Procedures, especially the warning order and Supervise and Refine.

A movement brief must let each crew prepare and tell them what happens when a ship falls behind. Check fuel, loading and readiness before departure; do not treat a timetable as a readiness report.

Crew exercise

Brief a two-hauler convoy with one escort. Choose the route and rally point, assign callsigns and departure order, and state whether the escort stays with a delayed hauler or continues with the other. Before departure, one hauler reports that loading is incomplete. Give the crews a revised departure instruction and obtain their replies.

Debrief

Which readiness reports are still missing?
If the convoy splits, which ship does the escort protect and why?
What must be checked again before the delayed ship rejoins?

Applying the source aboard ship

Use the cargo, fuel and route information available aboard the chosen ships. Do not assume road-convoy spacing, shared quantum travel or automatic convoy coordination.

This is a supplementary discussion exercise, not an additional completion requirement. Use the source to examine the decision; the course criteria above remain the assessment standard.

Sources and edition

Lex Astra · School of Fleet Studies
Course FO 214 · edition 2956.3 · 2956 teaching edition · revised course text.

Case FO–7: the vessel that misses assembly

Fleet Studies case issued by CAPT Renard Okonkwo in 2956. These new practice variants extend its receiving-window and watch-handover problem; their callsigns, quantities and times are teaching inputs, not additional historical facts.

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 limits

Where this leads

Fleet Operations requirements

Courses that use this work

Course records retain the edition and role assessed. New teaching text does not erase earlier achievements.