LEX ASTRA ACADEMY FO 230 / Contact, escort and withdrawal Lex Astra · School of Fleet Studies Teaching edition 2956.3 / Live practical ———————————————————————————————————————————————— LEARNER WORKSHEET For escort leaders and protected-movement coordinators. This is a private working copy. Downloading submits nothing and records no completion. Use exercise identifiers, not private player information. ———————————————————————————————————————————————— SESSION DETAILS Learner identifier: ____________________________________________________________ Instructor / assessor: ____________________________________________________________ Session date / agreed role or variant: ____________________________________________________________ Vessel, configuration and equipment: ____________________________________________________________ LIVE build / capability test date / tested by (if practical): ____________________________________________________________ Stop signal / recovery contact / communication arrangement: ____________________________________________________________ ———————————————————————————————————————————————— PURPOSE Keep a convoy moving while an escort reports contacts and respects its withdrawal limits. COURSE CONTEXT Fleet Studies judges the escort by the movement it protects, not by how far it pursues a contact. The protected cargo and receiving window remain part of the decision. ———————————————————————————————————————————————— ENTRY Complete: FO 214 Equipment: Participating crews, a tested area, stop signal and recovery plan. ———————————————————————————————————————————————— CASE: A contact draws the escort away 1. Two transports have an accepted route and receiving window. 2. One participating contact moves away from that route toward the exercise boundary. 3. The brief forbids pursuit beyond the boundary. Uninvolved players are excluded from all exercise action. ———————————————————————————————————————————————— TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE AND GAME SKILLS Escort flying, targeting and disengagement Practical instruction revision 1 / 9 October 2026 Fly coverage rather than a collision course Position so you can observe the protected ship and likely approach without occupying its intended path. Use small relative-velocity corrections to regain station. If a contact appears, establish its position and movement before turning the whole convoy towards it. Your task is to keep the transport moving safely, not pursue every radar return beyond supporting distance. Understand the firing solution In an agreed training scenario, select the identified target and read range and closure. A lead pip shows where to aim ahead of the target; a lag presentation shows the projected impact relationship behind the aiming direction. Practise smooth tracking and short controlled bursts rather than chasing the pip with large alternating inputs. Allow capacitors to recover and distinguish projectile travel from hits. Mixed projectile speeds can produce different solutions; test the fitted weapon groups. Break contact as a team Call the transport’s escape destination before changing roles. Maintain defensive awareness while it creates separation; do not assume changing to NAV retains every defensive system. On a missile warning, use the ship’s countermeasures and manoeuvre while checking whether the warning clears; one release is not proof of defeat. Report fuel, damage and arrival at the rally before deciding whether another sortie is possible. PRACTICAL DRILL Use a consenting training target or appropriate Arena Commander session. Maintain an offset, acquire and track without firing through the protected ship, then abandon pursuit on command and cover the transport’s withdrawal. OBSERVED-SKILL CHECKS The escort maintains separation and positive target identification. My action / observed result / assistance / evidence reference: ____________________________________________________________ Live, simulated or unobserved: ____________________________________________________________ Tracking is controlled and fire stops when a friendly crosses the solution. My action / observed result / assistance / evidence reference: ____________________________________________________________ Live, simulated or unobserved: ____________________________________________________________ Disengagement returns protection to the transport rather than leaving it behind. My action / observed result / assistance / evidence reference: ____________________________________________________________ Live, simulated or unobserved: ____________________________________________________________ Apply the technical checks in the agreed role. Discussion and simulation do not certify live handling; Crew Support evidence does not confer Pilot qualification. GAME REFERENCES 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 — Controls https://starcitizen.tools/Guide: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 — Master Modes https://starcitizen.tools/Master_Modes SCM and NAV distinction. Check the actual mode, transition and available systems on the session build. Star Citizen Wiki — Quantum drive https://starcitizen.tools/Quantum_travel Spooling, calibration, obstructions, orbital markers and interdiction. Its proposed quantum-boosting section is not used as a live procedure. Official LIVE release check: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/patch-notes ———————————————————————————————————————————————— METHOD 1: Report what the contact is doing Give the observed position, movement and identity confidence. Keep “unknown” separate from “hostile.” The movement leader needs evidence to decide whether to hold, continue or withdraw, not a dramatic label unsupported by observation. Use a contact report that another crew can orient from: reference point, relative location, observed movement and time. Describe behaviour separately from intent. A contact approaching the same destination may require monitoring without justifying engagement; uncertainty should increase the quality of reporting, not the certainty of the accusation. Practise: Report a contact from incomplete information. Ready when: Your report separates observed behavior, identification and uncertainty. My action and observed result: ____________________________________________________________ Evidence reference: ____________________________________________________________ ———————————————————————————————————————————————— METHOD 2: Keep the escort tied to its task State the protected vessels, participating contacts and actions allowed in the exercise. Decide who may order withdrawal and how it will be acknowledged. A contact outside the agreed exercise is not a new target. Brief the escort’s relationship to the protected movement: which vessel needs coverage, where separation becomes unacceptable and who authorises a change. Do not import fixed distances from another vehicle or game. Use the actual visibility, communication and manoeuvring conditions to establish an exercise envelope the crews can maintain. Practise: Brief the escort’s task and exercise limits. Ready when: All crews can state what is protected, who participates and when action must stop. My action and observed result: ____________________________________________________________ Evidence reference: ____________________________________________________________ ———————————————————————————————————————————————— METHOD 3: Withdraw as a coordinated movement Tell the protected vessels when the escort disengages and confirm their destination. Account for each vessel at the next agreed point. Pursuit that leaves the convoy unprotected defeats the task even if the escort wins the encounter. Disengagement is complete only when the protected movement has a usable next plan. Report the withdrawal, confirm the transport’s direction and check for a separated vessel at the rally point. Avoid sending a lone escort back on an uncertain search without revisiting fuel, communications and the protection still required by the remaining convoy. Practise: Withdraw and check the protected vessels. Ready when: The convoy acknowledges the withdrawal and every protected vessel has a confirmed or unresolved status. My action and observed result: ____________________________________________________________ Evidence reference: ____________________________________________________________ ———————————————————————————————————————————————— WORKED DECISION A contact draws away from the route. The escort stays with the transports rather than following it beyond the agreed limit. 1. Report the contact’s observed movement and identification confidence without upgrading uncertainty to hostility. 2. Compare pursuit with the assigned convoy coverage. State that the escort remains with the transports and tell both crews. 3. On the withdrawal call, confirm the next rendezvous and account for each protected vessel before closing the contact report. ———————————————————————————————————————————————— YOUR EXERCISE Brief the protected movement, report the contact and carry out an acknowledged withdrawal. Explain which obligation determined your decision. WHAT CHANGES A participating contact crosses the escort’s continuation limit. My decision and reason: ____________________________________________________________ ———————————————————————————————————————————————— YOUR WORKING RECORD Protected vessels / participating contacts / excluded area ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Contact observations / identity confidence / decision ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Withdrawal instruction / crew acknowledgement / vessel accounting ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ———————————————————————————————————————————————— CHECK YOUR REASONING A departing contact looks vulnerable. Why might following it be the wrong choice? My answer before consulting the explanation: ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ———————————————————————————————————————————————— EVIDENCE TO KEEP Contact reports, the individual decision and an observed withdrawal. Criterion 1: Your report separates observed behavior, identification and uncertainty. Individual evidence / finding / assessor's reason: ____________________________________________________________ Criterion 2: All crews can state what is protected, who participates and when action must stop. Individual evidence / finding / assessor's reason: ____________________________________________________________ Criterion 3: The convoy acknowledges the withdrawal and every protected vessel has a confirmed or unresolved status. Individual evidence / finding / assessor's reason: ____________________________________________________________ ———————————————————————————————————————————————— FINDINGS AND NEXT ATTEMPT Demonstrated: observed work meets the criterion. Further practice required: an observed gap needs a specific practice task. Interrupted: conditions prevented valid assessment; not a failure. Not assessed: enough evidence has not yet been collected. All three criteria need individual evidence. A team result or quiz cannot replace an unobserved practical. Practice variant for a fresh attempt: Use an uncertain identification near the convoy instead of a departing contact. Preserve the consent boundary and demand a justified response. My next practice task: ____________________________________________________________ Review contact: ____________________________________________________________ ———————————————————————————————————————————————— COMPARE AFTER ANSWERING The escort’s purpose is to protect the movement. Compare pursuit with the convoy’s coverage, the withdrawal limit and the authority in the brief. A tempting target does not change those obligations. ———————————————————————————————————————————————— SOURCE AND EDITION Case FO–7: the vessel that misses assembly /academy/archives/convoy-case 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. 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. Course text revised 8 October 2026; fictional teaching edition 2956.3. ———————————————————————————————————————————————— PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES 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. FAA · crew resource management (2004 reference) https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_120-51E.pdf IMO · competence and watchkeeping structure https://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/HumanElement/Pages/STCW-Convention.aspx RSI · verify release notes before live delivery https://robertsspaceindustries.com/patch-notes ———————————————————————————————————————————————— INSTRUCTOR CHECK Try the exercise with the ship and equipment you will use. Brief station assignments, callsigns, channel and recovery point. Explain the command “Stop exercise” before starting. If a bug prevents completion, repeat the affected task when it works. Ask before recording the session; use player handles in your notes. Review rules: /academy/archives/academy-ordinance Teaching basis: /academy/framework#research