Operation SANDSTORM - A TIER 1 36hr OBUA Combat Operation: 20 - 22 July 2012

[TIER 1]

*******DATE CHANGE******

Due to constant demand by the military - we have had to change the date for this upcoming TIER 1 Combat Operation at Eastmere FIBUA Village, STANTA.

The new Date will be the Bank Holiday weekend: 24 - 26 AUGUST 2012.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and those already booked on may receive a full refund should you be unable to make this new date.

Working on reliable information released to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) by the senior Al Qaeda (AQ) leader responsible for combat operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan - Mullah Kazim Numair, AKA PANTHER who was detained by Seal Team 6 (ST6) in September 2011, Task Force (TF) 76 carried out a series of Extremely High Risk (EHR) detention raids in the village of Gambir, Kunar province, East Afghanistan near the Pakistan border during March 2012.

Gambir proved to be void of any civilian population (CIVPOP) and was entirely occupied by Al Qaeda and Taliban (AQT) fighting age males. The village proved tough to establish a foothold in, but once the TF were able to break in to the village, they were able to occupy a compound from which to operate.

From this compound the TF were constantly harassed by the Enemy Forces (EF) and had to work in and amongst a constant threat from IED(s), mortar attacks, sniper fire to all out assaults on their compound.

However, during the intense Close Quarter Combat (CQC), the TF were able to detain their priority One (1) and priority two (2) High Value Individuals (HVI's) and one (1) of the two (2) AQ couriers on their list. These detainees were quickly moved out of Gambir by the CIA for debriefing at an undisclosed "Black Camp" in Uzbekistan. Unfortunately after a failed attempt to rescue a western reporter from the EF a large amount of TF 76 were Killed In Action (KIA) and or seriously wounded.

The TF has been replenished by A Squadron, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D) and members from the USMC FORECON, the 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company.

With the TF up to full strength again, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) has decided to rid the village of Gambir once and for all of the AQT fighters residing there. The aim is to establish a permanent Patrol Base (PB) iot* provide full time security and subsequent reconstruction of the village for the local civilian population to be able to return and live there safely.

To to that end, JSOC has decided to send TF 76 back into Gambir iot* remove that AQT threat and make safe the area.

TF 76 are therefore to prepare a Ground Assault Force (GAF) with a view to aggressively clear the Objective Area (OA).

TIER 1 MSL proudly presents Operation SANDSTORM

Warning Order

This will be a 36hr TIER 1 OBUA COMBAT OPERATION.

Location: STANTA, Eastmere OBUA Training village, Thetford, Norfolk.

(We will be using an RV outside of the range where you are to go to first. There you will be met by TIER 1 staff and escorted onto the range and to the car park area. Postcode: IP25 6LX.)

Date: 24 - 26 AUGUST 2012

All teams are to be complete on site no later than 22.30hrs (no arrivals before 18.00hrs). Teams arriving later will have to notify TIER 1 prior to this event.

Safety and administrational briefs will take place on Friday evening at 23.30hrs. Thereafter opposing forces will move to their respective tactical assembly areas (TAA) and await intelligence briefs and initial orders.

This will be followed by confirmatory orders for the relevant elements and team leaders.

All players will be in the correct sections and will have been allocated radios to communicate with your command elements by 01.00am.

From this point on, there will not be a safezone in operation in the game until END EX and the game will only stop for an emergency.

ALL elements will deploy onto the ground in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Please Note: Alcohol is NOT allowed on site under any circumstances. Failure to comply will result in removal from the site. This is an MoD directive.

RED FORCES

The Taliban: 40 places.

Al Qaeda: 20 places.

Uniform Requirements: Traditional/local Dress where possible. You can wear a civilian/military mix, OD, Tan and Black, but please do not turn up looking like an american PSD operator. You should be thinking tactically in terms of your clothes and their colours etc. ABSOLUTELY NO Multicam, ACU, US Woodland. You will be asked to change out of them.

BLUE FORCES

Special Operations Forces: A Squadron, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D) – 20 places.

USMC FORECON: 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company – 40 places.

Uniform Requirements: Multicam, Desert, MARPAT, AOR 1.

Players will be required to bring the right kit to last the duration in the village - tactically. (see our TIER 1 kit list recommendations).

You will need to bring all your own food and water and the means to cook with.

You will have to carry with you everything you need into the village. ie. In a bergen / deployment bag.

We will provide squad and platoon level radios for both sides - inter-squad radios - you will need to bring yourself.

Cost: £95

Please book online at: www.tier1militarysimulation.com

For further information please contact - [email protected] or call 07967 225 739

THERE WILL NOT BE ANY REGENS IN PLAY. MEDIC RULES WILL APPLY THROUGHOUT.

 

THE GAME WILL RUN FROM FRIDAY NIGHT UNTIL SUNDAY LUNCHTIME. ALL REST AND FOOD REQUIREMENTS WILL NEED TO BE UNDERTAKEN TACTICALLY THROUGHOUT THIS EVENT.

More info to follow soon.

TIER 1

 

[TIER 1]

TIER 1 are proud to announce that we have real Afghan Role Players as used by the MoD attending Operation SANDSTORM as CIVPOP.

If you wish to experience what it is really like to undergo pre-deployment training and engage with real Afghan CIVPOP, you can still sign up as the BLUE Force which is nearly full. However, the RED Force needs bolstering. Get involved people?

We have the privilege of having real Afghan CIVPOP. This has never been done before and is a massive treat for the MILSIM community.

Allahu Akbar.

Let's do this

TIER 1

 

[TIER 1]

***** LIMITED DISCOUNTED RATE FOR RED FORCE INSURGENT PLAYERS *****

The BLUE Force is nearly full and booking on for this is temporarily on hold. However, we need more players on the RED Force Insurgent side.

Therefore TIER 1 is offering a discounted rate of £75 per person between now and the 3rd of August 2012 should you book on to the RED Force.

Everyone that has played on the RED Force has a fantastic time and enjoys a large level of freedom to approach their detailed tasks and missions as they see fit and nearly all return as RED Force players once they have experienced it.

The RED Force have always been the underdogs at our Combat Operations, but fight fanatically. Let us make them a formidable fighting force along side the real Afghan Role players to give the BLUE Force a dust up to remember.

LET'S DO THIS.

TIER 1

 

[TIER 1]

We would like to thank all of you who have jumped on the discounted rate for the RED Force players and booked on for this Combat Operation. We now have more people than ever before that have signed up to a TIER 1 event EVER!!

However, we still need more RED Force players to bolster the Real Afghan Role Players as used by the MoD for pre-deployment training. Therefore we are extending the discounted rate of £75 for RED Force players until 10 August 2012.

BOOKING FOR THIS EVENT CLOSES 17 AUGUST 2012

This is a real as it gets gents, so - LET'S DO THIS!!

Below are a couple of videos showing the Afghan Role Players we are using.

 

[TIER 1]

***** LAST DAY OF DISCOUNTED RATE FOR RED FORCE PLAYERS *****

 

!!GET BOOKED ON PEOPLE. LIMITED PLACES LEFT ON THE RED FORCE ONLY!!

Regards.

TIER 1

 

[TIER 1]

*****ADMINISTRATION INSTRUCTION PACK*****

Both the RED and BLUE Force operators should have received their Administration packs for Operation SANDSTORM via secure means.

If you have not, please email:

[email protected]

and request these documents.

You will also receive your Target Development Package / Intelligence Brief over the next few days.

Regards.

TIER 1

 

[TIER 1]

Operation SANDSTORM: BLUE FORCE - TF 76

 

*****TARGET DEVELOPMENT PACKAGE*****

BLUE Force operators should have received their Target Development Package for Operation SANDSTORM via secure means.

If you have not, please email: [email protected]

and request these documents.

RED Force to follow tomorrow.

Regards.

TIER 1

 

[TIER 1]

Operation SANDSTORM: RED FORCE - BLADES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

 

*****TARGET DEVELOPMENT PACKAGE*****

RED Force operators should have received their Target Development Package for Operation SANDSTORM via secure means.

If you have not, please email: [email protected]

and request these documents.

Regards.

TIER 1

 

[rschris]

is this not GZ weekend??

 

[TIER 1]

Yes this is the same weekend as GZ.

However, we attract a very different type of player that GZ attracts and we have nearly sold out on this event thankfully.

Also, getting hold of Eastmere Village at STANTA is very difficult and you can not pick and choose your dates. You have to take what you can get.

Regards.

TIER 1

 

[TIER 1]

TIER 1 would like to say a massive THANK YOU to ALL who attended - Operation SANDSTORM

The Operation was a HUGE success from my point and the entire team at TIER 1.

Eastmere, the Middle Eastern FIBUA Village on the STANTA range has got to be one if not the best current theatre sites to operate on. The site is such a pleasure to work with and adds to the immersion of the scenario more than any other facility we have used. This was the second time this year that TIER 1 have used it and it just gets better and better.

From the outset, myself and the team were adamant that based on previous feedback, not just for the last time we played at Eastmere, but for all of our urban events to date, that we would put right shortcomings raised by previous customers. Of course you can not please everyone all of the time, but this event was a cut above all previous TIER 1 Combat Operations in my opinion.

As always, we aim to challenge you and I think we achieved that in spades on this operation. The first bit of downtime for both sides was after having operated for around 24hrs non stop, having began the operation around 01:00hrs Saturday morning.

For the BLUE Force, it began with orders followed by final battle prep and a move out to a drop off point well away from the village. A covert patrol through long grass fields and irrigation ditches saw the Task Force arrive at their FRV from which the Forming Up Positions for the break in to the village were reccied by the team leaders. This then saw them leading their teams into position to assault and clear several compounds of interest in order to gain a foothold in the village from which to carry out their detailed tasks and missions.

All the while RED Force insurgents were occupying strategic locations throughout the village and well before first light, the village was a scene of kinetic violence with close quarter combat taking place within the Western sector of the village as the BLUE Force began their break in. The sky was illuminated by flares, flash-bangs and grenades were being detonated all around with small arms fire rattling around the compounds.

Shortly after first light and the call to prayer rang out across the village which saw the RED Force insurgents defence finally weaken just enough to allow the BLUE Force to gain a foothold in the village and occupy two compounds from which they were to work.

Realising that the village was heavily occupied by insurgents, the decision to take the fight to them saw the BLUE Force leave the patrol base en masse in a three multiple patrol and conduct a 360 exploitation patrol of the entire village. During this the patrol was ghosted by unarmed and sullen looking civilians, they were dicked from street corners and roof tops and under constant threat from IED strikes.

The patrol were able to familiarise themselves with the village and meet the small local civilian population who had been coerced back into the dangerous village by the Taliban to work for them.

This was the first time we introduced the Real Afghan Role players into the scenario who turned out in local dress and refused to speak English for the main, until one young man told us he could speak a little English as he had been to school before the Taliban had come. We asked after the Village Elder and asked if we could meet with him to discuss helping them and stabilise the area. A Shura was agreed and the BLUE Force fell back to their lightly protected patrol base to prepare. The RED Force having sized up the enemy, quickly went about swamping the approach routes and choke points with IED's and set up ambush positions.

The BLUE Force once again deployed en masse and once the outer cordon group was in place around the area of the Shura, the inner cordon got set and the search began to clear the area and then search all males attending. Once this had been done, the Elders entered and took their place having invited the BLUE Force commanders to join them having removed their battle order and sat down facing each other.

The Shura was such a surreal experience and as authentic as it gets. The role players were fantastic and played their parts perfectly. The Elder was not happy with our presence in the village and wanted to know what we were going to do to help them. All this spoken in his native Pashtun and interpreted by the young Afghan terp!

After politely sparring with the Elders and having agreed to treat the locals with a lighter touch and ensure that we bring safety to the village and surrounding area, the Shura was ended after the ceremonial prayer was given and the Elders left. The BLUE Force prepared to collapse back to the patrol base and when the patrol was shaken out and about half clear of the area, a huge IED was detonated killing a large number of the Task Force. This was the signal for the RED Force to attack and attack they did. The retreating BLUE Force were hit from every angle, street corner and window. A perfectly executed ambush.

This set the tone, the atmospherics and pace of operations for the remainder of the event right up until END EX at 12:00hrs on Sunday.

There were so many more incidents, including many more IED strikes, mortar attacks, close quarter fighting, several compound searches and assaults by the BLUE Force both during the day and in the dead of the night. It was non stop.

Full credit to all the people that attended the operation and made it through until the end. Most were still giving it their all right up until the last moments. The event was designed to be realistic, challenging both physically and mentally but above all, a great deal of fun. I am confident we achieved all of those criteria.

I would like to thank all of the players that entered into the spirit of the scenario, got immersed in the role play and played the game as it was intended. We had players from all over the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands and all played with the highest level of sportsmanship. We are very fortunate that our events do attract mature and honest players and for that we are extremely grateful.

A massive thanks to Shez and his flawless leadership of the RED Force, to Mike A for running the front of house, to Robbie H for keeping the whole operation running behind the scenes and allowing me to participate in and direct the exercise, to Basho for his steadfast no nonsense marshalling and to Mark G - you are my Sargent Major!

I need to say a huge thank you to Andy B and Richie for your hard work on the battle sims and pyro. It really is in a league of its own. Also a massive thank you to the entire TIER 1 team for your tireless work behind the scenes and the mammoth clear up that has to take place afterwards. Without you, TIER 1 would be nothing.

As always we sincerely hope that everyone who attended Operation SANDSTORM felt immersed, enjoyed the event, went away happy and satisfied and will be back for more. We are always trying to make our events better for YOU, so please let us know your thoughts.

Our next event - Operation WHITE KNIGHT - is at the mighty Copehill Down FIBUA Village. 12 - 14 October 2012. This is set to be even bigger and better.

LET'S DO THIS!!!!

Kind regards.

Ed.

 

[TIER 1]

Please read the below testimonials for Operation SANDSTORM from our Facebook Page and other forums.

Take one military training facility, add 36' hours straight of continuous airsoft, and season with a sh*tload of explosives and banter courtesy of Will and Samuel, and you get an absolutely blinding weekend at Tier 1 airsoft. Cheers Ed for all the hard work you and your guys put into a top event!

Dave R.

 

Thanks for a great weekend Ed. You and your team provided a an exciting, challanging, unique and fun event! Hope to see you guys again very soon and pass on my thanks to the Tier1 team.

Jamie F.

 

Oh yeh Tier 1 are definitely in a league of their own higher than the rest I thoroughly enjoyed SANDSTORM, it was by far the best airsofting experience iv had so far, i can't wait for WHITE KNIGHT………RED FORCE FOR THE WIN!!!

Ryan P.

 

This was my 1st mil sim, and I loved it so much bring on operation White Knight!!!!!!!!

Kevin T.

 

WHAT A SUPERB WEEKEND!!!!! Thanks guys for all of your efforts in making Operation Sandstorm brilliant! See you on the next one!

Duncan C.

 

Thanks fellas for organising a great 36 hour operation. I'm already looking forward to the next one !

Alan Y.

 

Just completed OPERATION: SANDSTORM at stanta, 36 milsim, absolutely epic massive thanks to Terry, Ed and the rest of the tier1 team for an amazing weekend see you in October at copehill lads

Ryan P.

 

 

I would like to say thanks to Ed, Sheridan, Richie C, Razor and the other T1 guys. Brilliant weekend, definitely up there in my top 3 airsoft experiences in my 8 years playing. Sneaking around with Richie & Razor getting ready to blow the Shura up was fantastic, as was the rest of the work with the Lion 1 cell. Cant wait for the next T1 event, though it may be next year due to other commitments.

Vice.

 

 

Congrats to Tier-1 for another amazing event. Highlight are a long list, but the real civilian population certainly added immensely to the overall atmosphere. Two thumbs up!

Derk G.

 

congrats as ever to Tier 1 for an ace event, the CIVPOP made a real difference to saturdays game play. and the early morning battle to get a foothold in the town has got to be one of my best memories of airsoft! thanks to team tier1 as well for their work behind the scenes to make this an absolute cracker of an event!!

Jonnie B.

 

 

Now ive had time to shower and get a decent brew on ,i can reflect back and yet another Tier 1 epic weekend ,i understand how much time and effort Ed puts into these weekends and im happy to have been able to get back down to Stanta this time around

 

Far to many highlights to blart on about ,the kind of you had to be there moments to understand , the inclusion of the Afghan role players only added to the realism of the event and top guys to have a chat to even out of the airsoft , the Shura and being told politly we could say our peace and feel free to foxtrot oscar after 5 mins got our nipsy going ,i mean we were just passing through the village again , *fruitcage* me weve had some bad luck on our travels ,everytime we go out its C.haos I.n A.fghan

 

Sunday brought hard faught fire fights accross the village and more of the same good natured sportsmanship that ive seen before at these events

 

Both teams put a lot of hard graft into the 36 hours and it seemed to flow fluidly even through the epic monsoons during saterday evening (Ed carnt do *fruitcage* all about the weather) *Norfolks sunny most of the time *

 

For me for now its a massive Thanks to Tier 1 and Ed for a cracking to remember weekend and roll on Copehill in October.

Steve D.

 

 

Guys, you put the awesome in awesomesauce! It was epic!

We had the ups and downs, from the actionmoments till guardduty. The interaction with the CIVPOP was a really nice added feature, hope this continues! Taliban were roleplaying the max and loved it.

Enjoyed the prisonhandling, clearen the rooms and be on alertstate Alpha all the time.

So big thanks from my side, hope to be back again soon!

MADMAN

 

Another Great weekend put together by Ed and the Tier1 staff was a different experience to play as the red force seemed to be non stop action and this time round didn't get blown up by an IED. Best highlight has to be hitting the SF building 2 fob at 3 Sunday morning putting guys on the roof and clearing it with 24 confirmed knife kills and on a different note sorry to the Belgium guy who got dynateced as he slept lol to be fair his snoring seemed louder lol.

Tom B.

 

Had a blast this weekend!

was a fantastic expirience, being able to do a milsim in a DOD Afghan training facility.

Also the addition of real Afghan CIVPOP gave the whole expirience that extra bit of realism that gives you the possibility to immerse further into the scenario.

 

Many thanks to Ed and his team for putting so much effort in these events, in order to give us the most realistic events.

Spacebert

 

 

Well, my first Tier 1 event didn't prove to be a disappointment, it's without a doubt the best event I've attended in 4 years of airsofting. The patrol to the FRV on Friday night/Sat morning was really atmospheric and interacting with the civpop was pretty special. The only thing I would say was that the blue force did seem to be lacking support in terms of air power/artillery, it did seem to be that the red force had us constantly on our toes!

Cheers to the rest of Dagger 2

Conan

 

First off, a massive thank-you to Ed, Shez, Richie C and the rest of the Tier 1 crew for putting on an absolutely fantastic 36-hour operation.

This was by far my favorite Tier 1 op so far, and probably one of the best airsoft weekenders I've played.

From early on you could really tell that Tier 1 had taken feedback on from previous events and really thought about the changes they've implemented.

Spetz

 

Wow what a weekend, top notch game play from both sides, lots of epic moments and hardcore fire fights.

 

Had an interesting journey home which included being searched and detained at stanstead after traces of explosives being found on my bag !! that took som explaining !!

Roll on oct !!

Robbie H.

 

Just like to say a big thank you to Tier1 and all their staff for putting on another great event! It takes alot of hard work to make such an immersive event happen while trying to keep 100 players happy and I think you guys managed to do an excellent job! I was again really impressed with the immersive feeling of the event and immersion is the key to any airsoft event. From the atmospheric patrol into the village at 3am to the Shura then onto being hammered by red forces continually!

Its only going to get better. Role on Copehill!

Cheers

J.

Just had chance to post on this (read; can now fully move my arms and think at the same time).

 

This was my second tier 1 event and it was just as good as the last. Tier 1 always seem to create a level of immersion i have never experienced in a game to date. This was a 36 hour event and it felt like it, my entire team were aching and shattered by end ex with huge smiles on their faces. I was on the Blue team and not only are you battling the red team but you are also fighting exhaustion which makes everything twice as hard.

 

There were so many good moments i can't actually list them all but from conducting covert operations during the night to just stag on the compound there was something to do for everybody and it was rotated so no-one felt like they were getting too much or too little door kicking action.

 

The roleplayers were also something else, i've played in games with RPs before, but never proper Afghans. They played the part superbly!

 

Unfortunately i'm not sure i can make the next one at CHD but if anyone is thinking about it, i would seriously give it a go, it's only £95 and you'd be hard pressed to find more value for money.

 

Thanks to all of the TIER 1 staff and all the players for an amazing experience and i hope to see you all again. It was especially nice to meet the guys from Holland/Belgium, they were proper top blokes.

Cheers.

Ethics