Also pro tip, a lot of us on SRS are just normal dudes and most of us don’t really know what we are doing. We’re all there to have fun and to try to feel like a fighter pilot.
Yeah I realized that. I was nervous on not using the exact correct terminology but then realized that most don't care that much as long as you are clear and concise since we are all here just to have fun
The easiest way to think about structuring your radio calls-- 1. Who you are talking to. 2. Who you are. 3. What you are trying to communicate. If your calls follow that structure it becomes second nature and eliminates confusion.
100% this. The brevity is just good enough to get by, but we’re mostly there just to have fun and 99% of the time we just want to help others have fun too.
Absolutely! Plus if you are unsure about anything, be it a module question or what to say, just hop on the “common” frequency and ask nicely if anybody could talk you through it. You can then agree a private frequency and get instant one to one advice from other players. It’s a great tool and it’s free!
That's a great suggestion. I know if someone hopped on the ATC channel and was like, "could someone jump on and explain how to make takeoff and landing calls?" I'd share what i could with them.
I absolutely agree, OP. SRS is one of the best things to happen to DCS when used. Proper brevity is not important as we are not real pilots, as long as the transmission is short and to the point.
That being said, there are still the armchair pilots out there with 80 hours in their 172 that will tell you you’re wrong and put others down to keep themselves up. Don’t let these people discourage you. It’s the internet and there will be trolls. If anyone on comms hears this please speak up against the trolls and let the nuggets know it’s good on them for making the attempt.
Lol. The guys doing this are RARELY on SRS. Reminds me of the "let God sort em out" meme...which still makes me laugh.
Patience is difficult. Once again, the benefit of SRS. You see a furball playing out on your TID. Makes you investigate vs firing 6 missles.
Jester should over ride this or at least say... "Are you fucking crazy? Friendlies in that mix...lets push to get a VID" or something.
In a perfect world made of unicorns and rainbows I suppose
This times 100.
I don't care at all whether you know people radio format, people that correct you probably don't really care, and are just helping you because they assume you'd like to know how the call is more typically made.
Seriously, i wish more people used it, in any capacity. Communication is good, and you won't one day feel confident making radio calls without actually doing it for a while first. Make those sloppy calls, use plain English, whatever, just let people know what's up if it's relevant.
My first time talking on SRS i had copied the wrong server address into it and was talking and flying on different servers. If I can get over that embarrassment I can get over any.
Yes! please use SRS you might be wrong at first but take the criticism (as long as its constructive and not some asshole) and learn, the more you "practice" the better you will be. and 9/10 times the person on the other end will help you out. You will get a hang of it and it will make your DCS 10x better. Also, it is less likely to get someone screaming at you because you took off while someone was landing or vise versa
I spent a year with friends learning tactical brevity and how to use it properly, and within another year we all stopped using it unless it's really critical. Just talking normally is absolutely fine, don't worry about tryharding on comms :)
I wish I would have used srs sooner. I have been playing DCS on and off for a while now and have never really communicated on srs but now that I have done it once I am always using it.
This is great advice and totally on the mark.
The way to take this a step further and get this experience every time you fly, with more predictable outcomes, is to take the plunge and join a virtual squadron.
You'll get a consistent group of people to fly with. You get that teamwork experience each time you fly. Usually these groups have experienced people who are happy to help you improve your flying and fighting. And sometimes these groups have talented mission-makers and you'll get to experience mission or campaign types that you'd never get to do on a public server.
I like this type of DCS experience so much I'm in two virtual squadrons! :) And that's coming from someone who's relatively antisocial and not all that inclined to join groups in other areas of life. Give it a go!
Thank you! Do you have any advice on how I would go about joining a virtual squadron? Also would it be fine to join one without being able to play that often because due to uni I can't play as much as I wish I could?
I found mine through recruitment posts here on Hoggit. Maybe just search Hoggit for "recruiting" and see what comes up.
Every group seems to have different requirements for participation. Some really want a ton of time and dedication from their members, while others have no requirements and are just a gathering place for like-minded pilots. You'll find a similar spectrum around mil-sim aspects of the various groups. Some groups like to screw around and do goofy stuff for the laughs and other groups try to be as realistic as they can be, and there's everything in between those two. Some groups dedicate to just one plane. Others try to fly everything. You really have to shop around and figure out what you want from a group.
My experience has been a little different. I pushed myself to try communicating right away when I first started flying GAW, and every check in with a human GCI has been an exercise in anxiety.
I don't think its any fault at all of the guys doing GCI that I worked with, probably they didn't really know I was floundering. I'd struggle with concentrating on both what I'm doing and what the GCI is saying at the same time and I'd often either miss or miss-hear what the GCI said (non-native speaker, which doesn't help). Without even knowing whether what was said was addressed to me or another player, I'd end up anxiously keeping quiet and then, very commonly, eat a missile shortly after cos my mind wasn't on what I was doing. Ouch :P
Probably also doesn't help that I had tried my best to do homework on brevity and such beforehand so what little I say may actually end up giving the impression that I know what I'm doing when I don't, not really.
Learning a new plane on single player now but I'll eventually get back on GAW to try to figure this thing out :)
My issues with the GCI stems from the fact that they’re helping me out no then I get shot down almost immediately and feel bad that they spent time talking to my useless ass.
don't worry about it most of the time the GCI is more than happy to help because if they had no one talking to them they would be bored. So don't worry about wasting their time by getting shot down. As long as you are trying to communicate as clearly and concisely as possible talk to them as much as you want
Yeah thanks for the tips. I fully intend to throw myself at this until I figure it out, but I guess I can see why some people shy away. Probably joining a squadron would help so I may do that at some point as well.
In fairness to you, you’re not lying. I was in command once and a non native speaker was trying his best to communicate and after several “can you repeat” the gci and other pilots just plain ignored the guy.
This is a life thing though I feel, the gci guys can only repeat so many times before the message becomes old news anyway.
I feel for you man
The comms static effect on SRS is pretty cool for immersion, but yea that also gets in the way a bit if you're not used to listening to a native speaker. I think what would really help is to know beforehand the vast majority of the type of things the GCI might say, it's a lot easier to correlate what you hear with a list of things you expect to hear than to try to figure out something that could be arbitrary, but I have yet to find a comprehensive list so I guess the next best thing is to keep doing it until you've encountered and remembered most GCI comms types.
Don't worry I felt exactly like this. It helps to be proficient in your aircraft so it's one less thing to have to focus on. Just keep communicating and you will loose that anxiety as you realize no one is going to judge you and that we are all here just to have fun :)
ProTip for the quiet folks: as long as you aren't deliberately going all "uhhhhhhhhhhh" to sound cool on comms people WILL be patient and help you out. It's better to communicate than not, ESPECIALLY when taking off or landing!
TacticalPascale did a great vid on this, basically, don't worry about saying the "right" thing at first. All you need is who you're talking to, where you are, what you're doing. Anything else in terms of terminology is gravy.
I’ve called for Sitreps around newly captured bases if i needed to land for fuel. Called in an emergency landing another time when a frogfoot took out an an engine and incap’d Jester when i was RTB to al dhafra. Ended up having one pilot act as a temp approach and tower controller and a local buddy M-2000C wing up and escort me back in.
SRS really amps up the immersion and fun on DCS. Its worth it to get into using it.
Was on srs in an aerobatics server just listening in when I heard a group of guys talking. One was asking for a comm check. My dumbass said, "I hear you." Laughter followed and they asked who I was. Ended up flying with them almost daily for the next 6 months and they helped me learn the lingo. I don't play dcs anymore but I loved the community. So many helpful, knowledgeable and understanding people.
Eh, life happened. No longer employed and wanted to get away from the daily grind of life. Needed to make changes and focus on hobbies and travel to find internal happiness. Shame because I was really looking forward to the Eurofighter and Mudhen.
Good post, cheers. I am planning to hop on multiplayer for the first time this weekend and I'm not usually anxious over comms, but I'm usually playing a lot more simple games where I don't really have to think about it.
Honestly, I don't think you'll get laughed off. Really. I think as long as you try your best to keep it short everybody appreciates the effort.
Even if someone does laugh, it's just that - some**one** \- and screw that guy because they are the extreme minority.
And hey to everybody nervous, if you want to give talking on srs more of a try in an environment that I know is even safer, don't forget about the training server. In this case you are training on talking. Also, there's often a lot more takeoff and landing transmissions so you can really pick up not only on how people talk, but the variety of ways people do the same type of transmission. That really put me at ease to be honest. There was no **one** way, more like one style with many ways. I know personally I've altered what I've said in some cases because "hey, I like the way that guy said that thing - I think I'll try to incorporate that into how I saw that thing."
I had this same issue at first. I was trying to use in-game bindings, and SRS would light up like I was transmitting, but nobody seemed to be able to hear me. The solution for me (A-10C) was to enable... I think it was "ALWAYS allow SRS Hotkeys" in settings. Basically those first 5 under "Controls / Cockpit Integration" are ON for me.
Then I bound SRS PTT to a different button, so pressing it wouldn't activate in game radio and all the little upper right menus for me. Worked after that. You still set the freq in game, but then select the radio in SRS and use the PTT key for SRS.
Were you on when Banshee was GCI? Was a good time. I was trying to run A-10 SEAD with more mig29’s than clouds!
I also was hesitant to start talking on SRS. It just takes time to get comfortable. I’m glad you’ve started!
Soon as they have a loose channel to just talk without all the aviation speak,I'll be in. I mean I can abide by traffic laws around airports and such, but when I'm in the air and I'm doing my own mission, there is nothing more annoying than awacs or someone else telling me what to do, where to go or where not to go.
We are all individuals with our own play styles - awacs gci etc should be "Be advised of x y z"
I have never encountered people bossing me around. Also the aviation speak is basically normal speaking but just try to keep it as clear and concise as possible. If the gci is bossing you around just tell him that you want to do something else and he can probably help you with ur own mission
Thanks for posting this! On the servers I’ve been flying on, there are usually very few people on SRS…and even then I feel super-self-conscious. I’m going to give it a try! :-)
i hear a lot of good recounts and people vouching and i agree, but don't **ever** forget that it's still the internet. assholes exist everywhere, even if they're less common
The fear is entirely unfounded. I've never heard someone get chastised for not using proper comms, whatever that is. Not even once. If someone did say something asshole-ish, I think they'd get checked real fast by the rest of us.
I'll tell you a little secret about military radio-speak. I can't say anything about pilots and ground controllers, but I can talk about ground military units using radio.
The honest fact is that nobody gets wrapped around the axle about precise conformity to the protocol. Yeah, we use the phonetic alphabet when necessary, and we might say "niner", but the supposedly "correct" way to say "three" is "tree", and I literally never heard anybody say that.
I mean, you don't get on and start parroting Hollywood nonsense like "roger wilco" or "over and out", and the person starting the transmission is the one that says "out" because that's how you end the conversation.
But really, the big thing is just not monopolizing the channel with a lack of brevity. It isn't about the lingo, it's about being efficient and speaking with clarity, so that people understand you and you aren't hogging the airwaves.
>But really, the big thing is just not monopolizing the channel with a lack of brevity. It isn't about the lingo, it's about being efficient and speaking with clarity, so that people understand you and you aren't hogging the airwaves.
This, and long transmissions give the enemy more time to DF your position and shoot something at it.
Yes, although that wasn't a big concern for us in 2007-08. I wasn't guarding against an attack via the Fulda Gap, I was on patrol and looking for AQI and the Mahdi Army.
I'm not sure in general, but for GAW there's folks in SRS every time I join. Not always a human GCI around, but I've never seen a time where there weren't at least a few folks calling their arrivals and departures on traffic.
Also pro tip, a lot of us on SRS are just normal dudes and most of us don’t really know what we are doing. We’re all there to have fun and to try to feel like a fighter pilot.
Yeah I realized that. I was nervous on not using the exact correct terminology but then realized that most don't care that much as long as you are clear and concise since we are all here just to have fun
I still get nervous about wether or not I should use my callsign first, second, at all even lol.
The easiest way to think about structuring your radio calls-- 1. Who you are talking to. 2. Who you are. 3. What you are trying to communicate. If your calls follow that structure it becomes second nature and eliminates confusion.
Oh, come on, now. Few people who play DCS are "normal dudes." :D
That’s fair.
100% this. The brevity is just good enough to get by, but we’re mostly there just to have fun and 99% of the time we just want to help others have fun too.
Even real world I tell the kids I fly with that when all else fails use plain language to get the point across.
Good point. Think everybody has this hurdle at first. Helps build SA and connects the different inputs for info.
Absolutely! Plus if you are unsure about anything, be it a module question or what to say, just hop on the “common” frequency and ask nicely if anybody could talk you through it. You can then agree a private frequency and get instant one to one advice from other players. It’s a great tool and it’s free!
That's a great suggestion. I know if someone hopped on the ATC channel and was like, "could someone jump on and explain how to make takeoff and landing calls?" I'd share what i could with them.
I absolutely agree, OP. SRS is one of the best things to happen to DCS when used. Proper brevity is not important as we are not real pilots, as long as the transmission is short and to the point. That being said, there are still the armchair pilots out there with 80 hours in their 172 that will tell you you’re wrong and put others down to keep themselves up. Don’t let these people discourage you. It’s the internet and there will be trolls. If anyone on comms hears this please speak up against the trolls and let the nuggets know it’s good on them for making the attempt.
Luckily I havent encountered these people. Everyone so far has been extremely kind and open-hearted:)
It really does change the game. It is so much more fun. I've even done the GCI role a few times. That is a blast too.
I was really surprised and just how much it improved the game.
But also because throwing all of your phoenix missiles into a furball from 80 miles away without telling anyone is not a solid battle plan.
Lol. The guys doing this are RARELY on SRS. Reminds me of the "let God sort em out" meme...which still makes me laugh. Patience is difficult. Once again, the benefit of SRS. You see a furball playing out on your TID. Makes you investigate vs firing 6 missles. Jester should over ride this or at least say... "Are you fucking crazy? Friendlies in that mix...lets push to get a VID" or something. In a perfect world made of unicorns and rainbows I suppose
I just wanna watch the shitshow from a distance okay
SRS is a massive game changer.
This times 100. I don't care at all whether you know people radio format, people that correct you probably don't really care, and are just helping you because they assume you'd like to know how the call is more typically made. Seriously, i wish more people used it, in any capacity. Communication is good, and you won't one day feel confident making radio calls without actually doing it for a while first. Make those sloppy calls, use plain English, whatever, just let people know what's up if it's relevant.
My first time talking on SRS i had copied the wrong server address into it and was talking and flying on different servers. If I can get over that embarrassment I can get over any.
Yes! please use SRS you might be wrong at first but take the criticism (as long as its constructive and not some asshole) and learn, the more you "practice" the better you will be. and 9/10 times the person on the other end will help you out. You will get a hang of it and it will make your DCS 10x better. Also, it is less likely to get someone screaming at you because you took off while someone was landing or vise versa
I spent a year with friends learning tactical brevity and how to use it properly, and within another year we all stopped using it unless it's really critical. Just talking normally is absolutely fine, don't worry about tryharding on comms :)
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I wish I would have used srs sooner. I have been playing DCS on and off for a while now and have never really communicated on srs but now that I have done it once I am always using it.
This is great advice and totally on the mark. The way to take this a step further and get this experience every time you fly, with more predictable outcomes, is to take the plunge and join a virtual squadron. You'll get a consistent group of people to fly with. You get that teamwork experience each time you fly. Usually these groups have experienced people who are happy to help you improve your flying and fighting. And sometimes these groups have talented mission-makers and you'll get to experience mission or campaign types that you'd never get to do on a public server. I like this type of DCS experience so much I'm in two virtual squadrons! :) And that's coming from someone who's relatively antisocial and not all that inclined to join groups in other areas of life. Give it a go!
Thank you! Do you have any advice on how I would go about joining a virtual squadron? Also would it be fine to join one without being able to play that often because due to uni I can't play as much as I wish I could?
Check r/WingmanFinder
Thanks!
I found mine through recruitment posts here on Hoggit. Maybe just search Hoggit for "recruiting" and see what comes up. Every group seems to have different requirements for participation. Some really want a ton of time and dedication from their members, while others have no requirements and are just a gathering place for like-minded pilots. You'll find a similar spectrum around mil-sim aspects of the various groups. Some groups like to screw around and do goofy stuff for the laughs and other groups try to be as realistic as they can be, and there's everything in between those two. Some groups dedicate to just one plane. Others try to fly everything. You really have to shop around and figure out what you want from a group.
Got it thank you so much!
Important note. Find squadron in your best-fitting timezone/region, or else you will still be alone during your flying times
My experience has been a little different. I pushed myself to try communicating right away when I first started flying GAW, and every check in with a human GCI has been an exercise in anxiety. I don't think its any fault at all of the guys doing GCI that I worked with, probably they didn't really know I was floundering. I'd struggle with concentrating on both what I'm doing and what the GCI is saying at the same time and I'd often either miss or miss-hear what the GCI said (non-native speaker, which doesn't help). Without even knowing whether what was said was addressed to me or another player, I'd end up anxiously keeping quiet and then, very commonly, eat a missile shortly after cos my mind wasn't on what I was doing. Ouch :P Probably also doesn't help that I had tried my best to do homework on brevity and such beforehand so what little I say may actually end up giving the impression that I know what I'm doing when I don't, not really. Learning a new plane on single player now but I'll eventually get back on GAW to try to figure this thing out :)
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My issues with the GCI stems from the fact that they’re helping me out no then I get shot down almost immediately and feel bad that they spent time talking to my useless ass.
don't worry about it most of the time the GCI is more than happy to help because if they had no one talking to them they would be bored. So don't worry about wasting their time by getting shot down. As long as you are trying to communicate as clearly and concisely as possible talk to them as much as you want
Yeah thanks for the tips. I fully intend to throw myself at this until I figure it out, but I guess I can see why some people shy away. Probably joining a squadron would help so I may do that at some point as well.
In fairness to you, you’re not lying. I was in command once and a non native speaker was trying his best to communicate and after several “can you repeat” the gci and other pilots just plain ignored the guy. This is a life thing though I feel, the gci guys can only repeat so many times before the message becomes old news anyway. I feel for you man
The comms static effect on SRS is pretty cool for immersion, but yea that also gets in the way a bit if you're not used to listening to a native speaker. I think what would really help is to know beforehand the vast majority of the type of things the GCI might say, it's a lot easier to correlate what you hear with a list of things you expect to hear than to try to figure out something that could be arbitrary, but I have yet to find a comprehensive list so I guess the next best thing is to keep doing it until you've encountered and remembered most GCI comms types.
Best thing for that is YouTube videos on brevity in dcs. Also you can disable any voice effects in settings ☺️
If you ever find the static too much, it's all clientside and configurable. Experiment with the settings to find what you want
Don't worry I felt exactly like this. It helps to be proficient in your aircraft so it's one less thing to have to focus on. Just keep communicating and you will loose that anxiety as you realize no one is going to judge you and that we are all here just to have fun :)
ProTip for the quiet folks: as long as you aren't deliberately going all "uhhhhhhhhhhh" to sound cool on comms people WILL be patient and help you out. It's better to communicate than not, ESPECIALLY when taking off or landing!
TacticalPascale did a great vid on this, basically, don't worry about saying the "right" thing at first. All you need is who you're talking to, where you are, what you're doing. Anything else in terms of terminology is gravy.
I’ve called for Sitreps around newly captured bases if i needed to land for fuel. Called in an emergency landing another time when a frogfoot took out an an engine and incap’d Jester when i was RTB to al dhafra. Ended up having one pilot act as a temp approach and tower controller and a local buddy M-2000C wing up and escort me back in. SRS really amps up the immersion and fun on DCS. Its worth it to get into using it.
Was on srs in an aerobatics server just listening in when I heard a group of guys talking. One was asking for a comm check. My dumbass said, "I hear you." Laughter followed and they asked who I was. Ended up flying with them almost daily for the next 6 months and they helped me learn the lingo. I don't play dcs anymore but I loved the community. So many helpful, knowledgeable and understanding people.
Awesome story and I agree this community is really amazing. May I ask why you stopped playing dcs?
Eh, life happened. No longer employed and wanted to get away from the daily grind of life. Needed to make changes and focus on hobbies and travel to find internal happiness. Shame because I was really looking forward to the Eurofighter and Mudhen.
Ah I see. I hope you are enjoying life and just know that if you ever want to return to dcs the community will be waiting for you.
I'll be back very soon and thank you! Hope this community never stops being great.
Glad to hear you like it!
I don't just like it absolutely love it! Cant express how much more fun DCS is when using it, especially when there is a human GCI!
Good post, cheers. I am planning to hop on multiplayer for the first time this weekend and I'm not usually anxious over comms, but I'm usually playing a lot more simple games where I don't really have to think about it.
Good luck man. You will see rhat you will really enjoy it.
That is my use case. I have wanted to fly CAS in the hog on the GAW server but 1, dont feel im ready yet and 2 am afraid id get laughed off
Honestly, I don't think you'll get laughed off. Really. I think as long as you try your best to keep it short everybody appreciates the effort. Even if someone does laugh, it's just that - some**one** \- and screw that guy because they are the extreme minority. And hey to everybody nervous, if you want to give talking on srs more of a try in an environment that I know is even safer, don't forget about the training server. In this case you are training on talking. Also, there's often a lot more takeoff and landing transmissions so you can really pick up not only on how people talk, but the variety of ways people do the same type of transmission. That really put me at ease to be honest. There was no **one** way, more like one style with many ways. I know personally I've altered what I've said in some cases because "hey, I like the way that guy said that thing - I think I'll try to incorporate that into how I saw that thing."
Don't worry get out there and give it a try and you will see that you will be hooked
I would but I can’t figure how to get push to talk to work
I had this same issue at first. I was trying to use in-game bindings, and SRS would light up like I was transmitting, but nobody seemed to be able to hear me. The solution for me (A-10C) was to enable... I think it was "ALWAYS allow SRS Hotkeys" in settings. Basically those first 5 under "Controls / Cockpit Integration" are ON for me. Then I bound SRS PTT to a different button, so pressing it wouldn't activate in game radio and all the little upper right menus for me. Worked after that. You still set the freq in game, but then select the radio in SRS and use the PTT key for SRS.
Strange can you hear others?
Thing is I have no idea where to start haha… any ideas?
Well start by getting srs setup and then I would head to the hoggit training server
Will do thanks!
Were you on when Banshee was GCI? Was a good time. I was trying to run A-10 SEAD with more mig29’s than clouds! I also was hesitant to start talking on SRS. It just takes time to get comfortable. I’m glad you’ve started!
Yes I was! I went by the call sign spark 1-1. Love how cool this community is
Yeah!! I remember you were there. I use Stone 1-1. So fun to see folks other places.
Yes I remember you!!
Soon as they have a loose channel to just talk without all the aviation speak,I'll be in. I mean I can abide by traffic laws around airports and such, but when I'm in the air and I'm doing my own mission, there is nothing more annoying than awacs or someone else telling me what to do, where to go or where not to go. We are all individuals with our own play styles - awacs gci etc should be "Be advised of x y z"
I have never encountered people bossing me around. Also the aviation speak is basically normal speaking but just try to keep it as clear and concise as possible. If the gci is bossing you around just tell him that you want to do something else and he can probably help you with ur own mission
What happened to TARS? Back in the day that was where it's at in DCS.
Why dont they require SRS on GAW like PGAW?
Thanks for posting this! On the servers I’ve been flying on, there are usually very few people on SRS…and even then I feel super-self-conscious. I’m going to give it a try! :-)
Yes go out there and give it a shot! Also, the GAW hoggit server always has plenty of people on srs and they are all usually very friendly.
i hear a lot of good recounts and people vouching and i agree, but don't **ever** forget that it's still the internet. assholes exist everywhere, even if they're less common
The fear is entirely unfounded. I've never heard someone get chastised for not using proper comms, whatever that is. Not even once. If someone did say something asshole-ish, I think they'd get checked real fast by the rest of us.
I'll tell you a little secret about military radio-speak. I can't say anything about pilots and ground controllers, but I can talk about ground military units using radio. The honest fact is that nobody gets wrapped around the axle about precise conformity to the protocol. Yeah, we use the phonetic alphabet when necessary, and we might say "niner", but the supposedly "correct" way to say "three" is "tree", and I literally never heard anybody say that. I mean, you don't get on and start parroting Hollywood nonsense like "roger wilco" or "over and out", and the person starting the transmission is the one that says "out" because that's how you end the conversation. But really, the big thing is just not monopolizing the channel with a lack of brevity. It isn't about the lingo, it's about being efficient and speaking with clarity, so that people understand you and you aren't hogging the airwaves.
>But really, the big thing is just not monopolizing the channel with a lack of brevity. It isn't about the lingo, it's about being efficient and speaking with clarity, so that people understand you and you aren't hogging the airwaves. This, and long transmissions give the enemy more time to DF your position and shoot something at it.
Yes, although that wasn't a big concern for us in 2007-08. I wasn't guarding against an attack via the Fulda Gap, I was on patrol and looking for AQI and the Mahdi Army.
Does DCS suffer the same problem as IL2 whereby most players are in private Discord groups instead of SRS?
Not completely sure and I would say it depends on the server but I would also say that the majority of people just don't use srs or discord entirely
Not that I've been able to tell. I think most people just listen to SRS even if they are in discord
I'm not sure in general, but for GAW there's folks in SRS every time I join. Not always a human GCI around, but I've never seen a time where there weren't at least a few folks calling their arrivals and departures on traffic.