Battle Control Team

A Battle Control Team (BCT) is a specialized, small infantry detachment in the Galactic Empire Special Operations Command, existing at the Special Forces Troop formation level and higher. Battle Control Teams are inserted into the Area of Operations, but are responsible for direct command and coordination of Imperial Special Forces elements in their formation, and thus are typically are not engaged in combat, and are stationed in auxiliary and rear positions, aft of active engagement zone. They are typically referred to as "Battle Management" in Special Forces jargon, in reference to their select role as command & control elements. Additionally, the role of a Battle Control Team is analogous to the role of the Battle Management department aboard Naval warships, where such departments are responsible for keeping track of the status of friendly vessels and their current deployments. In the same way, Battle Control Teams provide live visualization of friendly positions in the battlespace and direct them accordingly.

Existing in only larger formations, such as Troops and Companies, at the Troop formation level, a Battle Control Team is typically comprised of the Troop's commanding officer (Commander), the assistant commander (Major), one or more enlisted communications specialists, and often a Navy liaison, a Marine Advance Force Operations operator. While most Imperial Special Forces operators are equipped with short-range communications equipment with sufficient power to transmit over the local Area of Operations, only communications specialists carry backpack-sized high-power communications gear sufficient to broadcast directly to orbit or across a continent. The Battle Control Team's commanding officers are responsible for communicating with their subordinate teams within their formation, and to gather a live and changing understanding of the deployment of friendly and hostile forces, and to deploy their component forces accordingly. The enlisted communications specialists, however, are dedicated to transmitting live to the Troop's or the Company's higher headquarters — generally stationed at the airbase where the Special Forces formation launched from, or aboard a Navy warship in orbit. The