Wingleader and Wingseccond Guide

So, you want to be a wingleader or a wingsecond? There's a few things you should know first. Being a wL or a w2 means a lot of responsibility, both on and off the scenes.

Wingleaders are responsible for the lives of the 13+ dragons and riders in their wings. This means that they must work well under pressure, be good leaders, and have earned the respect of those flying under them. They often must take the brunt of sacrifices, and make many themselves. They must be able to think quickly, yet reasonably, and be willing to make decisions that could alter their own lives or that of their wing. They must lead a wing through drills during all weather, without succumbing to the pleas for a restday. And they must be sure that new riders are ready for the rough rigurous flight of flying Thread. They are the liasons between the Weyrleaders and the riders, and must make sure that their sense of duty always lies with the Weyr.

Wingseconds must know how to act as a liason between the wingriders and the wingleader. They too share the burden of responisbility for leading the wing, and are often given certain sections of the wing to lead. There can be as many as 2 wingseconds per wing, so that every wingseccond has a minumum of 5 riders under his command. More than likely, the number is closer to 8+. That is 10-18+ lives that are under their control, depending on them. They must back the wingleader on important decisions, and know when to keep his/her mouth shut. They must also be the wingleader's eyes and ears of the wing. Many times a wingsecond might be privvy to information that a rider does not wish to share with the wingleader. The wingsecond must know discretion, and understand that priority must always be with the Weyr, above all else.


Wingleaders


Basic Information

Wingleader is one of the highest ranks that a rider can achieve through their own perseverance and comes with responsibilities that the rider must meet. A Wingleader will look after around 13+ riders depending on the numbers of riders and wings in the Weyr at any one time. A Wingleader has primary responsibility for his wing and is to ensure that the wing is ready and able to fly Thread whenever needed. He/she decides who should fly in what position - and this is important as a wrong placing can have disastrous consequences.

The Wingleader is more than just a commander though, he or she is more like family, and will take a part in helping to resolve issues in their riders’ lives. This could be small matters such as helping a rider to arrange accommodation when they first arrive at the weyr, being an ear to listen to when things aren't going right, and settling disputes or forming judgements in cases brought before them.


Responsibilities

• Co-ordinate the wing so that they can fight thread effectively and as safely as possible
  
• Lead the wing to fight thread about once a sevenday (not all wings will fly and they may need to lead the flight if the Weyrleader or Weyrsecond are not flying)
  
• Every sevenday they must produce reports on wing activities; search activities; sweeps including observations, falls, personnel changes in circumstance such as pregnancies, injuries or requests to change role, wing or weyr. These are given to the WeyrLeader for review.
  
• Attend the monthly Wingleaders meetings
  
• Interview all new transferees into the wing and record relevant information
  
• Run formation drills and thread practice
  
• To develop and practice new formations for better thread combat
  
• To arrange any extra classes in dragonhealing, first aid, combat etc
  
• To settle any arguments and disagreements within the wing, if and when the
• Wingsecond cannot
  
• Complete random inspections of the wing to check for rider neatness and fitness for duty and also to check dragon health and care

RP Opportunities

These are things that the writer has the authority to run without checking with the BoD. A Wingleader can also delegate any action to his Wingsecond.

• Calling and running a wing drill
  
• Calling a rider to an initiation to the wing interview
  
• Calling a rider for a performance interview and discussing their situation
  
• Officiating for a dispute between two riders - judge at an Honour Duel
  
• Arranging training for first-aid, combat, dragonhealing, etc
  
• Disciplining riders (and dragons) that do not perform to his expectations. The disciplines they can enforce are for issues such as dereliction of duty, tardiness, incompetance, disrespect and mild disputes. A Wingleader can issue punishments such as Water rations on a non-Fall day, grounding, allocation of Watchrider or post-fall Sweep rider duties, addtional drills, callansthenics or physical exercises such as a jog around the Weyrbowl or lake swim, Exclusion from wine allocations if drunk frequently, etc. Scuffles that are non-serious can be formalised as unarmed Honour Duels but injury, gross misconduct or rape, theft of endangerment of the wing is discussed with the Weyrleader. If a Wingrider feels wronged he/she can complain to the Weyrleader or Weyrwoman.
  
• Meeting his Wingseconds to discuss wing matters
  
• Gathering reports together from the members of the wing to include in his sevenday reports to the Weyrleader
  
• Calling flying formation practice
  
• Calling an inspection of flying straps, clothing and dragons health
  
• Complain to the Weyrleader or appropriate craftmaster if the quality of firestone, leather, equipment or supplies is flawed
  
• Formally Request for riders to be transferred in or out of the wing depending on the need. These are approved by the Weyrleader.
  
• Can remove a rider from duty on medical grounds and grant leave
  
• Write the letter home/inform next of kin or weyrmates of death or injury in action
  
• Attend Wingleader meetings to discuss Fall strategy and difficuly issues (Called by the
• Weyrleader and Weyrwoman)

Reports

The Wingleader is responsible for the reports being sent to the Weyrleader. However many of these reports will be completed by his Wingsecond in order to reduce the amount of time spent behind the desk. These reports should include:

• Climate observations
  
• Hold or weyr observations from sweep rides
  
• Injuries, illness or pregnancies
  
• Progress in any current undertakings
  
• Highlights and lowlights of rider performance

Wingsecond

The Wingsecond rank is as important as a Wingleader. They are the second in command and will form a fallback or substitute for the Wingleader should he not be able to complete his duties for some reason. Essentially, they have the role of making sure what the Wingleader wants done is done. They will often be the ones coordinating information in Fall and passing it on to the Wingleader. They also have set duties within the wing, can conduct interviews with wing members and produce reports for the Wingleader to take to his meetings with the Weyrleader.


Responsibilities

• Assist the Wingleader in co-ordination of the wing to enable effective thread fighting
  
• Organise the fitness regime for the wing, including any suggestions the Wingleader has
  
• Organise the sweeps to be covered by the wing
  
• Produce a report on a sevenday basis to be passed up to the Weyrleader covering the sweep activities and findings
  
• Assist in running formation drills for practiced formations when the Wingleader is otherwise busy
  
• Standing in for the Wingleader should they be unable to perform their own duties for a while

RP Opportunities


A Wingsecond can be delegated any of the Wingleader duties at the Wingleaders disgression, but these are functions that can be done independantly.

• Organising sweep rides
  
• Running a drill while the Wingleader is busy but not call one independantly
  
• Adjudicating an Honour Duel – one where no weapons are used
  
• Supervising disciplinary details
  
• Arranging a fitness session for wing members
  
• Obtaining a verbal report of a sweep to create a report from
  
• Can perform on the spot inspection of equipment
  
• Can send a rider to the Infirmary for a medical check up, but cannot give them medical leave unless allowed by the Wingleader.
  
• Can issue minor punishments for tardiness, disrespect and incompetance. Fights and repeat offences are refered to the Wingleader. A Wingsecond can assign duty as punishment, water rations, physical tasks etc.
  
• Principal relayer of information in Fall and in general so will be first point of contact in many cases.
  
• Check on staff morale and discuss problems informally. Be aware of the wing relationships and problems and relay them to the Wingleader if relevant.

Sweep Rides

The Wingsecond has the responsibility in the wing for organising and running the sweeps. The Wingleader will not take part in these due to his other commitments. Each sweep will have around ten riders. These will be led by the Wingsecond, Wingthird or a rider that is established and can be given the responsibility. As many of these sweep teams as possible should contain a search rider in case prospective candidates are encountered. Once the sweep has been completed the Wingsecond will draw up a report detailing what was observed, people encountered and so on. This could be climate information, the odd person found that could be Searched, and details of changes taking place within holds and so on. If unscheduled Threadfall is discovered then this obviously has to be reported immediately.


Offices

Each Wingleader has his own office in the Weyr, and they are located just north of the Candidate barracks and west of the Weyrleader's. This enables him to have private conversations with members of his wing as well as to have a quiet place to complete the piles or reports and records every sevenday. All the Wingleader offices are adjoined to their Wingsecond's office.

Each Wingsecond has his own office in the Weyr and is adjoined to his Wingleader's office. This enables him to have private conversations with members of his wing as well as to have a quiet place to complete the reports and records every sevenday on sweep rides. It is also necessary for the Wingsecond to have an office in case he has to perform other duties for his Wingleader