Operation Al Shadaa
Right of the bat, as Phantom said, lower weapons when we're briefing because incidents like this won't happen then. Also, rebind your GODDAM (sorry for shouting) grenade keys. If you ever played Arma 2, then your grenade key SHOULD NOT be 'G'. Use double-tap 'G' or something else entirely.
About the mission, I thought there were three major issues with this: The BIS module not working, mission being way too long (I checked, it took two hours) and way too little in terms of inter-camp patrols. A vehicle or two would have gone a long way, and lose that goddam Virtual Ammo Box.
Other than that, very charismatic and competent leading (*cough*) and overall well done. It would have even been better if Alpha's boat hadn't been friendly-fiired to shit, but at least we had no casualties, and I should have ordered HOLD FIRE as soon as I saw the second patrol boat sinking. The naval combat was pretty cool, though
Hackers
First, about the mission. I was a bit divided on it. It was too long (as the first one), and pretty cramped with extra tasks which I usually find a bit distracting - defending the outpost was fine since it fit, but the civilians - not so much. Enemies were too concentrated around hotspots, not enough inbetween. Overall, I kind of liked the mission, but it isn't something I would want to replay. Also, I hate big teams, I really think people should split groups up into fireteams and command elements. In absence of this, the best bet for the teamleader is to assign colors and a leader for each colored team, and treat them as a fireteam. Much easier to handle, and would IMO worked better in urban combat, since we were always pretty bunched up.
Something else which seriously annoyed me about this mission was the lack of discipline of the players. Nobody took any note of sides, nobody tried to stay in formation, people were running off from their team, or not reacting to orders (Doveman had to tell people three times to disengage and regroup). This has, IMO, two major reasons. #1, people want to rake up kills. #2, people think they know better what to do.
Concerning #1, I would like to remind these people that this is a COOP game. Meaning "co-operation". This isn't about who kills most. This isn't about who spots them first so he can get a few extra shots off. This is about cooperation, and I would like to keep it that way.
Concerning #2, IF you think that you know better, there are two options: 1) Propose an alternative plan to your teamleader. He might either go along with it, or keep to his own plan. However, the teamleader has the final say. 2) Next time, take the team lead yourself. You will start to notice that keeping overview isn't all that easy if you have to take care of a number of extra people besides yourself.
Combat Research
I made the grave mistake of lingering too long by that first watchtower which cost us three guys. I developed tiunnelvision during the firefight, I should have realized much earlier that the position was getting too hot. The rest worked alright, until I got shot on top of the tower by the reinforcements.
And that goddam water in the crater always makes my screen go dark.
Anyway, I like the mission, and look forward to trying it again.