They are so shadowy, secretive and stealthy that few pictures exist.
They are TF EXO’s recon team.
They are, Sky One…
Honestly – it wasn’t easy getting pics of these guys!
Hey René! Welcome to the blog! Tell me about Sky One.
Sky One is a small recon unit which consists of two friends. The team name was something which came out of a discussion within TF EXO. One of the guys from Arquebus came up with it, because both members of Sky One are from a town named Skien in Norway. Sky One is an anglicisation of that, which fits with TF EXO’s overall USSOF theme. We also think it sounds fittingly ‘recon’.
I’d been talking to Ola and the guys over at HHK for some years and have shown a big interest in joining them directly. HHK is a great team – globally recognised and really putting Norway on the realsim map.
However, we got the idea of forming the unit that has become Sky One – and offering our services to TF EXO – from the teams already established there. As you know, each unit in TF EXO has a specialism. After we attended some big games with them, we spotted a niche for ourselves and the concept of Sky One was born.
At last year’s Ghost Zone event, specifically, we got some basic recon gear and weapons together and tried that out. We both really liked the synergy of light weight gear, considerable hikes, intel gathering and the opportunity to give the rest of TF EXO some long range and precise firepower.
We generally go in under the radar, in and out of hot zones; low key and sneaky. Our main taskings are eliminating HVT and gathering intel.
We both really liked the role of snipers but that was just too mainstream and it didn’t work so well with the rest of TF EXO. Recon fitted, since it’s a bit more versatile. The job of gathering intel is actually more fun than that of playing a dedicated sniper role; remaining unseen and with a 60x spotting scope, watching enemy movement and calling it in. All the fieldcraft associated with stealth – it’s compulsive.
Leading the way for the rest of TF EXO is also a pretty awesome and highly responsible role. We have to make sure we do the best we can at our job, so those guys can excel in theirs. It’s all about teamwork and the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.
Incidentally, the other member of Sky One is one of the best techs around here and he fine tunes all our guns to perfection. So that’s something else we offer as a component of TF EXO 🙂
How does Sky One’s role change at more casual skirmishes?
At casual events we go as light as possible and sometimes get our DA kits on. Yes – we have DA kits too, even though that’s not our chosen path!
Our casual game has much more focus on our long range fire capabilities and testing our guns to get the maximum range and accuracy. But, yes- we don’t just play realsim and we think it’s important to make sure our kit delivers when it needs to in the bigger games, which are of great importance to us. The more effective we are, the more fun it is.
Muscle memory and reactions are based on absolute trigger time – not just occasional realsim events, and we like to stay frosty 🙂
What guides Sky One’s loadout?
We are LIGHTLY (big focus on lightly because we don’t want to be misinterpreted) inspired by CAG/ACE recon kit. We don’t go for impression, but try to stay somewhat true to its nature. We buy RS gear for the most part. If we go repo it’s usually because we don’t need RS capabilities; that cash may be better speant elsewhere but when you need RS kit, only RS kit will do.
What’s the consensus on the most useful bits of kit in Sky One?
Our most useful gear has to be our SR-25 rifles and our 30-90×90 spotting scopes. Our long range capabilites help define our role, so our primaries and scopes are really important to us.
What makes a great milsim event?
When we get a mission and a time limit (say 48 hours), and the players decide how we go and do the mission. When the mission is done the game is done. It’s about team work and decision making.
Lastly, any other projects in the pipeline?
We are currenly working on rebuilding a bolt action rifle. I’s going to be somewhat American sniper inspired. There’s little to no info on CAG bolt rifles, so we’ll settle for the next best thing.
Massive thanks to René from Sky One for words and also to Ola of HHK for pics (including his famous PERSEC service) 🙂
The last instalment in the quadrilogy will be here, soon.
If you missed any of the earlier instalments, click here.
The Reptile House 