Hell Let Loose Vietnam: Commander and Squad Leader Spawn Duties

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Core problem: matches are lost when the team has no usable spawn near the fight. Commander and Squad Leader exist first to keep a spawn network alive, Outposts for your squad, Garrisons and NVA tunnels for the whole team, then talk so those spawns stay up. Gunfights come after that.

Who Does What

Squad Leader

Your squad's spawn and the team's Garrisons

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Place and replace the Outpost (squad-only, no supplies, fastest wave). That is your first job every time you move.
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Build Garrisons when supplies are on the ground. Do not wait for Commander to walk over and do it. Community matches die because SLs treat Garries as "Commander's job."
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NVA SL: also place tunnels and connect them (to another tunnel or a Garrison, max about 400 m). Only SL and Commander can build or modify tunnels.

Commander

Own the team spawn net

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Ping where Garries go, drop supplies or send a truck or helo, order SLs to build, keep a reserve supply pile ready for the next Garry when the current one dies.
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Keep at least a layered set: one near the held point, one for the next push or flank, one fallback. Vietnam jungle plus tunnels punish single-Garry teams.
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Place your own Commander OP so you are not stuck walking from HQ while checking backline tunnels or dropping supplies.

1First 5 Minutes, In Order

1
Open the map before you move.
Note the live cap, friendly vs unlocked-enemy territory, and existing Garries. The 200 m Garry spacing rule is why new SLs get a silent "can't place." Someone already built too close.
2
SL: drop an Outpost immediately once you have a teammate nearby and you are on or just off the approach you actually want to fight on. Neutral ground: OP only, Garries need friendly or unlocked enemy land.
3
Commander: first call is nodes plus first two Garries, not the flashiest strike.
Ping a defensive Garry about 50 to 100 m behind your point (cover, not on the hard cap) and a second Garry off-axis. Ask one SL plus Support or Specialist to build. 50 supplies friendly, 100 in unlocked enemy.
4
Drop a reserve crate somewhere quiet behind or beside the fight.
When the front Garry dies, you already have the next one paid for. That is the habit public Commanders skip.
5
Spread OPs. Do not stack every squad OP on the same bush.
One artillery or one camper wipes the team's forward wave. Commander should say "Able left trail, Baker right berm, Charlie stay off the cap circle."

2Key Decision Points

OP placement

On the cap vs off the cap

Attack: off the main sightline, about 100 to 150 m, on a flank trail or tree line, not the road everyone already dies on. Defense: 50 to 75 m behind the line covering an approach, not in the middle of the circle. Last stand: on the edge of the hard cap if you must, accept it will die.

Garrison zone

Blue-zone vs red-zone Garry

Friendly (blue): cheaper, only locks if an enemy is almost on top of it. Unlocked enemy (red): 100 supplies and locks from much farther, about 100 m. Do not plant it on the enemy point. It locks instantly and wastes the crate. Put it outside the four squares around the cap, preferably on a flank.

Rebuild order

When the net collapses

Rear Garry first, then new OP, then the next forward Garry. Walking from HQ while arguing in command chat is how you lose the sector.

NVA extra

Tunnels as the unseen spawn

Tunnels are free but 5-minute cooldown, cap about 12 (15 with a Commander ability). Connect tunnel to tunnel or tunnel to Garry within 400 m. A tunnel behind a US push is the spawn they cannot see from a helo. If a sector flips locked-enemy, those tunnels die, rebuild after.

US extra: use helo or supply drop to seed a Garry you could not walk supplies to. Do not dump crates on the cap, dump them where an SL can build in cover.

Common Mistakes

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SL only using OPs and refusing Garries ("Commander's job"). The whole team then walks.
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Garry on the enemy hard point. Instant lock plus easy find.
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All OPs on the same cap. One camper or strike ends the attack. Check the spawn map for an enemy pip next to the OP before you click spawn.
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No reserve supplies. Front Garry dies and there is nothing to rebuild with.
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Fighting in command chat instead of replacing the dead spawn. That is the clip people post after the squad gets wiped on a fresh OP.
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Ignoring 200 m Garry spacing, then thinking the game is bugged.

If you only do three things this match: keep an OP up, keep two Garries alive, and have a crate waiting for the third. That is the duty players are actually arguing about.

Who Does What

1First 5 Minutes, In Order

2Key Decision Points

Common Mistakes

Videos That Show the Spawn Job

More Hell Let Loose: Vietnam Guides