Hey ellf,
Glad to see you had a good time. And rather then go ot in the other topic I thought I would address your comments in this topic.

Clearly defined orders would be very, very helpful: Detailed orders vary among the many different ftl/squad leaders. I’ve had some that will tell me exact details and others that just relay the basics. What has worked for me regarding your points is as follows:

follow the group: Best thing you can do unless told otherwise. Don’t be afraid to ask for clarification, and what tends to work best for me is to actually type it out in the group channel as the ftl often has a lot of radio chatter going on.

when I should report contact: Every time using the mic if you can. And keep it short and to the point. I tend to walk around with my compass always up. This way I can say things like; Armor @ 135 or Unknown troops @ 188, etc.

when I should engage or when to shut up and hit the dirt: I always assume we are weapons Yellow unless told otherwise. Hold fire and report contacts, wait for ftl orders. Unless you are taking fire, when that happens hit the dirt and report that you are taking fire then engage. But know your targets, if you can, hit space bar and it will show you green or red. Also, unless you have AT don’t bother taking pop shots at armor as all that will do is piss them off and let them know where you are.

I had no idea what role to take: When I first started here I picked the rifleman or grenadier. Those were the roles I saw as expendable and figured when I died first it wouldn’t hurt the mission. I also drove the hmmwv’s a lot, granted, I wasn’t racking up kills and felt like I wasnt really taking part but I was and I learned alot. If you don’t know, ask when slotting up or jump into a slot you feel comfortable doing.

Read the mission goals when you can. Ask questions when in doubt, no matter how newbieish they might be. And know that you will get the hang of it soon enough.
There are a lot of people that will take the time to explain different aspects ingame, all you have to do is ask. If you ever see me ingame and in your squad feel free to follow me around and ask questions. Everyone was new at some point.