I just hope that TEST doesn't go the route of Imperium and allow anyone to form their own squad willy nilly. I just came from over there and they are tearing each other apart because people tend to follow their independent squads as opposed to the organization. Personally I think squads should be 100% under control of leadership because not only will it become a political soap opera like Imperium, it will end up being an ineffectual command structure.
As I am new I don't know if Infinity is being formed by an individual or by TEST leadership so can only offer my experience - and my experience tells me organizations that allow individuals to form their own squads better get ready for a massive clusterf**k! To be honest I don't know if TEST allows people to form their own squads but I would much prefer the usual lines of command. Personally, if I had an idea regarding structure, tactics and roles, I would first contact leadership and run it by them first; then leadership should decide what to do. Maybe I am too old school, I don't know. Or maybe I am just paranoid - years of EVE will do that - and I think this stuff shouldn't be advertised. At any rate, sorry to weigh in being new and all but I just came from a dysfunctional corp and am a tad weary.
As I said in the original post, it's not an official squad (yet), and it's not forming until the PU; once we hit PU, we'll probably have more infrastructure in place to prevent an internal collapse of the organization as a whole. You described spot on what I was expecting to be happening to Imperium, and it isn't even PU yet. Which is one reason why I decided that Infinity Squad won't be established (or accepting applications) anytime soon, not until we've gotten at least our boots wet in the PU Alpha.
Infinity Squad is intended to be a way for us to cover certain things in the PU that may require specialization; at best best it will be a unit that handles a wide variety of missions related to its mission statement, and at worst it'll just be a group for training and improving your Star Citizen skillsets with others who share similar goals of self-improvement.
To address your concerns, TEST is by nature a very open organization; we don't expect
everything to be wrapped up neatly and perfectly within the cloak of OPSEC. I had planned on keeping Infinity Squad under my hat until the PU, but I was concerned that if I didn't at least plant the seeds of interest in the concept itself, I would have more difficulty establishing the infrastructure to make the idea work.
With that said, TEST is an organization that will operate on a "mutual-benefit" mindset between members, and that will be how squads and divisions organically form within the organization. When a need arises, and someone is able to meet that need, he will be able to make things happen. Star Citizen has already shown us that there will be a very wide range of necessities and capabilities for TEST Squadron to develop and possess.
Oh, and the problem about independent squads causing the organization to tear itself to pieces? That's usually caused by someone's superiority complex. The best way to deal with that is to just curbstomp that mindset at the door, and remind everyone that this is an all-volunteer organization: If you start a project or operation, don't expect everybody to jump when you tell 'em to jump - you gotta
convince them that it's beneficial. If you get people to buy-in, you're off to a good start, but that's not going to be the be-all-end-all; at the end of the day, it's a matter of whether or not you've managed to execute on your ideas, whether small or large. The more you succeed with your ideas, the more people that will become interested in your projects.
As an aside to the paragraph above: at no point in time will I.S. attempt to interfere with the continued operation of TEST Squadron - the point of I.S. is to benefit TEST as a whole, not to control it.
Ultimately, if we have squads and divisions, there will be ways for us to communicate between them and resolve any issues that arise; remember, I view squads as "middle or lower management" - they're simply the gears that are driven by the cogs that make up TEST leadership and those who take the initiative. If two parties remain at loggerheads without a resolution, the top brass such as Montoya and Seung Ryul, will come in and resolve it with their own decisions.
Hm, I think that's about all I have to say at 3 in the fucking morning - I need to start drinking coffee again, I think. If you've got any questions, you're welcome to holler up at the others in Mumble, or hang out in the TEST channel on RSI Chat.