Perspective from a complete newbie :(

[desirableroasted]

Originally Posted by poetic hunter

No where in game does it explain that you have to listen to the radio messages and follow them.

I agree that SH3 has a steep learning curve at the beginning.

When you start the Navigation tutorial, you do get a message on the right hand side that states "Follow closely the instructions in the radio messages to complete the exercise." It's also in the Captain's briefing (which you can reach at any later point by clicking "Mission Objectives" from the menu on the left).

Originally Posted by poetic hunter

There is also a tricky part when it comes to completing objective 2 and objective 4 in that navigation tutorial. They have to be completed simultaneously if I recall correctly, not consecutively like you would expect.

They are sequential. You should take the academy briefings utterly literally. Yes, it makes my eyes roll, too, just as it did back in Navy basic training.