Warfare & Tactics

It's p simple, join a pure pvp corp (yes that means leaving your beloved NPC corp) pvp under experienced FC s for a year or two, observe what they do and why, understand game mechanics and tactics used by your fleet and enemy fleet, and then you're good to go.

First you have to learn to pvp yourself, then think about FCing others. For now , a good start would finding a good rupture fit, and hint, it's not this one :

http://eve-kill.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=12799465

Try joining RvB for a bit. Because it is quite informal, you will get a few opportunities to FC small gangs.
You're not going to learn everything there, but at least you get a start.

The path to being an FC is simple, learn every aspect of the game that could affect you, beyond that is simply a matter of being capable of processing what can be a very large amount of information. Fly with other good pilots under good FC and learn what to do. All PVP experience is good, including solo. Learn to communicate clearly and quickly, scouting is a good way to practice this

Lear
-The common fits and capabilities of most ship
-Your enemy (tactics, their mentality, capabilities, moral etc..
-Your pilots (capabilities, ship classes, moral etc..
-The mechanics of the game you are likely to encounte
-The area of space you are likely to engage in (distance between gates etc...

Be aware o
-Spacial awareness, both hostile and friendly on gri
-Your scouts positionin
-Logistic stability both friendly and hostil
-Heat levels (are you overloading your fleet too little or too much
-Aggression timer

As other posters have said it will probably be at least a year, more likely 2 of fairly frequent flying before you can expect to do all these reliably.

It doesn't take a year of ground floor experience if you're out there every night, getting fights. And yeah, the first and biggest step is just stepping up and taking dudes out. The second step is getting over your initial welps.

This.
By the way I hope you have the patience of a saint if you really want to be an FC.

Lots of good advice in this thread, from people who probably know more than me. Some things I'll add though.

First, you might have noticed the 'shakes' of PvP already. They get worse when you're a fleet commander. You've got to be able to command fleets even when you're afraid and there is more to be afraid of; not only the loss of your ship and pod, but also the defeat of your crew. Eventually you'll get use to it though.

Then for some experience, when you're in a fleet with someone else commanding, try to pay as much attention as you would when you yourself would be fleet commanding. Usually the FC is thinking harder than everyone else (and comes home more exhausted then everyone else), but you should think about what they are doing when you're out.

Also there are several jobs that go into fleet commanding; giving directions, scouting, target calling, processing intelligence, setting up bonuses, inviting people to the fleet. If you want to be a sane fleet commander at the end of the day, you'll find a way to farm out scouting, bonuses, and invitations at a minimum.

Last thing that needs to be said here is that geography is important. If you're going to be operating in a region you should get the maps for that region from dotlan. Also know that high-sec, low-sec, wormhole space, and 0.0 are different. Know when you're fighting under gate guns and know who the locals are for any particular place. If you're going to be in faction warfare, also know that complexes can allow you to hide, allow your enemies to hide, or set you up to be ganked depending on what the complexes allow in. Eve who can be useful as well.

Good Luck, one thing you'll notice is that there is never an organization which has an overabundance of Fleet commanders, you'll have fun I'm sure.

Take a couple of agony unleashed classes and then continue to fly with them as an allumni. Honestly, nothing taught me more about hearding cats than the incredible competence of their FCs.

I would say one of the most important qualities of being an FC (Not one myself, just speaking from observation) Is understanding all ships roles and abilites and how to counter them. Engaging ships without knowing what their capabilities are can be extremely detrimental.

Intel intel intel.

Get your intel straight and you'll be winning fights.

Eve is a bit of chess and most battles are determined before even the first shot is fired.
(multiple accounts and a network help a lot here)

And here's a rule of thumb: solo heavy interdictors will always have a cyno fitted. Be alligned....
The number of "good" FC's in Eve is so low that with mediocre skills and a lot of effort you still will be successful.