Struggling With Troop Number Within Squad: Ground Combat

Using CE v0.27 (not that it matters)

Problem: Soldier numbers on ground mission do not match soldier numbers in the equipment screen and therefore the squad that I have chosen for each soldier.

While on ground missions I use the mouse wheel to switch between soldiers within squads. I expect soldier numbers per squad to be consecutive, e.g. 6 soldiers = 2 squads, squad 1 is soldier numbers 1, 2 and 3; squad 2 is soldier numbers 4, 5 and 6. Furthermore, I expect specifc soldiers to be in those squads, e.g. Squad One: Rifleman, Sniper, Rifleman. Squad Two: Assault, Heavy, Rifleman.

Soldiers are assigned to a dropship from the barracks or equipment screen in the order I would like them to have in their respective squads. That is the first fail. They are apparently sorted by rank or something on the equipment screen...

Fine I'm thinking, I'll use that. However on the dropship the soldiers are once again sorted and their numbers have nothing to do with the order of the equipment screen. That is the second fail. (It does not matter that I can place the soldiers on the drop-ship per their respective squads.)

Now in ground combat the soldier numbers are all mixed up. For example: Squad one exits the dropship and heads East. Squad two exits and heads West. Cycling through the soldiers using the mouse wheel results in jumping around the battlefield between the squads. It gets confusing and annoying.

Is there a way to assign the soldier number on the dropship screen or anywhere else to ensure a contiguous squad numbering?

Nope. It's an inconsistency that should probably be addressed in X:CE at some point.

You could just click on soldiers on the battlemap for your squad, then shift over to the other squad. It doesn't use the convenient hotkeys but it does avoid repeated transfers like that. Also it seems to me like the soldiers in the ground combat screen are ordered based on what order they were added to the dropship. I could be wrong on that, but it might be something for you to check on.

Bumping this thread as it has been bothersome since the start and is still relevant to me and apparently many others according to Google results.

Dragging and dropping faces in the Charlie menu should just switch hotkey positions between two soldiers. Hotkeys should remain constant between missions. That would solve the entire issue at once.

Pretty please.

Dirk Ralthar is right. If you want your soldier to have specific numbers, you need to unassign every single one and then start assigning them to the dropship with the order you want to have (if you want a rifleman to be number 1, assign him first, then, if you want a sniper with number 2, assign him second and so on). It is pain in the ass though, especially when you want to replace one soldier - you need to unassign entire team and do the same process again.