According to the owners manual(s), the command equipped loco’s will not do anything on first power up for three to eight seconds while they check for a command signal. This seems a bit long to my memory but that is what the manual states. If it does not detect a command signal, the headlight comes up and the unit is in neutral. It will cycle through the normal FNRN sequence UNLESS power is interrupted for more than three seconds. If the latter happens the engine will start up in FORWARD. This is probably why we are getting conflicting reports on what the loco does on power up.
I also pulled out my DIgital Dynamics installation manual and they went into more detail. You CAN lock a Command Engine into Forward mode IF you are willing to run with the run/progam switch in PROGRAM mode. This is dicey because if the command signal comes up while the switch is in th program mode yoy could easily scramble the loco’s settings and have to do a hard reset.