B747 use of ground spoilers
As flight crew, it was always my understanding (or rather, assumption) that ground spoilers were used on all aircraft on all landings whether or not you were "limited" by landing distance available.
Although the other day, on an apparently ops normal B744, we landed and rolled out with no use of ground spoilers. They were used in the air, so I assumed they were still serviceable a few minutes later.
Is it an option to use them, or mandatory on the 744? If you forget to arm the ground spoilers, will the aircraft alert you to the fact, like Airbus aircraft?