 November 3, 2011 - 4:16am | KHs says the space fleet has elite officers but the enlisted are often the dregs of the spaceways. It would stand to reason that Ground Fleet experiences something similar. With career officers and NCOs who stay in in-between wars but the bulk of the enlisted are released when not needed. Unfortunately, the quality of some of the career officers falls off the longer things go between the sathar wars with some beings looking at a career in Ground Fleet as a cushy job and never really expecting that they'll be called on to fight. Conversely the Royal Guard has a tradition of service and enthusiastic support of the common people for the monarchy. Its enlisted is long service with a high percentage of its officers being drawn from the nobility because a tour in the RG or RM is considered part of getting their ticket punched. To be fair there are many long service officers drawn from both the nobility and the commons. Its just that the some what occasional aristocratic fraghole stands out and becomes the cliche and over generalization. Still despite this the RG on a bad day has better quality then any two GF formations at least until the GF units get blooded and become veteran units. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
November 3, 2011 - 4:33am | An overlooked military is that of Inner Reach. They've had to fight 3 Dramune Wars and and undoubtably suffered from the presence of Hatzk Naar in their system before the first common muster was called. Likely they try to work closely with Space Fleet patrol groups stationed there. Being under the specter of attack by criminals all the time probably imparts a high level of dedication to its militia crews. The planet may also have a small standing army (built on the GF model) just in case. One thing is certain: Inner Reach will have a spy organization (dust off the dralasite spymaster archetype). They probably invest heavily in to intelligence assets on Outer Reach. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 November 22, 2011 - 12:20am | I always believed they based Space Fleet on the British Navy at the hieght of the Empire. Since the British army also had similar problems with the enlisted being no the most desirable troops until drilled to perfection. The only thing is a modern army operates very differently then one from the olden days. The units operate in much smaller groups and much more independently. An example is the current US Military rules for enlistment you must have at least a High School Diploma, not even a GED is acceptable. The training is also different focusing on more independent thinking rather than total obedience to orders. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
November 22, 2011 - 3:29am | .... An example is the current US Military rules for enlistment you must have at least a High School Diploma, not even a GED is acceptable.... situations can be fluid; one of my co-workers is a high school drop out (no GED or diploma) and signed up for a tour in Iraq. He provided the recruiter with a forged high school diploma, the recruiter knew it was fordged and took him anyway even hinting to him that they knew the truth but were going to pretend otherwise. The reason my buddy got away with this? He's an Arabic speaking non muslim American citizen. It seemed that with shooting going on in two muslim countries that arabic speakers were in high demand. But still you make a good point; I think though in a situation where you have a newly formed political entity like the UPF and its military has no history or "institutional knowledge" that there is a plenty of room for the initial philosophy of the military to be sub par in its infancy and to evolve overtime as officers gain experience and stay in for the long haul. I think his evolution will take longer in Ground Fleet though as they must build down quite a bit between shooting wars. With the need for warm bodies to fill out the ranks and the canon statements about poor quality enlisted it would seem that when each planet recieves its first notice to provide X number of troops the governments of the individual colonies must first respond by emptying the prisons. Saves them money, lets them meet the initial call for troops without disrupting their society too much but provides Ground Fleet and Space Fleet with a headache. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
November 22, 2011 - 4:23pm | Qoute from the J man "I think though in a situation where you have a newly formed political entity like the UPF and its military has no history or "institutional knowledge" that there is a plenty of room for the initial philosophy of the military to be sub par in its infancy and to evolve overtime as officers gain experience and stay in for the long haul. I think his evolution will take longer in Ground Fleet though as they must build down quite a bit between shooting wars." Going back to the American Revolution where they had to scratch build an army from militia units the problem was not so much lack of volunteers (that came later) but a complete lack of consistency in training and equipment. General Washington was quite shocked when he discovered free black men were serving in the Massachuest militia. The answer they found was to recruit and train a separate group taken mostly from the old group and then establish traditions as they went. This could be what Ground Fleet did. OR since Ground Fleet by name is an off shoot of Space Fleet they may have followed the path of the US Air Force which was at first part of the Army until they could prove they needed to have their own separate service. OR maybe they are like the US Marines. Not truly a separate service but an autonomous part of the Navy. They have many similar traditions but do follow their own path. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
 November 22, 2011 - 4:29pm | I see a typical SF Militia ground force as a bunch of local yahoos, who sit around, drink beer, and when they do drills, its the usual running through an obstacle course and games of Lazer Tag, while their officers are guys who could not qualify for the UPF Academy. Military doctrine in the Frontier might downplay the usefulness of conventional ground forces - seeing the Space Fleets (along with orbital bombardments) with great tactical importance, while ground troops are seen as nothing more the ineffectual chunks of meat - so they don't put as much effort into maintaining a strong, disciplined ground force, and officers being reassigned to Ground Fleet might be considered a major step down - as a form of punishment or disgrace. Although, I see the major exception to this is an assignment to the Clarion Royal Guard Corp, which would be considered high honor, regardless of rank or title. |
November 22, 2011 - 5:00pm | Ah I see your point Malcadon but you are forgetting that not everyone likes to sit around and drink beer. Point in case the US Marines. If you look closely despite the Few and the Proud and the hoopla and the nifty uniforms the stated mission of the Marines is "To guard and protect US Navy property and personnel." So why are these basically security guards considered an elite fighting force? Because they worked their butts off to earn that reputation. Won't go into details but they have gone way above mission and continue to outdo bigger and better funded services. Ground Fleet could be like the Marines or they could be like the National Guard or somewhere in between or some units Marine and others National Guard. We really do not get to much of a picture of them. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
