Military RP Basics (Joslae hates this)

[Dalle]

Good evening, Recruit!

This is a guide to give you as a Military RPer some decent information on the following subjects:

• Ranks & Branches
  
• Acting as a Serviceman
  
• Bonus Information
  

Be aware that none of this is in the lore. There is no lore on how to be a soldier in the armed forces, yet we know that there's "One way" to run an armed force from the real world and it only makes sense that you would utilise real life elements to run an armed force in Star Wars. The goal of this guide is not to be fan-made lore, it's to fluff up your Military RP experience and give you an idea of what you're doing - Again, no lore on how to be a soldier yet ton of lore on how to be a Sith, Jedi, Mandalorian and so on.

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[indent] Basic Information[/indent]

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In the game you can play as the "Havoc Squad Leader" during the Trooper playthrough, a soldier who was selected for the most Special of the Special Forces. A soldier who join Havoc Squad as a Sergeant and then gain rank after rank after his feet of awesome-stuff. As you play the Havoc Squad Leader you get to do Light Side and Dark Side choices to make decisions on your own to complete the mission the way you see fit.

Is the Havoc Squad Leader a good example on how to play a soldier? The answer should be no, here's why:

1. You start as a Sergeant yet you're promoted to Lieutenant without any evidence saying you have the competence level to actually be a Lieutenant. This is a trend you see throughout the story, being promoted for simply doing your job.
   
2. You eventually hit a rank so high you shouldn't even be on the field, yet lead a squad.
   
3. The missions types Havoc Squad carry out are not fit for special forces. They're mostly good enough for the Infantry or more specialised infantry units.
   
4. The Havoc Squad Leader shouldn't get to choose major decisions which change the Republic and the course of the war, that is the job for the Generals at High Command. A good soldier carry out the mission and doesn't need to know every detail around it.
   
5. Superior training doesn't mean superior fire rate on a full auto-firing rifle. It can mean better accuracy, better aim, better reaction and better use of the enviroment - Yet in multiple occasions Havoc Squad get into situations where regular Special Forces would have pulled out or be overrun.
   

Alright, recruit, No doubt that the Havoc Squad Leader have been influencing a lot of RPers - After all, the only way to really know how to act in a military is to either enlist or be a fan boy hanging around on milforum.com or something.

A few mistakes I see people do in RP is:

1. Not think up their unit.
   
2. Not researching their given rank.
   
3. Putting too much effort into talking stories than making stories.
   
4. Seemingly uneffected by the hardships of war.
   
5. Unaware of training, educations and careers.
   
6. Using a lot of tacticool / military sounding words without making sense of it.
   
7. Thinking Standard-Issue is designed to be bad.
   

All those points are understandable - Like I said, you either have to enlist to learn all of this or do research on other venues that do not include Star Wars in the name. Now a recruit might say "But maybe they do this in Star wars" - Maybe they do and maybe they don't. All the lore in Star Wars is made by people with no military experience, most of the scenes in the books and movies are there to look cool and nothing else. It's the "Run at eachother guns blazing somehow someone win" effect. If that's your cup of tea, keep it up! Otherwise, there's a huge gap in lore in regards to Military RP, we have only these few clips and the story to go on. If you want to evolve, learn more, see patterns - Start feeling like your little soldier is developing then this might be for you.

Now how do you solve these points? What are the solutions?


Ranks, Branches & Units

Essentialy all armed forces on Earth follow the following structures with some minor variations from country, task and doctrines:

Spoiler: Military Units

Army (NATO Template)
Fireteam; led by a Corporal.
Squad (2-3 Fireteams); led by a Sergeant.
Platoon (2-6 Squads); led by a Second Lieutenant (new graduate) or First Lieutenant (experienced).
Company (2-6 Platoons); led by a Captain with a 1LT as 2IC or XO.
Battalion (2-8 Companies); led by a Major.
Regiment (1-6 Battalions); led by a Lieutenant Colonel (small regt) or Colonel (large regt).
Brigade (2-6 Regiments); led by a Colonel (small Bde) or Brigadier General (large Bde).
Division (4-10 Brigades); led by a Major General.
Army Group (18-24 Divisions); led by a Lieutenant-General.
Army Theater (All Forces in the Theater); led by a General.


Marines (US / Invasion Force Template)
Fireteam; led by a Corporal.
Squad (2-3 Fireteams); led by a Sergeant.
Platoon (2-6 Squads); led by a Second Lieutenant (new graduate) or First Lieutenant (experienced).
Company (2-6 Platoons); led by a Captain with a 1LT as 2IC or XO.
Battalion (2-8 Companies); led by a Major or Lieutenant-Colonel.
Marine Expeditionary Unit (1 Reinforced Battalion & Support Elements); led by Colonel.
Regiment (1-6 Battalions); led by a Colonel (large regt). (Note: Administrative Unit)
Brigade (5-10 Battalions); led by Brigadier General.
Marine Division (4-10 Brigades); led by a Major General.
Marine Expeditionary Force (1 Division & Support Elements); led by a Lieutenant General.
Marine Force (1-10 MEF); led by a General.


Navy
Detail: Leading Rate
Section: Lead by a Petty Officer & Ensign
Group: Lead by a Lieutenant
Task Element / The Boat: Lead by Commander or Captain
Flotilla: 4-6 Ships lead by a Commodore
Task Unit: 2-3 Flotillas led by a Rear Admiral
Task Group: 2-5 Task Units led by a Vice Admiral
Task Force: 2-6 Task groups, led by an Admiral.
Fleet: 10 Task Groups, led by a Fleet Admiral .
Strategic Command: All Fleets within a Strategic Command Zone: Led by a Moff / Grand Admiral.

(Disclaimer: I have 0 experience with the Navy, can not confirm if this information is correct and there will be wonky translations. At least it makes decent enough sense until someone else have it. Also trying to utilise adaptations to the lore fleets.)


High Command / Joint Chief of Staff
Army Command Led by Field Marshalls / 5 Star Generals.
Naval Command Led by Moffs / Grand Moffs / Admirality
Special Operations Command ???????
>Intelligence & Security Command Led by Generals / Admirals
>Research and Development command Led by General / Admirals

Spoiler: Republic Ranks

RANKS TABLE (REPUBLIC)
ENLISTED RANKS (ER)

CODE	ARMY	MARINE CORPS	NAVY	STARFIGHTER COMMAND
ER-1	Private	Private	Crewman	Crewman
ER-2	Private First Class	Private First Class	Leading Crewman	Leading Crewman
ER-3	Specialist	Lance Corporal	Specialist	Specialist
ER-4	Corporal	Corporal	Corporal	Corporal
ER-5	Sergeant	Sergeant	Petty Officer	Petty Officer
ER-6	Staff Sergeant	Staff Sergeant	Chief Petty Officer	Chief Petty Officer
ER-7	First Sergeant	Gunnery Sergeant	Master Chief Petty Officer	Master Chief Petty Officer

WARRANT OFFICERS (WO)

CODE	ARMY	MARINE CORPS	NAVY	STARFIGHTER COMMAND
WO2	Master Sergeant	Master Gunnery Sergeant	Warrant Officer	Pilot Officer
WO1	Command Sergeant Major	Sergeant Major	Chief Warrant Officer	Flying Officer

COMMISSIONED OFFICERS (OF)

CODE	ARMY	MARINE CORPS	NAVY	STARFIGHTER COMMAND
OF-1	Second Lieutenant	Second Lieutenant	Ensign	Ensign
OF-2	First Lieutenant	First Lieutenant	Lieutenant Junior Grade	Lieutenant
OF-3	Captain	Captain	Lieutenant	Flight Lieutenant
OF-4	Major	Major	Lieutenant Commander	Squadron Leader
OF-5	Lieutenant Colonel	Lieutenant Colonel	Commander	Wing Commander
OF-6	Colonel	Colonel	Captain	Group Captain
OF-7	Brigadier General	Brigadier General	Commodore	Commodore
OF-8	Major General	Major General	Rear Admiral	Flight Admiral
OF-9	Lieutenant General	Lieutenant General	Vice Admiral	Vice Admiral
OF-10	General	General	Admiral	Admiral

Spoiler: Imperial Ranks

ENLISTED RANKS (ER)

CODE	ARMY/MARINE	NAVAL	STARFIGHTER
ER-1	Private	Rating	Rating
ER-2	Lance Corporal	Able Rate	Able Rate
ER-3	Corporal	Leading Rate	Leading Rate
ER-4	Sergeant	Petty Officer	Petty Officer
ER-5	Colour Sergeant	Chief Petty Officer	Chief Petty Officer

WARRANT OFFICERS (WO)

CODE	ARMY/MARINE	NAVAL	STARFIGHTER
WO2	Warrant Officer	Warrant Officer	Warrant Officer
WO1	Regimental Warrant Officer	Chief Warrant Officer	Chief Warrant Officer

COMMISSIONED OFFICERS (OF)

CODE	ARMY/MARINE	NAVAL	STARFIGHTER
OF-1	Second Lieutenant	Midshipman	Ensign
OF-2	First Lieutenant	Sub-Lieutenant	Lieutenant
OF-3	Captain	Lieutenant	Flight Lieutenant
OF-4	Major	Lieutenant Commander	Squadron Commander
OF-5	Lieutenant Colonel	Commander	Wing Commander
OF-6	Colonel	Captain	Group Captain
OF-7	Brigadier General	Commodore	Commodore
OF-8	Major General	Rear Admiral
OF-9	Lieutenant General	Vice Admiral
OF-10	General	Admiral

The Missions and tasks are organised by different levels of commands. High Command decide war goals and split up responsibilities to ensure that this goal can be achived. High Command have all the necessary resources to give them the upper hand in the upcomming battle - They don't send people to battle "just because".

Spoiler: How units link up - Potential Overcourse

High Command gather intelligence on a Planet, this case the Planet is Balmorra. High Command have Special Forces on the planet and there's less opposition activity in the region. Balmorra hosts a lot of minerals and industry which would be good for the war effort. After calculating the risks, High Command look to their resources in Manpower, Logistics and Intelligence to split up responsibilities.

The plan is a planetary invasion on multiple continents. To achive this, you need Orbital Superiority. Battlegroups are being organised with very specific tasks. An admiral with a Fleet is selected to handle the Orbital Superiority, wether the Admiral use all ships or send a Task Force is up to him / her.

Spoiler: Navy Chain-of-Command

The Admiral recive Intelligence saying that there's barely any Orbital resistance. He decide to send a Task Force to escort the Marines in - He specify that he do indeed want the entire task force to do the escort, now removing the Task Force leaders options to choose how many ships he would like for this mission.

The Task Force Leader begin working on a plan as he organise his "Expeditionary Strike Group", deciding on how the Marines will live and organise themselves onboard his ships. He talk to the Marine Commanders to organise the invasion points for the best effect possible. He then pass on his orders down to the Task Group Commanders.

The Task Group Commander recieve his orders and set up his ships in the formation. As he is in command of around 10-15 Ships he will most likely have 3 MEFs onboard or if they're Escort have no MEF on. He do as told by the Task Force Leader ordered.

Flotilla Leaders integrate their MEF onboard or plan their course of action if they're Escort.

Onboard the Ship the Captain or commander is preparing his men for combat. Maintenance checks must be peak, everything should be clean - all system are being checked multiple times through tests and simulations. He give very specific orders on how the Ship is to maneuver, how to act in different situations and more importantly what the Groups are ment to do.

Groups carry out their checks on the systems and do counter-bording exercises, practise evacuation, target practise and ensure they're at peak condition.

The Sections just listen to the Petty Officer and ensure everything work fine.


There you have a Chain of Command for a Navy.

Marines will handle the initial invasion - That is what marines are for. A Marine Force is selected and an Army Group to follow behind and conquer once the difficult invasion is done.

Spoiler: Marines Chain-of-Command

The Marine General begin planning invasion points, where do he want his marines, what does he want his marines to capture before the Army arrives and so on. He most likely send special forces in first to do Reconnaissnace, Raids and ease the locals. Once he have his war targets he will send his orders down to to the MEFs.

The MEF Commanders recieve the orders and look at the tasks at hand, what is his resistance, how is the terrain - Will he need additional equipment or anything else requested from the Marine General? The MEF command can utilise a small group of Special Forces, Force Recon or his MEFs to Pathfind and make the invasion for the Marine Division an easier task. Once he's decided, he sends his orders to the Marine Expeditionary Units, the Marine Division, The Marine Starfighter Wing and the Marine Logistical Element.

The MEU Colonel recieve his orders and begin organising his reinforced Marine Battalion and make the decision wether he require more armour to complete this task or not. Then he will make a very detailed plan on How to quickly take terrain and pathfind for the Marine Division to Follow Suit. The other MEUs will do the same but in their own zones around the Division Landing Zone.

Marine Division is when the big guns come in, that's the Marine Unit that's far more heavy on firepower and can expand quickly to surround and secure a good area for the Army to roll in with their Armour, walkers, Artillery and all their other stuff. They can sometimes be invading along the MEU and sometimes they wait for the MEUs to do their jobs. The MEU takes up most space onboard the Ships as they usually staff around 21000 men.

Down to the Marine Division Brigades the Commander is ordered to Fight along the Division as a big chunk on the map or to act more independently with a specific mission. It depends from situation to situation.

The Regiment is where the Troops exercise, train and are organised. It's not a fighting unit unless you follow a more European / Small Marine Force template.

Battalions prepare themselves for their very specific tasks to ensure the Mission of the Brigade is Achived. Battalions are independant units without much combined firepower - It's one type of troop with for example 4 Infantry Companies and 1 Support company. Maybe 3 Infantry Companies, 1 Recon Company and 1 Support Company.

Companies have only 1 Task to complete. The Captain is Far behind yet still on the field and move along with his troops to from a distance see the battle. He organise his men with support from a Warrant Officer to see to it that Logistics, Orders, Signals and all the basic needs to complete the tasks are delivered as for making detailed plans on a Tactical Level and less tactical.

Platoons with a "PL", 2nd or 1st Lieutenant is the most basic fighting unit that a person can lead. An Infantry Platoon is dead close to the opposition and are the ones doing the gritty fighting like you see in films. The Platoon Leader organise his platoon in a Tactical Manner, decide how they should march - What formations to keep and is vital for the decision to neutralise the enemy!

The Squad is the most personal unit you can be in, every individual in that squad has a task but nearly the same kind of training in everything. You follow orders from the Squad Leader on how the Squad move, march, carry out its direct missions and do combat.

Individual Soldier, is a person with a weapon marching towards or in enemy terrain. Following the orders from the Squad Leaders or fireteam leader, shout out when he sees something, communicates all the time in command and utilise training and experience to ensure he survives and not the opposition. The Individual Soldier does not make any major decisions but is one of the most important pieces on the field.

The army follow an almost identical structure to the Marines, except their job is full on conquest of the planet while the Marines job is to simply ensure the Army can land.

And the Greatest No no! Don't break the chain of command!

There are even more type of temporary unit types such as "Battlegroups", Expeditionary Groups, Army Corps, Field Force, Air supremacy command and more weird variations of it.

Simply put:

A squad should be led by ER-4 at the very least, and by no higher than an ER-6, unless there is an absence of other ranks to command.

A platoon should contain a commanding officer at rank OF-1 or OF-2, preferably with a platoon second-in-command at rank ER-5 (Sergeant) at the least.

A company or small specialist task force should contain a commanding officer at rank OF-3, with rank OF-1 or OF-2 as second-in-command where possible. A company should contain a primary administrator and disciplinary adjutant for enlisted personnel at rank of ER-6, ER-7 or WO2.

A battalion, or large task force, should be led by the rank of OF-4 at a minimum, or OF-6 at maximum, depending on unit size. A battalion should have a senior soldier to act as administrator and disciplinary adjutant at rank WO2 or WO1 where possible.

Keep the ranks down - It doesn't mean much. If anything, the higher up you climb the less you should be on the field. Do a bit of research on the rank before you applying it - Seeing a Naval Lieutenant-Commander run around on the Front Line between infantry Battalions is quite a sight, not necessarily in a positive way.


Now Recruit, you know a bit more about ranks and units - Reminder, note that it sometimes take years to gain a rank. A 22 year old Colonel would be a first, even a 22 year old Captain would be odd. Keep in mind that the NCO (ER-3+, only Enlisted) / Warrant Officer and the Officer rank tables are two entirely different schools. A Warrant Officer would probably not want to try and get "Promoted" to Lieutenant, it's closer to a demotion for him.


How do you apply this then, Recruit? When making your toon, or adjusting your existing toon - The ranks. Ensure that the rank fit the job describtion. When it comes to the Unit it depends on the branch of service. If you're Starfighter Corps, you'll say your wing. Marines, say their division or MEU. Army would say Regiment, Navy would say Flotilla.

How are Units named then?

Here's examples:
Army Theater: [planet] Theater = Balmorran Theater. Kaasian Theater. Coruscant Theater.
Army Group: [number] Army = 4th Army, 2nd Army, 11th Army, 21st Republic Army, 83rd Imperial Army
Division: [number] ([sometimes purpose]) [division] = 3rd Division, 1st Mountain Division, 2nd Alderaanian Armoured Division
Brigade: [number] ([traditional name] / [purpose]) Brigade = 7th White Guards Brigade. 2nd Infantry Brigade
Regiment: [home planet] [number] [service] = Corellian 4th Infantry. Corellian 21st Armour. Breentalian 29992 Logistics
Battalion:  [number] [purpose] Battalion = 3rd Armoured Battalion, 1st Support Battalion
Company:  [number] [purpose] Company = 1st Armoured Company, 2nd Mechanized Company
Platoon: [number] Platoon = 1st Platoon, 4th Platoon, 3rd Platoon
Squad: [number] Squad = 2nd Squad, 7th Squad, 5th Squad

A soldier in the Army will refer to his or her Regiment because that is the lowest distuinguishable unit. Every Regiment (Few exceptions) will have a 1st Battalion. Every Battalion will have a 1st Company and so on and on. Regiment - The unit you belong to. Then the regiment might be organised under a Brigade which is organised under a Division and so on and on.

You should of course know your precise position in the formation.

Private Sanders, 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, 4th Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment / Coruscanti 4th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Brigade, 1st Mountain Division, 1st Army - To be assigned to the Balmorran Theater.

Same shit for the other branches.

Acting as a Serviceman

A serviceman no matter the branch is a person with discipline. A soldier must be capable to work in a group, wether the person had that trait prior to enlistment or was forced to adopt it, of course a soldier might want a bit of lone-time but there's no such thing as a "Lone-wolf" in the forces. Personality wise, it depends on the soldiers branch of service, unit and background. The infantry grunts might be far more vulgar, mostly staffed with "the boys" and far more loudmouthed as they always go through the "Suck" - While maybe signals and a starfighter wing is a bit more relaxed, polite and have a better mix between the genders.

Most basic things to do as a soldier:

• Salute -Officers- and return Salutes. Bonus: Say Good evening, Good day, Good something, [rank]
  
• Adress Officers as Sir.
  
• Don't say anything you think could be classified or restricted information.
  
• Don't badmouth the war effort, in a civilian setting!
  
• Don't badmouth different units in a Civilian setting!
  
• Return your kit when you don't need it! It's not your uniform for show, it's the Empress, the Kings or the States!
  
• Be polite to everyone when wearing uniform.
  
• Never say something is classified, avoid the subject completely!
  
• Don't drink when on duty! Especially don't get shitfaced in uniform!
  
• Don't spread rumours!
  

More than that, just be examplary. People do look at soldiers in a different manner, individuals with some sort of authority and the people in the uniform represent their states most lethal tool.

Don't act like a maniac, the first sign that you enjoy killing for the joy of killing in the Republic army and you should be discharged. Soldiers are trained to shoot on reflex, seeing silhouettes in the terrain. Looking at someone through the scope, seeing the person to pull the trigger and walk away like it's nothing is maybe only possible for imperials slaughtering their enemies. But for pubs, there will be a world of mental challanges yet soldiers show they're capable to simply live with it. Talking about killing shouldn't be taken lightly if your soldier is experienced, unless you're the imperial exception.


Additional Stuff. I do encourage making up individual words as well for the "Unit Tradition".