Post by Marɨck Løcke on Oct 22, 2011 18:51:21 GMT -5
The Systems Alliance is the representative body of Earth and all human colonies in Citadel space. Backed by Earth's most powerful nations, the Alliance has become humanity's military, exploratory, and economic spearhead. While the Alliance is relatively new to the galactic community, it has already made a name for itself, gaining humans an embassy on the Presidium. The Alliance is governed by a parliament based at Arcturus Station; the station also serves as the Alliance's capital.
- Excerpt from the mass effect wiki. Follow the link for an in depth history of the Systems Alliance.
Systems Alliance: Military Doctrine
The Alliance military is of great concern to the galaxy. At first contact with the turians, they were completely inexperienced. Turian disdain turned to respect after the relief of Shanxi, where the humans surprised them with novel technologies and tactics.
The human devotion to understanding and adapting to modern space warfare stunned the staid Council races. For hundreds of years, they had lived behind the secure walls of long-proven technology and tactics. The Council regards the Alliance as a "sleeping giant". Less than 3% of humans volunteer to serve in their military, a lower proportion than any other species.
While competent, Alliance soldiers are neither as professional as the turians nor as skilled as the asari. Their strengths lie in fire support, flexibility, and speed. They make up for lack of numbers with sophisticated technical support (V.I.s, drones, artillery, electronic warfare) and emphasis on mobility and individual initiative.
Their doctrine is not based on absorbing and dishing out heavy shocks like the turians and krogan. Rather, they bypass enemy strong points and launch deep into their rear, cutting supply lines and destroying headquarters and support units, leaving enemies to "wither on the vine".
On defensive, the human military is a rapid reaction force that lives by Sun Tzu's maxim, "He who tries to defend everything defends nothing." Garrisons are intended for scouting rather than combat, avoiding engagement to observe and report on invaders using drones.
The token garrisons of human colonies make it easy for alien powers to secure them, for which the Alliance media criticizes the military. However, the powerful fleets stationed at phase gate nexuses such as Arcturus are just a few hours or days from any colony within their sphere of responsibility. In the event of an attack, they respond with an overwhelming force.
Systems Alliance: Military Ranks
The Alliance uses a modified version of the ranking system that has been used for hundreds of years. Soldiers are classified into rank-and-file enlisted personal, experienced non-commissioned officers (NCOs), and specially trained officers.
The divide between naval personnel and ground forces ("marines") is small. Ground units are a specialized branch of the fleet, just as fighter squadrons are. This unity of command is imposed by the futility of fighting without control of orbit; without the navy, any army is pointless. The marines, as a matter of pride, maintain some of their traditional rank titles; for example, marines have Privates and Corporals instead of Servicemen.
ENLISTED
-Navy
Serviceman 3rd Class
Serviceman 2nd Class
Serviceman 1st Class
-Marine
Private 2nd Class
Private 1st Class
Corporal
NCOs (Non-Commissioned Officers)
Service Chief
Gunnery Chief
Operations Chief
OFFICERS
2nd Lieutenant
1st Lieutenant
Staff Lieutenant
Lieutenant Commander
Staff Commander
Captain/Major
Rear Admiral/General
Admiral
Fleet Admiral
Systems Alliance: Military Vocational Code (MVC)
The Alliance Military Vocational Code system classifies the career path of all serving personnel. The MVC consists of one letter and one number. A soldier's MVC indicates proficiency, not rank. The letter notes career path; the number indicates level of experience, as indicated by service record, technical scores, and commendations. Note that the number does not denote one's rank. It is entirely possible for someone to possess a 7 while being very low in the command structure, although this is very rare.
A – Administrative and Command Personnel
B – Assault Infantry Personnel
C – Armored Calvary Personnel
D – Research and Development Personnel
E – Construction and Maintenance Personnel
F – Communications Technician Personnel
G – Aviation and Aeronautics Personnel
H – Hazardous Materials and Environmental Personnel
I – Military Police and Corrections Personnel
J – Artillery Technician Personnel
K – Finance and Accounting Personnel
L – Logistics and Supply Management Personnel
M – Medical Specialist Personnel
N – Special Forces Personnel
O – Heavy Ordinance Personnel
P – Paralegal Personnel
Q – Quartermaster and Weaponry Management Personnel
R – Recon and Intelligence Personnel
S – Linguistic Translation Personnel
T – Training and Education Personnel
U – Urban Rapid Response Personnel
V – Chaplain and Religious Personnel
W – Naval Warfare Personnel
X – Public Relations and Media Personnel
Y – Electronic Warfare Technician Personnel
Z – Biotic Infantry Personnel
Systems Alliance: Military Jargon
• Ashore – When a ship's crew leaves the vessel, they are "ashore". Though normally used regarding planets, it can refer to boarding a space station.
• Aweigh – When a ship releases the equipment tethering it to a space station or surface dock, it is "aweigh".
• Aye, aye – The proper way to acknowledge an order. If told to attack the correct response is "Aye, aye, sir." If asked "Are you proud to be a marine?" the correct response is "Yes, sir."
• ASAP – Pronounced "a-sap", an acronym of "as soon as possible".
• Belay – Stop, cease.
• Bridge – The navigation center of a spacecraft, where the steering is done.
• Captain's mast – Non-judicial disciplinary proceedings by unit commanders.
• CIC – Combat Information Center, the command center of a spacecraft. The CIC is filled with sensor displays to make sense out of the chaos of combat.
• DC – Damage Control. The containment and repair of damage to a spacecraft.
• ECM – Electronic Counter-Measures used to avoid enemy sensors, from passive emissions masking to active jamming.
• EVA – Extra-Vehicular Activity. Time spent in a pressure suit, outside of a vehicle, spacecraft, or station.
• Flank – The flank is the "side" of a military formation. Since the soldiers are facing elsewhere, an enemy that can attack on the flank can often "turn it" or "roll it up".
• FNG – "Freaking" New Guy(s). A derisive term for inexperienced personnel.
• Goldbricking – Refers to the fast tracking of incompetent individuals to higher ranks, referencing the gold bar a lieutenant wears. Originally refers to a famous scam in which someone coated costless materials below a thin coating of gold. In other words something that looked impressive, but had no substance.
• Groundside – The surface of a planet.
• Helmsman – The crewmember who pilots the spacecraft.
• Ladar – Light-amplified detection and ranging. An active sensor that bounces lasers off an object to determine its bearing and distance. Ladar has sufficient resolution that the data can be reconstructed into an image.
• Shore party – Spacecraft's crew sent ashore on official business.
• Silent running – An old submariner's term used aboard the Normandy to denote when stealth systems are active.
• Sitrep – Abbreviation of "situation report", an evaluation of the current military situation.
• Spacer – Someone who has spent most of their life in space.
• XO – Executive Officer, the second-in-command of an Alliance warship. The XO is responsible for administrative and personnel matters.
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