ANN News Desk
From Alliance News Desk on the Citadel
April 5, 2196
Alliance Military Reforms Rank Structure
By Amita Quita
PRESIDIM, CITADEL- The Systems Alliance Navy Defense Council approved the change in rank structure after a recent report concluded that the old system, which merged land base and naval traditions into one rank structure, caused significant confusion among allied military forces in joint operations during the war. It is part of the sweeping reforms established under the Planetary Defense Authorization Act of 2194, which authorized the expansion of the Systems Alliance military from 2% of available manpower to 5%. Proponents of the new rank system site among other benefits the integration of existing national and regional military forces into a planet wide defense structure as well as accommodation of the growing number of colonial militias garrisoning human colonies in the Traverse/Terminus Systems. The act includes the opening of new service academies and training depots across the globe to accommodate the influx of recruits. Due to Earth's economic post-war collapse and the role the Alliance military played in maintaining law and order post occupation, it has become the single largest employer in human controlled space.
Graduates of the N7 program can opt to have their ranks grandfather in or switch to the new structure until 2200.
The new Alliance Marine Rank Structure reinstates many ranks (but not all) found in pre-spaceflight land forces:
Alliance Marine Enlisted Ranks and NCOs:
Private: Rank given to recruits when entering basic training.
Privater 1st Class: Rank achieved when graduating from basic training.
Specialist: Rank achieved when entering a specialist school of the recruits choice. Often a title is appended to the rank to mark their specialization such as Comm Specialist, Heavy Weapons Specialist, or Drone Specialist. Specialist form the base of most marine fire teams (4 marines per section ) within a marine platoon (between 20-40 marines), operating heavy weapons, platoon communications or drone support.
Specialist 1st Class: Senior Specialist in charge of a marine fire team.
Corporal: Junior Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO).
Sergeant: NCO in charge of a marine squad (6-12 marines) which may include one or more fire teams.
Gunnery Sergeant/Tech Sergeant: Senior NCO in charge of coordinating the specialist fire teams within a platoon. Gunnery Sergeants deal with heavy weapons and artillery (mortars, grenade launchers and rocket launchers) while Tech Sergeants supervise communications and drone/mech support.
Sergeant 1st Class: The platoon's senior sergeant and executive officer.
Alliance Officer Ranks:
2nd Lieutenant: Junior Officer and recent graduate of an Alliance Officer Candidate Course. Marine 2nd Lieutenants command platoons (between 20-40 marines).
1st Lieutenant: Serve as executive officers in a marine company (80-200 marines and up to 32 ground vehicles). A company includes a mixture of infantry, mechanized and reconnaissance platoons or be a specialist company of artillery (called a battery) , engineers (specialist in construction and demolitions), logistics or command (a HQ company within a larger formation such as a battalion).
Captain: Commanding officers in charge of a company of marines. Can also serve as an executive officer at the battalion level.
Major: Commanding officer of a battalion, which is the smallest all arms formation in the Systems Alliance Marines. A battalion may range from 4-8 companies and may have organic air support in the form of Kodiak Drop Shuttles and Mantis Gunships. These are maintained and operated by naval personnel who work closely with their Marine counterparts and has earned them the name, "Dirt Navy" or "Mud Surfers".
Lieutenant Colonel: Commanding officer of a marine regiment. Prewar regiments were administrative units that handled logistics, base command and other "rear area" duties. However, the need for greater operational flexibility has brought back the "regimental combat team" concept. RCTs are made up of at least two battalions and have assigned to them a wing of gunships/shuttles for support.
Colonel: The most senior field officer rank. Colonels command marine Brigade Combat Teams made up of between 2-3 regiments. BCTs are the largest combat units fielded by the Alliance Marines and often carried into battle on carriers. They serve as the point of the spear in retaking human colonies from enemy occupation as well as garrisoning key installations both in space as well as planet side.
All System Alliance Flag/General officers retain their naval ranks and command both naval task forces and other larger theater command units.
Alliance Navy Rates Ranks:
Crewman-Recruit: Junior enlisted naval rating. This is the rank achieved on recruitment. Unlike their marine counterparts, initial training is six months long and includes basic weapons training/close quarter combat, cross training in the areas of basic first aid, fire fighting and basic ship maintenance as well as the area of specialization assigned to when entering the navy.
Crewman-Apprentice: Rank achieved at the end of Basic Training/Specialist school. Training continues at the post under the direction of sections chiefs (senior NCOs) with an emphasis on hands on experience.
Able Crewman: A fully trained crewman in the area of their choice. Often referred to by their specialization such as Comm Specialist, Fireman, Gunner or Corpsman. They form the nucleus of a ship's section/department such as engineering, gunnery, med-bay or cyber warfare/sensors.
Alliance Navy Non-Commissioned Officer Ranks:
Petty Officer: Junior NCO in charge of a department shift.
Petty Officer 1st Class: Often put in charge of on post training and drills.
Chief Petty Officer: Executive Officer or Senior NCO in a department/section of a ship.
Master Chief Petty Officer: The senior NCO aboard any ship or space station. Often reports to the Captain or commanding officer of the ship or space station.
Alliance Navy Commissioned Officer Ranks:
Ensign: Rank given to recruits going through officer candidate school. Since most officer candidates do not come through the ranks, OCS can be as long as eighteen months from recruitment to graduation, not counting dedicated naval academies across the globe such as Annapolis, Portsmouth or St. Petersburg among others.
Sub-Lieutenant: Rank achieved upon graduation from OCS. Upon graduation they become executive officers of a ship's department or section under the direction of a "full" lieutenant.
Lieutenant/Flight Lieutenant: Commanding officer of a ship's section or department. Flight lieutenants are graduates from Flight School (pre-war school was based at Acturus Station, dozens of flights schools have proliferated across human space to accommodate the influx of recruits) and serve as helmsmen, fighter/gunship pilots and shuttle pilots. Fighter pilots tend to refer to helmsmen and shuttle pilots as "bus drivers" and gunship pilots as "mud movers". They in turn call fighter pilots "vapor trails" or "chunky salsa" in reference to what happens when a fighter craft is destroyed by a GARDIAN laser battery. Lieutenants can also serve as Navigators/Executive Officers in frigates, corvettes or command military transports.
Lieutenant Commander: Usually serve as Navigators/Executive Officers of larger ships (often cruisers) or command frigates.
Commander: Usually command frigates or serve as executive officers on carriers and dreadnaughts.
Captain: Captains command individual vessels from frigate to dreadnaughts. Even if the individual vessel is the flagship of a task force or fleet under the command of a "flag" officer, the ship itself is still under the command of the captain. Naval tradition also holds that the commander of any vessel will be refereed to as "captain" regardless of actual rank, and be accorded the privileges and the responsibilities of the position. The marine equivalent is the rank of Colonel.
Alliance Military Flag/General Ranks: All officers, regardless of whether they came up through the marine or naval rank system switch to the naval rank system when reaching the "flag" or general rank status. The Alliance top brass has fought to keep the system intact even if it causes confusion among allied military forces citing tradition and unity of command. Critics within the military (and supporters of the Alliance Marines outside the system) counter that this is a way to remind the marines of their status as the "junior" service.
Rear Admiral: The junior flag officer often in charge of reconnaissance flotillas (made up of frigate wolf packs made up of between 3-6 frigates), or command rear area depots, space stations and training facilities.
Vice Admiral: Officers in charge of cruiser squadrons or marine divisions (such as the 103rd Marine Division) or Naval Offices such as the Alliance Office of Naval Intelligence (AONI), Alliance Office for Research and Development (OR&D), or logistics for key sectors/fleets.
Admiral: Officers in charge of entire fleets, such as the Fifth Fleet (Acturus Station).
Fleet Admiral (of the Alliance): The top officer in the Alliance reporting directly to the Alliance Prime Minister and/or the Alliance Defense Council.
