From: The Commander

To: Starship Council

Subject: The New California Republic- General Assessment and personal recommendation.

Background/History:
The New California republic, as the name suggests they are a republic based in California. The named seems to stem from the old world California's state republic. Their flag is a two-headed bear from the original one-headed bear of the old world. It was founded by a President Tandi In the year 2189 with the assistance of the legendary Vault Dweller. The founding town was originally named Shady Sands, and is now the capital, holding the same name as the country. By post-apocalyptic standards, the NCR is a paradigm of economic success and mostly good ethical character. The political climate of the NCR is debatable but they do follow the philosophy of rule of law, instead of rule by men alone. They have a reasonable degree of physical security, and a standard of living is a much higher degree than the typical wasteland community. The current population of this "country" is about 700,000, a great achievement in these times.
Some years before I was born, the West Coast (and original) Brotherhood of Steel attacked the NCR. The goal was likely to establish permanent control of the ownership and use of pre-War technology; the BOS hoarding it, NCR wasting it. Early on, the NCR was at a considerable disadvantage: The NCR army was inferior to the BOS in all aspects but size, and lost many battles because of that. As the war dragged on, the NCR's larger recruiting base began to turn the tide, as the BOS couldn't replace casualties as quickly. A Paladin, while able to wipe out a whole squad of NCR infantry, takes years to train properly. Eventually, the Brotherhood recognized inability to win, and fled into hiding. The war, though largely over, still rages in the Mojave. The greatest spoil that the NCR claimed in the conflict was a large supply of defunct power armor, which now protects their Heavy Troopers.

Currently, the NCR is in a state of transition, with rapid economic growth and a sea change in political leadership. This transition endangers its basic humanitarian ideals. This is very evident in the Mojave, where Hoover dam has improved access to electricity and water, but the Mojave Campaign has nearly over-taxed the NCR budget and embroiled its armed forces in a stalemate against Caesar's Legion. Its full plan would seem to be annexing New Vegas as its sixth state, the first five being Shady Sands, Los Angeles, Maxon, Hub, and Dayglow. Many other territories are very valuable: the Chosen One used a G.E.C.K. to create quite fertile farmland in Arroyo (ca. 2242), the Boneyard is home to the Followers of the Apocalypse, and their extensive medical and scientific knowledge; and Vault City has the most advanced technology, able to mass-produce medical drugs, fabricate advanced military gear, and perform complex surgeries and other medical procedures. From what Archangel's Seraphs tell me, Vault City was annexed by the NCR to remove the threat of New Reno thugs, hired by NCR to attack Vault City (they may, therefore, be able to defeat traps). NCR also took Navarro, the former land military base of the West coast Enclave, in the war which I will cover later.
In the Mojave, while the NCR currently controls Hoover Dam, its treaty with Mr. House and the Three Families compels it to allot 5% of the Dam's Electricity and water production for local use, free of charge. The NCR is also locked into protecting New Vegas from Invasion by Caesar's Legion, even though it does doesn't receive a single cap in tax revenue from the Strip's highly lucrative resort operations."

Technology:

Military:

The NCR seems to have access to a lot albeit rudimentary pre-war technology. But what is unique about this is that their equipment is new or "good as new". The NCR standard troopers are armed with basic service rifles. As well post-war made armor, that is of a new design.

The NCR also possesses power armor. There are two different versions of their power amour, refurbished and salvaged power armor. The refurbished is achuall power armor that works on the concept of power armor. Though the NCR may have the capability to refurbish armor, it seems very unlikely. It is more likely that they have paid the Shi to refurbish any armor they come across. As for salvaged power armor this is the armor that has been acquired from the NCRs war with the brotherhood, which has either been raided or salvaged from Brotherhood troop corpses and bases. This armor has had the servos striped out of it and has had a air-conditioning unit put on the back of it. This is because of lack of specialized training the heavy troopers go through and is much cheaper to strip the armor then give these troopers the proper training.

As well the NCR does not use energy weapons even though they have access to them. These weapons if used would most likely be used for Special Forces. Instead of this the NCR "Rangers", are given unique armor and weapons that has also been refurbished. The weapons used are yet not limited to, the prewar anti material rifle, hunting rifles as well as the unique designed ranger sequoia, and brush guns.

Civilian:

The NCR obviously has knowledge of irrigation. They also maintain some pre- War transportation, such as monorails, trains, and prewar vehicles. The NCR railway system is quite extensive, as it travels through both the core regions as well as the Mojave Desert. This is quite an achievement albeit the progress has hit a rough patch recently.

Now the NCR production abilities increased significantly since they annexed Vault City, The NCR got access to a large array of new technology. They can now mass produce chems and stimpacks, as well as perform radiation removal and sophisticated procedures, including replacement of lost limbs nad organs via cloning and grafting armor to ones skeleton. They can also repair and build new versions of pre-war weapons and armor, this may mean that the armor that has been put into myth by the ranger veterans might not be prewar made but brand new.

The NCR also has the most vegetation, plants and grasslands out of all other factions and the rest of the United States.

Military: Thought the origins of the army are not detailed, they were known to exist around 2241 as a standing army in the core regions. The army then continued to grow and served the NCR interests. They have given themselves a name since taking out several raider tribes and their war with the Brotherhood of steel. Currently the NCR military is only rivaled by Ceasars Legion. Thought these to military forces are currently in a stalemate in the Mojave desert. Though the legion is slowly winning the war.

The NCR military is organized similar to the pre-war American military, thought it is adapted to the much smaller population of the wasteland. They have four basic unit archetypes: Trooper, Heavy Trooper, Ranger, and Mechanized. These are then split up into different companies with specialized areas of expertise.

Infantry:

Regular infantry are issued standard 5.56mm Service Rifles, 9mm semiautomatic sidearm's, and body armor. Their training is short, usually 2-3 months. While modest by Enclave or BOS standards, this equipment is still better than what their usual foes possess. The infantry devision also has specialized corps. For example, there is group of troopers that are categorized as the best snipers in the wasteland and are called 1st recon. Yet they are not as good as the NCR Rangers. 1st recon is part of the basic trooper archetype though they are the best of the best when it comes to this division. The trooper division also has a logistics corp., Medical, and a MP division. The Heavy Trooper is technically part of the infantry to, but have specialized training that makes them decent shock troops so they have their own class as well.

Heavy troops:

The Heavy Infantry Corps uses heavier weapons (like the 5.56mm M240 LMG) and salvaged T-45d power armor, and receives better training. Thought this training specialized training are not as well trained as any Enclave, Brotherhood or even our own troopers when it comes to power armor. The armor is not even under the same principle as power armor as the servos have been stripped out of them. The armor does still give the protection of power armor though. The unit's function much like power armored units seemed to in pre-War times: as shock troopers, spearheading major engagements.

The Rangers:

The pinnacle of NCR training is the Rangers. They were once more like civilian SWAT units or State Police than military Special Forces, but have since taken on that role. The equipment of Patrol Rangers is generally on par with Heavy Trooper weaponry, and their armor, while not power armor, is still superior to standard NCR Combat armor. Veteran Rangers, with 20+ years of service, are honored with "Black Armor," modeled on LAPD SWAT suits and unique revolvers. They pose significant threats to any who cross their path, but are increasingly looked down on by high command officers, in favor of Heavy Troopers.

Mechanized:

Ground:

The mechanized division, has not yet been seen in action, but is known to have access to pre-War military vehicles, so probably has significant fighting power and mobility. It is also unknown how many they have. The logistics corps employs several former US army trucks for transport. And have workshops that have decent technicians.

Air force:

NCR does have a small air force, composed of Vertibirds captured at Navarro from the Enclave. It is also speculated that they acquired the blueprints for the VTOL aircraft in the spoils from the Brotherhood. If they did, they can't build them very fast, given the lack of significant air support in Mojave. At least one of the Vertibirds is reserved for the NCR presidents personal Vehicle called Bear Force One (no pun intended).

The NCR also has access to fixed-wing aircraft it is unknown how many are operational and if they can reproduce them.

Post note: It should be noted that the NCR has access to Calvary as well but has for some reason not been used since the Great Kahn war.

Personal assessment:

NCR is a primarily good society, but has major flaws. As a post-War nation-state, NCR is a paradigm of success. They have the one of the, if not the largest population in the entire United States; they do have the largest military force in the US; they have the most developed infrastructure outside the Enclave. Tandi's rule expanded NCR, as settlements joined of their own free will, impressed by the NCR's principles and results. But they cannot be the society that rebuilds this shattered world. They won their war with the Brotherhood by attrition, not superior strategy, training, or technology. They had the luckiest streak in international relations, and became so egotistical that the only faction thus far that has stymied them is the Legion. Corruption runs rampant, with wealthy ranchers perverting justice in their favor. Government-backed monopolies flourish, as large merchants, like Crimson Caravan, use their influence to tax smaller competitors out of business. The Gun Runners provide the bulk of the Army's weapons, and wield disproportionate influence over military policy. President Kimball is too much of an expansionist; his Mojave campaign drains NCR resources with no discernible gains, thanks to the treaty with Mr. House. The effort costs much blood and treasure, and I believe that he will be voted out of office if things in the Mojave don't turn well for the NCR soon. His successor may have better luck; without NCR military forces keeping Caesar at bay, House will have to raise his own army to keep New Vegas safe. That would prove costly, and likely make him more amenable to annexation by NCR. But even if I'm right about that, the move would not increase NCR's real economic base enough to make the expenditure worthwhile, as New Vegas would really only provide tax revenues. The NCR, in spirit and in general, are good at heart, if not a bit naive. But until Kimball, General Oliver, and the squabble of Caravan families are dealt with there cannot be any real friendship between us and the NCR. There are intense benefits to be allies, and the small people of the NCR are good, but it is the higher-ups that must be dealt with. My personal suggestion would be slowly manipulating the events of the Mojave as the Seraphs and I find away to annex New Vegas, or at least prevent the other major factions from doing so.

An additional message to those who read my report: I believe if NCR succeeds in the Mojave, beating the Legion and House, then their national ego will grow even more. They may eventually seek to target us as they did the brotherhood. To them, we are hoarders of advanced technology and competition to be dealt with. Even though any war with us would prove their swift destruction, the NCR has become quite effective at getting what they want."

Note to readers: had this sitting out on my desktop for a while, thought I would release it. This report might be changed in the future. Through Grammar and content checks. But until then enjoy. As well tell me what you think with a review positive and negative constructive reviews are welcome.