Red Zone - 29
A Novel
Appendix II Notes on Military Organization
From the perspective of military history, the living past consists of three phases: unification, dominion, and the troubles.
The oldest of Kamis remember the unification period, roughly 2150 with the Treaty of Phobos, forward to the surrender of the Confederation in 2198 OC. This era saw a combination of low-level conflict and pitched battle, as the People's Republic and the Union of India brought the rest of the world into a system designed to save and restore “The Garden World.” Pulse drive destroyers fought three important fleet battles during this time. These conflicts involved a mixture of old Earth combat, and new weaponry, as well as cyber warfare. To a greater extent than most will admit, this conflict informs the structure of the Dominion and its military: the purpose is to overawe most, and utterly destroy those who resist.
The Dominion Period is that of the “Yuan Epoch” (2200-2260) when restoring and maintaining the garden world system was paramount. Conflict within this age was extremely limited, and the military was constantly reduced to marginality, beyond the expansion of security services. Few actual battles were fought during this period, and all were extremely lopsided. While the official position is that this has continued, the reality is, however, very different.
The third phase is the Jovians Revolt (2261) and afterward. This is the point where there were military or paramilitary organizations that were capable of challenging the hegemony of the Dominion, and its forces. It is also the period where a revolution in military organization, brought on by the integration of fusion, nano-technology, meta-materials, and biological engineering through constant simulation and communication which is often minding to mind, rather than verbal, has started. The Jovians showed that well-equipped marines could oust tanks and heavy infantry, the Tycho Mutiny, for those that could see it, showed the vulnerability of destroyers in close combat.
In addition to this change, is the political destabilization of the last 40 years. The Jovians Revolt, the Troubles, the Pegasi Event, and its aftermath, have created a restive desire for governments to be governments again, rather than conduits for the Dominion. The power of the computer's virtual existence has also been growing. As more and more people live an extended afterlife in the sphere, there is a growing political will. After the “Starfall,” there was significant damage to the “sphere” and many of its inhabitants were destroyed, destabilized, or deactivated. More radical members of the sphere argue that this was “genocide” and that the Dominion must be held to account. Japan, the Confederation, and many smaller nations have grown weary of a Dominion that claims an imperative to protect the garden world but has increasingly been unable to deliver.
While the Dominion holds the ultimate weapon in the form of embargo of biologicals, it is no longer unchallenged either from outside, or within.
In 2299 the military had three essential wings: Fleet, Ground, and Marine. Fleet is in charge of everything post-suborbital flight, Ground is used for open space and suborbital flight, and includes much of what would now be thought of as the Navy and the Air Force since these are integrated into ground operations. Marine is in charge of enclosed combat and includes much of the police force. In a time when much of human space means a station or other enclosed area, specialization in killing and peacekeeping without doing enormous structural damage is important, as the Shackleton incident shows. Many smaller nations and semi-independent bodies have only one service that combines all three, that is if they have a “dark space” fleet capability at all.
The major Fleets are that of the Dominion and its constituent governments, Jupiter and its allies. The major warships are divided into Destroyers, which have large spinal-mounted weapons, monitors, which do not have the capacity to reach local escape velocity, and everything else. The Jovian vessel Hyperion is the only large military vessel without a spinal mount. The only carrier vessels are generally manned by the Ground Forces, which drop craft from orbit, drop tanks, and gunships primarily. However, there are no “fighters” in the context of space at the present time. At the time of the novel, the Dominion has 3 to 1 superiority in Destroyers over all other fleets combined.
While ships are powered by fusion, however, solar and laser sails are common parts of propulsion. Building high-powered laser stations has been one of the important projects over the last 30 years, with the objective of cutting in half, or more, the time it takes to get to distant bodies. Warships, even destroyers, use laser and sail as an important part of movement and battle tactics, and holding a favorable position with respect to laser beams is a key consideration. Hence sunward and spaceward are important tactical concepts, particularly in fights between smaller vessels where solar sail propulsion is an important way to save precious energy for shields and weapons.
The Ground Forces has light and heavy tanks, though tankers fly both, surface vessels, submerged vessels, drop vehicles, and aircraft, both scramjet small fighter/attack, and heavy gunships. A gunship is roughly 150M across and combines the roles of heavy bomber and area control. With turbine lift, they can streak at Mach 3 and above, or slowly hover, destroying everything beneath them, as well as drop tanks of their own.
The tank force is the edge of the sword for the Dominion, with tanks playing a wide variety of roles. The main battle tank concept, while wearing thin, is still practiced: a single three-man tank that is capable of serving in all combat roles. However single-man scout tanks, and specialized drop tanks, do exist. The Jovians have fewer tanks, but they tend to have heavier armament and less versatility. Drones are used to a varying degree by the main powers but soo are anti-drone technology.
Infantry is divided into heavy and light infantry. Light infantry consists of pure Han individuals, with armor and weaponry for a variety of purposes. However, the main function of the infantry of this type is to secure areas already captured and to screen for tanks and other arms. In general light infantry works in small formations to engage in specific, surgical, missions.
Heavy infantry consists of individuals in highly evolved mechanized armor. The Dominion deploys modified humans as heavy infantry, as well as Han pure infantry. The heavy infantry acts as shock troops: their purpose is to engage in attrition warfare, man to man, in large ground control operations, and in general do the dirtiest of dirty deeds.
The Marines do not focus as much on the hardware used, but instead on the role of the individual. It is in this service where the largest differences between terrestrial powers: Earth and Mars, and space powers, Federal Republic of Jove, the Unions of Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, are seen. For the Terrestrial powers, Marines are mostly seen as law enforcement groundside, and their focus on combat inside ships is limited. General tactical doctrine among Dominion nations is that boarding is rare, if not impossible, and that combat in the station is hazardous to little gain. Among the ice bodies the consideration is reverse, for all practical purposes, the only combat that matters, is taking a ship or station, or human inhabitation, without rupturing its value, hence the Marines is a high prestige service into which is poured a great deal of time and attention.
Marines fight with a large variety of short-range, non-destructive weapons, and spend as much time training to avoid combat as to pursue it. They are equipped with sophisticated nano-technologies which are intended to disable equipment temporarily. They have an explicitly “hacking” arm whose purpose is to take over systems. Marines also man much of the fire and police protection services. They are the emergency response in much of space.
In general, the rank system of 2299 is recognizable in our day, but with small differences. Since the war was not, in their time, a mass conscription activity, there were more officers, and fewer privates. The war is still fought by grunts, just different grunts. Ranks are divided into Enlisted (E or ED), Non-Commissioned Officer (N or NCO), Warrant Officer (W or WO), and Commissioned Officer (C).
Rank systems have to compromise between command effectiveness, which wants fewer ranks attached directly to the function, and motivation, morale, and chain of command, which wants more ranks that are attached to people. Some changes have been made. Recognize that the Dominion is not a military culture, has not spent a great deal of time and effort on military reform or effectiveness, and so has been more willing to leave matters as they found them. The intrinsic progressive conservatism of military men contributes to this: they want the fastest, best, most advanced way of engaging in an activity that is 10,000 years old and tickles the lower reptile brain.
Enlisted ranks start at E-0, which is recruit, and go upwards. Each stripe is red, silver, or gold. A red stripe represents 1, a silver 2, a gold 3. There is no actual limit to the levels of “E” rank since promotions come with service and competence. E ranks cannot formally give orders, even to other E ranks, though, of course, if an E-7 tells his buddies to hit the deck, they will, out of a sense of self-preservation. As a result, E-5 is a relatively common rank, E-8 is not unheard of, and the occasional E-12 will be found. The real limit is that usually high E ranks would long ago have been made Warrant Officers, if specialized, or Noncoms if they are to oversee others. Discrimination, whether based on actual modification for a purpose or because of prejudice, is often the reason that very senior E ranks exist.
While there are formal designations in every language for E ranks, in general, E-0 and E-1 are called “bucks,” E-2 to E-4 “privates”, and E-5 and above “lancers.” The word corporal has long since left the military lexicon except as a designation: specifically, an E rank given temporary authority to give orders. Sometimes privates will be called by their function, such as “rifle” for range-equipped infantry, or “art” for artilleryman, etc.
The Noncoms begin again at N-0, which is a noncom in training and will never be seen in the field, even if pressed into service, a pro forma N-1 will be issued. N ranks run 1 through 7, with 7 being a ceremonial rank, which represents the chief non-commissioned officer in service. N-1 through N-3 are called Sergeant, and in fleet patties, for petty officers. N-4 are staff, for example, staff petty, N-5 is chief, and N-6 is command.
Warrant Officers are specialists who are outside of the chain of command of units passing through their jurisdiction. They are not allowed to give orders, per se, but they are allowed to give commands in their area. Warrant Officer ranks run W-0, for a Warrant in training, through W-5. Again, a W-0 will never be seen in the field, as even in the event of an emergency, a W-0 will be given a W-1 rank. Warrant officers, while they are formally Warrant Officer Fifth Rate, through Warrant Officer First Rate, are universally called by portmanteaus of WO and the number, though different languages use a different number. In Dominion Standard, “Wo”, “Woet”, “Wos”, “Woof”, “Wool” from Wo One, Wo Two, Wo San, Wo Four, and Wo Liu.
Commissioned officers are the least changed. In-ground ranks Lieutenant Second Class, sometimes called Lou-eyes, Lieutenant First Class, called Louies, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, Brigadier, Major General, Lieutenant, or sometimes Staff, General – and finally “Lt. General.” It has been 80 years since anyone held five stars in any Terran-based service, except for some tiny nations. Above this is the Defense Minister, who holds a nominal rank as a 6-star General and is called DefMin in military communications.