Marines
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The Confederacy Marine Corps (CMC)
The Marines are the highly mobile strike troops of the Confederacy Military. Generally they rely upon the Navy for transport and orbital bombardment though they do have their own Air Wings for close air support. A select few receive advanced training and are attached to the Special Forces.
Once on the ground they fight using fire and maneuver tactics utilising their individual weapons. For a little light entertainment see the music the Marines fight to.
Soon after the war started and the CMC started committing Marines to pitched battle, it was decided to increase the size of each unit. The first method was to simply double each Fire Team to 8 Marines with all other formations staying the same, for a doubling of each manning level. However, the original "Commander with 3-5 units" concept held true; a junior leader (a Corporal or often even just a Lance Corporal) could not effectively control 8 men in combat, so the Fire Team was quickly reduced back to 4 men and the desired expansion was pushed up the leadership tree to the Squad, Platoon, and Company levels.
This happened as soon as larger transports were available as our original transports, the Mercury class, could not carry the increased numbers. It is rumored that the original Company size was selected to fit the Mercuries, rather than to match any required performance level in the field.
Aside from this theoretical goal, many units will have more or less men depending upon subunits attached. Both 'Black Friday III' and 'Contract Dispute' mention companies with 154 men. This number would be right for a company with 4 37-man Platoons plus 6 additional bodies for HQ (CO, XO, medics, etc).
Marine Unit Comparison Chart
| Formation | Original Manning Level |
Expanded Manning Level |
|---|---|---|
| Fire Team | CPL, 3 Riflemen (4) | LCP, 3 Riflemen (4) |
| Squad | SGT + 2 Fire Teams (9) | CPL + 3 Fire Teams (12) |
| Platoon | 2LT + 4 Squads (37) | ENS + Corpsman + 4 Squads (50) |
| Company | CPT + Staff + 3 Platoons (118) | CDR + Staff + 4 Platoons (205) |
| Battalion | LTC + Staff + 4-6 Companies (370) | LTC + Staff + 3 Companies (620) |
| Brigade | COL + Staff + 5 Battalions (~2000) | COL + Staff + 3 Battalions (~1900) |
| Division | BG + Staff + 3 Brigades (~6000) | BG + Staff + 3 Brigades (~6000) |
| Corps/Army | LG + Staff + 2-5 Divisions | LG + Staff + 2-5 Divisions |
Marine Unit Manning Level
(The indicated ranks are the minimum level for the specified position. The manning levels given are both the original 'book' level and the eventual 'book' level after the expansion. This is the number of bodies assigned to a fully-manned theoretical unit. Real units usually are not up to book strength.
Fire Team - 4 Marines
A Fire Team is too small to be independently deployed; it will only be assigned as part of a larger echelon: "Corporal Franks, I want you on the left. Leave no more than 10 meters between your people and Brown's team."
- 1 Team Leader (Originally a Corporal/E4 but eventually a Lance Corporal/E3)
- 3 riflemen or 2 riflemen and a heavy weapons carrier
Squad - 9-12 Marines
A Squad is the smallest 'maneuverable unit' in the sense of "Sgt Smith, take your dirtbags over to that rise on the south and set up to fire Eastward. Call me when you're set up, and I'll come see if you can tell directions yet."
- 1 Squad Leader (Originally Sergeant/E5 but eventually a Corporal/E4)
- 2 Fire Teams originally, later 3.
Platoon - 37-50 Marines
A Platoon is the smallest tactical unit that can be independently assigned: "Lt Peters, I want your platoon set up on the ridge. Keep most of your people back and resting, but keep at least one Fire Team stood-to at all times."
With an officer in command, a Platoon is also the smallest 'deployable unit' in the sense of being deployed away from immediate oversight by senior echelons.
- 1 Platoon Leader (Second Lieutenant/O1 or a senior NCO)
- 4 Squads (3 rifle squads plus 1 heavy weapons squad)
Company - 118-205 Marines
A Company is the smallest tactical unit that has any kind of staff. A Company Commander is expected to have at least two years of experience running a platoon and he can both understand his platoon leaders' problems and anticipate their needs. A Company should deploy with equipment to support its platoons in the field for several days with food/water/shelter plus ammo and consumable resupply.
A Company Commander can expect his orders from Battalion to be more in the form "Get this done, you figure it out" while his orders to his platoon leaders will be more in the form "Dig in here, look that way, shoot any enemies who show up, and tell me what's happening."
- 1 CO (Captain/O3)
- 4-5 Staff: XO (First Lt/O2), 1st SGT (E8), 2-3 Supply Techs
- 3 Line Platoons, later often expanded to 4 Line Platoons
Battalion - 370-620 Marines
A Battalion is the smallest tactical unit that has a formal headquarters. A Battalion does not directly enter combat but rather serves as a management layer to direct and support the Marine Companies assigned. A Battalion generally has enough 'staff' personnel assigned to it that they are organized into a 'headquarters company' commanded by the battalion's XO. This staff, in turn, provides services to the subordinate Companies.
At first Battalions and above were organized with as many lower-echelon units as seemed appropriate, but before long this settled out at a standard 3. This had the effect of returning higher-echelon formations to roughly the same manning level as before the expansion.
- 1 Commander (Lieutenant Colonel)
- ~10 Staff: XO, Sgt Major (E9), S1, S2, S3, S4, (each being an officer with NCO assistant), 4-5 Supply Techs
- 4 to 6 Companies (3 to 5 line companies, 1 HQ Company led by XO)
Brigade or Regiment - ~2000 Marines
A Brigade is a field command, the smallest tactical unit that is expected to remain in the field indefinitely. A Brigade usually has enough support elements attached to maintain subordinate levels with equipment repair or re-issue, plus personnel augment as needed.
A Regiment is an administrative unit that maintains a home base for a collection of similar (infantry, armor, aviation, supply) battalions. A Regiment deals with all the overhead that the hosted battalions will have when in garrison: training, transfers, maintenance, replacements, etc.
- 1 Commander Colonel
- ~10 Staff: XO, S1, S2, S3, S4, Command Sergeant Major (E9), 10+ Supply Techs
- 5 Battalions (4 line battalions, 1 support battalion)
Division - ~6000 Marines
- 1 Brigadier General
- ~20 Staff: XO, S1, S2, S3, S4, Sgt Major (E9), each with assistants
- 3 Brigades
Corps (Army) - 12,000+ Marines
- 1 Lieutenant General
- ~50 Staff: G1, G2, G3, G4, G5, G6, Sgt Major of the Army (E9), each with assistants
- 2 to 5 Divisions
Staff Positions
- S1/G1 is Personnel
- S2/G2 is Intelligence & Security
- S3/G3 is Operations
- S4/G4 is Logistics and Supply
- G5 is Civil Affairs
- G6 is Information Management (Command, Control, Communications, and Computers)
See also:
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