CMC QnA

(Copied straight from .XML 'backup' file, needs formatting and corrections. ZM User (talk) 16:39, 22 April 2024 (PDT))

Confederacy Marine Corps (CMC) - Swarm Cycle Universe Questions and Answers (QnA)

Q-01 WHY FIRE TEAMS OF FOUR (4) TROOPS?

Short Answer: To maximize the firepower of the team as broadly, efficiently, and economically as possible.

Long Answer: At this point in the development of the CMC (~Year 5) we (CentCom/the authors) haven’t developed a plethora of post-contact man-portable weapons. So how do we economically maximize a team’s firepower? We could issue all of them the standard laser rifle: 4 troops = 4 laser rifles (RLI-1), easy to use, easy to carry, and relatively easy to put on target.

Or, we could increase the team’s firepower by having the team leader (TL) designate one rifle man a grenadier and issuing the trooper an under-barrel 40-mm grenade launcher (GLB-3 and a bunch of reloads). Still it’s easy to use, a little more weight to carry, relatively easy to put on target and a big increase in firepower. Now the team is able to reach out and touch something with authority. Lastly, we have the TL designate another rifleman as auto-gunner and change out that trooper’s rifle for the heavier auto laser (RLA-10). A bit bigger and heavier than the RLI-1 with GL, so it’s not as easy to carry, but it’s as easy to use, a little harder to put on target, but it uses a lot of power crystals. These changes give the team some reasonable firepower.

The TL carries an RLI-1. He keeps his team together and listens for the Squad Leader. The TL’s Battle Buddy/Back-up is the Grenadier with an RLI-1/GLB-3. So, when the TL, in the midst of a fire-fight, say, “Dickhead heavy weapon team, left! Waste ‘em!” The Grenadier, who has a similar orientation, pops of a grenade or 3 on the dickheads. The auto-gunner is the firepower guy with the RLA-10 laser. The Auto-Gunner’s job is to make the Dickhead’s wish they could duck and low-crawl. The fourth trooper, a rifleman, is the auto-gunner’s Battle Buddy and provides cover for the auto-gunner, takes over the RLA-10 if the auto-gunner is a casualty and carries as many power crystals as possible. In appropriate scenarios a grav-sled, mechanical mule or a "Big Dog" will carry additional ammo and materials for squads and possibly for Fire Teams.

Q-02: Why are the larger units usually made up of three (3) smaller units? (3 Fire Teams to a Squad, 3 Squads to a Platoon, 3 Platoons to a Company, and 3 Companies to a Battalion)

Short Answer: The same relationships/concepts that apply to the Fire Team and the Squad apply to the Squad and the Platoon (with an over-arching element of Command and Control (C&C)) and the Platoon and the Company, and the Company and the Regiment/Battalion.

Long Answer: With Regiment/Battalions the concepts remain relatively the same with an increase in administrative needs to the point that where a Company has a HQ Section the Battalion has a Headquarters and HQ Support Company. Depending on the type of unit the Battalion is; Combat (CMBT), Combat Support (CS) , or Combat Service Support (CSS), the headquarters and it’s collocated support company will be known as Headquarters and Company A or Headquarters and Headquarters Company.

A Battalion (with three line companies) in battle can place two (2) on a line firing at the enemy and keep the 3rd company in reserve for when the opposition get too heavy in one area or on a flank. Or it can have those two companies on the battle line and send the 3rd company sneaking around the enemies flank to surprise them and roll across them from an unexpected direction.

In the Swarm Universe, the HQ Staff and their attendant tail of personnel, thru the assistance of AIs and computers and rapid communications thru the AIs and communications links with sponsors (all troops), will be much smaller. Each section will be minimized, as in to bare bones, a staff officer and one or two enlisted troops. As humans get used to working and interacting with AIs and the AIs get used to interacting with the military needs, the Staff could be minimized at two humans. The Staff Officer assigned to the position and that officer’s selected replacement.

Additional Background:  Military Historian Rod Powers, feels the USMC "Rule of Three" was developed from a concept by MGEN Merritt A. "Red Mike" Edison (1897 - 1955) and effected during the Banana Wars (1898 - 1934). He is also attributed in the development of the Fire Team concept.

As Powers put it, "In a nutshell, the rule is this: each Marine has three things to worry about. Three men to a fire team commanded by a Corporal (so there are actually a total of four on the team, when you count the team leader). Three fire teams to a rifle squad commanded by a sergeant. Three rifle squads to a platoon commanded by a Lieutenant. Three rifle platoons to a company commanded by a Captain. Three companies to a battalion commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel. Etc."
It works, it's Tradition.

Q-03 Are all CMC units set up like this?

Short Answer: No.

Long Answer: Mostly CMC Units follow the same basic organizational structure. The structure will change based on the role of that unit, the equipment and the task. Often, on a case-by-case basis.
The following examples show the differences in manning and weapons between a notional Confederacy Marine Corps Rifle Squad and a US Army Special Forces A-Team.

Example:

Squad A: Typical, by-the-book (with proposed modifications), notional, CMC rifle squad.

Squad Leader; a Sergeant. 3 Fire Teams; each Fire Team will consist of: Fire Team Leader; a Corporal and 3 Privates/PFCs. The squad will be armed with 10 – RLI-1 Laser Rifle (3 mounting under-barrel GLU-8 Grenade Launchers); and 3 – RLA-10 Automatic Laser Rifle. All troops will be issued K-2 bayonets (and/or the K-1 Combat “K-Bar” Knife at CO’s discretion).

Mission (example): Fix and destroy the enemy. Break contact prior to arrival of Sa'arm reinforcements. Establish multiple ambush points. Establish resupply and evacuation points utilizing secure transporter locii.

Example:

Squad B: Typical, by-the-book, real-world, US Army Special Forces Operational Detachment (Det.) Alpha. 

An A-Team!

Det. Cdr. 18A: Captain O3.

Asst. Det. Cdr. 180A: usually a WO1 or WO2.

NCOIC/Ops (Operations Specialist) NCO 18Z: MSGT E8.

Asst. Ops/Intell (Operations/Intelligence Specialist) NCO 18F: SFC E7.

WPN (Weapons Specialist) SGT 18B(x2): SFC E7/SSG E6/SGT E5.

ENGR (Engineer) SGT18C(x2): SFC E7/SSG E6/SGT E5.

MED (Medical Specialist) SGT 18D(x2): SFC E7/SSG E6/SGT E5.

COMMO (Communications Specialist) SGT18E(X2) SFC E7/SSG E6/SGT E5.

1 Officer, 1 Warrant Officer, and 10 Enlisted Troops

The A-Team will all be armed with basic infantry weapons and other weapons as appropriate or needed. Each member is an expert in his primary specialty and is highly cross-trained in another specialty. Notice the redundancy in the makeup of the team. It is mission related.

Mission (example): To covertly ingress into enemy held territory, make contact with non-hostile indigents, provide intelligence, training and education to establish a battalion-sized, cooperative, native force that will, under their own leaders assist in taking the fight to the enemy. The team will them covertly egress the area.

Note that the SFOTA is setup to establish and advise a battalion HQ.

In the Swarm Cycle Universe Special Forces teams like this will most likely be dispersed around Earth to organize diverse groups that have realized that they have to kill and be killed or just scream and become Swarm Snaks.

Q-04 What is this CMBT, CS, and CSS Unit stuff?

Short Answer: Military short speak to describe types of military units and their function.

Long Answer: Every Military Unit has a primary function on the battlefield. CMBT Units are Combat Units; their function is to engage the enemy and destroy their integrity and their ability to carry out their mission. There are only two (2) types of Combat Units: Infantry, Armor (Divisions and Separate (maneuver) brigades), in all their permutations.

CS Units are Combat Support Units. They support Combat Units and are usually assigned/attached to larger units like regiments, brigades, and divisions. CSS Units include: Field Artillery, Air Defense Artillery, Aviation, Chemical, Engineer, Military Intelligence (CEWI – Combat Electronic Warfare Intelligence){author note: Only against ourselves and our “Allies,” the Confederacy itself. The Sa’arm don’t use Communications as we understand it.}, Military Police, Signal, Psychological Operations (this *might* develop into a major “dirty tricks” organization in the Swarm Cycle). Members of these units usually have personal weapons. And are part of a team operating a Heavy Weapon, i.e. a Canon, Howitzer, Mass Driver or Missile.
CSS is for Combat Service Support Units, which battalions are frequently assigned to Echelons Above Division (EAD), they provide all the things Divisions and below need to continue the fight against the Swarm. They can also be assigned to regiments, brigades, and divisions in attachments as large as battalions and as small as one (1) person sections. These units can fight if they come in contact with the enemy but generally only have basic personal weapons. They are: Ammunition, Judge Advocate General, Maintenance, Medical, Personnel/Administrative Services, Finance, Chaplain, Supply and Services, Civil Affairs, Transportation and Public Information. {Some of these unit will be of little or no consequence in the Swarm Cycle. For example: Finance, Soldiers aren't getting paid in cash however they may get awarded services, additional concubines, or some unique replicator-locked material item. Civil Affairs, usually interacts between the Military and indigenous locals. Due to the sheepification of the other members of the Confederacy any close contact with other Confed races will have to be thru an AI intermediary. When/if CMC units return to earth they will CA contact teams to meet and treat with survivors of the Sa'arm Invasion. Chaplain, if present, will be similar to RAH's chaplain in "Starship Troopers" and the historical religious figures of the Crusades, a fighting member of the unit. Lastly, Public Information, which public. Earth, the home Colony, the Confederacy? All will usually be light years away (hopefully) and drone-carried reports will a week or more behind real time. Most likely military reports will be sent back to their colony HQ which will disseminate the appropriate information and news via AI.

Q-05 Laser Crystals for Laser Weapons (RLI-1, RLA-10 and RLA-20) are they all the same size?

Short Answer: Different weapons require different amounts of energy

Long Answer: Swarm Wiki -- RLI-1 Laser Rifle -- Standard issue to all Marines. Similar in appearance to the British SA-80 and the Demeter Militia's M61, it carries 30 rounds in the magazine. Uses one laser crystal per shot, each laser crystal is slightly larger than a standard 7.62 NATO round, but lighter in weight than a 5.56 NATO standard round. Includes mounts for K-2 bayonet and GL-8 grenade launcher. http://swarm.freewiki.in/index.php/Small_Arms

This was the only note in the wiki about the Crystals. Consider crystals to look like a cylinder or a classic shotgun shell. So, I did the research and chatted with the Boss (TH) a bit then threw some numbers at Brooke (Thank You!) to help me out 'cause my brain was fried with the Nursing Care I was doing at that time. Here's what we've come up with:The standard 7.62 NATO has a 7.62mm diameter bullet, a 11.9mm diameter case and is 51mm long overall. The 5.56 NATO has a 5.56mm diameter bullet, a 9mm diameter case, is 45mm long overall and weighs 11.9gm/0.42oz.

Different Weapons.

Swarm Wiki -- RLA-10 Automatic Laser Rifle -- Twice the power per round as the RL-1, heavier. Laser crystals can be belt-fed or use a 100-round drum magazine. Using Brooke's formula the 2x more powerful crystal for the Dash 10 will be 15mm x 69mm and weigh 0.8 oz/22.7gm

Swarm Wiki -- RLA-20 Automatic Laser Rifle -- Another incremental increase in firepower, each blast is double that of the RLA-10. It is belt-fed and is preferably mounted on a tripod. Therefore 4x the RLI-1, the Dash 20 crystal will be 19mm x 87.5mm x 1.6 oz/45.5gm; 100 rounds = 5 pounds. This is almost the equivalent of a M2 .50 cal. BMG's energy on target.

To demonstrate that I wasn't working in a vacuum I've appended most of the commentary that I received from other Swarm authors. Also, the Wiki was updated on 26 September 2014 and 19 January 2015 and made pretty by Zen Master on 20 January 2015 (Thanks!) --mdk

[20140814] Nuke Danger added this: "Note that, in all of the stories so far, the crystal "cartridge" is expended, so, short of being dropped into the recycle chute of a replicator, not rechargeable. The necessary materials are all there, the replicator just has to un-do the chemical reaction that the crystal used. Part of it is that the crystalline structure get consumed/disrupted as part of the firing process.
The replicator restores order that firing consumed making disorder.
The key is that replicators can re-charge things by re-arranging molecules and taking energy from its power source to deal with any rearranging.
I'll grant that the above is more detailed than anything else we've seen about these cool toys." -nukie

Additions:

[20140826] Lordship Mayhem (Gary Lying) admits to first posting the Swarm Wiki "Small Arms" page in May 2010 (Thank You!) and pointed out the following early this morning: "That sounds about what I was envisaging when I created the page - the RLI-1 as a sort of assault rif(l)e, the RLA-10 as the equivalent to the BREN gun, German MG-42 or the modern SAW, and the RLA-20 as similar to a .50 cal.

The initials stand for "Rifle, Laser, Infantry" and "Rifle, Laser, Automatic"
Confirming my assumptions re: the meaning of the nomenclature. --mdk

[20140826] Nuke Danger pointed out, also early this morning: "I think the "laser rifle" was first mentioned in Kevin's "Sunday Stroll"; I suspect we've been working to retcon what was mentioned there. -nukie"

I had forgotten that story (even tho I've probably read it at least three times), I looked it up to see how close we came. --mdk

Here's the original passage:    "Oh shit," muttered the Corporal, "It's too far for the stinger." He dropped to one knee and dragged his rifle forward, his fingers automatically selecting single shot and ensuring that the safety was off. Without energising the sighting system he bought the weapon to his shoulder and using the old fashioned iron sights lined up on Teddy and stroked the trigger.

His pulsed laser rifle dumped the contents of it's power capsule into the focusing crystal and the immensely powerful monochromatic beam sliced into the soft, water based flesh that was Teddy Bainbridge. The rifle recycled but another shot wasn't needed as Teddy, a fair proportion of his body vaporised by the first strike, collapsed to the ground.

-- "Sunday Stroll" by Duke of Ramus. Posting history asstr - 2007; SOL - 01/01/2008

Q-06 What do Officers really do?

Short Answer:

Long Answer: "Independent Command"  (Being part three of the memoirs of the Respected Thomas Williams, Imperator and Caesar, as collected by his granddaughter the Lady Jessica Williams-Bagsworth) an extract by Zen Master - Seeking Enlightenment through Bondage 

Used with permission (It was just too good not to! --mdk)

...A soldier fights. When under effective command he will fight those enemies assigned to him, and in the absence of effective command he will fight those enemies who choose to engage him. Depending upon his situation and previous orders, he may or may not initiate combat on his own.

An officer, on the other hand, is not a soldier. He is a military manager; he manages the soldiers who fight. An officer's primary function is to manage the resources under his command in such a way to maximize the combat performance of the soldiers under his command. This function can be divided into two parts: preparation before combat and leadership during combat. The primary function of a junior officer is to lead his troops, with this gradually changing to managing his units as he gains authority, responsibility, and rank. An officer can almost always contribute more by leading effectively than by participating directly in the fighting.

That doesn't mean there can never be situations where he joins directly in the fighting. It means that, unless he is desperately fighting for his own life, his primary focus must be on coordinating the efforts of his unit in order to maximize its effectiveness and avoid unnecessary losses. An officer should participate in the fighting himself in two theoretical conditions, which are A) that his men are so good they don't need him, or B) that the battle is so badly lost that doing his job will make no difference. Generally, neither theoretical condition applies...

...We define "Military" as anything that supports our twin goals of defeating the Sa'arm and protecting the Confederacy. "Non-Military" is everything else. When an exhausted, dirty rifleman in a foxhole reports to his sergeant that he has more enemies in range than he has bullets, giving him more bullets, telling him to retreat, or calling in an air strike are all useful responses. Complaining -at that time- that the soldier's boots are not polished is "Non-Military". Complain before the battle begins, or after we have won. During the battle itself the soldier has better things to worry about than his appearance.

- excerpts from a widely-viewed CNN interview with Lt Colonel Kenneth Montgomery, US Army (retired), soon after the existence of the Confederacy and the Sa'arm became public. LtCol Montgomery was himself later picked up and joined the Confederacy Marine Corps and was serving as a District Commander as of the events in this memoir.
In combat, an officer's only critical task is to manage the current battle in such a way as to win with the least loss of resources. "Manpower" is only one of the resources that he is responsible for, but it is usually the most valuable and most scarce resource, as well as the resource that responds the best to good management. 

The decision that "manpower" is a low-value resource to be expended in order to protect a more valuable resource is usually made in desperation. Arriving at this decision when the situation is not yet desperate is a sure sign that something is horribly wrong, and in almost every case that "something" is inside the officer's head. As a general rule, those officers who make this decision also do not anticipate the significant loss in combat-effectiveness that will follow immediately after, when the men realize that their commander is not worthy of their trust.

When not actually in combat, an officer is responsible for the training and readiness of his subordinates, not only towards greater combat effectiveness but also as a step towards future growth. Every member of the force should be constantly working towards two separate but related goals. First, he or she should strive to be the best at their current task as they possibly can be. Second, he or she should also be learning how to do their supervisor's job, as at any time their supervisor can be killed, disabled, promoted out of position, or otherwise out of reach. 

One corollary is that a soldier should not be promoted from one job to a larger job if they have failed to prepare a subordinate to step into their own shoes. Indeed, this failure to prepare for replacement demonstrates that the soldier has already been promoted beyond his capability.
- excerpt from "The Perfect Officer", an officer candidate training essay.

mdk -- This one you said better than I could, Thanks! BTW, all three of you ZM fans, one of these days "Independent Command" will be finished. Honest, ZM said so and he never, ever, fibs. Right?

Zen,
Can we use your excerpt "The Perfect Officer" for the Military QnA "What do Officers really do?"  Medik_4_7

Medik,
Well, I pulled it all out of my ass, but since it went through a lot of commentary it may be fairly solid. Sure!
ZM2