The Defense Force, at the liberation of Coruscant.
The New Republic Defense Force is the official name for the New Republic's armed forces taken as a whole. The Defense Force is also commonly known and referred to as the NRDF, New Republic Military and RepMil in common parlance, both IC and OOC.
Organization[]
The Defense Force is commanded, at the highest levels, by a mix of military and civilian authorities. On the civilian side, the Chief of State serves as the Defense Force's Commander-in-Chief, supported by the Ministry of Defense, also known as the Defense Council. The Ministry appoints one military officer to join their membership, who must be approved by the Chief of State. This officer holds position as the Supreme Commander of the Defense Force, and serves both on the Ministry, and as the Chief of State's military deputy, handling a number of necessary functions in the CoS's stead. The CoS, along with the Supreme Commander, the Branch Directors and associated staff constitute the New Republic High Command.
The Defense Force is split up into five branches of service, each responsible for particular areas of operation:
- The New Republic Fleet branch encompasses naval operations, chiefly of large starships.
- The New Republic Starfighter Corps branch encompasses starfighter operations, both in space and on planets.
- The New Republic Marine Corps branch encompasses elite ground combat operations, both in space and on planetary surfaces.
- The New Republic Army branch encompasses garrisoned and large-scale ground operations on planets.
- The New Republic Fleet Intelligence branch is responsible for processing and analyzing intelligence data gathered by the other branches, and for securing the Defense Force against security breaches.
Of the five branches, Fleet, StarCorps, and Marines are presently available for PC recruitment.
General Rank Information[]
This is a general description of rank structure. For specific information, such as a rank list, or what ranks denote Command Rank, visit the appropriate branch page.
The NRDF has a separate rank structure for each branch, though many of the branches share similar or identical ranks. However, there are several points that are universal across the whole of the military:
- Enlisted/Officer ranks: Each branch has both enlisted and officer ranks provided. this is to allow players the opportunity to advance over their character's career in a significant way and still offer them the choice of avoiding the added IC and OOC responsibilities of Command Rank. Players are allowed to move between the two as they wish-- however, it is the player's responsibility to reconcile these changes with their own character's timeline(but admin assistance is available on request).
- Command Rank: Within the officer rank tree for each branch, there comes a point at which ranks are considered "Command Rank". These are ranks which typically involve positions with a certain amount of IC authority-- Department Heads, Commanding Officers of units, squadrons or starships, etcetera. With the perks of these ranks come added responsibilities, both IC and OOC. Specifically, Command Rank characters are expected by High Command to be positive examples of what the republic looks for in its officers; Command Rank players are expected by Faction Staff to assist in promoting the health of the military or faction at large. At a minimum, this means taking care of the players that fall under your IC command-- helping new players in your care settle into roleplay and the MUSH; providing a positive example; and helping to generate RP, whether via TPs or simple pick-up scenes. Command characters who fall inactive or fail to meet their requirements will be spoken to about a reduction in rank or other options to improve the situation(Faction admin understand that Real Life happens, but please remember that these polcies are in place with reason). Note: this does not mean that Command players should spend all their time providing such RP, nor does it mean that players should consider Command players their sole means of roleplay.
- Chain of Command: There is a limit to how much an officer of one branch can issue orders to a lower rank in another branch and expect legal support of those orders. This is a rather subjective area-- officially, personnel are encouraged to follow the requests of Officers in other branches, but not obligated to do so. That said, an officer receiving resistance against a reasonable order given to a member of another branch may submit a formal complaint to that soldier's official superior and expect action to come of it, so it is important to carefully evaluate what cross-branch orders to ignore. There are, however, exceptions to this rule: When personnel of one branch are attached to the command of an officer of another(or the same) branch, they are required to follow that officer's legal orders, regardless of relative ranks. For example: The CO of a starship has the legal authority to issue orders to any personnel on her starship as it pertains to the operation of that ship, even a Marine General or Fleet Admiral(though there may be repercussions later if the orders are issued unreasonably).
- Advancement: Rank and promotions are handled roughly the same way they are throughout the faction-- New RepMil players(as well as players who are returning after a long hiatus) are encouraged to start out with a beginning rank. Promotions are based on three basic criteria. 1: An overall sense of IC activity(players must participate in the military and faction of their own accord); 2: Basic understanding of the theme, tone and workings of the Military-- this is partially IC, and partially OOC. Ranking players, like it or not, represent the faction and RepMil more and more as their IC rank increases. Out of a sense of fairness, we ask that those who represent these bodies (and the players ranking below them) have an understanding of the direction and tone that has been selected for RepMil; 3. OOC willingness to be promoted. Rank is not necessary for all things a player wishes to do, and some players may feel that while deserving, promotion does not fit their character goals. Therefore, promotions are always strictly voluntary. Please Note: these policies are not in place to restrict new character concepts out of hand-- they exist to protect both the new player *and* the other players of the faction. In the case of other players, it is intended to protect them from suffering consequences of another player's inexperience with the faction. In the case of the new player, it is in place to protect them from the unfairness of being expected by others to know how the faction and military work during a period when they are still learning the ropes. In any case, there are several possibilities for alternatives that do not involve brand-new Academy graduates, and faction Staff will attempt to make allowances. In most cases, starting with rank will necessitate that the player in question put in extra effort to come up to speed on the workings of RepMil.
Military Culture[]
The Defense Force takes the ideals and principles of the New Republic seriously, and seeks to uphold them whenever possible. It is considered a defensive body-- however, it is not passive or reactive in nature, and allowances are made in its charter for preemptive defense measures. Additionally, the charter allows the Defense Force to move in defense of 'any peoples of any creed who request assistance in defending themselves against unwanted influence', allowing foreign ventures that are not strictly in the defense of the Republic. However, the Defense Force's presence in such actions is subservient to the demands of the locality in question and the willingness of the New Republic civilian authority to authorize the venture. Sometimes such ventures necessitate taking actions in localities that do not welcome the Defense Force as a collateral action. In these cases, the Defense Force may still be allowed to act, but are subject to a number of special restrictions and requirements.
The Defense Force considers its main strengths to come from, on the one hand, the flexibility of diversity afforded by the coming together of many individuals and species into one place to freely share their thoughts and ideas, and on the other, a unity of purpose that brings that great store of diverse peoples into a sharp focus, acting as one. Thus many consider the Republic's Military to behave with a curious, often-tenuous balance between diversity and unity. It achieves balance through a mix of discipline, tradition and training. Republic personnel are taught to respect and abide by the rules and regulations of the military, but are also grounded in the traditions of the service, ostensibly to understand when and were it is appropriate to step outside of those regulations, and to accept the necessary disciplinary consequence if appropriate to the situation in question.
Republican forces prize personnel as their greatest asset, and typically view equipment as replaceable when forced to choose between lives of their fellow soldiers and war material. They are trained to recognize when an objective is important enough to warrant a soldier's life and when it is not-- however, on the whole most Republic soldiers are willing and ready to sacrifice themselves without hesitation if the situation calls for it-- for instance, when the lives of innocents hang in on their actions. In many cases, Defense Force personnel come to consider their fellows as friends, and even family.
Branch divisions mean very little, socially, within the Defense Forces. Rivalries between branches of the service are on the whole good-natured affairs and are carried out without particular viciousness. It is common for service-beings to intermingle without regard for branch when off-duty, and joint operations are common. By general mandate, any training facility is a shared facility, and personnel are encouraged to take advantage of that fact.
Related Articles[]
General Strategic/Tactical Doctrine[]
The Republic Defense Forces currently hold a two-part doctrine as concerns operations under its mandate. This doctrine has come about as the result of several past experiments, most notably the FST-01 Firecats and Operation Scatterswipe. In both cases, the goal was to ascertain the viability of Rebellion-era actions and doctrines in the modern conflict. Both experiments were considered a success, and current Republican military doctrine reflects this.
High Command realized that after the Imperial Blitzkrieg, the military forces were in a near-crisis. Previously, the Defense Force had been organized into a traditional military structure of six battle fleets to carry out most all operations. The numbers remaining were larger than those of the Alliance forces, but no longer sufficient to sustain all necessary functions within the modern galactic politic. Re-organization and a change of doctrine would be necessary in order to both defend the Republic's territory and carry out necessary ventures abroad.
Domestically, the Defense Force has been redeployed into a zone-based defensive plan called the System Defense Initiative. Under this plan, systems and other strategic assets under Republican jurisdiction are assigned Priority Levels based on a number of factors. Each priority level has a standard defensive force associated with it, which determines the ships assigned permanently to that location. The remainder of the Defense force is arranged into two fleets of approximately pre-SDI main fleet size, which in addition to providing 'floating' reinforcements for the defense fleets, also carry out foreign ventures.
Abroad, the Defense Force relies on First Fleet and Second Fleet to carry out necessary operations. Due to the force totals in question, these fleets and the units that form them operate using procedures and tactics derived from those used by the Rebel Alliance forces.
In all cases, the Defense Force favors indirect means to secure its objectives. New Republic personnel are trained to make the best use of their equipment and environment possible to be successful. They are encouraged to use stealth and misdirection tactics to obtain localized superiority against larger forces and go to any reasonable length to turn any available advantage to their favor that they can, short of violating the laws and principles of the Republic itself.
External Relations[]
The Defense Force does not exist within a vacuum, and it often hs dealings with other entities within the New Republic, whether officially or not. The following outlines official policies and commonly-held opinions of the miltary in regards to some of these.
New Republic Civilians[]
By and large, the military enjoys a healthy relationship with the civilian populations and civil authorities. The general populace tends to respect and appreciate the beings who volunteer to risk their lives to protect the Republic's way of life, and local law enforcement on most planets can rely on the military to provide prompt and measured assistance when requested.
Military personnel tend to be accommodating towards civilians, realizing that while they deserve the respect that they receive, they are ultimately public servants and carry the reputation of their units with them. Thus, serious altercations between military personnel and civilians is somewhat unusual to find in the New Republic, though there are always exceptions.
New Republic Intelligence[]
The Defense Forces and New Republic Intelligence often find a large degree of overlap in their operations. While this could lead to great rivalry, more often it results in an interface of mutual support and respect. NRI and RepMil quite frequently share information as well as assets, and joint missions between NRI field agents and military personnel are common when one organization finds tasks that the other is more suited to on their agenda. All that said, they remain separate entities with their own support structures, and there are many secrets on either side that are kept private. This is generally assumed to be the way things are meant to be.
The Jedi Order[]
The Defense Forces have a friendly relationship with the Jedi Order, with a great deal of respect between the two. This is due in a large part to a significant number of the Order being themselves ex-military, including the current head of the Jedi Order, Luke Skywalker. It is also due in a large part to both organizations being interested in many of the same things, such as protecting innocents from tyranny and upholding the law. The two entities often share information and duties when it is deemed necessary, and in some operations, Jedi are granted temporary military ranks for convenience and clear chains of command.