Marcian Defence Service
Housed Under:
Previously under the Admiralty, War Office, Air Ministry and Ministry for State Security (MfSS), after the Military Reorginisation Act of 1897, designed to streamline military organisation, they are housed under the MfSS and the newly formed Ministry for Defence (MfD), an amalgamation of the three military ministries. These are run mainly by civil servants and the Ministers for Defence and State Security, but with senior military officers there to approve and advise on policy, Marcian law requiring some input on key decisions. However, it is not uncommon for some members of Parliament in a Unionist government to be serving and retired military officers, though this may seem odd, it often works to streamline matters and is a popular arrangement with the more conservative heads of the armed forces.
Armed Forces:
His Excellency's Armed Forces are spit between the Marcian Defence Service (MDS) and the State Security Services (StaSec). Each branch, arm or service is affiliated to one or the other. As a rule, units which rely heavily on large bodies of men and land vehicles, spacecraft, marines, naval infantry and aircraft being under control of the MDS, and collection of each can be found under the command of StaSec, the Regulators and Imperial Security Commission being akin to their own private armies, but being smaller, more specialised forces than those under the command of the MDS.
The MDS itself is split into four contingents, the Ground Forces, the Naval Forces, the Air Forces and the Border Forces. The Marcian Ground Forces is split in military tradition a collection of 'armies', each under command of its own Marshal - split down from there into Corps, Divisions, Brigades, Regiments, etc. The armies are centred around important locations within the Empire. For example the 1st Army is based around Marcis, the Empire's Capital, and the surrounding Sector. The Border Guards are split much the same way, but only on the Empire's frontiers.
The Naval Forces work in a roughly similar basis, arranged into Fleets, which correspond to areas of the Empire. These fleets are sub-divided into Flottilas, Divisions and Task Groups, which correspond to Sectors, Sub-Sectors and Systems. The Marines and Naval Infantry are arranged into Brigades, which are affiliated to different Naval Task Groups.
The Air Forces are arranged into a series of 'Commands' which follow the same areas of the naval fleets from which they originate. From there it's split further into Air Flotillas, Groups and Flights.
Military Readiness:
The readiness of the Marican Empire is split into four levels: normal, heightened, threatened and mobilised. The latter, of course, meaning that the Marcians have declared war and threatened equating to a . At the moment, there is a normal state of readiness- around 20 to 30 percent of the armed forces are actually active. (Generally in a peacekeeping role or in the protection of the fledgling colonies).
Military Tactics:
The Empire's tactics are basic, but tend to be effective, and draw on all three services, usually in order. The navy will launch an assault on a planet, bombarding it from orbit, then the Air Forces and Naval Service Air Arm will conduct surgical bombardments in the atmosphere. Then the Marines will be landed, alongside army regiments who will mop up and take control and/or kill something left over. Last to enter the field are the Regulators, armed policemen and prison officers ready to establish control over, or take away sections of the population if needs be. That's what's written down anyway. And in very general terms. It's really left to the imagination of the commander, though there are guidelines on all levels of command.
It is, however, very rare that the Marcians have ever had to take down an entire planet. An errant contintent or rebel ship is more the norm. The Navy is very adamant about the control of territory, and has no qualms in destoying a ship that enters Marcian space. The other defence forces are usually employed to take over when the Naval Service is done, it being the more powerful organisation. However, the Army is good at what it does, and in situations where infantry spearhead they often prove to be effective. They tend to use a scaled down version of navy tactics, with mass artillery bombardments, battles for aeronautical supremacy and drop troops, followed by vehicles and infantry to smash through what's left of the enemy.
The Air Forces very rarely operate on thier own, as their aircraft are too vulnerable to act without support, so they usually work with another service, getting protection in return for air superiority and access to their many technicians, mechanics and other support staff.
Military Organisation
Marcian Defence Service Structure:
Chief of the Marcian Defence Service Staff (CMDSS) - occupied by an officer of Grand Marshal rank, rotates every five years from the Ground Forces, Naval Service and Air Forces
Inspector-General of the Marcian Defence Service (IGMDS) - an officer of General or Field Marshal Rank, appointed by the CMDSS every five years as his deputy and to monitor the effectiveness of the MDS.
Marcian Defence Service Staff (MDSS) - officers from all four branches of the Marcian Defence Service who form the General Staff of the entire MDS, which is independent from any one force.
Naval Forces Structure:
The Naval structure, like all the others, is organised into a tier system. Like the other systems each tier corresponds to both a rank which will command it and a level of organisation. The navy is structured like so:
Marcian Naval Forces- commanded by Chief of the Naval Forces Staff (CNFS)
Fleets - commanded by Chief Marshals
Flotillas - commanded by Marshals
Divisions - commanded by Vice Marshals
Task Groups- commanded by Captains 1st Rank
Task Forces - commanded by Captains 2nd Rank
Patrols - commanded by Captains 3rd Rank
Escorts - commanded by Captain-Lieutenants
Escort Ships - commanded by Senior Lieutenants
Ground Forces Structure:
Each officer rank in the Ground Forces has a position within the chain of command that responds directly to both their role, and the hierarchical structure of the MDS.
Marcian Ground Forces - commanded by the Chief of the Ground Forces Staff (CGFS)
Armies - commanded by Chief Marshals
Planetary Forces - commanded by Marshals
Corps - commanded by Vice Marshals
Divisions - commanded by Captains 1st Rank
Brigades - commanded by Captains 2nd Rank
Regiments - commanded by Captains 3rd Rank
Battalions - commanded by Captain-Lieutenants
Companies - commanded by Senior Lieutenats
1st Platoons - commanded by Lieutenants
Platoons - commanded by Junior Lieutenants
Air Forces Structure:
Marcian Air Forces - commanded by the Chief of Air Forces Staff (CAFS)
Forces - commanded by Chief Marshals
Commands - commanded by Marshals
Corps- commanded by Vice Marshals
Divisions- commanded by Captains 1st Rank
Groups - commanded by Captains 2nd Rank
Wings - commanded by Captains 3rd Rank
Squadrons - commanded by Captain-Lieutenants
Flights - commanded by Senior Lieutenants
Other officer ranks are pilots
Border Forces Structure:
Marcian Border Forces - commanded the Officer Commanding of Marcian Border Forces (OCMBF) (Marshal)
Sector Control Units- commanded by Vice Marshals
Planetary Control Units- commanded by Captains 1st Rank
Border Control Groups - commanded by Captains 2nd Rank
Border Control Regiments - commanded by Captains 3rd Rank
Border Control Battalions - commanded by Captain-Lieutenants
Companies - commanded by Senior Lieutenants
1st Platoons - commanded by Lieutenants
Platoons - commanded by Junior Lieutenants
Rank Structure
The Marcian Defence Service has a very organised rank structure. The Colonial Armed Forces Act of 1750, which put in place the first of the reformations to try and give the now massive His Excellency's armed forces some coherency when viewed by outside organisations. As well as standardising unit sizes and power, as well as the sourcing and design of supplies, it also standardised the rank insignia and pay grades, though not the titles. The titles were standardised in 1897, along with much of the military organisation.
While there were once different ranks in the Army, Navy and Air Force, the MDS has the same set of ranks, adapted from the Naval system, as the highest proportion of military units used these. The Imperial Security Commission, Regulators and the Empire's various police departments have a different, but similar, system but are based around the same insignia.
Rank System:
Rank Classes are underlined
Rank Titles are in bold
As are their abbreviations
In plain text a brief description is given.
Sonran officer equivalents are italicised, as are generalized NCO ranks.
NON-COMMISSIONED RANKS
Junior NCOs
OR1
Serviceman
Sn.
OR2
Corporal
Cpl.
OR3
Junior Sergeant
J-Sgt.
OR4
Sergeant
Sgt.
Senior NCOs
OR5
Petty Officer
PO
OR6
Chief Petty Officer
CPO
OR7
Warrant Officer
WO
OR8
Chief Warrant Officer
CWO
COMMISSIONED RANKS
Junior Officers

OF1
Junior Lieutenant
J-Lt.

OF2
Lieutenant
Lt.

OF3
Senior Lieutenant
S-Lt.

OF4
Captain-Lieutenant
Capt-Lt.
Senior Officers

OF5
Captain 3rd Rank
Capt (3).

OF6
Captain 2nd Rank
Capt (2).

OF7
Captain 1st Rank
Capt (1).
Flag Officers

OF8
Vice Marshal
V-Mar.

OF9
Marshal
Mar.

OF10
Chief Marshal
Chief Marshal
C-Mar.

OF11
Grand Marshal
G-Mar.
(Flag officers maintain the right to fly a command flag at any event, headquarters or institution they command or are in attendance of. While irrelevant in today's naval forces, the flags are also displayed by starships either digitally on internal displays or broadcasts, or on large banners when in orbital or planetside docking. The same extends to the seaships of the ground and border forces, though this is a much rarer occurrance.)
OF8

OF9

OF10

OF11

