On 11/8/20 2:49 pm, xxxxxx@gmail.com wrote:
>
> I have been learning about Warrant Officers in our military and in the
> US military and how they differ. I have been, based on things Jeff
> threw out in a thread, working on another version of a 'coast guard in
> space' known as the System Guard.
>
> The US military's relationship with Warrant Officers goes quite a
> while back and their uses within the branches has changed over time.
> In the USCG of today, the lowest (WO)  and the highest (CWO5) are in
> disuse.
>
> In our military, our Warrants *are* our senior E ranks. In the USCG
> and in some other services in the US, Warrant Officers fall above the
> E-ranks and below the O-ranks (like a third tier betwixt and between).
>
> It seems like there are two aspects (from looking at US and Canadian
> (derived from British) Warrant Officers) that I have absorbed as being
> various the raison d'etre for Warrant Officers:
>
>   * To provide for a class of non-officer that has greater respect
>     than a typical higher grade NCM and may have some trappings (in
>     dress and address) that have similarities to how officers are
>     treated and to have a higher pay grade therewith
>
>   * To provide a place for technical specialists to exist and receive
>     additional pay and to have their expertise be listened to while
>     they may not need to pass the rigorous leadership / command
>     standards of the top enlisted ranks
>
> I'm looking at a system of generating System Guard characters (and
> writing it in such a way that the Guard in a given system could be
> military armed service or paramilitary civilian service depending on
> the GM's judgment).
>
> Then I come to Warrant Officers. They are an important stepping off
> point after E-5 and you can go there instead of OCS. You can go to the
> Lieutenant's Program from being a warrant (perhaps directly from
> E-ranks as well).
>
> I don't recall ever seeing Warrant Officers existing in the Imperium.
> For those with broad memories, is that correct?
>
> If so, despite a bit of loss of flavour, an Imperium-centric System
> Guard would not then likely use such a third tier as Warrant Officers
> are in the modern day in Canada or the US.
>
> Does a Warrant Officer less generation make more sense in the Imperium
> given what we know about other services?
>
> (Note, in the Terran Confederation or in a TU like Alex's PA:VT,
> Warrants perhaps should show up in the generation systems, but that's
> a bunch of work to integrate... but flavour wise it might still make
> sense for Terran roots)
>
> So, have I missed Warrant Officers in the Imperium somewhere? If so,
> where? If not, seems a lot like I ought to do a Warrant Officer-absent
> rank structure and generation system.
>
> Thanks,
> TomB
>
>
 Da Famous Tom B, Collision, et al;

In PA:VT, the UNM are explicitly very heavily Royal Marine influenced -
the professional head of the UNM (there were three of 'em) is the
Captain-General, UNM  (that would have also set up a joke where El
Capitane, Badass Badass-Moustache and the incumbent Captain-General lob
at the Tower of London - "Captain.  General.  Captain-General."). 
General Parkie Mak (based off another guy I went to school with, thus
the western name ordering), formerly of the UKM (a different and
distinct force to the RM), was the poor sod in place when the UNM got
reorganised to the TCM.

As such, the TCM rank senior to plain sergeant is colour sergeant, and
from there, Warrant Officer Class 2 and Warrant Officer Class 1, with
the heraldry adjusted to suit.  Distinctions within those ranks also
tend to follow the British model - frinstance the Regimental
Sergeant-Major being primus inter pares within their regiment and
treated de facto as an officer ("What's the difference between gods and
the RSM?"  "Gods _forgive_.").

I do have to find time to rework the chargen system to allow for what
the Old Dart calls "Late Entry" officers - those that do an enlisted
career as booties, then go to knife and fork school (usually after their
third term in Trav terms, since they are then substantive staff NCOs or
better) to get a message from the TC Secretary-General.

Back to the System Guard for now, what is the functional difference
between a Commonwealth WO 1 and their US E-9 counterpart?

And do you want your System Guard to have lots and lots of fancy kit
(seems to be the US model), or have not quite so much kit but know
exactly how to play with it (seems to be the Commonwealth model)?

Would such a guard tend to have masses of small craft and a social
climate that requires someone "of the right sort" (ie, NOT enlisted) to
drive them but heaven forfend we waste actual _officers_ ?  (It may be
worth seeing how this interacts with a commission-purchase system a la
the British Army 1683-1871 - "Ruperts to the left of me, Ruperts to the
right, now here I am, warranted in the middle with you").

For what it's worth, given how warfare would become increasingly
technological over the next 3500-odd years, I would lean (under the
lots-of-fancy-kit model) towards the US approach of an auxiliary
neither-fish-nor-fowl corps of intermediate-level personnel that stay
around long enough to develop _deep_ technical expertise (and help
rewrite TFM, to boot).

Alex