Last updated Jan 9, 2022
From Inception to War
The brainchild of Allied commanders Andrei Crimenko and Peter Montgomery, who in the final days of the world war began to consider options for the prevention of a fourth such calamity. In his final proposal as Supreme Coalition Commander, General Crimenko advised the creation of a standing peacekeeping force utilizing the Allies’ existing combined command structure. The force would be composed of volunteers from around the world, with the initial wave of recruitment expected to come from refugee centers and the client states of the surrendered belligerent powers. The force would be led by Field Marshal Montgomery, who would become the first commissioned officer in the permanent Peacekeeping Field Forces (PKFF).
Crimenko and Montgomery envisioned an eventual force of three brigades, each assigned some 5,500 personnel for a total of approximately 17,500 personnel, including headquarters personnel. This force would be capable deploying for direct action engagements, either as the core of a small multinational peacekeeping force, or as additional maneuver forces for larger multinational forces. What it was notably designed to be incapable of doing was deploy to independently, and therefore unilaterally. The Peacekeeping Field Forces were specifically designed to be dependent upon the contribution of support and logistics forces from among the military forces of member-states. As a result, it was reasoned, the PKFF would be incapable of being used for independent or unilateral national interests in defiance of international decree.
At a moment’s notice, a professional military force would be available for deployment to virtually anywhere in the world, regardless of individual member-state’s domestic concerns regarding the consequences of a full military commitment. The logic followed that member-states in support of their deployment would at once commit their own logistics and support forces to ensure the success of field operations, their respective populations more willing to send “cargo planes and their crews” in support of peacekeeping operations than to risk full commitment of national resources in international hotspots. In practice, this largely allocated the brigades of the PKFF to counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations in the regions bordering the international alliances of the Coalition.
In short order, the first 15,000 Peacekeepers proved their worth in the Solomon Islands and Philippines. Within a few years, a fourth brigade was added to the force, followed by four more brigades over the following decade. Such were the affairs on the surface, while in orbit an increasingly sophisticated foe in the form of piracy had proved that DESS Security Police (DSP) were no longer capable of securing interplanetary space. The revelations of ties to letters of marque from among the DSP would in time prove the agency’s undoing. With far less debate than had accompanied the creation of the Peacekeeping Field Forces, the creation of the Peacekeeping Space Forces (PKSF) was authorized by unanimous vote of both the international Assembly and Council.
By contrast to the Field Forces, the Space Forces would constitute the international command structure for all operations in space, not solely “Peacekeeping” in nature, supervising—but not directing—the national space assets of member-states outside the Terresphere. Under this unified command structure, what was a fragmented security effort on Earth was transformed in space into the prosecution of an antipiracy campaign spanning the Transmartial and Transneptunal orbits. As space colonization expanded, the human population responded; so too did the Peacekeeping Forces grow. The Field Forces once more doubled in size in order to constitute the Army of the Martial Union. In lieu of national support elements, this element of the Field Forces were assigned their own rotating support and logistics forces from among the Space Forces stationed in orbit.
Directing the Wars
The Peacekeeping Forces are responsible to the civilian leadership of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPO) in the person of the Secretary of Peacekeeping Operations. The Secretary is assisted by two subordinate secretaries, the Secretary of Field Operations, who directs the Department of Field Operations (DFO) and the PKFF, and the Secretary of Space Operations, who directs the Department of Space Operations (DSO) and the PKSF. They are assisted in their roles by the Combined Service Chiefs (CSC), the professional heads of the Peacekeeping Forces (PKF), consisting of the Chief of Field Forces, the Chief of Space Operations, and the Commandant-General of Dragoons. The office of the Chief Marshal of the Space Flight Corps (SFC) was added to the CSC at the elevation of the Space Forces Flight Corps (SFFC) to the status of an independent branch of service. The Brigadier-General of Gendarmes, the professional head of the Gendarmerie Internationale (GDNI), does not serve as a full member of the CSC but is regularly invited to advise the service chiefs. At the time of its constitution, it was supposed that the Supreme Coalition Commander, General Crimenko, would serve as the first presiding member of the CSC. Upon his sudden death only months after the peace accords were signed, disagreement among the members of the Security Council over who to appointment the next Supreme Coalition Commander resulted in the office being left perpetually vacant. In its stead was created the position of Chief of Peacekeeping Operations, the senior member of the CSC appointed by the Secretary of Peacekeeping Operations for a specified duration of time.
Whereas in the Areosphere and the Transmartial, the Peacekeeping Forces have been integral in their settlement, the unique nature of the Terresphere and its distinct political culture imposed a deployment of a proportionally smaller force to their extraterrestrial kin. On Earth, the Peacekeeping Forces respond through their individual chain of command directly to the Combined Operations Headquarters at Vandenberg Space Center in southern California, and thus the Combined Service Chiefs. By contrast, command of the elements of II Field Force on Mars—the legally constituted Army of the Martial Union—were entirely under the command of its General-in-Chief, who was in turn responsible to both civilian authority on Mars and Earth. Given the enormous distances involved, standing contingency orders directed such regional commanders to assume independent authority under the auspices of the Combined Service Chiefs for the purpose of maintaining or pacifying their respect areas of responsibility to await the reconstitution of command authority.
At the outbreak of war, the official disposition of active Peacekeeping Forces was thus:
Within the Terresphere
Peacekeeping Field Forces Headquarters ★★★
| Combined Operations Headquarters, Vandenberg Space Center, CA
I Field Force ★★
| HQ PKB Fallbrook, CA
1st Peacekeeping Division ★ | PKB Fallbrook, CA
2nd Peacekeeping Division ★ | Robertson Barracks, AUS
2/12th Dragoon Artillery ♦♦ | Robertson Barracks, AUS
3/12th Dragoon Artillery ♦♦ | Vandenberg Space Center, CA
Headquarters, 6th Spaceborne Division / "Blue Group" (TF 381), Strategic Resources Command ★
| Guiana Space Center, Guyane (GF)
61 Spaceborne Brigade, 6th Spaceborne Division ♦♦♦♦ | Guiana Space Center, GF
1/13th Dragoon Artillery ♦♦ | PKB Pine Gap, AUS
Peacekeeping Space Forces Headquarters ★★★
| Combined Operations Headquarters, Vandenberg Space Center, CA
First Fleet ★★
| HQ Space Forces Station Lynnhaven, L4
1st Fleet Squadron ♦♦♦ | SFS Lynnhaven, L4
2nd Fleet Squadron ♦♦♦ | SFS Delos, SEL-4
3rd Fleet Squadron ♦♦♦♦ | SFS Midway, L1
1st Dragoon Regiment ♦♦♦ | McClain Barracks, Luna
1/12th Dragoon Artillery ♦♦ | McClain Barracks, Luna
General Utilities and Developing Application Maneuvers Group, First Fleet / "White Group" (TF 78-2), Strategic Resources Command ★
| Space Forces Station Delos, SEL-4
Test and Evaluations Squadron 099 ♦♦♦♦
Test and Evaluations Squadron 101 ♦♦♦♦
Maneuver Applications Detachment, 10th Dragoon Chasseurs ♦♦
Within the Areosphere
II Field Force / Army of the Martial Union ★★
| PKB Ares, Tharsis
3rd Peacekeeping Division ★
4th Peacekeeping Division ★
5th Peacekeeping Division ★
14th Dragoon Artillery Regiment ♦♦♦
Tactical Reconnaissance/Observation Network - Mars (MTRON) / "Red Group" (TF 444), Strategic Resources Command ★
| Camp Chernabog, Olympus Mons
63 Spaceborne Brigade, 6th Spaceborne Division ♦♦♦♦
3/13th Dragoon Artillery ♦♦
Fleet Forces Command / Second Fleet ★★★
| SFB Suffolk, High Mars Orbit (HMO)
4th Fleet Squadron ♦♦♦♦
5th Fleet Squadron ♦♦♦
6th Fleet Squadron ♦♦♦
Suffolk Garrison Force ★★
| SFB Suffolk, HMO
Carrier Division 1: Antarctica (CSE-4) ♦♦♦♦ & Pacific (CSE-6) ♦♦♦
Carrier Division 2: Tiger (CSE-5) ♦♦♦♦ & Leopard (CSE-7) ♦♦♦
Escort Squadron 21 ♦♦♦
Escort Squadron 22 ♦♦♦
Escort Squadron 23 ♦♦♦
Escort Squadron 24 ♦♦♦
2nd Dragoon Regiment ♦♦♦
1/11th Dragoon Artillery ♦♦
Headquarters, Fleet Forces Dragoons / "Green Group" (TF 505), Strategic Resources Command ★
| SFB Suffolk, HMO
26 Spaceborne Brigade, 6th Spaceborne Division
2/13th Dragoon Artillery ♦♦
Tactical Reconnaissance/Observation Network - Outer (BLACKTRON) / "Black Group" (TF 77), Strategic Resources Command ★
| SFB Suffolk, HMO
10th Dragoon Chasseur Regiment ♦♦♦♦
106 Pathfinder Detachment, 6th Spaceborne Division ♦♦
High Space Command / Third Fleet ★★★
| SFB Suffolk, HMO
7th Fleet Squadron ♦♦♦
3rd Dragoon Regiment ♦♦♦
3/11th Dragoon Artillery ♦♦
International Coalition Force - Outer (ICFO) ★★
| SFB Mahon, Io orbit
8th Fleet Squadron, Third Fleet ♦♦♦♦
2/3rd Dragoons ♦♦
2/11th Dragoon Artillery ♦♦
Within the Transmartial Orbits
Transmartial Command / Fourth Fleet ★★
| SFS Aegis, Pallas
9th Fleet Squadron, Third Fleet ♦♦♦ | SFS Aegis, Pallas
10th Fleet Squadron ♦♦♦ | SFS Aegis, Pallas
11th Fleet Squadron ♦♦♦♦ | SFS Amaterasu, Ceres
12th Fleet Squadron ♦♦♦♦ | SFS Curitis, Juno
Escort Squadron 42 ♦♦♦ | SFS Amaterasu, Ceres
Patrol Squadron 41 ♦♦♦ | SFS Curitis, Juno
4th Dragoon Brigade ♦♦♦♦ | HQ SFS Aegis, Pallas
Ranks of the Peacekeeping Forces
The initial force of Peacekeepers called for a tactical organization based on the proven effectiveness of the “fireteam” of four soldiers and called for the creation of “a basic private rank, a lance corporal or specialist private rank, and a corporal rank” to lead them. A further sergeant rank would be necessary to lead a section composed of three subordinate teams of Peacekeeper, as well as “a senior sergeant rank” to assistant in the command of a platoon. These first five ranks were expanded to provide for the ever-expanding roles and duties in which Peacekeepers are assigned, to include the creation of separate ranks for each of the services in to better reflect their individual needs, organization, and culture.
| Rank Grade | Fleet Forces | ||||
| OR1 | Private Recruit (PTR) | (SCR) |
|||
| OR2 | Private (Basic) (PTB) | Dragoon Recruit (DRT) | Spacecrew Apprentice (SCA) | Flightcrew Apprentice (FCA) |
|
| OR3 | Private (PTE) | Spacecrew (SCW) | Flightcrew (FCW) |
||
| OR4 | Private First Class (PFC) | Dragoon (DRGN) | Able Spacecrew (ASC) | Able Flightcrew (AFC) |
|
| Lance Corporal (LCP) | Lance Corporal (LCPL) | Lance Bombardier (LBDR) |
|||
| OR5 | Corporal (CPL) | Corporal (CPL) | Bombardier (BDR) | Leading Spacecrew (LSC) | Leading Flightcrew (LFC) |
| OR6 | Sergeant (SGT) | Sergeant (SGT) | Chief Bombardier (CBDR) | Petty Officer (POR) | Flight Sergeant (FSG) |
| OR7 | Senior Sergeant (SSG) | Senior Sergeant (SSG) | Gunnery Sergeant (GSG) | Chief Petty Officer (CPO) | Chief Flight Sergeant (CFSG) |
| OR8 | Master Sergeant (MSG) | Master Sergeant (MSG) | Master Gunnery Sergeant (MGSG) | Senior Chief Petty Officer (SCPO) / Command Senior Chief Petty Officer (CSCPO) | Master Flight Sergeant (MFSG) |
| OR9 | Sergeant Major (SGM) | Company Sergeant Major (CSGM) | Battery Sergeant Major (BSGM) | Master Chief Petty Officer (MCPO) | Staff Master Flight Sergeant (SMFS) |
| Command Sergeant Major (CSM) | Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) | Command Master Chief Petty Officer (CMCPO) | Command Master Flight Sergeant (CMFS) |
||
| Command Sergeant Major (CSM) | Fleet Master Chief Petty Officer (FMCPO) | Fleet Master Flight Sergeant (FMFS) |
|||
| Sergeant Major of Field Forces (SMFF) | Corps Regimental Sergeant Major (CRSM) | Master Chief Petty Officer of Space Forces (MCSF) | Corps Command Master Flight Sergeant (CCMFS) |
||
| Rank Grade | Rank Insignia | Field Forces | Corps of Dragoons | Space Forces | Space Flight Corps |
| OF(C) | (none) | Officer Cadet (OC) | - | Officer Cadet (OC) | Officer Cadet (OC) |
| OF(D) | ○ | - | Officer Candidate (OC) | Midshipman (MIDN) | Pilot Candidate (PC) |
| OF1 | ● | Second Lieutenant (2LT) | - | Acting Sublieutenant (ASL) | Acting Pilot Officer (APO) |
| ●● | First Lieutenant (1LT) | Ensign (ENS) | Sublieutenant (SLT) | Pilot Officer (PO) |
|
| OF2 | ●●● | Captain (CPT) | Lieutenant (LT) | Lieutenant (LT) | Flight Lieutenant (FLT) |
| OF3 | ♦ | Major (MAJ) | Major (MAJ) | Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) | Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) |
| OF4 | ♦♦ | Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) | Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) | Commander (CDR) | Squadron Commander (SCDR) |
| OF5 | ♦♦♦ | Colonel (COL) | Colonel (COL) | Captain (CAPT) | Wing Captain (WCAP) |
| OF6 | ♦♦♦♦ | Brigadier (BDER) | Brigadier (BDER) | Commodore (CDRE) | Group Commodore (GCDE) |
| OF7 | ★ | Major General (MG) | Major General (MGEN) | Rear Admiral (RADM) | Vice Marshal (VMAR) |
| OF8 | ★★ | Lieutenant General (LTG) | Lieutenant General (LGEN) | Vice Admiral (VADM) | Marshal (MAR) |
| OF9 | ★★★ | General (GEN) | Commandant-General (CGEN) | Admiral (ADM) | Chief Marshal (CMAR) |
| OF10 | ★★★★ | Field Marshal (FM) | - | Fleet Admiral (FADM) | - |
Enlisted & Noncommissioned Officer Ranks
- OR1 : This grade is reserved for ranks issued during Basic Recruit Training. The Corps of Dragoons selects graduates of the training from either the Field Forces or Space Forces for its own recruit training, while the Space Flight Corps selects from the Space Forces.
- OR2 : Ranks at this grade represent Peacekeepers undergoing Occupational Specialty Training. Recruits who are selected for the Corps of Dragoons enter Dragoon Initial Entry Training at this grade, the resulting acronym “DIRT” becoming the nickname of Dragoon recruits.
- OR3 : Ranks at this grade represent a Peacekeeper who has been certified as proficient in their training and occupation, and which have received orders to their Initial Unit Assignment. The Corps of Dragoons does not maintain a rank at this grade, as the time-in-service spent in Dragoon Initial Training overlaps the requirements for promotion to OR4.
- OR4 : Ranks at this grade represent specialist Peacekeepers who can be entrusted with key assignments, tasks, and minor leadership roles. The Field Forces and Corps of Dragoons maintain junior Noncommissioned Officer ranks at this grade: Lance Corporal and Lance Bombardier; the latter is used for Dragoons selected to serve in the Dragoon Artillery. In both services, promotion to Lance Corporal/Lance Bombardier is contingent upon graduation from the Basic Noncommissioned Officer Course.
- OR5 : Ranks at this grade are Noncommissioned Officers, enlisted personnel who have graduated the Basic Noncommissioned Officer Course and provide critical tactical leadership.
- OR6 : Ranks at this grade represent a professional Noncommissioned Officer with many years of experience. Graduation from the Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Course is required before advancing to OR7.
- OR7 : Ranks at this grade are Senior Noncommissioned Officers who provide senior leadership to numerous other subordinate leaders. Personnel at this grade usually act in the capacity of advisor to a junior officer. Graduation from the Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy is required before advancing to OR8.
- OR8 : Ranks at this grade represent master-grade Senior Noncommissioned Officers who provide senior leadership and act as the Senior Enlisted Advisor to a company-grade officer. Graduation from the Senior Enlisted Advisor Academy is required before advancing to OR9.
- OR9 : Ranks at this grade represent the culmination of a career in the Peacekeeping Forces and thus a repository of experience, leadership, and wisdom. Personnel at the highest level of this grade represent the rank of their respective Service Senior Enlisted Advisors, the chief advisor to their officer counterpart.
Commissioned, General, & Flag Officer Ranks
- OF(C) : Ranks in this grade are “officer cadets” undergoing Basic Commissioned Officer Training during university studies or as a student at one of the service academies. The Corps of Dragoons maintains no direct-entry option for commissioned officers and requires all candidates to be have served in the Corps a minimum of five years prior to commissioning. Officer cadets rank below the grade of OR7.
- OF(D) : Ranks in this grade are “officer-designates,” personnel with enough training to act in the capacity of a commissioned officer but who have not yet commissioned. Cadets of the Space Forces who have completed three years of university are appointed to a minimum of two years’ shipboard duty at the rate of Midshipman, during which time they complete university studies and train for commissioning. The Space Flight Corps reserves this rank for cadets who have completed university and are attending Pilot School. The Corps of Dragoons selects potential officer candidates from among Dragoons who have accrued a minimum of five years in service and are in the grade of OR4 (Lance Corporal/Lance Bombardier only), OR5, or OR6. The Field Forces maintain no ranks in this grade. Officer-designates rank below but with the grade of OR9.
- OF1 : Ranks at this grade are the most junior commissioned officers and are usually assigned a Senior Noncommissioned Officer to advise and assist in their initial leadership assignment. The Corps of Dragoons promotes its commissioned officers directly to the upper half of this grade in deference to their increased time-in-service and experience.
- OF2 : Ranks at this grade are referred to as Company Grade officers and are usually engaged in commanding multiple subordinate units which are themselves led by other commissioned officers. They are advised and assisted in their command by a Senior Noncommissioned Officer and a small staff. The Corps of Dragoons replaced the traditional rank of “Captain” with that of the naval “Lieutenant” used by the Space Forces in order to avoid problems in protocol as they relate to a ship’s captain while embarked.
- OF3 – OF5: Ranks at this grade are referred to as Field Grade officers and are usually engaged in commanding very large units and formations. They are advised in their command by Senior Enlisted Advisors and a headquarters staff.
- OF6 : Ranks at this grade are reserved for special commands and may be assigned temporarily before reversion to OF5 if its holder is not reappointed to a position for an OF6 or selected for promotion to OF7.
- OF7 – OF9: Ranks at his grade are referred to as General Officers in the Field Forces and the Corps of Dragoons, and as Flag Officers in the Space Forces and the Space Flight Corps.
- OF9 : The appointed Commandant-General of Dragoons and Chief Marshal of the Space Flight Corps are a form of brevet rank for the duration of their time in office and represent the only officers at this grade for both services, during which time the incumbent is accorded the insignia and privileges of the grade of OR9.
- OF10 : Ranks at this grade were authorized by the Security Council to command the extraordinary number of assets and personnel expected to be necessary for the invasion of the Zeosphere and its occupation (“Operation Ultor”). A further grade of OF11 was specified by the Council as “a possibility for supreme theater commands” and suggested the ranks of Grand Marshal for the Field Forces and Grand Admiral for the Space Forces, with further provisions made for the creation of the permanent grades of OF9 General and OF10 Captain General in the Corps of Dragoons and those of OF9 Chief Marshal and OF10 Fleet Marshal in the Space Flight Corps.
Part of 2100 CE.
