USCM

Marine Code of Honor: Always obey a superior officer; service to one's country supersedes personal honour and survival; if captured, reveal nothing to the enemy; never leave a wounded or killed comrade behind; never retreat without authorization from a commanding officer.

Enlisted Ranks

* Sergeant Major is a very rare rank, given only to the most able and long serving soldiers. It is said that 1 Sergeant Majors equals 10 just graduated Second Lieutenants any day.

Commissioned Ranks

O-1 Second Lieutenant (SLt) O-6 Colonel (Col) (Aliluutnantti) (Eversti) O-2 First Lieutenant (FLt) O-7 Brigadier General (BGen) (Luutnantti) (Prikaatikenraali) O-3 Captain (Capt) O-8 Major General (MGen) (Kapteeni) (Kenraalimajuri) O-4 Major (Maj) O-9 Lieutenant General (LGen) (Majuri) (Kenraaliluutnantti) O-5 Lieutenant Colonel (LtCol) O-10 General (Gen) (Everstiluutnantti) (Kenraali)

Unit Insignia

Android Rank

Note that androids are a special case. They are not crew but property, valuable equipment. Nevertheless they hold the function if not rank of Executive Officer and function as star ship pilots, drop ship pilots and scientific officers. An android may give advice but not orders. Usually these "suggestions" are met with respect and trust into the good judgement abilities of androids.

The Marine Platoon Marine Platoon Organization

A Marine Platoon (26 Marines) has 1 platoon commander (Lieutenant), 1 android Exo. and 2 sections, A and B. Each section has its commanding sergeant, a drop ship crew of 2 Marines, 1 APC driver and two squads. Each squad has two teams: Fire team A through L. Each team has 2 Marines. The commanding sergeant of section A is second in command (2iC.), he will replace the platoon commander if the commander is killed or incapacitated. The commanding sergeant of section B is 3iC. Each squad has a squad leader in the rang of corporal. In case all superior officers and NCOs are killed or incapacitated command will fall to the corporal with the highest fire team letter designation (from A on top down to L).

The Marine Brigade

Each platoon is one of three in a Marine Company. Three Companies (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie) form one Battalion. Three Battalions in turn form one Regiment. The Marine Infantry Regiment is part of a Marine Brigade, along with other units (Armor Battalion, APC Battalion, Battlesuit Battalion, Artillery Battalion, Air Defence Battalion, Engineer Battalion, Interface Transport Group). Two Brigades form one Marine Division.

MOS - Military Occupational Specialties

To show that someone has successfully passed a MOS training the term "Specialist" is often place before his rank (e.g. Specialist Lance Corporal). The short form given in parenthesis behind the MOS name may officially used to save up time and place. The different MOS are:

• Communications/Computer Technician (com-tech)
• Demolition and Arms Technician (dem-tech)
• Driver Technician (drive-tech)
• Flight-Engineer/Co-pilot Technician (flight-tech)
• Medical Technician (the former Navy Corpsmen, now called med-tech)
• NCO or Officer
• Pilot Technician (pilot-tech)
• Smartgun Operator
• Sniper/Scout

The USCM Strike Team

A Colonial Marine strike team is a group of fourteen soldiers and specialists who respond to problems associated with civil unrest, xenomorph incursion, and warfare, among others. They have become the police of known space, used by the Interstellar Commerce Commission (ICC) to enforce corporate law and keep the peace. A Strike Team is essentially a single platoon section operating on its own, complete with commanding officer and synthetic advisor.

A strike team usually consists of the following troops:

• 1 Commanding Officer
• 1 Synthetic / Exo
• 1 Section Leader /Senior NCO
• 1 Pilot Technician (pilot-tech)
• 1 Flight-Engineer/Co-pilot Technician (flight-tech)
• 1 Driver Technician (drive-tech)
• 2 Medical Technician (med-tech)
• 2 Communications/Computer Technician (com-tech)
• 2 Smartgun Operator
• 1 Demolition and Arms Technician (dem-tech)
• 1 Sniper/Scout

The strike team is well-equipped. Each marine is issued a standard load in relation to his primary job. Each Fire team has 1 smartgun operator (two per squad). Support weaponry available to the platoon includes eight M240 flamethrowers and eight UA-571 remote sentry guns. Sufficient sensor equipment to establish an overlapping detection matrix with a frontage of 1,000 meters is also carried.

As a whole, the team is assigned to a Strike Ship (like the Sulaco). The strike ship is equipped with two APC's, two Drop Ships, and four Power Loaders, as well as plenty of spare weapons, armor, and equipment. Once in action, the team is usually split into two smaller squads. Besides the standard strike team, the Corps employs both larger and smaller units, depending on the situation. Smaller groups could include reckon teams, with up to six marines and a synthetic in a smaller scout vessel.