The Militia
The Electorate’s military is titled The Militia of the People’s Independent Electorate, or more usually, simply the Militia. The Militia is organised around a small full-time professional cadre that serves as a core for a military comprised of reservists, conscripts and mercenaries.
Unlike the Dominion Legion, the Militia do not undertake domestic policing functions.
Branches
The Militia is structured into two branches: The Ground Branch and the Space Branch. Space Branch is essentially the Navy, and Ground Branch is most closely analogous to the Marines.
Uniforms
The most obvious distinction in uniform colours is between the two branches: Space Branch has dark blue uniforms with chocolate brown trim, and Ground Branch has chocolate brown uniforms with dark blue trim.
Cohorts
Members of the the Militia (both branches) will join one of four service Cohorts, these are: Cadres, Reserves, Service Members, and Ordinary Members.
Cohort
Description
Cadre
The cadre stream comprises the professional core of the Militia. Cadres make a career of their military service.
Cadre members are professional soldiers; they maintain the body of military knowledge for the Militia. Many are trainers or senior leaders but some are operational, eg: Special Forces or highly technical roles specific to military service.
Reserves
Reserves are part-time soldiers that contribute time to the Militia.
Service
Service members are those that choose to do their mandatory Elector service in the Militia.
Ordinary
Ordinary members are one of:
- Electors who have been required to serve in the militia by the parliament and deliberative council (or local governments) activating the emergency conscription powers.
- Members of the Defence Portfolio Service acting in one of the roles that come with an with a rank equivalent.
- Private contractors paid to perform military duties (mercenaries).
Within each rank, Cohort has seniority in the order listed above.
Rank
While the First Overlord created a set of new ranks for his military, the Separatists who became the Electorate adopted some of the names of ranks of the former regime’s military. However, the way in which these ranks are operationalised is somewhat different.
Ranks are divided into two streams: Leadership ranks and Operational ranks. These are broadly comparable to Commissioned ranks and Warrant Officer/Other ranks, respectively, of contemporary western militaries.
Given the relatively small size of the Electorate Militia (and the prevailing egalitarian ethos of the Electorate), the rank structure is much flatter than contemporary militaries and its Dominion counterpart.
See this sub-page for the full table of ranks.
Insignia
Insignia is stylised to show a combination of Cohort, Branch, Stream and Rank.
Cohort
Cohort is indicated with a geometric shape that borders the rank markings:
- Cadre – Square
- Reserve – Triangle
- Service – Line
- Ordinary – Circle
The Cohort shape borders the Rank insignia for all ranks except O1.
Stream and Branch
In addition to Branch colour-coding, Stream within Branch is shown by the type of rank symbols used.
| Stream | Space Branch | Ground Branch |
|---|---|---|
| Leader Ranks | Four-Pointed Stars | Diamond-shaped Pips |
| Operational Ranks O6-O7 | Reflected Chevrons | Crossed Lines |
| Operational Stream Ranks O2-O5 | Upward Chevrons | Horizontal Lines |
| Operational Stream Rank O1 | Four-Pointed Star Border | Diamond Border |
Note: Militia Trainee Ranks M1 have only the Cohort symbol.