Starfleet Marines thread

[BorgMan]

Well, I've been doing some work on my rendition of the Starfleet Marines. They usually operate as part of a starship's regular crew, but some personnel is held back for immediate action. They are based on Mars, where four towers together form their headquarters. And even though SFM doesn't have a lot of materiel on its hands, they do boast a few hundred Dart attack craft, two dozen Marine variants of the Mammoth runabout and a few starships. Since the Dominion War and renewed hostilities with the Klingons, however, the Federation President has ordered the Marine corps to expand. This will probably mean that the aging Gladius destroyers can at last be mothballed (or used as trainers), much to the delight of the upper echelons of SFM command (and probably every person attached to the Marine corps as well).

As a refresher:

Their flag, together with the UFP flag in the background and a trio of Darts flying over.

A Dart and an SFM Mammoth.

And last: a shot from the lowest tower of HQ, showcasing another Dart and the landingpad. Don't you just love the Martian atmosphere?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Well done. About time the SFMC got its due.

 

[sojourner]

Cool stuff. I'd like to see more of the Mammoth. On that last image. My gut reaction without reading the caption was "starfleet shower stall?". Not disparaging the work. It's just the first thing the image relates to, to me.

 

[Mysterion]

Nice stuff, but shouldn't it be the United Federation Marine Corps (UFMC)? I mean try going over to Camp Lejune and calling the first Gunny you see a "Navy Marine" and see how well that goes over...

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

Nice stuff, but shouldn't it be the United Federation Marine Corps (UFMC)? I mean try going over to Camp Lejune and calling the first Gunny you see a "Navy Marine" and see how well that goes over...

Given that Starfleet is never to as the United Federation Starfleet (though Federation Starfleet may have been used), I think this is unlikely. TFF refers to 'Federation Forces' (the navy blue collared troopers that landed on Nimbus III), but the name sounds more like an equivalant of the US National Guard or British Army Reserve (previously the Territorial Army), and other names offered by TrekLit (Starfleet Ground Forces, Starfleet Special Operations) and props (Starfleet Tactical Marine Corps - dubious accuracy) sound like they refer to something more like Special Operations Forces like USN Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), Delta Force, USAF Pararescue or SEALs, rather than regular infantry.

That said, given that "Federation X" is common format for agencies in Star Trek, "Federation Marines" or "Federation Marine Corps" both have a plausible flavour to them.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Kirk once said that Starfleet is a 'combined service'. To me this means that they have both ship- and ground-based operations, but it's all still Starfleet.

And IMHO it makes sense to have Starfleet's ground forces be called the Starfleet Marine Corps, because that just sounds better. Plus it does not make a ton of sense to have a division of ground troops use naval ranks. So ground forces would use ranks like General, Colonel, Major, etc.

...you know, like COLONEL West in Star Trek VI.

Also, in my head canon, the SFMC in the timeframe of the original series - and who I dearly hope we get to see on DSC - wears the same uniform as the rest of the TOS Starfleet does, but in black.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

Kirk once said that Starfleet is a 'combined service'. To me this means that they have both ship- and ground-based operations, but it's all still Starfleet.

And IMHO it makes sense to have Starfleet's ground forces be called the Starfleet Marine Corps, because that just sounds better. Plus it does not make a ton of sense to have a division of ground troops use naval ranks. So ground forces would use ranks like General, Colonel, Major, etc.

...you know, like COLONEL West in Star Trek VI.

Also, in my head canon, the SFMC in the timeframe of the original series - and who I dearly hope we get to see on DSC - wears the same uniform as the rest of the TOS Starfleet does, but in black.

The SEALs, Seebees and Special Amphibous Recon Corpsmen (SARCs) and Naval Gunfire Liaison Officers (NGLOs, similar to USAF Combat Controllers) are all "ground forces" but use naval ranks. Starfleet almost certainly has equivalents of at least the first two (Starfleet Special Operations for preference and the SCE). These - along with secondary divisions like Starfleet Material Supply Command (similar to United States Military Sealift Command) and we could also add Jeri Taylor's Starfleet (Intelligence) Rangers as a counterpart of USMC Force Recon - would satisfy Kirk's observation of Starfleet being a 'combined service' as the Active Force of the UFP's uniformed service.

Infantry - being typically organised around divisions for even medium term operations unlike SpecOps that tend to use battalions/regiments administratively and companies or less in the field - has always struck me as impractical as a rapid deployment tactical assest on board starships but rather would be a separate 'strategic reserve based out of major large starbases and key planets (these would be the Federation Forces mentioned in TFF) and could potentially use mostly "ground forces" ranks (though I suspect to avoid confusion they would use "Ensign, Second Lieutenant, Lieutenant" rather than "Second Lieutenant, Lieutenant, Captain" to minimise possible confusion).