Hey all, this isn't a straight fan fic per say. This is a brainstorming session for a thing i'm working on, part of it regards Starfleet Marines. The background is that i'm, for fun, doing a reboot Trek universe that aims to fit very closely with Prime, but more fleshed out and detailed, with changes here there as I see fit.
PART of what I want to do is establish a Marine Corps type (type is a key word) organization for Starfleet.
Here is what I have so far, but by all means, give my any ideas you may have. I'll start with my list of wants/ground rules.
1) I DO NOT want this to be "Space US Marine Corps". At all.
2) This should be a fairly small organization. It's not like, the Federation Army. It's more akin to a department of Starfleet that is focused on combat troops. Starfleet is still Starfleet.
I already have an idea that there are two defense organizations in the Federation. Starfleet is under direct command of the Federation, and has a mission profile primarily for science and exploration, but they also conduct "peacekeeping", border patrol, law enforcement, etc. There is another organization, tentatively calling it the "Federation Defense Council" which essentially the Federation's NATO... it exists to coordinate the independent forces of member worlds in times of war, which in my reboot universe they very much still have.
I don't think I want to actually use the name "Starfleet Marine Corps". It just sounds too... modern military to jive with Trek. I've come up with an organization that is similar to the relationship of the US Navy and Marine Corps... basically a sub-branch. There is Starfleet, and then there is "Tactical Operations Command".
Tactical Operations Command mission is to provide dedicated soldiers in situations that call for it, under the direct command of Starfleet (rather than having to go through the Defense Council and coordinate with a member world to get forces). A component OF Tactical Operations Command ARE "Marines". To the point that, although the department is officially called Tactical Operations Command, most colloquially refer to the whole organization as "Starfleet Marines". I drop the "Corps".
"Tac Ops", as it is often called as well, consists of Marines, Special Forces, and "Tactical Aviation" (I don't love the term... something to denote Fighters/Bombers/Marine Transports/Ground Support)
Tac Ops is structured in such a way to use a different rank structure, generally US Marines-ish, just to mirror the US Navy Starfleet ranks. Uniforms tend to be Starfleet uniforms of the era, with a few more military flares to them, and they get their Green color coding. What i'm seeing for uniforms, lets just go with the Dominion War era... Starfleet uniform, Green department color. They have alittle bit different comm badge, they get a unit patch on their arm. There's a combat uniform as well, probably pretty close to the DS9-style uniforms we see.
One of the kickers here is that, unlike alot of the attempts to make Starfleet Marines here, I don't want these to be overkill. In fact, they're a comparatively small organization that has trouble recruiting (people either want to go Starfleet, or stay in the homeworlds military) and they rend to be "underfunded". These Marines aren't running around with crazy weapons we never see anywhere and all sorts of nuts things. They're working with what they can get, which tends to not always be the best possible tools. They DO have things we don't see Starfleet officers use... photon grenades, personal shields to an extent, etc. They have some heavier weapons. Alot of it is either hand-me-down Starfleet things, or modified versions from their own R&D team.
I like the idea that Dominion War-era, the TNG-style Phaser Rifle is their go-to service rifle and it ended up bleeding out into Starfleet. By the Dominion War, Starfleet was using all sorts of next-generation Type 3 phasers but the Marines preferred the older ones. They were more reliable, the new ones tended to fail and the worst times and were overengineered. So the Marines hoarded the TNG Type 3's (i'll give everything real model numbers).
They do employ things like the TR-116, sans transporter. The Marines continue to develop ballistic weapons, even though they have fallen out of favor in Starfleet. They utilize a mix of energy and kinetic weaponry.
That's mostly where i'm at right now. Any ideas are welcome.
PART of what I want to do is establish a Marine Corps type (type is a key word) organization for Starfleet.
Here is what I have so far, but by all means, give my any ideas you may have. I'll start with my list of wants/ground rules.
1) I DO NOT want this to be "Space US Marine Corps". At all.
2) This should be a fairly small organization. It's not like, the Federation Army. It's more akin to a department of Starfleet that is focused on combat troops. Starfleet is still Starfleet.
I already have an idea that there are two defense organizations in the Federation. Starfleet is under direct command of the Federation, and has a mission profile primarily for science and exploration, but they also conduct "peacekeeping", border patrol, law enforcement, etc. There is another organization, tentatively calling it the "Federation Defense Council" which essentially the Federation's NATO... it exists to coordinate the independent forces of member worlds in times of war, which in my reboot universe they very much still have.
I don't think I want to actually use the name "Starfleet Marine Corps". It just sounds too... modern military to jive with Trek. I've come up with an organization that is similar to the relationship of the US Navy and Marine Corps... basically a sub-branch. There is Starfleet, and then there is "Tactical Operations Command".
Tactical Operations Command mission is to provide dedicated soldiers in situations that call for it, under the direct command of Starfleet (rather than having to go through the Defense Council and coordinate with a member world to get forces). A component OF Tactical Operations Command ARE "Marines". To the point that, although the department is officially called Tactical Operations Command, most colloquially refer to the whole organization as "Starfleet Marines". I drop the "Corps".
"Tac Ops", as it is often called as well, consists of Marines, Special Forces, and "Tactical Aviation" (I don't love the term... something to denote Fighters/Bombers/Marine Transports/Ground Support)
Tac Ops is structured in such a way to use a different rank structure, generally US Marines-ish, just to mirror the US Navy Starfleet ranks. Uniforms tend to be Starfleet uniforms of the era, with a few more military flares to them, and they get their Green color coding. What i'm seeing for uniforms, lets just go with the Dominion War era... Starfleet uniform, Green department color. They have alittle bit different comm badge, they get a unit patch on their arm. There's a combat uniform as well, probably pretty close to the DS9-style uniforms we see.
One of the kickers here is that, unlike alot of the attempts to make Starfleet Marines here, I don't want these to be overkill. In fact, they're a comparatively small organization that has trouble recruiting (people either want to go Starfleet, or stay in the homeworlds military) and they rend to be "underfunded". These Marines aren't running around with crazy weapons we never see anywhere and all sorts of nuts things. They're working with what they can get, which tends to not always be the best possible tools. They DO have things we don't see Starfleet officers use... photon grenades, personal shields to an extent, etc. They have some heavier weapons. Alot of it is either hand-me-down Starfleet things, or modified versions from their own R&D team.
I like the idea that Dominion War-era, the TNG-style Phaser Rifle is their go-to service rifle and it ended up bleeding out into Starfleet. By the Dominion War, Starfleet was using all sorts of next-generation Type 3 phasers but the Marines preferred the older ones. They were more reliable, the new ones tended to fail and the worst times and were overengineered. So the Marines hoarded the TNG Type 3's (i'll give everything real model numbers).
They do employ things like the TR-116, sans transporter. The Marines continue to develop ballistic weapons, even though they have fallen out of favor in Starfleet. They utilize a mix of energy and kinetic weaponry.
That's mostly where i'm at right now. Any ideas are welcome.