GWOT IV Ranks, Awards & Decorations of the California Republic

GWOT IV Ranks, Awards & Decorations of the California Republic

The California Republic styles itself as a free and independent nation.

Under the well established precedents of the First Civil War, and in compliance with the Constitution of the United States, this has a number of corollaries:

- Any official or employee of the C.R. is a traitor to America.

- Any soldier of the C.R. is in mutiny against the United States.

- Any commissioned officer of the C.R. is both a traitor and in mutiny, and is liable to such punishment as a court martial may direct.

This said, under the current circumstances and in compliance with numerous Memorandums of Understanding, it is prudent at this time to grudgingly recognize C.R. forces as opposed to but not in direct conflict with the United States.

Therefore, this circular is distributed so that American forces in contact with C.R. personnel can recognize the ways in which C.R. has stopped following United States military practice.

The California Naval Militia has no 'Admiral' rank.

The Army of the California Republic has no ranks above Colonel except a catch-all rank of General. This is specified in California doctrine as being equivalent to a two star General or theater commander in American practice. This is specifically so that any General can order reprisal under the laws of land warfare.

Neither the Captain of the Fleet nor Army generals are approved by the California State Legislature. They serve at the direct pleasure of the Governor and are subject to "resignation" or removal at any time. This has happened.

The highest military decoration of the C.R. is the Legislative Cross. This award, despite the name, is awarded by the Governor only to honor those meritorious acts which are 1) at great personal peril and 2) exceed the expectations of military personnel.

The California Republic has extremely high expectations of its soldiers and officers. The former are expected to risk their lives without question and can be held accountable, under harsh interpretation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, for failure to do so on demand. The latter are expected to die in the performance of their duties. It is noteworthy that at this time, there is no retirement plan or pension for Army or Naval Militia officers. The formal expectation is that they will die in performance of duties prior to retirement.

So the handful of soldiers and officers awarded the Legislative Cross are nearly always honored posthumously. The other traditions associated with the Congressional Medal of Honor are continued in California service - all holders receive salute, a pension for their family is granted, etc.

The Legislative Cross is worn on formal occasions as a golden ribbon around the neck. On the ordinary uniform, it is a golden scroll reading "The People Of" on its face.

When the death of a soldier or sailor in service is considered meritorious, the normal practice is to promote the individual one rank. This is referred to as "posthumous promotion" abbreviated "post. pro." in mentions of the rank. This increases the pension payment.

The Yosemite Medal is a medal for unusual endurance, often of impossible or horrific conditions, in the performance of duties. Many Yosemite Medal recipients are permanently disabled. A few are severe psychological casualties in the custody of the California State Hospitals - they are treated with great respect and deference as their conditions permit. It is an engraving of the Half Dome in Yosemite State (formerly National) Park with the last name of the honoree within. Report through channels the name of any active service California soldier or officer wearing the Yosemite Medal.

The Bear Cross is a medal specifically reserved for lifesaving in the performance of duties. It is considered equivalent to the Distinguished Service Cross except that the meritorious conduct must be "directly engaged with the protection of innocent human life." In other words, rescuing combatants does not earn the Bear Cross - only the protection of neutrals or civilians.

When earned more than once, it is worn with a device underneath that looks like a salmon, this is referred to as a "fish." Multiple fish have been observed.

The Bear Cross may be conferred directly on civilians and even foreign nationals. In the latter two cases, it 1) completes any military service obligation and 2) confers immediate California Republic citizenship. One example of the latter involved an illegal immigrant who saved the life of a downed California Highway Patrol motorcycle police officer.

California confers the Bronze Star and Silver Star, but at one level higher than American practice. Conduct that would earn the DSC, without lifesaving, is a Silver Star. Conduct that would earn the Silver Star in American service earns the Bronze Star in California service. It is stated that this is not intended as a slur on the American service but is an expectation of higher standards.

California has no campaign medals except a device for participation in the California Expeditionary Force. This device is an engraved "EXP" and is sometimes jokingly called the "D&D Award" with respect to a fantasy roleplaying game.

California has no lesser awards such as a Army Commendation Medal. This level of performance is expected.

The one non combat medal, which is highly valued and rarely conferred, is the Impact Award. It is a sledge hammer superimposed over a San Francisco skyline. This is awarded when an individual's contribution to the effectiveness or efficiency of the California Armed Forces is 1) exceptional and 2) outside and above their normal duty responsibilities. Impact Awards sometimes follow suggestions for quality improvement but are also given to superior military managers whose program makes a dramatic impact. Four Impact Awards were given to enlisted sailors of the California Naval Militia in connection with the LIDES (Lithum Ion Diesel Electric Submarine) program. Their names were never publicly released and are of interest to USNI. Report the names of any persons seen wearing the Impact Award through channels.

The "Red Lion" NGO is not part of the California military but members may be awarded the same medals as California armed forces. Much about Red Lion is not publicly known, and some of what is publicly known is not understood. What is certain is that Red Lion personnel are forbidden to carry or use any weapon at any time regardless of the provocation. Red Lion personnel have been killed honoring this practice.

Emirate Space Navy: ESS Broadsword

Guardian of the Emirate - ESS Broadsword

[ARC readout]

History:

The Emirate Space Ship Broadsword is a medium class frigate in active service with the Emirate Space Navy.

The vessel was purchased as RMS Sabre approximately 75 years ago, from the New Brunswick Space Navy, thirty years after initial construction. This trade was one of the last large capital trades between the Emirate and any outside power, and involved both pre-Evacuation artworks (including jewelry with Terran provenance!) and large quantities of precious and trade metals. New Brunswick sold her both because of changes in doctrine and because of a perception that she was overengined and undergunned. Do not confuse ESS Broadsword with the significantly larger and more capable RMS Sable commissioned as her replacement in New Brunswick service.

Within a decade of purchase, ESS Broadsword was mothballed due to the inability of the Emirate Space Navy to staff her. Three of four fusion reactors and both FTL reactors were - with difficulty - shut down to reduce ongoing expenses.

As sold and modified her basic specifications are as follows:

Displacement: 11,000 metric tons

Length: 180 meters

Beam: 25 meters

Installed power: four Takigawa fusion reactors with design lifespan of 300 years
two Anetsky class FTL singularity drives in parallel and tandem configuration
note that these singularities are antimatter powered and must be stabilized with the output of at least one fusion reactor to prevent runaway
casual power storage (<1 GW) for hotel and parasitic loads

comparable to a typical merchant passenger vessel

Speed: 0.95 sublight - well above time dilation limitations
the ability of human crews to handle time dilation effects is poor at best above 0.85
ARC gunboat: 0.8 sublight
Republic parasite fighter: 0.6 sublight

Acceleration / deceleration - 2.2 Terran gravities
*** this is almost as fast as an ARC gunboat and significantly faster than most FTL combatant warships ***
Republic parasite fighter: 8 Terran gravities

Superluminal maximum speed (direct FTL acceleration): 17 LY
ARC carrier: more than 20 LY

Warp jump nominal range, fully loaded and armed: 22 LY
ARC carrier: more than that

Number of warp jumps before major refueling: 3
ARC carrier: unlimited

Designed crew: 180 sailors and officers
Republic parasite fighter: one
ARC gunboat: seven
ARC invasion module: 18,000

Life support standard capacity: 300 souls
ARC gunboat: ten

Life support emergency capability: 340 souls
ARC gunboat: (no additional)

Cargo capacity: 600 metric tons in two bays
ARC gunboat: none
ARC invasion module: 18,000 metric tons internal, 36,000 metric tons external but within FTL envelope
(an invasion module could carry two Broadsword vessels on external FTL jump mounts, if configuration adapters were specially built for the purpose)

Armament: 140 cells in three stacks of 40 and 40 (forward) and 60 (aft)
capable of second generation loadout (extra large - each 4 stage missile taking 4 cells) and FTL launch

30mm spinal railgun capable of 22 Terran gravity acceleration / deceleration
ammunition storage of 20 tons / 40 seconds rapid fire

4 independently targeted 20mm railguns in sponson retractable turrets capable of 6 G gravity accel / decel
ammunition storage of 6 tons / 120 seconds final defensive fire (total, not per railgun) stored in two compartments fore and aft
transfer between fore and aft storage is not possible during high sublight or combat operations

left rear and right rear (2x) cargo hatches capable of minelaying of conventional (fusion) as well as anti-matter naval mines
no such mines sold with this transaction, but of wide galactic availability
note that antimatter weapons are beyond Emirate capability to build or maintain

crew small arms

*** no energy or plasma weapons equipped ***

compare to Republic parasite fighter with spinal 20mm railgun (10 seconds) and sixteen cells (8 and 8 on left and right winglets)

Sensor suite: as sold by New Brunswick, FTL-G standard sensor package, Republic Export Edition
note: this sensor package is capable of being spoofed and remotely disabled by any Republic warship
this sensor package transmits its position via FTL every two weeks by default settings to Republic Naval Intelligence
[ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CLASSIFIED BY ARCTECHINT]
this sensor package is connected to the FTL drives and capable of remote command destruction by authorized Republic warships
locally made enhancements of dubious quality and reliability
known to include LIDAR and primitive temporal imaging
local space Aegis Block C under local control, retrofitted, capable of <700 target track, a design more than 1 millenia old

Defensive systems: deflector beam capable of particle protection at near light only
railguns controlled by Aegis nominally capable of low speed ordinance intercept
*** no significant electronic warfare or FTL missile defense capability ***
ARC gunboat: capable of simultaneous intercept of six intersecting high sublight trajectory targets

Auxiliary craft: 1 FTL patrol boat (speed 0.6 sublight, 6 LY tactical range, capable of one warp jump), 2 auxiliary lighters, 1 cargo pusher, 2 maintenance pods
18 sublight lifeboats (cap. 30, decel 0.3 light maximum at 1.8 perceived gravities for 7 hours)
all auxiliary craft are unarmed
note that no auxiliary craft are capable of saving the crew at high sublight without substantial external rescue assets
lifeboats are capable of destructive single re-entry to a habitable atmosphere
only the lighters and FTL patrol boat are capable of flight within an atmosphere or landing followed by liftoff
the lighters would need to replenish mass of ten tons of water (or other non corrosive liquid) to do so

Combat capability rating / assessment; light armed merchant freighter or heavy private yacht

Threat rating to ARC forces (standard log rating, ARC gunboat = 1, ARC carrier = 12, ARC habitation arcology = 1400, ARC intrusion module = 7000): 2.7 or two point seven

Classification by Republic forces: light FTL scout or escort, overgunned fast transport freighter

Narrative: the Sabre class was designed as a rapid scout, able to loiter in distant space and race to give warning of a potential invasion. Due to changes in the threat profile and reduction in perceived space control requirements, the Sabre was overgunned at the expense of acceleration and deceleration curves. The additional crew necessary to maintain and deploy the missiles precludes the use of high gravity crew racks. For these reasons, the Sabre was seen as surplus and sold to a "sucker" i.e. the Emirate.

After preliminary trials and the end of the contracted warranty period, the ESN decided to mothball ESS Broadsword against potential future defensive needs. In space, especially parked in a stable orbit on the dark side of the local star, little long term maintenance is necessary after the initial 3-6 month "derefit" which actually took ESN two years. Unusually, great care was taken with this process so ESS Broadsword retained full if antiquated capability.

Now that ESS Broadsword has been reactivated, the above information must be treated as subject to minor changes. For example, several independent space navies have discovered or been informed of the undesirable extra features of the Republic Export Edition sensor package. Obvious improvements would include modern missiles in the archaic box framework, antimatter mines and torpedoes rigged to be released from the cargo bays (at 1.2 G or less accel/decel), and modern sensor packages - often achieved by linking a modern missile through the Aegis to the vessel's Combat Information Center. As an ancient joke observes, "Don't fire the camera!"

As a true warship and not a modified freighter, ESS Broadsword has full compartmentalization and damage control capabilities.

Some vessels of her size are capable of powered landing on habitable worlds. ESS Broadsword, despite aerodynamic appearance for aesthetics, does not have and cannot be retrofitted for this capability.