The Nerimian Defense Initiative's Advanced Tactical Assault Corps

Commanding Officer: General Xavier Hunter
Executive Officer: General Nathaniel Sinclair
Personnel (Active Duty): 31,132,540
Personnel (Ready Reserve): 14,925,021
Army Department Civillian Employees: 1,485,320
Total Strength: 113 Legions

Organizational Structure

The organizational structure of the elite ATAC is drastically different conceptually than the organization of the much larger Spacy. In comparison, a naval frigate possesses more firepower than even a ATAC legion at full operational strength. While a naval squadron might possess tremendous amounts of firepower, the basic ATAC squad is a minor element in the big scheme of things.

The seven-man squad is the basic unit of the ATAC. A squad is commanded by a sergeant. The sergeant makes recommendations to his superiors for a brevet list -- a list of the order of succession of chain of command. The first man on the list (once approved) is automatically given the rank of lance corporal. All other troopers are given the rank of private, though each of them knows what his number in the line of command succession is. While not really an accurate measure of a man's value to the squad, succession numbers are often taken as a measure of a trooper's worth.

Each squad is usually equipped with a transportation asset in the form of a GEV-17 "FOXHOUND" armored personal carrier. Squads joined together for Spec Ops share transportation assets or pool their assets and call upon or be assigned to a larger mode of transportation like a GEV-24 "RHINO" for the transportation of several squads at one time. Squads permanently assigned to a APC are often referred to as 'lift infantry.'

The ATAC platoon consists of four squads (28 troopers). It is commanded by a lieutenant, assisted by a sergeant who is referred as Platoon Lieutenant and Platoon Sergeant. A platoon is the smallest unit which can request fire support from other units. Fire requests are made utilizing the SLICS system, which sends out a broadcast to the battallion headquarters, which in turn relays a message to an appropriate unit which provides the needed fire support.

The ATAC company consists of four platoons (112 troopers, 16 squads). A Company will also include its own dedicated support staff (15 personnel) of armorers, equipment repair, and maintenance officers. The support will not follow the Company into the field, but will be nearby for emergency repair, or located at a base where they can set up shop for units operating out in theater. Several companies might pool their support staff into a common area which will service all present companies as required. The Company is commanded by either a Captain (common) or a Major (less common) with the title of Company Captain or Company Major.

The ATAC battalion consists of four companies (448 troopers, 64 squads) under the command of a Lieutenant Colonel and a support staff of 60 technicians and 8 to 10 logistics / admin personnel (who almost never go into the field, but instead act as liasons with special tactical / strategic equipment at the command post).

The ATAC regiment consists of four battalions (1792 troopers), 256 squads) is usually commanded by a Colonel or higher. Regimental HQ is where the most extensive repairs are performed, and some HQs even have a capacity to machine or nanomanufacture precise spare parts from very basic components. Regimental HQs often stay aboard the mother vessel, as orbital command control is as good in most instances as control on the ground. If orbital command is disrupted, the HQ can be quickly dropped (there is a record of at least one conflict where the regimental HQ was dropped in life pods as landing barges were unavailable). If regimental HQ is dropped with the attacking forces, it is an indication that the NDI expects to maintain a ground force for at least a month and that the naval presence will be not be continual.

The ATAC division consists of eight regiments (14,336 troopers, 2048 squads) and is commanded by a Brigadier General (common) or a Major General (less common). Divisions are considered a massive grouping of forces and are committed to major offensives against known concentrations of resistance. Divisions usually have a specific role to fufill in combat. Armored divisions are dropped into missions where the enemy has several concentrations of strength in an area of moderate size. The armored division is designed to quickly hit these concentrations in succession, one or two enemy strongholds at a time. Lift Infantry divisions are used to shift quickly in response to enemy incursions, and to make lightning strikes into enemy territory. Airborne divisions are highly mobile versions of lift infantry divisions that have extensive access to VTOL transports which they can use to strike deep into enemy territory. These are typically consisted of shock troops. Infantry (heavy & light) divisions are the most common type of division and consequently among the most versatile.

The legion is the major deployment of Confederate forces for offensive purposes. Consisting of as little as three and as many as eight divisions (43,008-114,688 troops), the legion is a massive deployment of military power. When the Confederation deploys a legion on a world, it is fully comitted to take that world, regardless of the propaganda it beamcasts. The military considers a legion a sufficient force to take a world with sufficent resistance. Nevertheless, Confederation military planners more often than not deploy two or even three legions onto a world simultaneously to smash enemy formations with ease. Legions are always deployed with a Spacy Expeditionary Force, which provides orbital fire support and transport. As a result, Legion HQ is often stationed on the flagship of the Expeditionary Force with vast command and control capability.

The Units of the Advanced Tactical Assault Corps

The ATAC is the very definition of a 21st century fighting force. In this age of interstellar conflict, a well-trained and maintained ground force is imperative if one wishes to take enemy worlds intact. Raining fire from the skies above may eliminate your enemies, but it is the lowly infantryman that must actually capture and hold land for the Confederation. While more attention hsa been paid to increasing the might of its interstellar navy, after the near destruction of the Ryuken-Ni Light Infantry legion during the Chaos/Hive Wars has caused the NDI to bolster its ground strength significantly since the end of that war.

In realizing that Humans simply didn't possess the raw physical power to match other races, the NDI has turned to superior technology to give its ground forces a key advantage over its foes. Information, not raw power, was the key to victory on the 21st century battlefield. Advances in construction technology led to the development of powered armor infantry, which made the infantryman highly mobile and well-protected at the same time. At the same time, armored units nearly became obsolete because they were often the first targets eliminated in the opening of a conflict. Even a foot soldier equipped with light anti-tank weaponry can deal deadly damage to armor, which began to change the scope of military power. As the power of the foot soldier increased, the significance of expensive (albeit powerful) armored units decreased greatly.

Simultaneously, computers began to see incredible advances, getting so smart that they border on true AI (GoldenGate is the first self-aware system). Computers became an essential part of the 21CB, as they are the only thing that allows an armored vehicle to survive at all. These computers aid the crew, reduce the amount of crew, absorb and filter an incredible amount of data, and can even fight the vehicle to a limited extent if the crew is incapacitated or killed. As a result, the workload of crew members is steadily decreasing.

But a battle is won on information far more often than on sheer numbers. A huge army can strike a mighty blow, but if that blow is unleashed at the wrong time, its of no use to anyone. Knowledge is power. Data is knowledge; therefore, data is power. The 21CB is data intensive. The amount of information required to not only operate effectively, but to acquire and engage targets is simply mind boggling and even the best-trained crew would be overwhelmed in short order by the sheer volume of data. The onboard computer takes all the data, correlates it, and gives it to the crew via an easy to use graphical interface, at the speed and amount that they can handle.Most onboard computers, vehicle designs, and other armor / weapon designs of 21CB are built around a ‘fight by light’ setup, with fiber optic run computer networks, impervious (nothing is ever ‘impervious’, lets just call it ‘highly resistant’) to EMP and other types of non-physical electrical and pulse oriented attacks.

Knowing these simple characteristics of the 21CB, NDI military planners developed advanced units that were built on the conceptual basis of maximum stealth, speed, and information-gathering capability. Firepower was a secondary factor, as other systems took away from the sheer volume of firepower capable to be mounted on first-generation units. So while NDI ground forces do not possess overwhelming firepower, their ability to sneak up on their foes quickly, undetected, and strike their targets precisely with precision-guided munitions makes them exceptionally deadly in combat.

Content by Derran Tyler and Marty Bowles
HTML by Derran Tyler (NightPhoenix@theprodigalsons.com)
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999 Derran Tyler and Marty Bowles

Last Updated: Saturday, 12/06/2003 15:54