| abstract
| - The Galactic Alliance Marine Corps became its own branch of the Alliance Defense Force after the liberation of Coruscant and the formation of a Galactic Alliance. It remains one of the most highly trained and specialized units, with its roots in the Alliance Special Forces. As the former New Repulic grew, the defense of member worlds took higher priority than assault. The newly-fashioned Alliance Defense Force needed a mobile element that could be staffed aboard the vessels of the Alliance Defense Force Fleet. The marines were soon used for everything from zero-g combat and boarding operations to full ground assaults against Imperial targets. Constantly on high-risk action, they were second only to the Alliance Starfighter Corps in terms of casualties. Since Marine casualties in engagements were often significant, many of them became hardened soldiers very quickly. As the Alliance's military continued to downsize, it eventually became apparent that the advanced boarding and combat training Marines recieved made them ideally suited for clandestine operations in numerous other venues. Their mission was expanded to allow Marines to be utilized as effective operators across the galaxy. With the formation of the Galactic Alliance, the Marine Corps' primary mission is now almost exclusively clandestine operations. Every Marine is called upon to be an expert not only at their assigned job- armorer, supply, administration- but at all the tasks demanded of a highly trained and well-disciplined infantry warfighter. Marines are heavy-combat troops, first and foremost. There is no such thing as an 'Infantry' speciality- every Marine is Infantry. The only things that differentiate one Marine from the next it is time in a combat position and specialized training for combat roles. If a situation warrants their support, Marines can rapidly mobilize and deploy as a highly elite infantry field outfit, providing an extraordinary level of basic tactical support or field operations in advance of a combat push. Unlike some branches of the military, the Marine officer leadership is some of the best and most innovative to be found on or off the field of battle. Marine officers have a long tradition of being in front of the formation in war or peacetime, and it is a rare Lieutenant or Captain indeed who hasn't bled for his or her men. They fight on the ground shoulder to shoulder with their subordinates, putting Marine technology and training to use to provide real-time guidance to their platoon, company, or even battalion as to enemy action. It is a rare officer indeed who is not in the thick of things with his NCO leadership, providing guidance even while under fire. In the Marine rank hierarchy, officers are trained as overall tactical and strategic warfare experts, while NCOs focus on advanced individual skills and training techniques. Officers are commissioned only after being recommended to the position by a senior NCO in their chain of command, and the selection and training process is exceptionally rigorous. Marine Operators remain active for as long as they are physically capable of doing so. It is not uncommon to see high-ranking NCOs and officers acting operationally. Some senior members of the Marine Corps had their beginnings back in the early engagements and battles of the Galactic Civil War. A few are survivors of such momentous battles as the Battle Of Hoth. Most cut their teeth during the campaign to blaze a path through the Imperial infrastructure to a then-paramount liberation of Coruscant in the early years of the Rebellion. With their primary mission being highly sensitive covert operations, the Alliance Marine Corps rarely functions as a standing military force. They are on almost constant deployment or movement across the galaxy and they operate with minimal jurisdictional guidance or external controls. Clandestine operations are conducted only by Primary Recon/Operation Squads. Roughly 25% of the Corps, or around 60,000 personnel, are trained as these direct-action operators with specialties in threat neutralization, exfiltration, infiltration, espionage, and sabotage. The remaining 75% function as support staff in a reserve capacity, but can be easily deployed as elite infantry if called for.
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