Liberty Marine Corps

[Xanthian]

Couple of quick things..


There is no "General of the Marine Corps"

He is the "Commandant of the Marine Corps" or "CMC" for short.

Warrant Officers are technical advisers considered to be Masters in their field of expertise. Generally they will hold the same Billet as a Marine Captain, while simply not holding the rank. The level of technical Proficiency increases with the Rank. Warrant Officers are used when a billet requires an Officer rank that also has extensive knowledge of the particular field of work.

USMC Officer ranks are as such (starting with WO)

Warrant Officer 1 (Red bar with 1 gold Strip in middle)
Chief Warrant Officer 2 (Red bar with 2 gold Stripes)
Chief Warrant Officer 3 (Red bar with 1 silver strip)
Chief Warrant Officer 4 (Red bar with 2 silver strips)
Chief Warrant Officer 5 (Silver Bar, with a single Red Strip Running length ways across the bar)(only about 5% of Warrant officers make this rank.. This is what is commonly referred to as a "Gunner", even if the term is loosely applied now days to all Warrant Officers)

Second Lieutenant(1 gold bar)
First Lieutenant (1 silver bar)
Captain (2 Silver bars)
Major (Gold Oak Leaf)
Lieutenant Colonel (Silver Oak Leaf)
Colonel (Full Bird)
Brigadier General (1 star)
Major General (2 star)
Lieutenant General (3 star)
General (4 star)


During WW2 the USMC started flight school and combat missions at the rank of Gunnery Sergeant. Once enough flight time/requirements where earned they would be promoted to 2ndLT.

In 2006 the navy started the "sailor" flight training program. Where qualified sailors from E-5 to E-7 or WO1-WO2 where allowed to begin flight training. These individuals did not have to have degree's, however they will never be allowed to (unless holding a degree and acquire the rank of commissioned officer through Officer candidate school) take on command roles with-in the unit outside of their official rank.

Warrant Officer that do NOT acquire a degree and finish a strict set of requirements may only gain the highest rank of Captain in the Marine Corps. It is generally rare when a WO fore goes advanced WO ranks, but there are options for a WO to go to his "equivalent" billeted rank from WO. Such as WO3 will go to Captain in the Corps, however will be restricted somewhat on billet assignment (This is generally what is considered a "Field Commission" where a billet needs to be filled and no Captains/Lieutenants are available).


While I understand this is not really required material for Freelancer, just some background in to the Corps and Naval Aviation that might help future faction builders. Specially for the Marine Corps as tradition (even if Mothers of America have dug her claws deep in our business) is very important in making Marines different then Soldiers/Sailors. Not saying better/worse so lets not start that argument.. just different.