[Psionics] [Space] Psi Trek - Worldbuilding

[Prince Charon]

United Space Authority: Commands of the Space Forces

'Commands,' in this context, are the major administrative subdivisions of the United Space Authority's Space Forces, answering to the Chairman of the Space Forces Staff Committee (aka 'Space Forces Chief of Staff' or 'Chairman of the Space Staff'). Vessels, task forces, and other units of the USASF may have assets from multiple Space Forces Commands in the same chain of command. Depending on both the era and the specific setting switches of your game, some of the Commands below may need to be adjusted, being more important, less important, non-existent, or having somewhat different assets & other details. This is why, for example, carriers and tenders are listed in more commands than I think would make sense - IMHO, they should only be under one or two, if you use dedicated carrier/tenders at all, rather than a lot of the bigger designs having significant shuttle capacity.

* Star Fleet Command (SFC)
The 'General Service' fleet. While founded to be something like a combination of the Solar Cooperative's Survey Service, Space Patrol Research and Exploration Bureau, and to a degree the SP Emergency Services Directorate (and taking a lot of vessels, equipment, stations, and personnel from those bodies following the Romulan War), the Star Fleet Command was expanded rapidly early on, due to political expedience: It is, for example, much easier in peacetime to get the budget committee to agree to add a new planetary survey vessel or medical/disaster relief vessel with significant shuttle capacity to SFC than it is to add a planetary assault tender/carrier intended for aerospace fighters and ground assault shuttles to Defence Command or Military Assault Command (even if they're all built on the same hull, easily converted, and none of them really belongs anywhere near a space battle); likewise, sending SFC vessels to 'show the flag' is in many cases more diplomatic than sending vessels that are more clearly military. A result of this is that when vehicles and personnel from the other commands need to get somewhere, they often depend on the Star Fleet. The Space Forces Office of Research and Development is a semi-independent unit of the SFC.

* Star Base Command (SBC)
In charge of all USASF Star Bases, Deep Space Stations run by the Space Forces, some planetary defence stations, and other relatively fixed Space Forces installations. At some points in the history of the Authority, warp-capable smallcraft carriers and tenders, and repair/replenishment vessels for larger spacecraft, were treated as 'mobile space stations,' and thus were under the SBC.

* Law Enforcement Command (LEC)
Also known as the Space Patrol, this branch performs many of the same duties as the old SCSP Interstellar Patrol Directorate, over a much wider area. Indeed, when it was formed, a slight majority of the SCSPIPD's vesels, equipment, and personnel were transferred over. LEC personnel also include the Space Forces Office of Criminal Investigations, but not the Judge Advocate General's Corps, which is not part of any Command, as the Judge Advocate General of the Space Forces (usually a Deputy Commissioner or Lieutenant Commissioner) instead reports directly to the Chief of Staff. LEC personnel tend to have Legal Enforcement powers equivalent to the SCSPIPD or SCSPCIB.

* Support Command (SC)
Also known as Logistics Command, the SC is in charge of making sure food, ammunition, equipment, vehicles, new uniforms, and so on get to where they need to go, as well as being the command that the Space Forces Corps of Engineers is part of, along with related groups. The SFSC has a number of warp-capable armed cargo and personnel-transport vehicles, some with quite long operation ranges, as well as repair stations, mobile repair & replenishment vessels, smallcraft tender/carriers (lots of these), and so forth. Not to be confused with the Support branch of the Military Assault Command, below.

* Defence Command (DC)
This Command primarily operates the border patrols and defence-in-depth stations, as well as coordinating the defensive operations of the member states where needed (especially in the event of a war). Defence Command has a few smallcraft tender spacecraft, mostly in the reserve yards, and a somewhat larger number of heavy-combat spacecraft. In some eras, the DC is split into several sector Commands or regional Commands, often but not always coincident with the borders of the member states.

* Military Assault Command (MAC)
Espatiers. This command has two main branches: Operations personnel, commonly called MACOs, are semi-elite shock troops, as well as being trained to perform boarding actions, repel boarders, sometimes serve as general security personnel on vessels from other commands, et cetra. Support, who serve as both a dedicated version of the Support Command, above, and also perform all the other non-combat roles that need to be done in the field (such as field medical personnel, traditionally called 'corpsmen,' or the various bureaucratic workers that would be called 'paperpushers' in earlier eras), or that otherwise need to be part of the same command, but generally don't involve direct combat as part of their primary mission. The crews of the few smallcraft carrier/tenders that are assigned to MAC, rather than simply carrying MACOs while being part of another command, tend to be MACSs.

* Special Operations Command (SOC)
In charge of the Special Forces personnel and equipment of the Authority Space Forces. Though SOC does have a few shuttles designed specifically for their use (with highly expensive and advanced SCM/SCCM systems), more often they are delivered to and extracted from the target area by vessels belonging to other commands. SOC troopers are of course the most likely USASF personnel to be equipped with personal cloaking devices, once they have been developed to the point of being both reasonably safe and tactically useful.

* Ground Command (GC)
The United Space Authority's 'Army,' in effect, though in the event of a war, most ground forces by far will be on loan from the member nations, with Ground Command serving as the core of the Armies of United Space. A large part of the distinction between Ground Command troops and MACOs who specialize in ground combat is that the MACOs may take (or take back) ground, but the GC is trained to hold it. Transportation of GC units to the theatre of operations is the responsibility of other commands (mostly SFC, SC, and DC), and in wartime is mostly accomplished by transport vessels belonging to the member states.

* Naval Command (NC)
Ships that travel on or under water, and possibly other liquids. In most cases, these are smaller vessels that need to be transported by spacecraft, though there are a few that are space-capable, or in rare cases, even warp-capable on their own (though they are not very good at space combat, not being designed for it). Naval Command also includes a number of large and unwieldy Watercraft Carriers to transport them to the theatre of operations, though these vessels never operate independently of more manoeuverable escorts from other commands, and are not intended to orbit a planet where the Space Forces have not already established full space supremacy. As with Ground Command, in the event of a war, most personnel, vehicles, and equipment will be on loan from the member states.

* Fighter Command (FC)
Covers all shuttlecraft and long-range spacecraft that are dedicated 'fighter' platforms, and the personnel assigned to them. One of the smaller commands, especially in peacetime, when most of their vehicles are in storage. Many of the personnel who would be part of Fighter Command in wartime spend peacetime as shuttle and other small-craft pilots and crewers, are part of a member state's military, or are in the Space Force Reserves. Most fighter tenders are part of the SC or SFC, though more such vehicles can be brought into service in wartime, both from the reserve yards, and the member states.

* Cyberwarfare Command (CC)
In charge of computer security for the Space Forces, both defending against enemy hackers, and performing hacking tasks themselves. Some Cyberwarfare personnel are attached to the Special Operations Command, in several cases as fully trained field troops.

* Military Intelligence Command (MIC)
Sometimes inaccurately called the Military Intelligence Bureau (and like the SCSPIB, nicknamed the Space Security Service), this is the espionage and counter-espionage branch of the Space Forces. MIC cooperates closely with the Cyberwarfare Command.

* Education and Training Command (ETC)
Runs the various academies, boot camps, and other educational facilities of the Space Forces. Also in charge of recruitment, and the Reserve Officer Training Corps, which overlaps somewhat with the Reserve Command.

* Space Forces Reserve Command (RC)
Coordinates the Space Forces Reserves, civilians who train regularly and can be called up with short notice to expand the size of the Authority Space Forces in an emergency.


So, can you think of any additional Commands that should be added, or details that belong above?