///From the author: this is meant to be a quick and dirty overview on the Spacer Corps, the primary faction in The Spacers Saga, styled like a magazine or other periodical laying out details on the IDC as a whole. I may eventually do these for other groups within the lore, but this one at least is a necessity since the entire fiction is named after this organization
[A look at the Spacer Corps' flag - the Midnight Banner - flying in the night]
Historical Rundown:
The Interplanetary Defense Corps (IDC), colloquially referred to as the Spacer Corps, was founded in 2054 as a provision of the Nakhimov-Herrington Act passed during the first legislative session of the Interplanetary Cooperative Administration’s (ICA) Administrative Council. This act enabled the ICA to organize a jointly-run, combined arms military force to protect ICA interests within Solar Space, and by the end of the 21st century, the IDC consisted of nine aerospace expeditionary forces (AEFs) for a total of 1.21 million spacers.
Over the next two hundred years, considered the Corps’ foundational era, the IDC conducted a variety of low-level peacekeeping and anti-piracy operations in the inner and mid-system, especially in the increasingly troublesome Main Belt A.O. During the long Centauri Insurrection of the mid-23rd century, they were the first line of defense against the radical insurgents tearing their way across the colonial frontier.
It wasn’t until the middle of the 22nd century that the IDC faced the first major challenge to its operational doctrine. During the Mars-Titan War (2292-2297), when tensions over control of outer system resources led to conflict between the United Nations of Mars and its allies and those loyal to the Commonwealth of Titan, the IDC at first played the role of peacekeepers, but later joined the war on the side of Mars. This one act created a postwar status quo that has held steady for 80 years, with the IDC now officially based on Mars and the bulk of its military hardware manufactured by Martian industry.
As the provisions of the Harrison Accords took effect throughout the early 24th century, the Spacer Corps essentially became unofficial police force for restive the outer solar system. This, in turn, led to a sharp increase in anti-ICA sentiment throughout the frontier, which culminated in a series of nationalist revolutions there.
One of the more virulent of these revanchist factions was the Divisão Revolucionária da Assembleia de Callisto (DRAC), which emerged on the longtime rebel hotbed of Callisto in the late 2210s and rose to a position of power there in 2324. Over the next eighteen years, the Jovian subsystem and much of the outer solar system in general were engulfed by turmoil as militant rebel factions loyal to and in opposition to the so-called “Draconists” rose to fight the war they had begun. This war soon spread to the Saturn subsystem, and resulted in a civil conflict on Titan which is still technically ongoing as of May 2389.
Through all of this, the Spacer Corps played a central role, initially acting as a security force for ICA-friendly governments, and as the conflict dragged on, increasingly as a proactive offensive force tasked with hunting down the Draconists and their ilk and eliminating them. This reached a fever pitch during the fourteen years of Operation Lightning Dagger, a massive joint operation aimed at rooting out the Draconists which had gone to ground in the outer system after they were driven from power on Callisto in 2342.
The Zharan Uprising and the rise of the Zharan Collective exacerbated the situation in the frontier, and rising tensions with the new Alliance of Free Worlds eventually spilled over into open war in 2371. For more than eight years, the IDC pumped out new vessels and trained new spacers as fast as possible to recoup its losses, all while the ICA fought a long-term diplomatic holding action. Still, the economic stresses of this war put a brutal strain on politics within the ICA, as various constituents squabbled over resources.
But this was not the only threat facing the already overstretched forces of the IDC and its various associated militias. When the zharans brought their military to bear on the side of the Alliance in 2379,they forced the IDC to agree to peace terms drawn up at the Nüwa Conference on Titan, which officially ended the war on 13 July 2381 after ten years of fighting. Eight years later, the Spacer Corps remains the ICA’s first line of defense, even as many public commentators predict that a reboot of the Frontier Wars is only a matter of time.
Facts & Statistics:
Founded: first mustered on 20 August 2054 (established by provision of the Nakhimov-Herrington Act, ratified by the Interplanetary Administrative Council on 14 December 2053)
Total Strength: approximately 5,290,000 spacers as of May 2389 (with personnel drawn from nearly every nation-state party to the Tyndall Treaty)
Primary command delineation: Aerospace Expeditionary Force (AEF); spacers per AEF: approximately 143 thousand; number of AEFs as of 2389: thirty-seven (37)
Number of AEFs in the inner system: eighteen (18)
Number of AEFs in the outer system: nine (9)
Number of AEFs on standby at any one time: ten (10)
Military headquarters: Noctis Fossae, Republic of Tharsis, United Nations of Mars
Parent organization: Interplanetary Cooperative Administration (ICA
Yearly defense spending: approximately $4.3 trillion (adjusted dollars); approx. 2.97% of Solar GDP
Official motto: Semper Vigilans
Unofficial motto: The only good day to die is tomorrow
Official march: “The Spacers are Off Again”
Chorus: “Off again, chasing enemies of freedom,
"Taking the fight to wherever they are;
"Flying higher, soaring farther,
"Than anyone who ever came before”
Unofficial fighting song: “Those Damned Spacers and their Rockets”
Chorus: “Those damned spacers and their rockets,
"Flyin’ through the night;
"Those bastards keep on flyin’ faster,
"Damn those boys ain’t right”
Spacer Corps dispositions in Solar Space:
[Dispositions of IDC forces in the inner system]
The Spacer Corps maintains a significant presence in the inner system, with sixteen Aerospace Expeditionary Forces (AEFs) stationed at various postings across the region as a means of assuring local populations of the ICA's ability to project force and secure their sectors against potential Alliance aggression.
The chief military outpost in this part of Solar Space is, of course, Mars, which is home to Central Military Command and the bulk of the IDC's military manufacturing and arms production. Other points of interest include Outpost Armstrong on Luna, the first major IDC facility beyond Earth, and McKendry Station, located in the Martian L5 point and home to the system's largest fleet berth not in direct planetary orbit.
[Dispositions of IDC forces in the outer system]
Although the outer system is primarily the venue of the Alliance of Free Worlds in 2389, the ICA does maintain a presence there, primarily to ensure that they are ready to respond to any untoward activity conducted by the Alliance. Chief among these are the Europa Defense Zone, jointly overseen by Interplanetary Dynamics as a hub of outer system commerce, and the Shared Defense Zones on Ganymede and Titan.
Since the outer system is also where most of the fighting has taken place during the troubled 24th century, the Spacer Corps keeps at least a third of its total force stationed there at all times, mainly to remind those uncertainty of loyalty to the Alliance that the ICA can still project its power across all of Solar Space.
Institutional Organization:
Major Commands ("EmCees"):
Aerospace Command (AEROCOM): the overarching central command authority behind the Spacer Corps, responsible for organizational and executive decisions for the entire force
Infantry Command (INCOM): the largest of the four commands, it is the parent organization for the Lancer Corps, which fills a role analogous to the U.S. Marine Corps within the IDC
Fleet Command (FLEETCOM): second-largest after LANCOM, it is in charge of all IDC spacecraft and their crews, from the lowliest freighter up to the mightiest cruiser
Intelligence Command (INTELCOM): as the Spacer Corps’ joint military intelligence command, INTELCOM is in charge of gathering and analyzing intelligence–by any means necessary
Combatant Unit Detachments (CUDs):
Asteroid Belt theater: based out of the Fort Wyandotte facility on Ceres, and responsible for all IDC forces stationed in the vast region of space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
Communications and Outreach Detachment: officially in charge of the public affairs, recruitment, and P.R. for the IDC, it also works closely with INTELCOM to generate propaganda and provide a home for image curation, obfuscation of military secrets, and so on
Gaian theater: in charge of three AEFs within the Gaian sector, one each at Forts Hudson & Clarke at the Lunar North & South Pole and one at Deckard Station at the L5 point
Inner System theater: based out of Breckenridge Station in orbit of Venus’ L5 point, this theater-based detachment controls all forces stationed within the orbit of the Earth
Jovian theater: in charge of IDC personnel in the Jovian subsystem, which as of 2389 consists of two AEFs, one at Fort Narimsa on Europa and one at Fort Galyuk on Ganymede
Logistical Operations Detachment: responsible for logistical duties, and home to LODESTAR ("L.O.D. Enhanced Simulated Technology for Allotment of Resources") which simulates IDC logistical needs and allocates material where it is needed with little human interface
Martian theater: by far the largest of the theater-based detachments, it oversees no less than six AEFs stationed at military installations across the United Nations of Mars’ territory
Medical Operations Detachment: the division in charge of IDC medical affairs, it covers everything from dental work to trauma surgery, and directs the training of medical personnel
Neptune theater: controls all IDC forces operating in the Neptune sector, which as of 2389 consists of a single AEF stationed at Fort Belvoir on the officially neutral moon of Triton
Saturn theater: consists of a three AEFs based in the Commonwealth of Titan, which is controlled jointly by the ICA and the Alliance and has been in a state of war since 2335
Security Forces Detachment: the military police wing of the IDC, in charge of investigating and prosecuting all crimes involving military personnel, except those under SID jurisdiction
Special Investigations Det: this wing of INTELCOM is charged with solving problems within the military purview but which fall outside ordinary operational parameters, such as those involving black projects, top-secret research, high-level compartmentalized information, and so on
Special Warfare Operations and Reconnaissance Detachment (SWORD): runs the IDC's elite special operations forces, with authority over every unit from the Reconnaissance Rangers to the SOAR Force, and often works closely with INTELCOM on top-secret black projects such as the infamous Project ALPHA ("Adaptive Learning Program for Human Advancement")
Strategic Operations Detachment: administers all of the IDC's strategic implements of warfare, from its WMDs and the wide variety of nuclear engines its spacecraft use to its top-secret weapons research programs (many of which are conducted at Kelvin Station on Europa)
Training & Readiness Detachment: responsible for the training of incoming personnel at any one of the roughly two dozen intake facilities based across Solar Space, and for overseeing the long-term readiness of the IDC force through ongoing exercises, drills, and so on
Uranus theater: this detachment covers the Uranus sector, vital to FLEETCOM for its helium reserves, and is in charge of a single AEF stationed at Fort Coriolanus on Oberon as of 2389
Infantry Command:
Officially founded: 31 March 2089
Infantry command was the first to be split off from the old “One Force, One Fleet” model
Number of personnel: approximately 2,610,000 spacers (approx. 17% see frontline service)
Number of aircraft: approximately 13,500 (includes fast attack craft, transport VTOLs, etc.)
Number of tanks and other armored vehicles: approximately 71,300
Official motto: Paratus Agendum ("Ready for action")
Unofficial motto: "Win with overwhelming firepower"
Standard unit breakdown:
Fireteam: four spacers (usually 1 grenadier, 1 auto-rifleman + aide, and 1 team leader)
Squad: 2 fireteams plus 1 squad leader (usually an E-5)
Platoon: 3 squads plus 5-man command section (32 spacers, led by an O-1 or O-2, plus an E-6 Platoon Sergeant, a comms technician, and a Platoon Medic + aide)
Company: 3 inf. platoons + 1 weapons platoon & a command section (roughly 150 spacers, typically led by an O-3, plus medical staff, comms specialists, etc.)
Battalion: 5 companies (typically consists of 3 infantry, 1 heavy weapons, and 1 logistics/ support; roughly 900 spacers in total, led by an O-4 or O-5)
Brigade: roughly 2,780 spacers (typically 1 infantry, 1 mobility, and 1 artillery battalion, led by an O-6; a brigade is often the base unit deployed to an area of operations)
Division: roughly 16,800 spacers (6 brigades plus a command & logistical element, commanded by an O-7 or O-8, which oversees all affairs of the division in-theater)
Aerospace Expeditionary Force: roughly 143,000 spacers (typically 3 aerospace infantry divisions, one armor division, and one Tactical Air Wing, plus a FLEETCOM detachment for troop transport, space supremacy, and so on; typically commanded by an O-9)
Fleet Command:
Officially founded: 12 September 2093
Founded by provision of the Rykov Act, which began the process of reorganizing the IDC into the Four Major Commands structure that has been used ever since
Number of personnel: approximately 2,290,000 spacers (only about 4% serve aboardships)
Number of spacecraft: more than 3,300 (2387 FLEETCOM tally - 3,338)
Primary shipyards: Phobos & Deimos (moons of Mars) and the Republic of Ceres
Annual shipbuilding capacity: approximately 100 capital ships; can be pushed to 300-400 in the event of a declaration of interplanetary emergency
Official motto: A Mari ad Astra ("From the sea to the stars")
Unofficial motto: "Fly fast and carry a big stick"
Standard unit breakdown:
Team: 2-8 spacers assigned to a specific area of responsibility onboard a spacecraft or at a groundside duty station; typically led by an NCO (E-5 to E-7) or junior officer (O-2 or O-3)
Group: 6-5 teams (12 to 40 spacers) typically assigned to operate a spacecraft or control a groundside station; typically led by a mid-tier commanding officer (O-4 or O-5)
Squadron: 6-8 flights, each one typically an individual spacecraft assigned to a particular mission or patrol sector within a specific deployment plan (typically led by an O-6)
Flight: a group of 2-3 squadrons (12 to 24 spacecraft, for example) assigned to a particular duty within the framework of the AEF or wing (typically led by an O-7)
Wing: typically all of the flights in an AEF combine to form a wing (i.e. the 16th Space Supremacy Wing - see below); usually commanded by an O-8 or O-9
Example Wing - the 16th Space Supremacy Wing:
First mustered: 11 November 2273
Number of spacecraft: approximately 60 at any given time; these are separated into five squadrons of 12 each, each of which supports its own mission
Number of personnel: approximately 60 thousand; only about 20-25 or these serve per ship, with the rest assigned as rear echelon support (maintenance, supply, etc.)
Official moniker: "the Shadow Warriors"
Unofficial motto: “Second to None”
Major engagements: Asteroid Belt campaign, Mars-Titan War (2293-2296); Blockade of Callisto (2326-2331); Campaign in the Jovian Sector, Jovian Civil War (2334-2342); Campaign in the Uranian Sector, Frontier Wars (2371-2374); Campaign in the Saturn Sector, Frontier Wars (2376-2379); Response to the Zharan Incursion, Frontier Wars (2379-2381); Security Force Patrols in the Asteroid Belt, 2387-current
Intelligence Command:
Officially founded: 3 November 2105
The last Major Command to be founded, INTELCOM was conceived as a unified military intelligence HQ by Colonel Gavin DeLario, the “Father of Modern Military Intel”; it has served as the eyes and ears of the IDC and AEROCOM for more than 250 years, covering tasks ranging from basic intelligence analysis to counterintelligence to advanced covert operations
Number of personnel: approximately 300,000 uniformed staff (Note: this is only an estimate, as INTELCOM does not publish hard data about its operatives, including their numbers)
Official motto: Percutimus in tenebris (“We strike in darkness”)
Unofficial motto: “By the time you hear us, it’s too late”
IDC Ranks & Insignia:
Spacer (SPC): the basic “grunt” level soldier of the Spacer Corps, and the reason for its name, these personnel are generally only encountered in training scenarios (i.e. boot camp), or in situations where a more senior enlisted person has been “busted” down to E-1 as punishment
Spacer First Class (SFC): considered the entry-level of the IDC, these spacers have “earned their stripe,” so to speak, after graduating from the basic training courses which take up roughly the first year of any spacer’s career. From there, the rest of their time is spent doing real work
Corporal (CPL): as the first of the junior noncommissioned officer (NCO) ranks, corporals are tasked with enforcing the commands of more senior noncoms, in order to keep things operating smoothly. Typically they are in charge of the very most basic organizational units in the Corps
Senior Spacer (SSPC): filling a role between that of corporals and sergeants, the senior spacer is responsible for ensuring that the “Big Machine” does not break down by maintaining proper communications between its most fundamental moving parts: the junior enlisted spacers
Sergeant (SGT): often considered the heart & soul of their unit, these noncommissioned officers are the real jack-of-all-trades of the enlisted Corps: they enforce orders from senior officers, maintain discipline, establish esprit de corps, and inspire their subordinates, all in one package
Technical Sergeant (TSGT): these noncoms are generally positioned as platoon sergeants, section leaders, and heads of working units, and are expected to leverage the expertise of their prior service to ensure that the frontline units in which they are placed can operate efficiently
Master Sergeant (MSGT): these are the real end all, be all of the Spacer Corps, as their years (sometimes even decades) of real-world experience make them invaluable to its operations. Their know-how is often balanced by a stern, disciplinarian bent, also earned from experience
Chief Master Sergeant (CMSG): as often as not, these are the most senior noncoms in a unit, with their final word only superseded by the commissioned officers themselves. Even then, the smart officers know that a “Chief” will know best, and know to defer to their better judgment
Senior Chief Master Sergeant: to reach this level, the average noncom usually needs at least twenty, and usually more than twenty-five years of experience. As such, they are often the very final word in judgment calls at the enlisted level, often superseding the first few officer ranks
Ensign (ENS): much as with the rank of Spacer (E-1), an ensign is generally only encountered in training, or when a higher-ranking officer has been busted down in rank as punishment. They are the very most basic, entry-level officers in the Corps, and are usually promoted up quickly
Lieutenant (LT): these officers are the very essence of the officer corps, and the backbone of basically every frontline unit in the Spacer Corps as a whole. They run infantry platoons, technical sections, and other foundational units which make up the bulk of the Spacer Corps
Captain (CAPT): when a senior spacer proves themselves worthy, they are made a sergeant; likewise, when a lieutenant proves themselves, they are made into a captain. These officers are responsible for leading infantry companies, flights, and other larger but still fundamental units
Major (MAJ): as the Corps’ middle-of-the-road officers, they are the backbone of any mid-sized unit. Their multiple years of commissioned service gives them the experience necessary to properly organize and streamline the work of frontline operations, and shape junior leaders
Commander (CMDR): with upwards of twenty years of experience under their belts, the average commander is worthy of the responsibilities they are given, whether they be warships, regiments, or other upper-level commands, and their expertise makes them respected leaders
Colonel (COL): the average colonel is a leader of the largest “mainstream” units in the Spacer Corps, and usually has upwards of thirty of service stacked behind the decisions they make. Even still, there is a trope which claims that colonels are the real wildcards of any military force
Brigadier General (BRIG GEN): they are generally in charge of the lowest high-level commands, including average-sized installations, brigades, & detachments of military vessels. The years of experience they bring to bear makes them highly respected motivators of more junior spacers
Major Lieutenant General (MAJ GEN): Major Generals are in charge of mid-sized commands, such as divisions, and lead them in the execution of duties up to and including the fulfillment of major frontline operations, with their extensive knowledge making them indispensable leaders
Lieutenant General (LT GEN): the commanders behind groups of divisions, and sometimes whole AEFs, with all the experience and know-to necessary to support such responsibility. They are generally multi-decade veterans of the Corps, and are respected above almost all others
General (GEN): a General is usually in charge of an entire AEF, a series of high-level command units, or even entire Combatant Commands. Their number includes the various members of the Supreme Military Council, and the Chairperson of Aerospace Operations, Marcus A. Shinseki
Class-A and B uniforms:
Notes:
The duty uniforms of the Spacer Corps have a long history within the framework of spacer life, as their origins can be traced back to the earliest days of organized, large-scale space travel. The more standard duty fatigues and service dress can similarly be traced back to the 20th century, when modern military uniforms were standardized as a result of the massive mobilizations of resources which accompanied the two World Wars.
The Spacer Corps' Class-B.1 coveralls have an especially long pedigree, and have been used in some form or another, with or without camouflage printed on them, since at least as far back as the 21st century. Some would even trace them back to the suits worn in space stations by astro- and cosmonauts as far back as the 1970s, and there is certainly some truth to this assertion. In the end, the main point of B.1 coveralls in the late 23rd century is that they are not just used as clothes but also as a base layer for EVA suits, and are therefore designed to be airtight in the event of a breach in the outer suit layer, or in case an emergency evacuation is called for.
Class-B.2 fatigues are similar to B.1 coveralls, in that they are designed to be used under EVA suits and are therefore capable of being sealed up. The main difference in this variation is that the fatigues are meant more to be used in garrison in places where the atmosphere is less easily compromised, such as large-scale military outposts, multi-use space stations, and environments on worlds like Mars, Titan, and of course Earth.
Finally, there is the Class-A service dress, which is meant for use at official functions (anything from government hearings to duty postings in high-level offices to appearances for the media) and is not intended to be airtight in the event of an atmospheric emergency. The main difference between the two variations of Class-A dress is that enlisted service dress is somewhat less "flashy" than the officer variant, and that rank insignia are shown on the sleeves of the former while they appear on increasingly elaborate shoulder boards on the latter.
Standard-issue Spacer Corps boots are steel-toed and airtight for protection against the vacuum, and above all else are designed to magnetically adhere to metallic surfaces at the whim of the user in order to allow for walking in microgravity situations.
This is perfect. Going deep into the lore is a lot of fun!