Hello all!
Name's MosDeaf. I've recently just joined, and I'm pretty excited to be here. In the last 18 hours, this community has proved to be more entertaining and awesome than my last one. And that's pretty, well, awesome! Anyway, one of the things that irk'd me so far is the odd ranking system. It's apparently a mix between Marine and Army ranks. Which, you know, isn't bad. It's worked for the last 7 or so years. Congrats!
However, what if I were to suggest that we change it? Make it more appropriate, in the sense that it's based on actual military forces as well as Halo's lore? The UNSCDF (United Nations Space Command Defense Force) has all 4 branches that the current modern (21st century) US military does; Air Force, Army, Marine, Navy.[1] This serves as a joint air, land, and space force. Meaning that the Marines and Navy work together. (In case that wasn't clear).
When you experience the Halo universe, you're mostly fighting with the Navy or Marines. It turns out the UNSCDF Army is typically a garrison force, and primarily present on very populated human worlds.[2] Otherwise, a lot of the combat falls on the shoulders of the Navy and Marines. (To clarify, the Marines are the land-based expeditionary force, meaning they are pretty much everywhere as reinforcements).[3]
Now that you know that, wouldn't it make sense for the REDD and BLUE forces to be Navy/Marine forces as well? We're having this gigantic war that spans a dozen or so planets, and who's going to be at each one? That's right, some mysterious Spartan that'll soon be KIA.[4] Also, the Navy & Marines.
So here's my suggestion. We revise our ranking system to match that of a Navy/Marine mix. I also referred to Halo: Reach's rankings, as they are of a similar fashion (mixing Navy & Marine, then words that have important meaning in the Halo lore).
The table below is what I'm proposing. It downscales the current 25 to 20 positions, mostly by removing fancy titles. Rest in peace, "Sergeant Major of the Army" and Warrant Officers.
EDIT: Updated this table's abbreviations to match the the three-character limit, also added pretty colors
Pay Grade |
Title |
Abbreviation |
n/a |
Recruit |
Rct |
Enlisted-1 |
Private |
Pvt |
E-2 |
Private First Class |
PFC |
E-3 |
Lance Corporal |
LCp |
E-4 |
Corporal |
Cpl |
E-5 |
Sergeant |
Sgt |
E-6 |
Staff Sergeant |
SSg |
E-7 |
Chief Petty Officer |
CPO |
E-8 |
Master Sergeant |
MSg |
E-9 |
Master Chief Petty Officer |
MCP |
Officer-1 |
Second Lieutenant |
2Lt |
O-2 |
First Lieutenant |
1Lt |
O-3 |
Captain |
Cpt |
O-4 |
Lieutenant Commander |
LCd |
O-5 |
Commander |
Cdr |
O-6 |
Colonel |
Col |
O-7 |
Brigadier General |
BGn |
O-8 |
Major General |
MGn |
O-9 |
Vice Admiral |
VAd |
O-10 |
General |
Gen |
Special |
Fleet Marshal |
FM |
For those interested in my first-pass suggestion on reassigning ranks from the current structure to this one, please see this table:
Current Rank Structure |
Proposed Rank Structure |
Recruit (RCT) |
Recruit (Rct) |
Private (PVT) |
Private (Pvt) |
Private First Class (PFC) |
Private First Class (PFC) |
Specialist (SPC) |
Lance Corporal (LCp) |
Lance Corporal (LCP) |
Lance Corporal (LCp) |
Corporal (CPL) |
Corporal (Cpl) |
Sergeant (SGT) |
Sergeant (Sgt) |
Staff Sergeant (SSG) |
Staff Sergeant (SSg) |
Gunnery Sergeant (GSG) |
Chief Petty Officer (CPO) |
Master Sergeant (MSG) |
Master Sergeant (MSg) |
Sergeant Major (SGM) |
Master Chief Petty Officer (MCP) |
Sergeant Major of the Army (SMA) |
- |
Warrant Officer (WO) |
Second Lieutenant (2Lt) |
Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) |
First Lieutenant (1Lt) |
Second Lieutenant (2LT) |
Captain (Cpt) |
First Lieutenant (1LT) |
- |
Captain (CPT) |
Lieutenant Commander (LCd) |
Major (MAJ) |
Commander (Cdr) |
Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) |
- |
Colonel (COL) |
Colonel (Col) |
Brigadier General (BRG) |
Brigadier General (BGn) |
Major General (MJG) |
Major General (MGn) |
Lieutenant General (LTG) |
Vice Admiral (VAd) |
General (GEN) |
General (Gen) |
Field Marshal (FM) |
Fleet Marshal (FM) |
[5] UNSC Rank Structure
If you want suggest an alternative mix, solely stick with either Navy or Marine, stay with the current system, or just feedback, I'm all ears! (Not literally, as I have a hearing loss that's rather profound).
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