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[orange]

I stand corrected. I wasn't aware the CEP controlled the budget for the Navy.

That is not what I indicated, I indicated that the CEP owned the Navy.  The CEP could be the CN's "first" customer.

[Cmdr Baxter]

Ah, yes, I see where you're going. Where I jumped to in my conclusion however was researching the CEP article on EVElopedia. To quote directly:

The Panel's primary purposes are to determine the budgets for the State's few government agencies, such as the Navy and the Tribunal .....

To answer back to your original comment - about how a military corporation could interact with its customers - going off-the-cuff it would probably depend largely on internal politics both at the State- and internal corporation-level. Assuming for a moment that the CN is a standalone entity which reports to the CEP and is thus considered a extension of State policy, obviously military personnel would have to defer to the wishes of the eight megacorporations.

That being said though, this raises an interesting political perspective which underscores my earlier comparison to the military of Turkey about a decade ago (now I wish I hadn't removed that post). In most Western societies, politics and military don't mix. I know in the U.S. Navy we receive yearly messages reminding us that appearing in uniform at political events is a major taboo. But Turkey, with its Western-trained military, about a decade ago enjoyed a state of internal affairs where their military was seen as the "ultimate arbiter and defender of the state" and was able to influence internal affairs simply by virtue of its existence.

Could such a similar situation exist here? The similarities are noticeable. Both the Turkish military and the CN receive their budgets from the State, but enjoy such a relationship where they are permitted great autonomy in the conduct of their operations. (Turkey because of the state-military relationship, the CN because of how the Caldari State is structured.) Granted, they may be called upon to execute certain operations deemed necessary for security and all that, but for the most part they would probably be left alone.

The other possibility I can think of, is that contrary to the assumed position of the CN being small by virtue of necessity it has been deliberately kept small. It wouldn't be in the interests of the eight megacorporations to have an unchecked "ninth party" on the field with the ability to encroach upon and influence their operations. And since they control the purse strings via the Chief Executive Panel ... it stands to reason that they would use it to influence naval acquisitions and purchases, at the very least.

[Mithfindel]

In the west, it's pretty much taboo for the military to do politics - simply to keep it neutral. The soldiers are supposed to be loyal to the country, not to a specific party. It might be the case with CN too, loyal to the State, not any mega (though megacorporate background will have an effect, likely).

As for the State's naval budget, before the war there was considerable discussion - Practicals wanted to cut the budget, but the corporations making ships and weapons wanted to increase it. Nothing surprising there. Wartime, I'd assume that they have a slightly better situation, though I do also expect Heth to back them up with a considerable detachment from the Home Guard, paid from KK's wallet. (Which, at least in the case of occupying Caldari Prime, does also tie other megas somewhat honour-bound to send at least a token force.)

[Seriphyn]

A very niche thought. If the Federation is about finding your soapbox, they may offer a far greater range of occupations and specialties straight off the bat. Perhaps the State, by virtues of meritocracy, would require you to start in a straight track job before being able to train off into a niche role, especially considering how combative and practical driven State training is, like the War Academy. The Federation military will have a very large civil aspect to it, so cannot afford to deny such occupations straight away

[Mithfindel]

The Caldari training is also very efficient, so there's likely not very much "loose" training involved. Assuming that the meritocracy truly works, those who have been selected (applied) to military careers likely do have a whole lot of "military school" type background and related testing. Your test results are your merits. Of course, I'd expect that nominally, everyone starts at some kind of a boot camp (unless previous paramilitary training / military school education counts as a boot camp) and then when the recruits are "broken" into military discipline they branch off into fields where they, according to their tests, might do well. The system likely includes successively harder and harder tests for the most popular tasks, with the grunts having somewhat easier time test-wise (even if not physically).

Also see the Masks of Authority on what the megacorp securities want to be. All of them - specially the grunts doing the less esteemed tasks - do have a good amount of plain old fashioned thugs. It may be assumed that a certain percentage of the cream of the crop gets sent into Caldari Navy. The CN may also require certain type of indoctrination, since the indoctrination inherent in the corporate cultures does vary.

The Federation likely shares a wealth of military culture with the Caldari, except that they don't have as much control over the career choices of people. Less test results available from the earlier education for the recruiters. Etc. So the same comb is a bit more coarse - hey, you have a diploma, become a specialist of a related field. Straight from elementary school, no other education? Here's your rifle.