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[Seriphyn]

Another thread designed to explore the 'everyday' aspects of New Eden, this time looking at the empire's military traditions, cultures and their attitudes towards it (different from the military doctrine thread, as this looks at small things).

There is enough lore to extrapolate and theorize information regarding this, so I'll have a shot. The Minmatar remains a curious case, as one could say their military is a Gallente creation. That is to say, that traditionally/originally their military may be more in line with their tribes instead. The Brutor have "martial traditions from birth" regardless of the Republic Fleet, for example.

Respect and pride as a member of the military

Gallente - Likely to have mixed and changing responses, and they obviously do not operate a militaristic society. In a fickle society, the overall vibe may very well be "pro-military, anti-war" with support for what is called in PF as "Our Boys". As a changing society as well, attitudes to servicemen and women can change (it was once a source of pride as everyone had a serving family member somewhere, but the institution became more connected with the grim nature of war before the onset of the Empyrean War, before then flipping back to becoming that of importance). Regardless of the people constantly changing their ideas of what they think of the military, it is likely that a man in uniform is likely to swoon the ladies (similar to the British culture of "squaddies", the slang term used by women to describe dashing men in uniform).

But overall, mixed as mentioned. Jin-Mei and Mannar would respect it, Intaki maybe less so, and so on and so forth.

Caldari - Operating a regimental society where the attitude of the everyday citizen is not that different to one of a soldier, the Caldari military is something of enormous pride. However, unlike the Gallente, that would outwardly cheer and praise their soldiers, the Caldari would likely have more "silent respect". If military service appears on their records, it would elevate them, for example, but otherwise they wouldn't exactly be "glorified" in a public fashion. Indeed, as a society that requires a military-like attitude from everyone, and the concept of "all aspects of our State are equal", the proud worker would be in the same standing as the military officer. "We all have our part in society and the greater good".

Amarr - Explored in detail here. From what is said, I think this is a bit redundant. The Amarr Navy "being felt in every aspect of society" can easily be said about the Caldari Navy. "Citizens with military records are held in high regard in Amarr culture" is going to apply with EVERY culture of New Eden. With the Caldari, it's honourable, with the Minmatar, same thing. With the Gallente, though some folks may be anti-war, someone who is ex-military would have far better job prospects than someone who is not (indeed, it is mentioned that Minmatar in the Fed would go on to labour jobs after learning a trade in the Fed military).

Still though, bitching aside, the treatment of someone in the military would be similar to how one treats a Holder (from Dam-Torsad chron). They would be "looked up to" by the Commoners, and may very well be treated with respect from Holders. They would be a "class of their own" (literally).

Minmatar - A very interesting case as mentioned above. The role of a warrior and soldier is likely to be tied into tribe, and not a standing military. The Republic is described as a "Gallente-backed political experiment", so all the institutions such as Parliament, Fleet, Justice Department, Infantry etc. may not be something that is traditionally something of the Minmatar, instead something of a "civilized nation" that the Gallente tried to attempt with them.

Would a high-ranking Republic Infantry commander be considered in the same regard as a high-ranking warrior chief of the Brutor Tribe? Overall, there tends to be a greater fictional focus by CCP on these tribes, so in this regard, the standing armed forces may very well be secondary to the tribes.

Education and training

Gallente - These lot operate educational sponsorships, and it is likely the military is touted as "one way to develop yourself" for non-officers. Emphasis on "yourself", it would be about what you yourself can gain from the military. There may be a stronger focus on lateral and abstract thinking for officers and training as a representative of the Gallente Federation. Their Navy is often a tool of projecting influence (ie. humanitarian and disaster relief) so it would be important that when you talk to a FedNav officer, you talk to everything the Federation is supposed to represent ("peace-orientated foreign policy"). The FN may be similar to Starfleet, being "multirole" instead of just combat, so their officers would be trained in more than just simple warfighting.

Caldari - Caldari educational institutes are described as "very technical". It is likely that joining the Caldari Navy, as an officer for example, would require a thorough understanding of starship engineering and whatnot, even if you aren't joining as an engineer (this is very similar to the US Navy way of doing things). There is likely to be an overall focus on starship technicalities and warfighting. Officers and enlisted alike would be trained to "get the job done", with little to no focus on other aspects.

Amarr - Citizens of the Empire are described as "highly educated"; they may do things similar to the Gallente, but with a different flavour. Imperial Navy officers may be trained deeply in theology, and would act as "representatives of their God and Emperor". As a slave, one can emancipate themselves by military service; whatever one's talents and specializations as a slave would achieve resume/CV standing upon completion of military service. With many Imperial Navy ships described as "obselete" with an overall doctrine of "pure power", deckhands and crew would likely be trained in just this, operating the weapon and combat systems similar to that of an old sea-faring ship, without the elements of advanced technology.

Minmatar - More curious questions arise. With their standing military and training institutions similar to the Federation's, they may operate a similar policy. There is, or at least was, in PF a previous focus on the Minmatar "as a Republic and modern nation", but now the shift is more to the Minmatar as tribes. As such, this 'everyday aspects' remains unclear.

Ceremony and aesthetic

Gallente - Foot stamping, arms at shoulder height, and loud, incoherent yelling is likely to be the products of the "extravagant and excessive" Gallente. There is a lot of emphasis on elements that "look good" (and sound good, in the case of drill) even if there isn't any real practical reason for it. Bright, elaborate uniforms that, while maintaining some consistency, will often have a degree of personalization in the form of having a variety of minute and minor decorations and trinkets for "Tying your Shoelaces" or "Washed the female heads in less than 10 minutes" or "I got this one for...what did I get this one for again?"

The more exciting possibilities of the Federation military is multiple uniforms depending on one's ethnicity and culture, which is similar to that of the British and Indian militaries (the former has kilts for Scots, turbans for Sikhs etc., the latter has unique uniforms for the many ethnicities that make up India). The Federation may, and very likely do, allow uniforms for the Intaki, Jin-Mei and Mannar (perhaps even possibly for the Minmatar too, but I doubt that as much).

Intaki parade bands may replace brass and drums with pipes and drums, or whatever. Headdresses for the females may be that crazy unicorn thingy. The Jin-Mei uniforms may very well be similar to the current costumes for the Jin-Mei that we have now, with shoulder pads, etc. and so on, but maintaining elements to "keep it consistent" with the overall Federal military design.

Caldari - As a "practical and pragmatic" culture, with a focus on "the greater unit" over everyone competing to look their best like the Gallente, they would operate differently from their rivals. They are a "quiet" culture; in TBL, they watch a MindClash tournament in silence, and with Heth's rise to power, they bookburned in total silence and without any form of emotion.

Caldari parade and ceremony perhaps would not have yelling, instead relying on more direct, quickly uttered grunts of their orders, as opposed to something loud and drawn out (ie. the Brits). Marching may be less "self-important", focusing on how the overall unit behaves in a cohesive fashion; after all, if everyone wagged their arms it would a) stand a greater risk of lacking uniformity and b) have individuals compete for who can look the best.

Not something likely to be explored by CCP, but Caldari military ceremony may go in either one of two ways. It may follow the traditions of the old Raata empire, or it may have "cut the unnecessary, impractical aesthetic" and be completely devoid of any old tradition, being "pure modern military". At any rate, Caldari ceremony is likely to be marked with "silent professionalism" versus the "loud foot-stamping" of the Gallente.

Amarr - As an ancient monarchy, Amarr ceremony is likely to be oozing with traditions that date back centuries to the point that most people even forgot why they existed in the first place. The Amarr salute may have the palm facing downwards, for example, because ye olde Imperial Navy officers despised being saluted and seeing the grubby, unwashed hands of their crew slaves (and stuff like that).

Cap badges and uniforms may also change depending on who the current sovereign is. With a Sarum on the throne, officer badges may have been changed to an Emperor-variant of the Sarum Family coat of arms, and will change whenever the next Emperor comes to power. Parades may have segments that are no longer needed to be carried out, that particular element becoming obselete over a thousand years ago, but would still be done in the name of tradition.

With the element of God in the equation, this adds to the ceremony. On top of paying respects to higher-ranking officers and any royalty present, ceremonial segments that are dedicated to paying respect to God and so on would be present too. Parade formation may have True Amarr at the front, followed by emancipated races, and slaves right at the rear.

Minmatar - When a new Chief of Naval Operations for Heimatar was sworn in, the ceremony was described as "oozing with tradition". It is likely that any ceremony in the Republic Fleet or Infantry is tied overtly to tribal culture. Like the Gallente, the Republic military would likely have differing uniforms. There would be unique dress and ceremonial uniforms for the Brutor, Sebiestor, Vherokior and Krusual (though any duty/working uniform would likely follow the same pattern for practical reasons).

I don't really know much about Minmatar PF, but really, one could run amok with what the Minmatar do in their military ceremonies. It is likely it was initially very 'Gallentized', before the Minmatar tribal culture resurged, which gradually replaced Gallente aspects of ceremony.

Anyway, that's all I got, but some things to consider and maybe adopt into your RP.

[Horatius Caul]

Relevant:

The Imperial Academy (from which all Amarr enlists graduate) is rooted in tradition and generally considered sub-par to the more modern military institutes found in the other empires. However, it is the only one of its kind within the Amarr Empire, thus serving a vital function. - Imperial Academy description

[Mithfindel]

About Caldari military:

The Caldari Navy is smaller in personnel and total ships than both the Federation Navy and the Amarr Navy, yet they have more battleships than any other fleet and the average age of the Caldari ships is considerably less. This is because the Caldari are constantly replacing their oldest ships with newer ones, with better hi-tech equipment. The strategic doctrine of the Caldari Navy is simple: to be able to defeat any other navy in the world. Most experts believe it is.

And, more importantly, http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Masks_of_Authority_(Chronicle). The media part is very important. Perhaps except for the Caldari Navy, which might be a tabu. You know they're good, so there's no need to repeat it. The megacorp securities are heroes in the holoseries. The Navy is better - and having limited information on how it works adds to the mystique.

In addition, http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/The_Better_Part_of_Valor_(Chronicle) is relevant. The discipline likely varies greatly even within a corporate militaries. The folks patrolling on foot on some backworld colony aren't really much made for a parade, whereas a battalion of Home Guard MTACs straight from KK factories would be a different story altogether.

Depending on the corp, there might be different ways of keeping the morale up - for example, the Home Guard might well parade or practice some revived Caldari customs - but at least the more esteemed units might be run more like sports teams.

Also, I considered flooding you about stories about the ceremonies of the Finnish Defense Force. For example for M/95 gear, technically you could get from combat gear to parade equipment by removing the load carrying equipment (harness/flak vest), replacing your helmet with a cap or a beret, changing/removing gloves, and if you were using rubber boots, replacing them with the leather boots.

[Syylara/Yaansu]

Since this thread started, I've pondered a bit on the attributes of what Mordu's units would be.

While mercenary groups are often portrayed as thugs and brigands, lacking in discipline, I've imagined things quite differently when it comes to what may be the most successful and organized of them in the PF realm.  Some mercenary groups can certainly benefit from the former imagery, gaining contracts through those who wish to brutalize their opponents or conduct operations with "clean hands". Mordu's seems to desire more respectability and a reputation that will provide them with long-term opportunities, such as their contract with ORE prior to its acquisition by Serpentis (and presumably patrolled by the Guardian Angels?).

With this premise in mind, I tend to consider discipline (both the general attitude and the degree of reprisal for violating rules of conduct) to be an incredibly important value in the organization.  For a professional mercenary outfit to operate successfully, they would conduct themselves in a manner that the organizations they are wielded against would be impressed enough to consider hiring them on, themselves.  Naturally this would be in a different series of engagements or against another target than their current employer, so as to avoid being seen as turncoats or having a conflict of interests.  Exhaustive reviews of conduct and debriefings to ascertain the nature of certain questionable acts would take place, attrition of new recruits could likely be rather high in part because of such rigorous standards.

Given that the Caldari (and State citizens of Intaki ethnicity) would make up the bulk of the forces, their disposition towards duty and discipline again fits in well here.  A very similar theme of serving the unit and not doing anything to "shame" the reputation they have earned over the years would weigh heavily in the minds of any veteran of the organization.  Given their tendency towards security contracting rather than military operations (ORE, Intaki Assembly, and I believe there's been mention of some State megas using them, can't recall where), there would also be a decent amount of respect for proper legal procedure (proper maintenance of chain-of-evidence and handling of detainees).

Thoughts?

[Vikarion]

I have to take exception with some of your statements in regards to the Caldari. It seems to me that you are once again trying to "asianize" the Caldari. The Caldari are very much not a quiet culture, anywhere but at mindclash tournaments and book burnings. For example, there appears to be quite a tradition of loud protest when the people don't get their way (TEA), or when they dissent about one thing or another (character creator). Oh, certainly, in the halls of power there is a lot of subterfuge, but that is true everywhere.

Something that I think everyone who plays Caldari should remember is that they have rebellion written in their blood: they very much only allow authority over them that they believe is working for their good. It's happened twice in the last 300 years in EvE. First they rebelled against the Gallente, then they rebelled against the Gallente-ization of their leaders. Some of them rebelled against having Intaki amongst them, and others fought them until they were removed. Militaristic, competitive, driven cultures are not, as a rule, known for being "quiet".

In addition, to say that the average Caldari lives a life similar to that of a soldier defies PF that states that most Caldari live comfortably, with standards as high or higher than the Federation. However, I agree that a productive citizen would be held in high standing, although all cultures rightly venerate those who are willing to die to protect others. I also agree that your analysis of Caldari military training is spot on, although I imagine it is somewhat longer and more intense compared to Gallente or Minmatar military training.

[Rodj Blake]

Cap badges and uniforms may also change depending on who the current sovereign is. With a Sarum on the throne, officer badges may have been changed to an Emperor-variant of the Sarum Family coat of arms, and will change whenever the next Emperor comes to power.

Remember that when Emperors take the throne they leave behind their old house.

[Seriphyn]

@Syylara

That's a reasonable assumption, since Mordu's is the largest merc outfit in New Eden. It probably behaves as a professional military, and likely has adopted all its procedures from the Caldari. Since they're not exactly a "civilization" with any population to honour, they likely have little to no tradition or culture in regards to old Raata stuff, as that stuff is purely unnecessary.

@Vikarion

The "silent professionalism" I extracted from the 'The Ever-Turning Wheels' chron, which contrasted that Caldari method with the Gallente "gung-ho" mindset.

[Gottii]

I've tried to give this some thought, and done a little bit of research. 

Caldari I think the portrayal as the Caldari having a large, conscript army is one that probably doesnt work in the long run.  Yes, they have a militaristic society, one thats quite aggressive militarily, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the society itself has a large number of active duty military.  In fact, it quite often means quite the opposite.

Large conscript armies seem to fly in the face of a number of Caldari themes and traits, those being efficiency and cost-effectiveness, as well as an emphasis on high technology.  Conscript armies are many things, but they're generally not efficient in terms of money spent and overall effectiveness.  A smaller, professional army is generally far more cost effective than a large army of short-term conscripts.

Moreover, one of the corollaries to high-technology in their military is that it takes longer to train someone to use that said equipment.  You can train a basic infantryman in much less than a year, but training a technologically savvy and skilled jammer tech, or what have you, takes quite a bit longer. 

Again, the fact that the Caldari are so military aggressive actually speaks towards a smaller military, not a larger one.  One of the philosophical arguments against an all-volunteer military such as the US has is that it makes the conduct of war easier, not harder.  With the burden of war placed on a smaller group of often eager volunteers and professionals (or, if you're cynical, the poor and the desperate, who need the military for advancement and education), military adventurism becomes politically a lot easier. 

So, I picture a society that emphasis militaristic traditions and culture, but one where being an actual soldier is a fairly rare thing.  This actually fits in with the rest of Caldari society, thats focused on finding the most "Meritorious" and being quite callous to those who fail to meet certain standards.  It's geared toward an emphasis on the top.  That kind of mindset lends itself much more to a smaller, professional force, than one thats focused on large, conscript units. 

Also, the fact remains that the Caldari have the smallest population of the Big Four, and large conscript forces severely limit the megacorps labor pool, and thus their profits, which obviously wouldnt fly well.  Why not pay a small section of well-trained and equipped professionals to handle your military affairs, than see a good chuck of your labor pool spend time as a conscript, who at the same time arent equal to a professional soldier and is not making the corporations profits?

Honestly, the best example I can think of for this model would be the image Donald Rumsfield had for the U.S. military, a smaller, lean, professional military, with an emphasis on technological superiority, air superiority, with able use of non-military contractors to keep costs down.

Lastly, there is a dark side to the Caldari meritocracy, and its that it throws away a vast number of the "unmeritorious".  The Caldari is a nation of "haves" and "have-nots", which as a nation devoted to extreme free-capitalism makes sense.  While I've been able to find the average Caldari citizen lives in comparison to the other States, what I can find is that it is a Nation of extremes.  Those who can abide by the structured, anonymous and competitive Caldari corporate culture are quite well taken care of as far as material needs go. 

However, those who dont fit the corporate world, or cant keep up, or are just simply different, are cast out, with literally everything taken from them, without even a family to turn to.  And they end up homeless and destitute, and indeed there are more homeless in the State than any other Nation, which given the dark nature of EVE, must mean a truly staggering percentage. 

So, what does this mean to the Caldari military?  Just this, any nation that trains a massive number of its citizens to be soldiers, and then sees a large number of them, perhaps even half of them, end up homeless and dispossessed, is not long for this earth.  In short, those individuals who are homeless, dispossessed from society, and with military training, make for ideal rebels and revolutionaries (and Guristas). They have nothing to lose, and they're trained to fight.  So its likely thats what they would do.   

So, I would imagine that the powers-that-be in the State would be much, much more comfortable with a smaller, professional, well-trained and well payed military, a military thats part of the power structure, than a sprawling military built on conscripts, when a massive number of those former soldiers would end up outside and dispossessed of society. 

All of that I think lends itself to a picture of a smaller, professional volunteer military for the Caldari, one with an emphasis on elitism and technical skill, rather than a "Peoples army". 

Gallente For the Gallente, as always, its hard to paint a viable picture, and its difficult to even want to guess.  I actually see them having a broader, more conscript-based military.  Democracies need to have its citizens involved in the military for it to be healthy.  But, again, its simply hard to tell since there is little material.

Minmatar and Ammatar Regarding the Minmatar and Amarrian military traditions, I can say this, I strongly disagree that the Gallente or Caldari military training would be as intense or brutal as the Amarrian (or at least Ammatar) and Minmatar military training for one reason. 

The Minmatar and the Ammatars have been part of a brutal civil war that lasted roughly 139 years, cumulating in the apocalyptic Vindication Wars, a series of conflicts that only ended right before the game actually began. That conflict ended with the  Battle of Tears, a battle which had one of the highest casualty numbers in recorded history.  Any veteran in the Minmatar or Ammatar would have served in those wars, and shaped their careers.

While the Caldari and Gallente military basically carried on in those decades in a state of tense peace, the Minmatar and their Ammatar cousins spent it on the battlefield.  While I would imagine that the Caldari and Gallente units are well trained and technically skilled, its quite likely that a Caldari or Gallente rank-and-file infantry unit would fair poorly against an equivalent veteran Minmatar or Ammatar unit.

The Gallente or Caldari soldiers would have been trained in a state of peace, with only the occasional border skirmish as actual combat experience, whereas the Minmatar and Ammatar soldiers would have spent their entire adult life on the battlefield, fighting a war their great-great-grandfathers started.   

Battlefield experience almost always trumps training in terms of intensity and its ability to mold soldiers, and a war-time military is a much tougher and less forgiving place to be than a peace time one.  So any thought of the Minmatar or Ammatar military would have to take that into account, that these are forces that have fought a brutal war for decades, and its probably had a powerful impact on their culture and their training methods.

Amarr When looking at the Amarrians proper, its also worth noting that Amarrian nobles apparently each seem to have their own independent levies, so its likely their various military traditions are quite different depending on the Holders in question.  So that could have quite an impact on their military culture.

Anyway, just some thoughts regarding this topic.

[Syylara/Yaansu]

It is my understanding that the Caldari military is often temporarily assigned units of what would otherwise be private corporate security forces, but I might be wrong.

I tend to equate them most closely with the armed forces of Israel when thinking of the fact that they are the smallest of the factions.

However, those who dont fit the corporate world, or cant keep up, or are just simply different, are cast out, with literally everything taken from them, without even a family to turn to.  And they end up homeless and destitute, and indeed there are more homeless in the State than any other Nation, which given the dark nature of EVE, must mean a truly staggering percentage.

Sources for this?

[Gottii]

From the "Homeless" item in the game.

"In most societies there are those who, for various reasons, live a life considered below the living standards of the normal citizen. These people are sometimes called tramps, beggars, drifters, vagabonds or homeless. They are especially common in the ultra-capitalistic Caldari State, but are also found elsewhere in most parts of the galaxy."

[Syylara/Yaansu]

I guess that just leaves me wondering about the "staggering percentage" and "perhaps more than half" statements, but we're getting off-topic so I'll just let it go.

On topic, however:

So, I would imagine that the powers-that-be in the State would be much, much more comfortable with a smaller, professional, well-trained and well payed military, a military thats part of the power structure

I'm not sure this meshes well with the Caldari general dislike of any kind of centralized power. Within a few of the Megacorps, this may particular philosophy may exist, but then others would operate differently.

[Syylara/Yaansu]

oops...

[lallara zhuul]

When talking about different factions and traditions with military then one should take into account why a person joins the military within the faction.

Caldari - Pretty simple, all the families have experienced the exile from Caldari Prime and the war with the Gallente. All families have kept the line against the Gallente at one point, therefore it will be a measure of a Citizen to serve the State in a way that will protect that family. Caldari are based on Finnish and Japanese origins, both nations (as far as I can tell) have a strong military tradition because the old people fought in WWII to keep invaders out (Japanese were bombed to hell and failed, Finns succeeded.) A sense of Duty, would be the logical reason for a person to join the military. This would also reflect in the military itself, its dogma is not based on making heroes, but on pragmatism and getting things done the most efficient way possible. Common sense and strict chain of command would be the key elements here. The updating the Navy to have the best possible technology available also reflects this aspect as well.

Gallente - The way I see it all the people in the Federation have been pretty much brainwashed by the party line. They actually believe that they are fighting for freedom when oppressing minorities within the Federation. They believe that they are doing good things when they are forcing their own set of beliefs on the Republic. They buy the 'Be a Hero, and get laid until you need a dual hip replacement' line that the publicists have linked to the military lifestyle. I believe that the Federal Navy works with propaganda, the soldiers get constantly bombarded with the party line that they are doing it for the Good of All or Freedom or Tits. The sorry thing is that they buy it. Because of the history of the Federation, based on a decadent monarchy, there are military families (as there are political families, financial families, famous families, the nobility of the old being the cream of the society but it's different because everybody is 'free' now) that do things the 'Right Way' which leads to the inclination that the best academies and the top brass tend to be from the traditions that have led the Federation military for millenia. Which leads to the fact that the Gallente military dogma is quite archaic and brutal, it is from the time before the 'enlightenment', the difference between 'Then' and 'Now' is just the fact that the cannon fodder was manipulated into going into the line of the fire differently back then than now. All of this is reflected in the brutality that the 'secret' parts of the military show, the rest of the military do exactly the same but the PR is handled better.

Minmatar - Warrior and a Soldier are two different things, but I think after the rebellion the lines have been smudged. During the rebellion every warrior took up arms to fight the good fight. Warriors work within a set code of honor and the engagements end when the opposition gets bloodied, the Minmatar had to learn out of that pretty fast. The Federation was more than helpful in giving them a structure to form their military upon, the natural blood lust of a frenzied warrior fighting against their hated enemy was the easiest way to manipulate the cannon fodder for dying for their leaders. The problem arose from the warrior tradition, the leaders wanted to be in the front line and die in glory with their kin. The old guerilla tactics from the mountain fighting days of Pator proved to be a good solution for this. 'Counting Coup' by skirmishing the enemy, hit and run tactics proved the only possible means in keeping the warrior tradition in check so that the losses were not insurmountable. I think that the Republic Navy of today is still struggling with the inherent qualities of the Minmatar society, warrior tradition, tribal clan mentality. If you have a military unit working together together for a long time enough it will form bonds that supercede the chain of command, leading to units running off to 'fight the good fight' against the Amarrians.

Amarr - All aspects of the Amarrian society are part of their religion. Science, medicine, military, agriculture, politics, carpentry, everything is done in the service of God. Some ways of serving God pave the way to Heaven faster than others. Military happens to be one of the fastest ones, it deals directly with the Reclaiming and it gives you an opportunity to die in the direct service of God or even better, make the servants of the Deceiver die instead. For the Amarrians serving in the military is a religious duty, nothing less. As the Empire is an extension of God, therefore its Navy is an extension of God as well, you do not remake something that is perfect, therefore the Amarrian Navy has the most ships and a lot of them are obsolete by current standards, because you do not take back a prayer to make a better one. Each and every ship in the Navy is a massive library of deeds done in the service of God, you do not scrap something like that.

Anyhoos, my 0.02 iskies, off to get some brekkies.

[Major JSilva]

I think the State Military would be similar to that of Israel would be the best example. Always at a constant near state of war and the entire military is not complete conscript. In Israel every man or women when they reach 18 has to go serve and trian in the military for atleast 1-2 years then go abck to whereever they wish to work but can still be called up to serve if needed and probalily once every couple months they go for refresher training.

They still have a small professional volunteer army which is highly trained and realisticly trained I might add. American basic training doesn't even compare to Israeli training not to mention they are becoming more technologicaly advanced of course thansk to US help.

Ironicly their is also alot of Israeli Private Military Company's kind of similar to the Corporate Polcie forces though they have no authority. Also the reserves for the Israeli Military can be fully mobolized in 48 hours.

[Lyn Farel]

The Israel example might be a good one, but not on all sides : the current Israel army is quite irresponsible (for example in its relations with other NATO countries, or doing a lot of blunders), and I don't think Caldari does. They are way too strict for that.

Concerning the Amarr military personnel, unlike their aging fleet (big but outdated), I think they may have the most fierce gand experienced ground combatants. From the Kameiras to the khanid Cyberknights, there is also an item ingame (can't remember the exact name :/) that is called something like "Amarr Boarding Unit", described as probably "the best trained and capable troups in boarding ships to ships situations", and coming from the fact that "amarrians realized soon that space combat would involve space boarding operations after having met the other empires". I really need to find back this source.

Found it : "Amarr Marine Counter-Boarding Company"