CMC: Charlie Company (3/8th)

3rd Battalion, 8th Marines: "The Leathernecks"

Insignia of the 3rd Marine Battalion.

The Third Battalion, Eighth Marines is a battalion-level light infantry unit composed of infantry Marines and support personnel. It comprises approximately 900 individuals and falls under the command of the 8th Marine Regiment in the 6th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (6th MEB). Its units are deployed across the various Marine Landing Ships based out of Joint Base Remner, one of several forward staging areas for Marine Expeditionary Brigades stationed on the colonies. Approximately half of the 6th MEB has been detailed to the Joint Task Force for the duration of operations away from Colonial Space.

3/8th Marines is a very old unit, created and activated on Virgon during the Colonial Wars. It was constructed around a core of maritime sailors who had dealt with pirates most of their lives and felt compelled to serve off-planet when the call went out. This is where the name came from. When ammunition stores ran low during piracy fights, the blades came out. These individuals would wear leather straps around their necks to help deflect duller blades and absorb some of the sharper hits. These men and women have served with distinction and had a reputation for never quitting on a post, even after it had been captured. Once the wars were concluded, the 8th Virgon Marine Regiment was kept intact as a standing defense force.

Insignia of the 8th Marine Regiment.

When the Cylons revolted, the 3/8th were the first into Boskirk, the colony's capital. Despite orders from Regimental HQ, the 3rd allowed the Centurions to overrun their positions into tank support behind them. The 3rd then advanced farther behind Cylon lines and their CO, LTCOL Halford Kelms, turned them loose to begin wrecking the Cylon's entire logistical train and shooting down landing transports with anti-tank rifles. For five weeks the 3/8th continued to advance farther and farther into the Cylon's rear area and cause problems with hit-and-run guerrilla warfare both in and outside Boskirk. Post-war, Naval War College students identified this action as one that delayed a major landing in Boskirk and allowed the 8th Regiment time to reinforce and prepare a counteroffensive that recaptured the city.

Today, the five stars on the 3/8th's patch represent each week spent behind the lines and fighting for humanity. The rifle, without a magazine, represents their refusal to quit despite running out of ammunition during the time. The ship represents their start as piracy fighters and the jet represents their speed and lethality in combat. The cross represents the dead they have buried, their spirit with their unit forever.

After the signing of the Treaty of Cimtar, 3/8th Marines was folded into the newly formed Colonial Marine Corps. They were garrisoned to Virgon and kept ceremonially near Boskirk to serve as the Marine Corps' unofficial guardians of the city for more than a decade. However, the 3/8th was eventually redeployed and reassigned to the 6th MEB where it has spent the last 25 years, serving at the behest of the President of the 12 Colonies and deploying to some of the hottest and fiercest combat zones before anyone else can even begin packing their bags. The 3/8th's patch is as mighty a symbol for them as the Colonial flags for others, a symbol they wear with determination and pride. To betray or deface the patch is to spit in the face of their history and that of the Corps.

The motto of the Leathernecks is Fortuna Favet Fortibus: "Fortune Favors the Strong."

Charlie Company

Like the six other companies that make up the 3/8 Marines, Charlie Company has served aboard MEB's and the strike carriers for the past twenty-five years so the deployment to a Battlestar is a new experience for them. In addition to its company headquarters unit, the Company fields three military police platoons and one Marine rifle platoon, to which have been attached a combat medicine detachment of fifteen Navy corpsmen (three to each platoon and six to company HQ). Charlie Company's command structure is outlined in the diagram below.

Battalion HQ

NOTE: The Battalion Headquarters Staff Element from the Marines (in overall command of both Battalions, but subordinate to the Admiral) has been brought aboard the Orion to be closer to the Admiral so that all top-tier Combatant Commanders (CAG, Marine CO/XO, TACCO) are all in one place. These individuals run Charlie Company's MP's and single mixed company. This may or may not be a point of discomfort for some Marines towards their officers.

Charlie Company's officers have been transferred to Piraeus to make room for the Battalion HQ Element that has taken residence aboard the ship officers that have been appointed to this position straight out of 3rd Battalion to hold overall command over all Marines in the Task Force. These officers are 3/8th members and DO wear The Patch. This Battalion's HQ element is commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel or Colonel, with an XO typically one grade below. All Staff Officers, doubling as Platoon Leaders, are typically Captains or Lieutenants. The rare Staff Officer who is a Major is typically assigned to S2 or S3 roles. The Marine CO also can draw upon the expertise of an ensign fresh out of the Academy or Officer Candidate School: a transitional role intended to permit him to gain experience before rising further up the ranks.

The HQ unit has four primary staff officers, their aides, and various and sundry clerks and administrative personnel. Each staff officer has a particular area of expertise and counsels the Battalion CO in military matters. Contrary to the Colonial Fleet, which makes a formal distinction between line and staff officer, all Marine officers are authorized to command a combat unit. However, ground-based staff officers rarely exercise this ability and do so only at the pleasure of their CO. Because of the limitations of deployments on board Fleet vessels, every Marine officer will serve double-duty as both a line and staff officer in some respect.

Company Adjutant/Personnel (S1)

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The S1 is the battalion commander's primary assistant, or adjutant. He handles all personnel and administrative matters, including transfers, shore leave paperwork, promotion and award ceremonies, personnel evaluations, and correspondence.

Company Intelligence/Security Officer (S2)

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The S2 handles intelligence and counterintelligence for the Marine detachment aboard the ship. Though the S2's authority officially extends only to the Marines, it is not uncommon for him to work in close conjunction with the naval intelligence officers assigned to the Fleet's Tactical Department. Even in terms of shipboard security, his authority is limited by the fact that any wide-ranging policies he wishes to adopt must first be approved by Command. The S2's duties are as follows:

• Intelligence: Aggregating, filtering, and distributing information to the CO and S3 for purposes of mission planning. This includes things like weather and terrain data, enemy troop deployments and numbers, and known enemy strengths and weaknesses. They also participate fully in the coordination of reconnaissance operations.
• Counterintelligence: Thwarting enemy espionage activities. As part of this, the S2 must review marine security clearance applications, ensure that classified documents are kept secure, maintain computer network security, and so on.
• Security: Overseeing the Military Police detachment, the brig, criminal investigations, and other matters related to general shipboard security like guard rotations, arms locker security, and interrogation of prisoners. Much of the day-to-day duties are handled by the Master-at-Arms, but the S2 has ultimate responsibility for making sure everything gets handled in the first place. If the MaA is the Sheriff, the S2 is like the Police Commissioner, more bureaucratic than hands-on.

Company Operations/Training Officer (S3)

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The S3 is responsible for the company's operations, plans, and training. He is the commander's main assistant in battle planning and coordination. This usually requires a great deal of coordination with the other battalion officers and a finite understand of tactics in both space and on the ground.

Company Logistics Officer (S4)

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The S4 is responsible for making sure that the battalion has the necessary supplies they need. On a battlestar, this entails things like maintaining the ammunition stores and doing equipment checks. In the field, the role expands to cover supply drops, transportation, food and water — everything that's needed to ensure that the troops have the gear they need to carry them into battle.

Platoons

The Company, as it exists under Battalion HQ, is subdivided into four platoons. Each is led by a Platoon Commander and in the case of where the HQ stands over the Company, a Staff Officer (as listed above) commands each one. He or she is advised by a Platoon Sergeant, usually an experienced E6 (SSGT) or higher; however, this post can be held by Marines as low as E4 (CPL) if required. Each platoon is also assigned three Navy corpsmen, who report to the Chief Medical Officer but are fully-qualified Marines and may be detached to accompany any given squad if required.

Platoons consist of four squads of twelve men each.

The Squad

The squad is the basic fighting unit of the CMC, comprised of eleven Marines and the Squad Leader (SL) — a non-commissioned officer rating E4 (CPL) or above. The squad is further divided into three four-man fireteams, with the squad leader acting as leader of Fireteam One. Each member of the squad has an assigned role.

• Team Leader (TL) The team leader executes instructions from and assists the squad leader in the performance of a task. The TL controls the movement of his fire team and directs areas of fire. The TL is typically an E3 (LCPL) or E4 (CPL) and serves as a rifleman.
• Rifleman (R): The rifleman is armed with with a carbine or assault rifle. Given the heavy armor of the Centurions, the assault rifle is usually the weapon of choice.
• Grenadier (G): The grenadier is armed with a carbine or assault rifle with an attached underbarrel grenade launcher. The grenades are fragmentary and designed for safe use aboard ship, and they are one of the most effective weapons against Centurions.
• Automatic rifleman (AR): The automatic rifleman is armed with a squad automatic weapon (machine gun). The high stopping power and rate of fire of the SAW make it ideal for confronting bunched groups.

If necessary, one squad member certified in field communication is given a long-range backpack wireless and acts as the Wireless Operator (WIRELO). A Marine's team assignment and role is not static and may vary from operation to operation.

Mission

XIII Marine Regiment deploys and is employed as part of 6th Marine Expeditionary Brigade in support of a Fleet or Marine Combatant Commander's requirements for contingency response or Major Theater War. With appropriate augmentation, it can serve as the core element of a Joint Task Force (JTF) to Colonial Fleet operations if required, and it prepares and deploys its own organic combat-ready Marine Task Forces to support and provide crisis response capability for COCOM operations.

Recent Deployments

Command Staff

OOC Thematic Information

If you're playing a Marine, please click here to learn more about how the department operates aboard Battlestar Orion. If your Marine is an MP, please also read the relevant sections of the Military Procedures page and the Military Law page to get a better idea of your IC power and authority!

6th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, 8th Marines

This is all thematic info used for flavor, for the most part. With those who wish to make use of the information for planning operations, like potentially the Marine S2 or S3, this will make a larger difference. -Staff

The deployed forces from the 6th MEB (Mountain) have essentially cut the 6th in half with two (of four) full Battalions being tasked directly to Task Force NOMAD. Each Battalion makes up a single Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and the terms are interchangeable for our purposes. Third Battalion HQ has been appointed as the overall Marine Command Element and resides on the Battlestar Orion. The other battalion (one on each Assault Landing Ship), 1st Battalion of 8th Marines, is duty-stationed off of the Jolie Point on Piraeus, but operates its headquarters out of the command bunker in the town. Both units are considered 'Mountain'.

A Note on "Mountain" Units — There are a handful of "mountain" battalions within the Colonial Marine Corps. Some consider them hardened, highly disciplined and versatile troops while others think of them as relics of the past impeding progress within the CMC. Typically, they are trained extensively on operating in adverse conditions. Their equipment tends to be simpler, older and arguably more reliable than some of the tech heavy units in other areas of the corps, focusing on operating away from supplies for extended periods of time. While among older, more traditional Marines they are highly respected, their organizational culture fosters a stubbornness to change from the lowest Private to their Colonels. This has made them particularly unpopular amongst the current "reform" faction of the CMC and the Colonial Fleet in general. It is an openly talked subject and a point of pride amongst the Marines of 1/8 and 3/8 that their alleged combat prowess and stubborn clinging to tried and trued ideals were what caused the Colonial Fleet High Command to assign them to a backwater like Piraeus.

1st Battalion

1/8 is composed of units built around 1nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. 1/8 Marines were formed out of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Guards Infantry Brigade, Royal Leonine Army. The men of 1/8 Marines are renowned to have formed many deeds of daring during the First Cylon War, notably the scaling of Mount Corvallis on Tauron to outflank a Cylon force entrenched in what was deemed an 'impregnable' position during the Battle of Thessali. They are nicknamed the War Dogs and their motto is, "Ready For Anything, Counting on Nothing". They are also considered to be one of the CMC's premier "mountain" units.

Table of Organization & Equipment (TO&E)

Below is a listing of each Battalion's equipment. This single listing covers one group, which means the numbers below are effectively doubled for available equipment overall.

• 3x mechanised infantry companies composed of 3x platoons, 1x weapons section and 1x HQ element each. Approximately 120 troops, 20x Mk. 8 AIFV Samnite.
• 1x armoured reconnaissance company composed of 3x force reconnaissance platoons of 4x TI-107 Sabres each, 1x AA troop of 2x Vulcan SPAAG vehicles and 1x HQ element of 4x Mk. 8 AIFV Samnite. It fields around 80 troops.
• 1x artillery battery, fielding 6x M777 light weight 155mm howitzers. Battery is divided into 2x troops of 3x guns each, 1x force protection troop as well as smaller elements (spotters, etc.) attached to 1x HQ element. This comprises around 100 troops.
• 1x attached combat engineer troop, around 40 troops.
• 1x combat support company, with a light reconnaissance platoon (with FAVs), an anti-tank platoon (Trident FGM-681), a "weapons" platoon with 81mm mortar and dismounted .50 cal MGs, a signals (communications) platoon as well as the battalion/MEU's staff.
• 1x administration company, comprised of all of the battalion service support elements; equipment maintainers, transport platoon, medic HQ, cooks, logistics, etc. Keeps the battalion fed, patched up, armed and rolling.

In addition, seperate from the battalion within the MEU an independant logistics unit keeps the wheels flowing; this is where the MEU's MP platoon and other support elements are parked. In the "Mountain" MEUs, all troops really are prided on being riflemen first, though obviously the infantry guys are the best of the bunch when it comes to that.