Alliance Special Operations
| Alliance Special Operations | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Unit Crest | ||
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| Information | ||
| Branch: | Alliance Military | |
| Type: | Special Forces | |
| Size | Three Squadrons | |
| Current Commander | Lt. Commander Weylin Cadman | |
| Motto | Who Dares Wins | |
| Colors | Black and Crimson | |
| March | Quick: Marche des Parachutistes Belges Slow: Lili Marlene | |
| Mascot | The Archangel Michael | |
| Affiliation: | Strategic Operations | High Command |
Alliance: Alliance Special Operations, or ASO, is the organization that the Alliance assigned its most capable recruits. It has two levels of operation: Mission Groups and Special Ops Teams. Both are categorized by personnel that are exceedingly skilled and talented.
Contents
History
The Alliance Special Operations Unit has it's roots in the Special Air Service of the United Kingon from the Earth that was. In structure though it is organized like an older unit: The Italian Arditti. Arditi was the name adopted by Italian Army elite assault troops of World War I. The name derives from the Italian verb Ardire ("to dare") and translates as "the braves". Reparti d'assalto (Assault Units) were formed in the summer of 1917 by Colonel Bassi, and were assigned the tactical role of shock troops, breaching enemy defenses in order to prepare the way for a broad infantry advance. The Arditi were not infantry troops, but were considered a separate combat arm, and can be considered as among the modern world's first true Special Forces. The Reparti d'assalto were successful in bringing in a degree of movement to what had previously been a war of entrenched positions. Their exploits on the battlefield were exemplary and they gained an illustrious place in Italian military history. They were demobilized by 1920.
Mission Groups
Mission Groups are the basic unit of ASO, with a nebulous position within the Alliance hierarchy. They "floated" between Alliance command, standard forces, and sector forces, capable of being "loaned" to the latter if needed but typically operating on a theater-wide level to perform their duties. Individual Mission Groups are often headquartered on Alliance forward bases. Some Mission Groups work as roving agents, changing their base of operations as circumstances demand. Yet other Groups were attached to Ordnance and Supply Command and Alliance Support Services.
Though some missions they perform are similar to those of Alliance Intelligence, the patience and discipline often required by Intel operations tend to be the weak link among the enthusiastic, energetic natures of typical ASO personnel. In fact, Mission Groups are often sent to worlds in which the cover of existing Intel operations are endangered to draw attention away from them. However, despite this, Mission Groups are sometimes attached to Alliance Intelligence's Operations department.
Special Ops Teams
Special Ops Teams are very rare advanced Mission Groups that are answerable to only the highest echelons of the Alliance and receiving no support from other branches. Extremely capable, they rarely need much assistance; since they are authorized to act in the interests of the Alliance without orders from higher up the chain of command, when they are needed by a sector intelligence cell, they receive polite requests rather than actual orders. Mostly, they develop and execute their own operations on behalf of the Alliance without prompting.
Some Special Ops Teams engage in deep-cover missions, tapping into existing supply caches when necessary; just as often, they establish their own network of supply caches, often as a prelude to establishing new cells in a new sector. Others roam freely, doing that which they saw as needing doing. For the most part, the Alliance allow these teams to have high degrees of autonomy.
Special Operations and Special Forces
Though bearing similar names, Special Operations and Alliance Special Forces are two completely different groups. While Special Forces (SpecForce) are highly trained active military professionals, tasked with performing specific, carefully planned operations, Special Ops agents engage in murky undercover missions and chaotic, unplanned operations with only minimal input from Alliance Command. Though SpecForce personnel recognize the need for SpecOps, and vice versa, rivalry between the two groups run deep; SpecOps personnel view SpecForces as arrogant, uptight, and overtrained, and SpecForce personnel view SpecOps (or "spooks," as they liked to call them) as amateurs who relied on luck to carry the day.
SpecForces sometimes use Mission Group personnel as "other specialists" such as transportation specs, pilots, communication experts, translators, medical technicians, supply specialists, and so on. Such personnel are often referred to as "recovering spooks" by the SpecForce units they are attached to.
Conversely, sometimes Special Forces troops are assigned to Special Operations units; these individuals are referred to as "specters" by other SpecForce personnel.
Special status
The ASO has special status within the Alliance, which also means that they have special privileges. For example they have their own ships, supplies, and bases, most notably the SAS headquarters on Londinium. They also are easily distinguished from Regular Alliance forces by their unique uniforms.
