Alliance Uniform - Marines

Alliance Ground Forces Outfit

This page describes the pieces of standard-issue equipment issued to individual Alliance Ground Forces soldiers. Navy uniforms can be found at Alliance uniform desc.

Clothing

Physical Training Uniform

Often shortened to PTU, this uniform consists of moisture-wicking sports clothes, and, for infantry units especially, can also double as undergarments. They are, for this reason, very popular with infantry units, particularly those on frontline duties. As with all uniform components, these are resistant to flash burns and heat.

Basic set:

• Gray or Purple close-fitted T-shirts (short and long-sleeved)
• Matching pants (perhaps better described as 'tights')
• Gray and silver training shoes.

For colder conditions, such as during winter periods, the same set is issued in a heavier weight. As well, the following items are available for purchase at Post Exchanges to all personnel at a cost. Civilians may purchase them as well, at a reasonable markup.

• Gray 'hoodie' available to female personnel
• Gray, loose-fitting fleece pants
• Heavier socks
• Windproof longsleeved jackets and trousers.

All major items (shirts and pants) have the Alliance flag embroidered in at least one location, often the right breast of the shirt and hoodie, and left calf of both pants.

Utility Uniform

The standard utility uniform mainly consists of trousers, a t-shirt, and a uniform jacket (always called a 'blouse), each piece made from highly rugged, yet very comfortable, fabric, meant to be highly resistant to wear and tear from any source. They can be worn in any conditions and are expected to hold up to borderline and actual abuse from combat conditions with few visible signs (at least after laundering). All components are colored in the same digital camouflage pattern consisting of various shades of grey and greyish purple. They are worn over the standard Starke Velites Underlayer.

The trousers are worn 'bloused,' with dark gray combat boots. The Utility Uniform is worn for non-administrative duties outside an 'office' style environment, especially outside of the Core Worlds.

The Combat Utility Uniform is similar to the standard Utility uniform, with the replacement of the standard blouse and trousers with similar items with a thin armor mesh layer over most of the clothing, especially the front legs, chest, abdomen, and arms, as well as special hardpoints, not unlike the pouch attachment system on the load-bearing equipment (discussed later) for mounting equipment. It is issued to all frontline combat personnel.

An 8-point soft cover is standard. A combat helmet with eyeshields and a mounting bracket for visual enhancement devices (i.e. Night-Vision and Thermal goggles) (filed under Armor) is worn in threat situations.

When an individual's duties or a standing order from their unit commander require him/her to carry a weapon, a web belt is issued to accompany the new-issue Universal Sidearm Holster Rig. The Utility Pistol Belt is worn outside the uniform blouse.

Two additional types of cover are also available; a cold-weather watch cap in black, and a wide-brimmed bucket hat in the standard Alliance digital camouflage pattern, known as the 'beanie' and the 'boonie,' respectively.

• Blouse
• Trousers
• Starke 'Velites' armor underlay
• Rigger's Belt
• 8-point hat
  • Utility Web Belt
  • CWWC 'Beanie'
  • Hat, Hot Weather, 'Boonie'

Alliance Marine Dress/Service Uniform

The most recognizable uniform of the Union of Allied Planets' Marine Corps is the Grey Service/Dress uniform, often seen in recruiting advertisements. It is often called "Dress Greys" or simply "Greys". It is equivalent in composition and use to civilian black tie.

Dress Greys consist of a long-sleeved gunmetal grey coat (enlisted members have heliotrope, or pale purple, trim) with a standing collar and white web belt (with corresponding-by-rank silver waistplate) for enlisted; gunmetal grey for officers with a silver M-buckle, white barracks cover (a peaked cap), plain white shirt, battleship grey trousers (gunmetal grey for general officers), white gloves, and black dress shoes and socks. Decorations are worn on the left chest, including qualification badges, personal and unit citations, and campaign ribbons. Women wear pumps in place of shoes, and may wear a skirt in place of slacks. For men, the dress coat is cut to be formfitting.

Officers, NCOs, and SNCOs wear a red-violet "blood stripe" down the outer seam of each leg of the grey trousers. General officers wear a 5.1 cm wide stripe, field- and company-grade officers have a 3.8 cm wide stripe, SNCOs and NCOs have a 2.86 cm wide stripe. General officers wear trousers that are the same color as the coat, while all other ranks wear medium (battleship) grey trousers. Women who opt to wear the skirt, and are authorized to wear the "blood stripe," wear it down either the right or left side of the skirt.

Per long military tradition, officers wear their rank insignia on epaulettes, while enlisted personnel wear theirs on their upper arms.

Alliance Marine Evening Dress Uniform

The Evening Dress is the most formal (and, by military standards, by far the most elaborate) of the Dress uniforms, and is the equivalent of white tie in usage. It is only authorized for wear by officers and SNCOs, and only a required uniform item for senior officers (Lieutenant Commanders and above). It comes in three varieties:

Evening dress "A" For male officers, it consists of an evening coat with sleeve ornamentation, strip collar, white waistcoat, and white shirt with pique placket. The stripe on the gunmetal grey trousers is a thin fuchsia stripe inside a silver embroidered stripe. Female officers wear a mess jacket with red-violet lapels, a white dress shirt, a fuchsia cummerbund, and a long skirt. Miniature medals and badges are worn.

Evening dress "B" is identical to Evening Dress "A" except men wear a fuchsia waistcoat (General officers) or cummerbund (all other officers), and women may wear a short skirt. As with the Evening dress "A," miniature medals and badges are worn

SNCO Evening Dress Male Staff Non-Commissioned Officers wear a semi-formfitting mess-jacket with a black bow tie and sky blue trousers. Female SNCOs wear identically the same Evening Dress as female officers, minus the sleeve ornamentation and placement of rank. Both wear the jackets with historic outsized late 20th-century insignia sewn on the sleeves. Again, as with the officer's evening dress options, miniature medals and badges are worn.

A grey boatcloak with a fuchsia silk liner is optional. Junior officers not required to possess Evening Dress may substitute Service/Dress Greys. It is appropriate for such occasions as State functions, inaugural receptions and dinners, and formal dinners.

Gear

Weapons

Universal Issue

• Walther NT97W Plasma Pistol
• Survival knife, OKC-3S pattern, modified to fit L85 rifles.

Standard Issue - Rifle Squad

• HK MG4 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) - 3 per rifle squad, us. equipped with 3.5x35 SAW Day Optic (SDO)
• L85A2 Rifle w/SUSAT optic. 4x32 ACOG Rifle Combat Optics (RCOs) available by request.
• AG36 Grenade Launcher - 3 per Rifle Squad, usually equipped by fire team leaders
• L86A2 LSW - Marksman Rifle, w/ 5.5x magnification. 1 per rifle squad, replaces one of the advanced riflemen.

Standard Issue - Rifle Platoon

• Starke 'Panther' Defensive Rifle - Initial Issue to non-riflemen. Most draw an L85 if they know they will be attached to line units. Equipped with reflex sight. Popular among vehicle crews for its close in performance and nimble handling in tight spaces, owing to subcompact bullpup design.

Standard Issue - Rifle Company

• M367 'Fury' three-shot light anti-armor weapon - Used by assault sections of rifle company Weapons platoons
• M224 60mm light mortar - Used by mortar sections of rifle company mortar platoons.
• M240G 7.62x51mm Medium Machine Gun - Used by MMG sections of rifle company weapons platoons, as well as MG platoons in weapons companies. Equipped with 3.5x35 MG optic.

Standard Issue - Rifle Batallion

• L115A3 Sniper Rifle, .338 Lapua - Primary sniper rifle used by Scout Sniper teams
• AS50 SASR, .50BMG - Primary antimateriel, countersniper rifle used by Scout Sniper teams.
• M252 81mm Medium Mortar - Utilized by Batallion Weapons Company Mortar Platoon.
• M932 Heavy Anti-Armor Missile systems - Utilized by Batallion Weapons Company Anti-Armor platoon
• M806 .50BMG MHG - Old Faithful HMG, used by Weapons Company HMG platoon. Usu. equipped with 6x48 optic
• Mk-38 40mm AGL - Improved version of the old Mk. 19 AGL. Improved ammunition has greater range and muzzle velocity. Sometimes jokingly called a 'Heavy Bolter' for its resemblence to the 40k weapon of the same name.

Special Issue

• Mk. II Sonic series - Riot control weapons, issued in lieu of lethal weapons when deemed advantageous to take live prisoners. Available in four styles; compact PDW style (preferred by counterterror units for building clearance) standard rifle (most common), heavy 'Room Wrecker' style (issued in lieu of L86 or MG4), and 'Street Sweeper' vehicle-mounted models.
• M1014A5 Shotgun - Multipurpose weapon, carried by lead scouts as a secondary weapon. Used for door breaching when sappers unavailable.

Flashbang, Fragmentation, and smoke grenades may be carried.

Swords are issued to NCO's, and officers of all ranks.

• NCO Broadsword
• Officer's Katana
• General Officer's Rapier

Swords are primarily ceremonial, but may be sharpened and carried into combat either as badges of office, or as defensive weapons. Personnel wishing to do so are required to pass a Sword Combat holocourse.

Standard ammunition burden for L85 and L86 weapons is 10 reloads. The 40mm grenadier will carry several grenades of various types; in addition to the normal explosive grenades, a grenadier will carry smoke grenades for signalling or concealment, among other specialized rounds. Automatic riflemen will carry two to four additional 200-round boxes, or 4-8 additional 100-round softbags. Assistant Automatic Riflemen in fire teams will carry one additional 200-round box, or 2 softbags. Which depends upon the automatic rifleman's preference. Squad-level lead scouts often carry three full magazine's worth of loose shells for their shotguns, plus two laden speedloaders, prompting two fewer magazines for their primary weapons. Those who carry defensive weapons will generally only carry up to four reloads. Sidearms are another exception; usually only three full recharges.

Armor

The Mesh Armor Underlayer Vest is presently being retired from service. As a replacement, COTS (Commercial off-the-shelf) Starke "Velites" armored bodysuits are now being issued to all Alliance Military Personnel. As well, Impax "Guardian" protective systems are being procured for use by VIPs in battle areas. In combat situations, the Warfighter Armor System, Personnel is issued. It consists of an infantry armor yoke, back plate, and abdominal plate, as well as the M3A Tactical Helmet. Additional protective pieces (shoulder guards, forearm shields, groin protectors, and legplates) are available by request, and in a variety of weights.

• Starke "Velites" armored bodysuit
• Impax "Guardian" protective system
• Warfighter Armor System, Personnel ("WASP kit")
• Advanced Individual Protective Equipment ("AIPE Suit")

The Advanced Individual Protective Equipment combat suit has supplanted the Warfighter Armor System, Personnel as primary infantry armor. The WASP kit will be retained for use by second-line and support personnel. Detailed information regarding AIPE is classified, but system is able to protect infantry personnel to a much higher degree; the system is rated to withstand up to 30 rounds from the standard L85 rifle without compromise of the internal environment system.

Miscellaneous Equipment

Standard

• Individual Communication Handset, with wireless self-powered overear headset.
• Advanced Personal Load Bearing System. Designed primarily to interface with the newer Advanced Individual Protective Equipment, while retaining backwards compatibility with the Warfighter Armor System, Personnel. System is rated for up to 100 kilograms of equipment, full combat load is 75kg. 'Assault' loads tend to stay below 30kg.
• Strike Rations. Protein-based 'Assault Bars' each provide a full day's worth of combat-essential nutrients. Intended to be consumed over the course of the day, with water, to gently expand the ration to allow the warfighter to feel as though he/she is fighting on a full stomach, a time-proven morale booster. Soldiers are typically issued seven bars of various flavors for emergency sustenance. Highly popular among Special Forces personnel.
• Combat Rations. Designed to be served to individual soldiers too far "forward" to recieve fresh foodstuffs. Commonly derided for poor quality, and for unusual interactions in the digestive system.

Special

• Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC) protection equipment; oversuit and mask. Commonly referred to as "Hazard Kit," used in conjunction with WASP kit.
• Exospheric Personal Insertion Pod (EPIP), intended for insertion of personnel from orbit. Field testing recently completed, training to begin ASAP
• Tactical Free-Fall Interruption System. Fancy name, simple concept: It's a two-parachute system; one main, one reserve. Intended for mass deployment of infantry
• Special Operations Free-Fall Interruption System. As above, only this sort is intended for special operations personnel.
• Extreme Environment Clothing Systems, supplementing the other uniform systems
  • Moisture-wicking base layer available in four weights; one for hot conditions, three for cooler conditions up to and including St. Albans winter blizzards.
  • Heat-retaining thermal layers available in two weights; one for cold conditions, the other for extremely cold.
  • Windproof outer layers, available in two styles; one for desert winds (and the sandstorms that so often accompany them) and another for cold weather. Both will stop 80th percentile winds, and reduce the effect of up to 95th percentile. The "desert" style is designed to resist damage from the sandstorms that so often accompany desert winds, while the "tundra" style is designed to be as waterproof as possible while not sacrificing range of motion or warmth.