FACT FILE: Organization
Marine Aerospace units are organized along traditional lines,
following the 20th century standard of "pairs" in tactical situations.
This creates a very simple, but effective method of organization that is
followed throughout the Federation. It is very unusual for a unit to be
found with more than the following levels of aerospace craft, although
it is often the case that the unit is short on vehicles due to maintenance,
pilot illness and so forth.
Team
The basic element of an aerospace combat unit is two vehicles,
known as a team. One vehicle is designated as the "lead" and
one designated as the "wingman". In combat, the two aerospace
craft cover each other defensively and operate together offensively to
destroy enemy targets. The team is the smallest element normally dispatched
for an intercept or reconnaisance mission.
Flight
A flight is a group of two or three teams, totaling 4 or 6 aerospace
craft. Often this means two pairs of fighters, one Aerospace Defense Craft
(ADC) and another fighter detailed to protect the ADC. The flight is the
smallest element normally dispatched for a patrol
or strike mission.
Squadron
A squadron is composed of 2 to 3 flights of aerospace craft,
plus assorted support personnel. This means that most squadrons total 12
or 16 aerospace craft. This is the smallest self-contained aerospace unit
employed by the STARFLEET Marine Corps. When the squadron deploys to a
new duty station, all of its vehicles and support personnel travel with
it. Most squadrons are single function, or homogenous, which means they
have a specific function or type of duty and the associated vehicles to
perform it (i.e., Tactical Attack Squadron, Heavy Transport Squadron, etc.).
Less common, but still quite widespread is the Composite Squadron, which carries a mixture of different types of flights. This allows the Composite Squadron to perform a variety of missions, but none of them as well as a single function squadron would be able to.
Wing
A wing is the largest element of aerospace craft employed by
the STARFLEET Marine Corps. It is made up of 2 to 3 squadrons of aerospace
craft, plus their associated support personnel and equipment. This means
that most wings total 36 to 48 aerospace craft. Wings are similar to squadrons,
in that the unit's support personnel and equipment travel with the wing
when it changes duty stations. Most wings are also homogenous, like the
squadrons which compose them. Of course, there are Composite Wings which
may be made up of a mixture of composite and single function squadrons.
Material on this page ruthlessly plagerized from the SFMC's Aerospace Branch Manual by Matt Kelley and available from SFMC Academy.
WebPage designed & maintained by Kevin "MAC" Nulty
