ASR Marine Corps FAQ

** What is ASR?

ASR is short for alt.Starfleet.rpg, the name of a Usenet newsgroup, as well as the interactive fiction club which operates under its auspices. It is a Role-playing game, for lack of a better description. The 'campaign' is set in the universe of Star Trek, some fifty years after the events of Star Trek: The Next Generation. If this sounds interesting, check out the newsgroup in your newsreader or the web based archive.

** What is the SFMC?

The SFMC is the Star Fleet Marine Corps, the main visible arm of ground troops in Starfleet and the ASR universe.

** What does "Fleet Marine Force" mean?

Fleet Marine Force is the branch of marines assigned to duty aboard a ship, usually as part of a Marine space ground task force.

** What makes the SFMC different from Security, or Tactical?

Security is responsible for enforcing Starfleet regulations on board the ship. Tactical is responsible for weapons systems and ship to ship combat. Marines are responsible for honor guard, boarding parties (both boarding other ships and defending against other boarding parties), and any other 'brute strength' jobs that the CO might want done.

** What are the Marine ranks?

The ASR Ranks for all personnel can be found in the ASR Ranks FAQ located on the ASR webpage.

** Are there restrictions to characters in the Marines?

Marines are restricted from several areas of Starfleet. A marine cannot command a starship, cannot be a doctor (at least assigned to a unit as a doctor), and cannot be a chaplain (or assigned to a unit as one). In rare instances a marine officer might be aboard a ship as something other than part of the Marine detachment, though this is not normal.

** Who is in charge of the Marines?

The Marines are controlled by the Commandant of the Starfleet Marine Corps a NPC played by the Commander in Chief StarFleet (CINCSF). The Vice Commandant is the second in command of the SFMC and is played by the Chief of StarFleet Operations (CSFO). For day to day questions and concerns the Chief of Staff, StarFleet Marine Corps (CoSSFMC) is played by the SFMC Branch Head.

** How do I become a member of the SFMC?

Becoming a member of the SFMC is quite easy. As a first character you can write up a marine bio file and take the character through ALB Holodeck Training. As a second character you need to have all the permissions required in the Second Character FAQ. Characters for the most part will be in the 2LT to MAJ range, with the LCOL and higher primarily being NPC or special use characters.

** What schools will my character have gone through?

Your character has several different ways of becoming a Marine Officer. The first is to graduate from the StarFleet Academy, with a Marine Option. Your character will have a four year college Baccalaureate Degree. The second way is a Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) commission, which means that your character spent four years at a university, spending time at college and then getting a commission into the SFMC. The third common way to get a SFMC commission is through Marine Corps OCS, a fifteen week course attended at some point after graduation from a college or university with a four year degree.

After receiving a commission _*ALL*_ Marine Officers spend six months at The Basic School, learning the basics of leadership, tactics, and how to be a general infantrybeing.

Upon graduation from The Basic School your character will then enter follow on training depending on his/her/its Marine Occupation Speciality (MOS), a list of these is located in the Library section of the ASR webpage. Infantry officers proceed to the Infantry school,
Aviators to flight training, etc. (Note: Most SFMC characters are infantry officers deployed aboard a starship. Though there are some aviators officers and units.)

Upon completion of follow on training your character will go to his/her/its first operational command.

Further course information will be available as the FAQs are written.

** Do the Marines have tanks, power armor, or anything like that?

At this time the only RP units with Marines in them are Fleet Marine Force, and Fighter Squadrons. Larger RP starships and starbases may carry combat shuttles and dropships that can carry hovertanks and armored personnel carriers. For more information about this, see the "SFMC Vehicles" page on the Marine Corps web site.

However, there are heavier units available in the ASR universe.


Document History:

Written by Christopher Mayberry
Playing MG Zachariah Garajdan
former Chief of Staff SFMC
with the assistance of Margaret Kipp and Mike Bursey


Contents last updated SD 181001 (01 October 2006)