Rebel Alliance: Special Forces

[Marcus Starkiller]

Special Forces
Special Forces are the ground units attached to Alliance High Command. Specifically selected for morale, courage, skill and devotion to the cause, Special Force troopers are the finest ground troopers in the Alliance --and quite probably, the galaxy.
These superbly trained, fully-equipped soldiers are capable of handling a tremendous variety of missions. A number of the troopers are permanently assigned to the Fleet as Marines, protecting the fleet's ships against boarders and assaulting Imperial ships if the opportunity arises. Other SpecForces provide base security, guarding the Alliance High Command Center against sudden attack. (The troopers assigned to guard Hoth Base are SpecForces.)
SpecForces troopers are trained to go anywhere, use any equipment, and succeed at any assignment. Some have been trained in covert operations, acting as assassins, couriers, counter-intelligence, or the like. Others are Pathfinders, trained to scout out a planet, locate likely places to stage an invasion, and then land secretly, place landing beacons, and protect the landing zone (LZ) until the regular troops arrive.
Still others are specially trained guerrilla recruiters, who land on a planet and recruit natives to fight against the Empire, leading the natives in battle until they are capable of taking over the operations themselves.

Organization
The key to SpecForce's flexibility is its unique command structure, allowing virtually any composition of troops and equipment with minimum confusion and friction.
When not engaged in combat, SpecForce is organized in divisions, regiments, companies, platoons and squads, similar to the Imperial armed forces. However, they rarely operatein these formal groups in the feild. Instead, in battle, SpecForce soldiers are organized into taskforces, consisting of many soldiers and as much equipment as is necessary to complete the job.


Special Forces Classifications
In addition to standard combat training, which they all recieve, each regiment within a SpecForces division recieves additional training in a specialty. When creating a task force, the commander can combine regiments or elements of regiments into a single force, thus gaining troopers with the specialties he believes appropriate to the situation.
Following is a list of some of the special training given to SpecForces regiments, and the equipment generally available to those regiments.

[Marcus Starkiller]

Marine SpecForces
Marine regiments are trained to fight on-board ships, either to repel boarders or to board and take over enemy vessels. Marines recieve special training in 0-gee and space suit/battle-suit combat, corridor fighting hand-to-hand combat, space survival, and some starship repair skills.
Marines are typically armed with blaster pistols, rifles, grenades and vibroknives. A platoon might have access to a light or medium repeat blazer, but these weapons are generally too pwerful to employ inside a spaceship, where rupturing the ship's hull would be as dangerous to the Marines as in would be to the enemy.
Marines are also equipped with space suits. They have access to the few battle suits the Alliance has available.

[Marcus Starkiller]

Pathfinder
These troopers make covert drops onto an enemy planet, establish a beachhead, and hold until relieved by Alliance ground forces.
This is an extremely dangerous undertaking. It is quite difficult to insert a large number of troops or heavy weapons onto an enemy planey without being detected; traveling light, the Pathfinders rely upon surprise to overwhelm resistance.
If surprise is achieved, a small number of men can wreak havoc upon a largerforce -- for a while, anyway. However, as the enemy gets organized and brings his strength to bear, the Pathfinders soon find themselves in real trouble. If not relieved, the Pathfinders risk annihilation.
To accomplish their missions, Pathfinders are trained in survival, alien races, repulsorcraft operation, and combat skills. They are equipped with blaster rifles, grenades, heavy weapons, survival gear, and, if space allows, repulsorcraft.

[Marcus Starkiller]

Urban Guerrillas
These SpecForce soldiers are trained in urban warfare --
streetfighting. They are expert at using the constricted urban terrain to its best advantage, and, in their special environment -- the streets, buidlings and sewers -- they are able to take on many times their number of enemy troops.
For urban soldiers, the emphasis is upon making do with the materials at hand. They do not expect to fight formal engagements, supported with heavy weapons, repulsortanks, and the like. Instead, they employ hit-and-run tactics, sniping at the attackers from the rooftops, lobbing homemade explosives from dark alleys, and making their way to a new position before the enemy can pin them down.
Guerrilla troopers are trained experts in hand-to-hand combat skills, light weaponry, street savvy, stealth, and demolition.

[Marcus Starkiller]

Wilderness Fighters
Wilderness SpecForce troopers are trained in outdoor combat and survival. Like the urban guerrilllas, they learn to use their terrain to its greatest advantage to foil overwhelming numbers. Because wilderness combat usually requires much greater mobility than urban warfare, wilderness troopers are often trained and equipped with repulsorcraft -- speederbikes, skiffs, repulsortanks, or whatever else is available and appropriate to the mission.
Wilderness troopers recieve general training in all types of terrain; in addition, individual brigades recieve special training in one particular terrain type: arctic, aquatic, forest, mountains, and the like.

[Marcus Starkiller]

Technicians
These troopers are trained to operate and repair any equipment the SpecForce units have -- and to build anything they don't out of available materials. Techs do not usually operate as a unit. Instead, individuals are attached to other units to take charge of their equipment.
Though primarily mechanics and engineers, they must also have combat and survival skills. When not patching a comm unit together with "spit and plasticord," the techs fight as well and as hard as their comrades.

[Marcus Starkiller]

Infiltrators
These are the eyes and ears of the SpecForces. They are trained to slip through the enemy's lines in order to sow confusion and consternation in secure areas. Infiltrators are masters of stealth, able to foil most mechanical and human security measures.
Chosen from those in the alliance with the most reason to hate the Imperials, their weapons are the virboknife and the garrotte. With good reason, they are among the most feared of all the SpecForce troopers.

[Marcus Starkiller]

Heavy Weapons Specialists
These troopers are trained to operate heavy weapons, providing prtection against enemy air and ground vehicles and giving friendly forces the extra punch needed to crack a tough position.
In battle, casualty rates in these units are extremely high -- once a heavy weapons battery has revealed its position, the enemy is likely to concentrate all of his energy upon suppressing it. In training, heavy emphasis is placed upon holding your postion at all costs; a heavy weapons crewman would rather die than abandon his gun.
Heavy weapons specialists also recive training in starship gunnery. When stationed with the Fleet, they stand ready to replace any gunners incapacitated in battle.

[Marcus Starkiller]

Other Specialists
Additional classes of SpecForce troopers include: transportation specs (drivers and mechanics), pilots, communications experts, translators, medical techicians, supply specialists (commonly known as "scroungers"), and others.
General Madine, the commander of the Alliance SpecForces, has claimed, "In half an hour I can put together a strike team of 20 men, capable of succeeding at any mission, under any conditions, anywhere in the galaxy."
So far, he has not been proven wrong.