Republic Marines

"Marines don't have time for regret. At least, we don't when there's battles to be fought. A rocket-jumper can regret not securing her backup thrusters when her mains misfire, but only for the time it takes for her to get acquainted with the ground. A Mandalorian can regret taking on a Jedi, but only until the Jedi can decap him and kick his bucket."

- Laera Reyolé, to

The Republic Marines, also known as the Republic Marine Corps or simply as "the Corps", was first formed as a branch of the, which encompassed its primary ground forces and shipboard security personnel. Separate from the, soldiers who served in the Republic Marines were considered to be among the best-trained and best-equipped troops that the could field. Generally organized into al- or -sized units, depending on the era, Marines would often see a wider range of duties than their counterparts in the Army, including garrisoning remote outpost worlds, serving on warships, or protecting embassies and other governmental posts.

The Republic Marines served with distinction in many of the galaxy's fiercest and widespread conflicts, beginning with the and throughout history to the time of the, before they were eventually disbanded along with most of the rest of the Republic military. Refusing to become a part of the, most Marines instead became , though they still held to the traditions of the Corps. However, their tactics and doctrine would be resurrected during the by the s of the 's.

Formation
"A soldier is good on land, fighting soldiers. A pilot is good at flying in atmosphere and space, fighting other pilots. What we need is a new kind of soldier, capable of fighting on land, in space, or on a starship. A sort of amphibious soldier, a Marine, if you will."

- Admiral Sarkin Tobonne

First proposed in the years prior to the by  Sakira Tobonne, the Republic Marines were originally conceived of as an adjunct to the Navy, serving as the main line of defense in the event that a Republic warship was boarded, or as shock troops when boarding enemy vessels. As the Marines proved themselves at the height of that conflict, they were eventually seen as an elite "first response" force that could be quickly deployed to any combat zone in as fast as any sizable warship. As a result of this shift in doctrine, Marine training became some of the most grueling in the Republic; becoming one was seen as a mark of honor not only among the military, but of the citizenry as well.

Old Sith Wars
"The rocket-jumpers have established a toehold, but they're pinned down. Let's go help them punch a hole!"

- Commander Voskel Dun'vei, 2nd Marine Battalion

During the Republic's intervention in the of, the Republic Marines saw action alongside their fellow elites, the s, deploying to  at the height of the conflict. When initiated his  against the, Marine units fought alongside the Jedi against the invading , when they attacked the  on. In the war's final battle, at, three whole regiments of Marines were among the first troops on the ground, securing a safe landing zone and coordinating the by the Republic's capital ships.

Mandalorian Wars
"We're dead if we leave, but just as dead if we stay. D'you want those dogs to sings songs about how they gunned you down?"

- Laera Reyolé to her squad during the Liberation of Onderon

Despite the losses incurred during the conflict initiated by Kun's forces, the Marines continued to hone their tactics and traditions. Lessons learned from fighting such foes as the and the Krath's own elite forces helped the Republic adopt new training methods, allowing the Marines to diversify themselves. By the time the s began preying on worlds outside the Republic, the Marines had reformed themselves into s, each with at least one specialized that included scout/snipers, infiltration experts, and covert intelligence operatives. When the s finally attacked the Republic, units of ground-based Marines fought valiantly, despite being heavily outnumbered. Though the initial Mandalorian blitzkrieg cost the Republic dearly, the Marines helped to prevent total battlefield dominance, often serving as examples for Republic Army units to rally behind.

When and, along with  joined the fight against the Mandalorians, Marine units were sent to take the offensive, even as the Neo-Crusaders continued to push deeper into Republic space. The 3rd Marine Battalion became one of the most highly-decorated units in the Republic at that time after carrying out a series of highly-successful raids against the Mandalorians' supply lines, raids that Revan himself had planned. As the war reached its midpoint, the Republic Army was sent to reinforce strategically-important worlds in order to make them too well-defended for the Mandalorians to risk attacking; meanwhile, Marine battalions were sent to non-essential yet still important minor worlds, in order to entice the Mandalorians into attacking a seemingly under-defended garrison. These trap-worlds sucked up Neo-Crusader resources, pinning them under exquisitely-prepared defensive positions, until elements of the Mandalorians' fleet could come to their rescue. These reinforcements would then be ambushed by waiting Republic warships, forcing the attackers to waste far more resources than these worlds were worth to either take or hold. Unfortunately for the Republic, these bait-and-switch tactics were almost as costly. However their strategic value was in keeping the front stalled, preventing the Mandalorians from accumulating enough reserves to enable a direct assault on the and the Republic capital.

After several of these grueling battles of attrition, Revan had succeeded in blunting the Mandalorian offensive, and began to take the initiative. Now trained in rapid planetary assaults and supplemented by Jedi commanders, the Republic Marines proved essential to establishing toeholds and landing corridors on contested planets, allowing Army units to reinforce their positions and retake world after world. The Neo-Crusaders did not give ground easily, and increasingly Marine units were sent in flank and harass the supply lines of the retreating Mandalorians. Serving as snipers, sappers, and shock troopers, they isolated Mandalorian units from one another, allowing each to be tackled separately, without support from their fellows. In the war's final campaign, Marine units served as the spearheads of the assaults on and, taking heavy casualties on the jungle moon against the deeply-entrenched and well-fortified Neo-Crusaders. With reinforcements from the Army, as well as new units of combat droids, the Republic took back what would later be known as "Bloody Dxun."

The, however, would bear witness to the Republic Marines' most humiliating defeat. A force of Mandalorian warships, under the command of and crewed by elite assault units, ambushed an entire Republic task force, boarding Republic vessels before their crews could be properly alerted. The Marines stationed aboard those ships fought with desperate courage against the hardened veterans of Fett's forces; despite their heroism, however, the force of some twenty-four warships, including its commander, was lost, with the few survivors who managed to escape the carnage fleeing in hyperdrive-equipped shuttles and starfighters. By the time Revan had finished preparing his at, few combat-ready Marine units were left among his forces. Instead of keeping them spread out amongst his fleet, he consolidated them, sending them back to worlds on the edge of Republic space to serve as garrison units. Most Marines, unaware of what their commander had in mind, treated this shift as having been caused by a failure on their part. The news of the Mandalorians' defeat and the casualties suffered by both sides, however, quelled these thoughts; senior Marine commanders recognized that Revan had been attempting to preserve what he had come to see as a bulwark against future attacks.

Jedi Civil War
"We had thought that we'd won the war, but that was a lie. Those who had led us, who had sent us into the thickest fighting that sentient beings can engage in, had gone away, only to return as tyrants. You're damn right we weren't going to take that lying down."

- Marine Sergeant Denaas Bekuur, in his memoirs

During the year between the victory at Malachor and the assaults by the newly-crowned Darth Revan, the Marines rebuilt their forces, drawing exceptional troops from throughout the Republic's armed forces to bolster their ranks (a tradition that had begun in the wake of the Great Hyperspace War). To the Marines' great surprise, the initial offensives did not target worlds upon which they were garrisoned. Instead, Revan had focused his attention on strategic worlds that sat upon the intersection of vital galactic trade routes, or planets that already boasted a fully-functional military-industrial complex and defense network. Revan's surgical strikes threw the Republic, which was still reeling from the devastation wrought by the Mandalorians, into near-chaos, with the Sith forces under his command putting together an impressive number of victories. While some Marine units, particularly those who first came into contact with Revan's new, joined their old commander and forsook the Republic, the vast majority remained faithful, almost fanatically so.

Proving once again their versatility, loyal Marine battalions undertook their own counterattacks, driving small wedges into the Sith front. One of the earliest of the war's Republic victories, which came within weeks after the, was secured by the hardened veterans of the Marines' Third Battalion. Acting on intelligence gathered by the battalion's commanding officer, who had led Besh Company during the previous war and had trained briefly as a Jedi during the short-lived peace, the force of fifteen hundred soldiers attacked and seized the Sith supply depot on. Though the initial plan was to cart away what supplies they could before demolishing the base, the battle was interrupted by the arrival of a Sith task force of. In the vicious space battle that followed, Republic warships, who had been waiting in ambush for just such a contingency, pounced on the new arrivals, eliminating the threat in a one-sided victory made possible through. Further information gathered during the raid led to the Republic victory at the ; the resulting campaign was the first serious counter-punch to be landed by the Republic against the Sith armadas.

In 3,956 BBY, with the war going poorly for the Republic, the Jedi Order conceived a daring plan to capture Darth Revan. The hope was that, in depriving the Sith of its greatest leader, strategist and tactician, a power struggle would ensue that would cause the expanding Sith Empire to lose focus and turn on itself. As a force of Republic cruisers and frigates, supplemented by a pair of Interdictors engaged the fleet of Sith vessels under Darth Revan's command, a single assault shuttle, aided by the battle meditation of Jedi, managed to board the Sith flagship. As Bastila, accompanied by four other Jedi Knights, made their way to the bridge, the platoon of Marines that had accompanied her did their best to cause as much havoc as possible in order to provide the Jedi with a clear route to and from the bridge. When Darth Malak took this opportunity to betray his master by firing on the flagship's bridge, Bastila alone survived, and carried the comatose Revan back to the hangar deck and their transportation. The Marines assigned to her command held fast, enabling the Jedi to escape with the barely-alive Dark Lord. As the unit split up to make its escape aboard separate vessels, the flagship succumbed to the pounding inflicted by Malak as the Republic force swung in to collect them before retreating.

The change in leadership of the Sith Empire caused unexpected complications, however. Darth Malak, who was not as skilled in strategy or tactics as his former master, preferred to engage in wholesale slaughter when he encountered worlds that would not immediately surrender to him. While the Jedi Order did its best to find a way to halt this new and incredibly destructive advance, the Marines took the brunt of it. The Sith Empire began to focus less on taking and holding strategic worlds in favor of consolidating its territory. Marine units who had thought themselves far from the fighting soon found themselves under siege by fanatical Sith troopers. Though outnumbered and outgunned, the Marines were much more highly-trained than their attackers, and held out for as long as possible before eventually being overrun and destroyed. Despite this onslaught, some garrisons managed to hold their worlds until relieved by Republic forces, but these victories were incredibly rare.

Years between the wars
"The Marines' countless sacrifices throughout the war has ensured their existence for the next thousand years."

- Supreme Chancellor Cressa

With most of the galaxy still on the defensive as the Jedi Civil War came to its sudden conclusion, the Marines found themselves a shattered force, stretched out across the galaxy in a thin red line. However, with the end of hostilities also came a shift in governmental policies, as program after program was launched to breathe life back into the struggling Republic. Under the leadership of a new, , a titanic effort to restore worlds ravaged by the Mandalorians and Sith was undertaken, beginning with. This new program of rebuilding came at a cost, however, as the Army and Navy and, by extension, the Marines, were left without adequate resources to recover from the immense losses incurred by the two recent and devastating wars. Warships were pressed into service as cargo haulers as flora and fauna was imported from verdant worlds to those left scourged by conflict, with the Marines stationed aboard serving as impromptu cargo handlers. Despite having won, the morale of the military was ebbing, and many soldiers, from all branches, left the government to find employment as private security, enlist in mercenary companies, or, when there was no other option, to sell their guns to criminal groups, pirate bands, and raiders.

After many years, however, due in no small part to the actions of the, the Republic was able to once again assert itself as the dominant power in the galaxy. The military was given its proper due, and the Marines were once again held in high regard along with other elite units of the Republic. After nearly two millennia of peace, however, the forces of the Sith began once again to threaten the Republic. These "New Sith", however, were not as strong as the Mandalorians and those under the Dark Lords Revan and Malak, and were never able to force the Republic into the terrible state that it faced during the worst of the assaults from the past. For nearly nine hundred years, with few exceptions the Sith were but a nuisance for the border regions, butting heads with Marine units scattered throughout the frontier. When Lord formed his, however, a string of offensives and counteroffensives saw heavy involvement by the Marines, as they fought in ship-to-ship battles and as vanguards for the Army and the forces under the command of the Jedi Order. During the, Republic Marines served all manner of roles, including support for the Jedi as well as the protection of supply lines.

Dissolution and rebirth
"The Ruusan Reformation was greeted with great fanfare by the citizenry of the Republic. But, given all that I've seen, one cannot help but wonder if it was in fact a mistake. The Jedi became bogged down in the everyday currents of galactic affairs so much, that they became blind to threats from within, and because of this, they were nearly destroyed."

- Luke Skywalker, c. 44 ABY

With the victory of the Jedi over the Brotherhood of Darkness, many war-weary citizens from throughout the Republic began to clamor for reform. With no discernible threats to galactic stability in sight, the Senate instituted the, which saw the entire military of the Galactic Republic abolished, with peace being maintained by the newly-organized and the Jedi Order, who had chosen to undertake a greater hand in policing the galaxy. In the thousand-year peace that followed the Reformation, the traditions and honors of the Marines were all but forgotten.

However, with the rise in power of interstellar corporations and their droid armies, which culminated in the pan-galactic, the legacy of the Republic Marines was once again brought to the fore. As the s of the diversified in the face of the shifting tactics and doctrines of the ' droid and naval forces, a new brand of  was created. Formed from an elite division of clones under the leadership of Jedi Master, these troops were cross-trained in a wide variety of environmental combat, including harsh-weather and shipboard fighting. After the war's end and the Republic was remade by into the, these marines continued in Imperial service.

Basic unit structure
The Marines, who used the same rank system for officers as the Navy, were originally organized into regiments, each normally commanded by a captain or full commander. Each regiment was typically divided into smaller, autonomous units:

Units operating separately also mustered with enlisted and commissioned support staff: this included executive officers for battalion, company, and platoon-sized units, as well as adjutants, armorers, weapon and equipment riggers, as well as vehicle and heavy-weapon crews where applicable. Medical services were provided by corpsmen from the Navy, and were not usually attached to specific units.

The larger warships in the Republic Navy could muster a full battalion, however, most ships maintained only a company-sized presence. Worlds on the fringes of Republic space might garrison a regiment of Marines, alongside two or more regular Army divisions depending on population and strategic value. Small outposts, such as those which contained listening posts, were often staffed only at the company level. When the Marines abandoned the regimental-sized units, the rank scale moved up one notch, which was to say, a battalion would be led by a full commander, while a platoon would serve under a junior lieutenant, with an ensign as executive officer. The battalions themselves were also increased in size. The new chain of command became:

This updated organizational system served the Marines well in the wars to come, when small-scale actions could have profound consequences for future or concurrent campaigns. During their history, the Corps itself grew to include more than thirty battalions organized into at least ten divisions. This was in addition to other autonomous and semi-autonomous combat units and various administrative, logistical, and public-relations units.

The Marine Aerospace Wings
"There's nothing quite like terrain-following flying at supersonic speeds while evading detection to get the heart pumping. Forget swoop racing, flying for the Corps is where the real thrills are!"

- Marine Lieutenant Chak Ravartin, in a letter to a friend

During the reorganization prior to the outbreak of hostilities with the Mandalorians, the Marines expanded to include several wings of starfighters, to be equipped with the brand-new and, later, the. Up until then, the Marines had also relied on Navy assault shuttles piloted by Navy crews, and it was realized that extra aerial support was needed for Marines to be effective in areas of active hostilities or contested landing zones. Since Navy starfighter pilots were expected to be proficient in with enemy starfighters in addition to attacking enemy capital ships, they did not have the level of atmospheric combat training that the Mandalorians demonstrated in their raids against the outlier worlds beyond the Republic. What was more, they did not have the same level of expertise with direct ground support operations. In addition, a specialized class of dropship, the T-32z Jarhead-class assault lander, was designed, with pilots initially drawn from the ranks of Navy Search and Rescue units. Some of the more daring smugglers, in lieu of prison time, were given the opportunity to serve as Marine dropship pilots, passing on tactics to the new generation that would eventually replace them.

The Marines' Aerospace Wings were designed to correct this deficiency. By recruiting new pilots from the circuits of the galaxy, the Marines were able to quickly field a force of combat-ready pilots who were as comfortable flying through the narrow artificial canyons of a city to attack a ground-based strongpoint as they would be in the vacuum of space. With the exception of dedicated atmospheric and ground-attack training on top of standard space combat tactics, Marine aerospace units were readied and organized on broadly similar terms to their Navy counterparts.

Aerospace Wings themselves were typically administrative units only, with the bulk of operations occurring at the squadron level. On large Republic capital ships, a squadron of Marine-piloted Aureks would be assigned to supplement the Navy starfighter units already stationed on board, and would typically take orders from the senior Marine commander. Individual squadrons would also be assigned to ground bases already garrisoned by Marines. At their height, the Marine Corps possessed as many as thirty-five operational squadrons, which were organized into twelve wings. As newer versions of Aurek- and Chela-class starfighters were produced, the various Marine units were among the first to receive such upgrades.

Ranks
The Marine Corps used a modified rank structure that combined a system of enlisted and non-commissioned officer ranks similar to that of the Army with the commissioned officer ranks utilized by the Navy. This system had several benefits, including making it easier for Army officers to oversee Marine enlistees and NCOs, and for Marines to adjust to having superiors who were commissioned as naval officers.

Since the Marine Corps made up a fairly small percentage of the Republic military, there were no provisions for the rank system to include the upper admiralty. In fact, vice-admiral was the highest rank that could be held within the Marines, and was given only to the serving Commandant of the Marine Corps. Marine officers who held the rank of captain or rear admiral, being educated in fleet operations as well as ground tactics, typically served as staff officers or liaisons to major Navy or Army commands, though in times of war they sometimes oversaw the deployment of larger units. In some rare cases, captains would actually serve in combat; this occurred most often during the Mandalorian conflict and the Jedi Civil War that followed.

Tactics and deployment
"Luck is the difference between a good battle plan going bad, and a bad one going well."

- Marine axiom

Overall tactical doctrine
The Republic Marines were first formed within the Republic Navy, and intended to serve as adjuncts to a warship's security personnel. Trained in close-quarters combat using both ranged and melee weapons, they became effective at repelling boarders and even at boarding enemy warships. Sakira Tobonne, who had originally outlined the concept of the Marines and served as their first Commandant, soon realized that these skills would translate well to urban warfare. Overall, the Marine Corps saw itself and its units as shock troopers, able to overwhelm their enemies and provide a conduit for funneling reinforcements onto contested areas or battlefields.

In the years leading up to the Mandalorian Wars, the Republic Marines diversified radically. While they had always&mdash;and continued to be&mdash;experts in small-unit tactics on dense urban battlefields, a greater emphasis was placed on flexibility and initiative. The regiment was abandoned in favor of the battalion as the largest self-contained unit, with emphasis placed on company and platoon commanders becoming more proactive and able to adapt to changing circumstances. While still considered a part of the Navy, the Marines adopted such tactics as scout/sniper pairs, infiltration and extraction teams, as well as commando operations which included sabotage, high-value target neutralization options, and raiding of an enemy's vulnerable rear areas. This model for organization and operation remained largely unchanged throughout the rest of the history of the Republic Marines, due in large part to its success against the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders and the Sith Empire under Darths Revan and Malak.

Operational deployment
Marine Corps units saw shipboard and planetside duty throughout the Republic, though they saw the majority of their service on the outer reaches of the explored galaxy. Ideally, every warship in the Navy of frigate class or greater would have had a cadre of Marine troopers assigned to it, though in practice this was rarely maintained. were the smallest ships that would receive a Marine detachment, carrying only a squad; Hammerhead-class cruisers, being the mainstay of the Outer Rim fleets during the Mandalorian Wars and Old Sith Wars, could carry a platoon. Larger capital ships such as Interdictor-class cruisers, might carry two companies, while command vessels such as or  could field a full battalion. These numbers were in addition to any regular Army troopers that would normally serve as part of a warship's crew. The starfighter compliment aboard these larger vessels would often be augmented by at least one Marine squadron.

Marine units were also assigned to many of the frontier worlds of the Republic, the size of their garrison usually dependent on how valuable or populated any given world was, according to a number of factors that included the overall galactic situation. Small listening and communications posts might be guarded by a single company, but they would oftentimes have support from ground-based Marine starfighters in addition to priority access to the in order to report relevant information or request reinforcements or extraction in the face of attack. On worlds that were strategically valuable or heavily-populated, Marines served as supplementary forces; part of this included ceremonial duties such as serving as the guardians of embassies, consulates, and other government agencies and the buildings in which they conducted business. In these cases, Marines utilized the services and support of vehicles from the Army and Navy, as dedicated Marine support units were seen as more important to reinforcing the frontier.

Individual troopers, officers and pilots could expect to see a variety of such duty assignments even if they did not choose to pursue a long-term career in the Corps. Officers and enlistees usually served in at least two different units during a given term of service, oftentimes in entirely different regions of the galaxy. While peacetime tours for individual soldiers could last for up to two Standard years, combat deployments were kept to a maximum of six months before a unit was rotated away from the fighting in order to rest, replenish and retrain before being brought back to the front at a different sector. The goal of this was to maintain a sense of mobility, so that a Marine trooper or their unit would not become too comfortable in one place and be more capable of adapting to new environments and conditions.

Tactical specializations
While most Marines served the dual role of line infantry and warship security, exceptional soldiers were recruited into the specialized divisions of the Corps. Every line squad included at least one demolitions specialist, while a typical platoon would include a scout/sniper pair. A field company would include a squad of reconnaissance troopers, which was in turn centered around two scout/sniper pairs and a demolitions and sabotage expert and led by specially-trained NCOs. A full battalion working together would include all of these, in addition to a dedicated intelligence section that reported directly to the battalion commander and commanding officer of the warship or planetary garrison the battalion was stationed with. Since medical and other support services were supplied by the Navy aboard warships, or by the Army on planetside deployments, there was no need for dedicated medics or vehicle pilots, except in the case of the Marines' own Jarhead-class assault landers and light-armored vehicles.

This up-scaling of tactical specialization allowed for Marine units to be largely modular in nature, so that a reinforced battalion that shipped out with six companies attached to it instead of the usual four would not be bogged down by excess bureaucracy. Similarly, an understrength company or platoon would still have the ability to utilize non-conventional warfare tactics when faced with superior numbers of enemy forces. Advanced individual training, on top of the six months of boot camp that every recruit underwent, ensured that virtually any Marine would be able to, in a crisis, fill in for downed comrades who had received specialized training for these roles. In theory, this also allowed for a smooth transition of leadership should a unit's commanding officer or senior non-commissioned officers be incapacitated in the course of combat operations.

Weapons and equipment
"All the training in the galaxy ain't worth a bucket of bantha sweat if your gear's crap."

- Marine Sergeant Denaas Bekuur, in his memoirs

Blasters and other weapons
When they were first formed from the ranks of the Army and Navy, the Republic Marines made use of the same weapons and equipment as the forces they were recruited from. Eventually, after having honed their tactics and doctrine, they began to favor weapons of two distinct types: those that offered solid short-range stopping power, such as and light, rapid-fire, and high-powered  that could deliver reliable accuracy at ranges in excess of one and a half kilometers. Pistols and carbines were favored for close-quarters combat (CQC in Marine parlance), such as that which typically took place in boarding actions or room-to-room fighting in urban centers. Blaster rifles, on the other hand, saw the lion's share of service while a Marine unit was stationed out in the field, away from the more civilized parts of a planet. Specialized detachments used highly-modified versions of these long-range weapons, the result of which further increased their power and range; a trained Republic scout/sniper team, outfitted with such a rifle, could reliably inflict lethal damage at ranges exceeding three kilometers in ideal conditions.

Though Marine doctrine and ethos favored precision and mobility over brute strength and overwhelming firepower, the need for and usefulness of heavier types of weapons was still acknowledged. Depending on circumstances, a squad could include from one to three Marines outfitted either with s, s that could lob a variety of ordnance types, portable anti-vehicle missile platforms, or a combination of these types. Field units tended to assign their heavy weapons to a single fire team, who would employ their repeaters as a mobile base of fire to cover their comrades' movements on the battlefield. Marine companies and platoons stationed in space, however, placed a much smaller emphasis on the use of larger-scale weapons, as a misplaced explosive projectile could rupture the hull of a starship, or else accidentally damage components that were vital to continued operations. While shipboard units still maintained their allotment, these were typically kept in reserve, used only on those occasions when they would be called upon to fight on the surface of a planet or moon. Training in heavy weapons use was typically elective, with Marine volunteers taking courses in the use of various types after having graduated from boot camp.

Other equipment
In addition to blasters or heavy weapons, Marines typically carried explosives that were somewhat more powerful than those carried by their counterparts in the Army, including low- to medium-yield s. Each squad included at least one demolitions specialist, who could draw upon the pool of ordnance carried by his or her fellows to achieve any number of objectives, often in non-conventional ways. Most Marine line soldiers also carried s, which were employed not only as last-ditch weapons, but also as tools. By the time of the Mandalorian Wars, the Marine Utility Knife Mk. I had been developed and circulated into general service; this item, sixteen centimeters long and nearly five centimeters thick, housed a folding vibroblade of some ten centimeters, in addition to a small hydrospanner, and other miniaturized tools useful in affecting field repairs to damaged weapons and equipment. While not as effective against as a blaster or, the blade could prove lethal if inserted into the gaps between armor plating. Filling out the typical assortment of field gear, each Marine was issued a multifrequency comlink, a grapnel hook and liquid cable, an emergency medical kit with kolto injector (later replaced by bacta), and extra power cells and gas cartridges for their weapons.

Armor
Due to the nature of their roles and the fact that they were a relatively small percentage of the armed forces, the Republic Marines enjoyed the use of some of the best suits of battle armor that Republic armorsmiths could craft. Built of tough, reinforced and comprising eighteen separate pieces, Marines considered their armor to be roughly on par with that worn by the average Mandalorian trooper. The materials used made for a heavier suit than what Republic Army troopers wore, but new recruits were conditioned to accept its bulk by wearing suits that were identical to standard assault armor, but made of significantly heavier materials. These suits would be worn through most of basic training, so that by the time a newly-minted Marine received their standard issue armor, they were well-equipped to handle any potential hindrances to mobility.

The first type of assault armor, developed in the wake of the Great Hyperspace War, included a large, somewhat bulky cylindrical helmet that appeared to many outside observers to resemble an inverted jar. This resulted in Marines often being referred to as "jarheads," a title that they would never succeed in squelching even after their suits were redesigned and modernized. This new version included a number of key developments, the most noticeable of which were the slimmed-down and upgraded helmet, the replacement of the right shoulder piece with a reinforced pauldron which nested well with Marine-issue blaster rifles, the separation of the shin armor into boots, and the addition of extra pouches on the utility belt. Marine armor had always been vacuum-rated, but the new set further protected the wearer from exposure to airborne contaminants that included biological pathogens, chemical irritants and agents, and the fallout from nuclear weapons.

Vehicles and droids
The Marine Corps made use of few classes of vehicles, as most of their needs in this regard were met by the Navy or Army. Those that the Corps did utilize included assault shuttles, such as the Jarhead-class assault lander, a heavily-armored and -shielded dropship built by that was equipped with two dual-mount blaster cannon turrets; and lightly-armored  vehicles such as the GP-22b infantry fighting vehicle a land-based attack transport manufactured by  that possessed a turreted heavy laser cannon in addition to slots in its armored sides for blaster rifles. While Jarhead-class landers were kept aboard Navy warships as the primary means of inserting shipboard Marines onto and extracting them from various battlefields, planetary garrisons were typically equipped with up to four GP-22bs per company. These repulsorlift vehicles could transport a half-squad of troopers in addition to the two-person crew, while the assault landers were capable of transporting a full platoon, with both carrying half these numbers when used to evacuate any casualties.

Marine units, particularly those stationed on frontier worlds, were also assigned supplemental forces of s, ranging from the ubiquitous to various marks of s and other models. These were typically optimized for defense, in order to serve as sentries during day-to-day operations or as supplementary line units in the case of a full-scale attack. Though capable of operating in a semi-autonomous capacity, groups of these droids were typically controlled from within a Marine garrison, from which they would receive general deployment and targeting orders. Most Marine troopers and officers considered them somewhat expendable, however certain others took care to include these inorganic auxiliaries and utilizing their strengths in any plans that they might craft. In addition, droid support was critical to the successful operation of Marine outposts, with various models providing and other.

Training
"Marine training ain't for the faint of heart, and it ain't for the guy off the street, either. It takes guts and dedication to cut it as one of us, and if the DIs don't sense it in you...well, you've had it."

- Marine Sergeant Denaas Bekuur, in his memoirs

Basic training
The level of training given to Republic Marines was intense and grueling, both physically and psychologically. The Basic Marine Training Regimen, often referred simply as boot camp, lasted six months from time of enlistment to graduation as a Marine private. The very first week, referred to recruit and drill instructor alike as Hell Week, revolved around an initial twenty-four hour period of nonstop physical exercise that were interspersed with obstacle-course running under simulated combat conditions provided by live-fire blaster weaponry. The rest of the week was never the same for each training cycle, with the various platoon DIs mixing things up as they saw fit to impress upon the recruits exactly what they could expect to experience in wartime. Recruits who were unable to complete Hell Week due to accidental injury would be given the chance to go at it again, but those who chose to quit voluntarily were shipped off to the Republic Army or Navy due to the fact that they had still agreed to a term of military service. If a recruit made it through, which seventy-five percent of trainees did, then they passed through three separate phases, each two months long.

Basic Physical Training
Upon the completion of Hell Week, the recruit would pass through Basic Physical Training, or BPT, where they would learn Marine-style calisthenics and other forms of physical exercise intended to condition their bodies for long periods of stress. This period also covered basic hand-to-hand martial arts, wherein recruits learned unarmed combat training that drew inspiration from the various forms. While it was not as graceful, it put more emphasis on power and ending fights quickly in keeping with Marine doctrine. Also during BPT, recruits would be exposed to all manner of potential irritants and impairments, such as flashbangs and s, in order to experience their effects under controlled conditions. In the last two weeks of Basic Physical Training, the recruits would be issued their first suits of training armor, which was actually heavier and more cumbersome than those issued to line units, in order to acclimate to the idea of being so encased. For those two weeks, recruits were not allowed to remove the armor under any circumstances, except for doffing their helmets during mealtimes.

Basic Combat Training
After completing the BPT courses, recruits would enter Basic Combat Training, or BCT. During this phase, recruits would learn to master blaster pistols and rifles as well as the basics of melee combat with vibroblades. Physical exercises were continued, though less intense, and mainly as a means of continuing to keep recruits in shape and into the habit of staying in shape. Blaster marksmanship was seen as the keystone of a successful Marine; thus, this phase was the most critical time for any recruit despite their potential in any other field. Recruits were drilled extensively on the proper maintenance and field repair of common types of blasters, so that they could be better acquainted with that type of weapon. Marksmanship training also included shooting at stationary and moving targets from stationary and moving positions, and targets included such things as blaster s that fired back.

Advanced Combat and Tactical Training
Recruits who passed their Basic Marksmanship Test went on to the final phase of basic training, Advanced Combat and Tactical Training, or ACTT. At the beginning of this phase, the drill instructors would pick temporary squad and fire team leaders from within their units, assigning them to oversee the other recruits; these training NCOs were typically selected from among the best performers and encouraged to explore the concept of combat leadership. ACTT continued to emphasize the honing of a recruit's marksmanship skills and proficiency with other types of weapons, but it also introduced the many-fold problems and theories of battlefield tactics and strategies. This phase typically took recruits away from the well-established courses and training areas of a Marine training facility and out into the field, where they would learn about terrain and how to use it as cover and concealment. Other training included tactical formations and deployments, including rappelling training for use when deploying from assault landers or other forms of shuttlecraft, as well as simulated combat drills using practice weapons and target harnesses in platoon versus platoon actions.

The Blast Furnace
Upon the successful completion of Advanced Combat and Tactical Training, Marine recruits were taken through a last phase of training before being inducted into the Corps. This seventy-two hour period, nicknamed The Blast Furnace, was intended to serve as the final test of everything the recruits had learned during boot camp. During the three day exercise, no recruit was permitted to sleep, and they were given only two high-calorie meals at twenty-four and forty-eight hours in. The first day consisted of forced marches in full armor and field gear, capped off with a night obstacle course run under live-fire conditions. Afterward, the recruits would share their experiences amongst themselves and their DIs, exchanging ideas and feelings about the progression of their training. At dawn the next day, the recruits would go through a series of field problems, once again using simulated weapons and target harnesses. These were also interspersed with more forced marches, and the field problems lasted well into the following night. The last day combined marching with more tactical problems, but the marches were plotted and the battles were led by the recruits themselves with no intervention or advice from their DIs. After completing the grueling course, the gathered units of recruits were pronounced true Marines in a quiet ceremony by the base's commanding officer.

Advanced training courses
Though individuals who successfully passed through boot camp were considered to be Marines in full, their training was by no means complete. Depending on their proficiency scores and personal preferences expressed during training, newly-minted troopers could be offered spots in any number of advanced courses. These were designed to emphasize diversity amongst the Corps, ensuring that each successive generation of soldier was as well-rounded as was possible; while a Marine might go through infiltration training, they might not necessarily be assigned to a reconnaissance unit. The Corps offered a number of different options for enlisted personnel upon their graduation, and most took at least two courses before joining a line unit. Those who failed a given course were typically denied the chance to reapply, though exceptions were made depending on any mitigating circumstances.

Close-Quarters Combat Training
By far the most popular secondary training course, Close-Quarters Combat Training, or CQCT, built upon the foundations laid in the BCT and ACTT phases of basic training. It emphasized short-ranged combat with blaster pistols as well as melee combat, including higher-tier unarmed fighting styles and advanced training with vibroblades and other melee weapons. CQCT courses lasted for one month, and took place almost exclusively aboard old and decommissioned warships that had been stripped of nearly all useful equipment and permanently anchored in orbit above Marine training bases. Troopers lived and trained aboard these vessels, and exercises and other combat drills could take place at any time, the idea being to impress upon the trainees that shipboard combat was rarely scheduled in advance. In order to graduate CQCT, training classes had to demonstrate teamwork and mastery of their environment in a number of mock battles against their compatriots.

Demolitions School
Since demolitions specialization was often necessary on the battlefield, many new Marines underwent demolitions training. The basic two week-long course taught new soldiers how to properly handle the explosive munitions they were most likely to be issued with during combat situations. However, those who passed within the upper tier of their training class were given the opportunity to take an advanced version of the course. This lasted for another two months and made those who graduated into virtual bomb-factories unto themselves.

Infiltration, Reconnaissance and Sabotage Training
Often nicknamed Invisible Rascals and Sneaks Training School, this training course first required new Marines to have passed the basic demolitions course at the very least, though completion of the advanced course was preferred. The two-month class imparted the essentials of scout training, including lessons in silent movement, cover, concealment and camouflage, and infiltration techniques to the trainees. Once these were mastered, students went on to complete another two weeks of sabotage training, which drew upon knowledge acquired during demolitions school. This second phase taught soldiers how best to utilize explosives and other munitions against pinpoint targets during small-scale operations that might be part of a larger action or a covert mission behind enemy lines.

Scout/Sniper Training
Considered the most elite secondary training course, scout/sniper training required candidates to have passed both demolitions school and the IRST course with high scores. In addition, soldiers wishing to become scout/snipers had to have consistently demonstrated high degrees of marksmanship skills throughout basic training and any other advanced courses that they had undergone. Throughout the two months of training, recruits further honed their scouting, observation, and marksmanship skills to a degree that was over and above that which was considered "perfect" by the previous courses. This resulted in a high dropout rate, with only forty percent of accepted candidates passing the entire course. The course was so demanding, in fact, that any Marine who managed to pass in the upper tenth percentile was highly-encouraged to meet with a representative of the Jedi Order, so that they might be checked out for possible Force-sensitivity.

Enlisted Leadership Program
Regardless of any advanced training courses that a new Marine might have attended, certain recruits were singled out for additional training in battlefield and tactical leadership skills. The Enlisted Leadership Program, or ELP, was where such training was given; entry into this course was based on both objective and subjective observations of a recruit's performance during boot camp and advanced training. Most classes were small, with only five or so Marines chosen from any given training company, which allowed for individualized instruction from senior non-commissioned officers. ELP emphasized two aspects of a soldier's development; first, by drawing out a recruit's latent leadership qualities and helping to refine their ability to organize resources and encourage others to excel; second, the course built upon the recruit's prior training experiences, teaching them how to assess a battlefield situation and see how it could be influenced for the benefit of the unit. The program culminated in the setting up and overseeing of the opposing force, or OpFor, for a field exercise being undertaken by boot camp-level trainees going through their own turns at The Blast Furnace.

Inter-Service Training School
Since the Republic Marines was first formed as an adjunct to the Navy, it also drew recruits from enlisted soldiers, non-commissioned, and commissioned officers who served with the Navy or the Army. To compensate for these inter-service transfers who already possessed training and practical battlefield skills, the Inter-Service Training School was established on. An expedited version of boot camp and some advanced courses, it lasted for nine weeks and, in essence, converted Navy and Army personnel into Marines. Recruits were broken of various habits and modes of thinking that Navy or Army training instilled, and were instead taught to use whatever skills they possessed in accordance with Marine tactics, doctrine, and esprit de corps. The school only accepted voluntary transfers, which could be requested but were almost entirely based on recommendations from senior Marine NCOs and officers; in rare instances, recommendations made by Jedi Knights who had served with Army, Navy and Marine units were also accepted.

ISTS classes were demanding, however they also had a near one hundred percent graduation rate. Successful completion of the transfer course was typically rewarded with an increase in rank for the trainee, who was then considered a Marine in full. However, among those with whom they would then serve, they were often jokingly referred to as "void Marines" for former Navy personnel, or "mud Marines" for former Army soldiers. In addition, upon the completion of ISTS, the myriad advanced training courses that were available to boot camp graduates were also open to enrollment by inter-service transferees.

Officer training
While boot camp and the advanced courses that accompanied it served to ensure that enlisted and non-commissioned officers received the best training that could be provided, Marine officers underwent an altogether different kind of induction and training regimen. The majority of officers were trained at the various Marine Corps Academies, which were adjuncts to the major Republic Naval Academies that had been set up on various Core Worlds, while others were graduates of Officer Candidate School.

The Marine Corps Academy
As the Marine Corps had first emerged from the ranks of the Republic Navy, cadets underwent their officer training at a number of auxiliary academies that had been set up on various Core Worlds, such as Carida, and. In order to be accepted, potential cadets had to possess high academic marks attained during the course of attending accredited secondary schools. In addition, candidates were expected to have put in training in extracurricular activities that lent themselves toward specialized warfare; these included such activities as, vehicle piloting, participating in leadership organizations such as various benevolent charitable organizations, or scientific pursuits. Candidates also had to pass a battery of physical and psychological tests, as well as a basic entrance examination aimed at determining a potential cadet's ability to learn as well as their current level of knowledge. Once accepted, cadets were then shipped off to the closest academy, where they would spend the next four years.

The typical academic year for Marine Corps recruits was spent in four phases, the first and third focusing on academics while the second and third focused on practical training. Cadets were expected to learn the history of the Marines as well as its esprit de corps, famous figures, and illustrious battles and campaigns; in addition, they were expected to achieve the same results in physical exercise, marksmanship, and melee combat as their enlisted counterparts. Where Academy training differed radically was in its increased focus on academics and the incorporation of principles of naval warfare, including basic fleet operations, space warfare tactics, and inter-service co-operation. Though Marine cadets were not expected to be as proficient as their Navy counterparts, they were taught how to fill roles aboard warships that might be rendered vacant through combat action or campaign attrition.

In addition to all of this, Marine Corps officer training was also intended to draw cadets into various areas of military specialization. Since Marine battalions possessed their own intelligence sections, some cadets were taught how to interpret and analyze battlefield intelligence and make recommendations to their commanding officers based on any data that such sources provided. Marine officers were also expected to be able to properly deploy specialized troopers such as demolitions soldiers, scout/snipers pairs, or reconnaissance squads on the battlefield. Because of these various needs, cadets typically underwent abbreviated courses in those fields, which were typically undertaken in the third and fourth years. As part of the progression from one year to the next the various classes of cadets, in conjunction with their professors, picked their own cadet officers based on their academic and field performance as well as their ability to lead. Graduation came after the completion of the fourth year of study, after which cadets would be granted the rank of Ensign and, after two months of post-academic field training under a Master Gunnery Sergeant, would be assigned to a line unit.

Esprit de corps
"There's no such thing as an ex-Marine. You may be out, but you never lose the attitude or the mentality&mdash;no matter how hard you might want to."

- Marine Sergeant Denaas Bekuur, in his memoirs

The ethos of the Republic Marines was built upon the duty of professional service to the Republic, loyalty to one's unit and comrades-in-arms, and dedication to upholding the values of civilization as embodied by the principles of the galactic government. The necessities of war and, in particular, the role of the Marine Corps as both front-line guardians and protectors of key figures brought with them a tight-knit bond. Troopers and officers within the Corps were encouraged to form close relationships with one another and across the chain of command, the better to be able to back one another up in a fight. Fraternization and even marriage among officers or enlisted personnel was allowed; however, unions between an officer and an enlisted trooper were forbidden in order to maintain objectivity. Another common side effect of Marine service was in the transition back to civilian life, whether this was after a single term of enlistment or retiring after a twenty-year career. Marines who mustered out typically maintained the habits they had developed during training and deployment, and tended to live simpler lives than most people; this prompted many of them to maintain that there was no such thing as an "ex-Marine."

Though operational discipline was tighter than that within the Navy or the Army, Marine units in garrison or on deployment during peacetime or away from the front lines were allowed liberties that Navy and Army units would not normally receive. In combat situations Marines were pushed hard, and commanders knew that their officers and troopers alike needed to find outlets in order to maintain their sanity. Marines were encouraged to use their down time perfecting their combat abilities, this was accomplished by engaging in such activities as friendly competitions, such as competitive shooting matches with blaster pistols or rifles, sparring matches involving melee weapons or unarmed combat, or races through obstacle courses. Unofficial hostile-environment training was also encouraged, with unit leaders of all levels organizing exercises in the wilderness of whatever worlds they happened to be stationed upon on a regular basis. Such expeditions usually resulted in the collection of souvenirs, which were typically sent home.

Ceremonial duties and units
Throughout the operational history of the Republic Marines, they served as both practical and ceremonial guards for government offices and the holders of government positions. This stemmed from their first battles, which included the defense of Coruscant during the Sith Empire's attack on the capital world during the Great Hyperspace War. Such posts were filled only by Marines whose training and proficiency scores were in the uppermost five percent; such duty, however brief it might be, was considered a badge of honor. In addition to this ceremonial role, the Marine Corps fielded an assortment of public-relations units.

Marine Corps Band
In 4,925 BBY the first iteration of the Marine Corps Band was formed by Lieutenant Commander Yen Duursena, leader of the First Battalion, Third Marine Regiment, with the blessing of the serving Commandant. Thirty Marines of various ranks, playing various brass and percussion instruments, began to tour the outlier garrisons that year, bringing with them the latest musical styles from the Core Worlds. The success of this first tour encouraged the formal creation of a musical unit, which eventually grew to include five hundred of the Marines' most talented musicians, divided up into five sub-units that would visit military and civilian centers across the Republic. A Marine Corps band would typically perform at the inauguration of a new Supreme Chancellor, at the dedication of a war memorial or monument to a significant battle or leader, or during state visits by planetary or sector dignitaries.

Marine Corps Marksmanship Teams
Not long after the success of the Marine Corps Band in promoting public relations was realized, a unit of competitive sharpshooters was created by Commander Lorna Illior, leader of the Sixth Marine Regiment. A crack shot herself with all manner of blaster-type weaponry, she had developed a reputation as a person who could pick off moving training remotes at distances of over a kilometer with only the most basic of scopes attached to the standard Marine battle rifle of the time. After organizing a series of shooting competitions within her regiment that lasted for over a year, she had assembled a team of twenty troopers and officers that included pistol experts, carbine experts, and rifle experts. Commander Illior furtively entered the members of this team into a number of high-profile civilian competitions, each of which was won by the Marine entrants who, prior to entering, had agreed to donate any winnings to charity.

When word reached the Commandant, he was at first furious that Illior had taken these actions without clearing them with her chain of command. However, the public reaction to the revelation of the Marines' role in setting new standards for competitive shooting was overwhelmingly positive. Buckling to political pressure, the Marine Corps brass refrained from reprimanding the commander, and instead appointed her to oversee the building of several additional teams for exhibition matches and other public-relations events. Illior herself would star in some of these events, demonstrating her remarkable long-range shooting skills throughout the galaxy. Many years later, members of these teams would form the core faculty of the Marines' first scout/sniper schools.

Behind the scenes
The Republic Marines, as envisioned by fan fiction author Sean "Goodwood" Nash, are based heavily upon the as well as the Systems Alliance Marines from the computer and video games ' and ' developed by. First mentioned in the short story Star Wars: Death and Life, the Marine Corps itself was fleshed out considerably in the novellas and novels that followed within the Tales from the Corps series, also written by Nash.

Within the context of the  universe, the Marines were intended by Nash to bridge what he saw as a critical gap in the way galactic military forces operated, both in peacetime and in war. The only reference for an organization like the Marines in, as far as he is aware, was the Galactic Marines formed from a legion of clone troopers during the Clone Wars, and their Imperial counterparts, the latter of which only sees use in the computer and video game  and.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Death and Life
 * A Marine Went to Jedi Camp
 * Star Wars: Saber Battalion
 * The Last Full Measure
 * The Great Leap Forward