On Hom: In Transition (1112-1450 AD)

[Cris]

This thread is for discussing the following:

Academies transitioning into Military Training Centers
Missionaries transitioning into Soldiers
The Draft
The Structure of the Academy
The Structure of the Military Training Center
The Homidin names for Academic and Military Positions and their corresponding English words.

[Cris]

March 16, 2010 Summer wrote:

Brianne (as admin) or Cris (as SE), would this be the right thread to open up a conversation about the draft? I mean, they're drafting to go to Earth but the draft itself happens on Hom.

Also, I heard from Gillian that the new edition of the sourcebook arrives in April. Should I hold off until then?

I'm curious to talk (publicly, to help everyone) about the draft. Basics and not-so-basics. When did it start? Why? Terms of service? Length of a tour of duty? PTSD occurrences. Military law. Military tribunals outside Homidin standard law. Active law. Things like that.

Summer

March 16, 2010 Luz wrote:

I cannot commentary too much on the laws and guidelines of the draft, Summer, but I would very much enjoy talking about the emotional responses. I wrote about the draft directly in all the five short exclusives for the character sheets in "Blood Trade" the comic. I wanted to show a time near the beginning of the draft just when the Council shifted from asking for Homidin to enlist to forcing certain high-skill Homidin to go to Earth.

I covered in the exclusives these perspectives:

A young person enlisted because he feels it is the right thing to do.

Another enlisting just for adventure.

One applying and being denied.

One applying over and over again and finally being accepted.

One individual very against the entire and whole mission to Earth being forced to enlist, drafted.

March 18, 2010 Brianne wrote:

Summer, this would definitely be the right place to open a discussion on the draft.

Cris, in the new sourcebook, does it talk specifically about Summer's questions? (Basics and not-so-basics. When did it start? Why? Terms of service? Length of a tour of duty? PTSD occurrences. Military law. Military tribunals outside Homidin standard law. Active law. Things like that. )

Luz, your shorts on the character sheets really give an incredible feel to what the draft is like. I think they're going to be a great reference for any Celestial writer.

Brianne

March 19, 2010 Cris wrote:

Mar 15, 2010 23:17:12 GMT -8 Sunshine said:

I'm curious to talk (publicly, to help everyone) about the draft. Basics and not-so-basics. When did it start? Why? Terms of service? Length of a tour of duty? PTSD occurrences. Military law. Military tribunals outside Homidin standard law. Active law. Things like that.

Summer

This is an area about which little has been decided. I want to respond to Olivia's ideas in a separate post, but the new Sourcebook doesn't have much about the draft other than the basics.

Basic Info.
1. Prior to the arrival of the Grail, the Academies were used for training Missionaries.
2. Academies change their focus from Missionary prep to military prep and focus once it was decided that Celestials would go to Earth in force.
3. From 1113 until 1450, Celestials were poking around on Earth, but had not formally encountered Terrapyres. First contact happens in 1450 in Mexico and is covered in Luz's story "Blood Trade" which is in the Battle Anthology.

Is there a draft?
Yes. At this point the draft is created after Unification by the Council. The Celestial Council is comprised of representatives from each Province. The representatives are respected Elders from each Province.

When the draft is instated, Celestials are sent to Earth beginning in 1112 because they've figured out that the Grail Drops on Earth more often and with more regularity than anywhere else they've been able to pinpoint. It should be noted that Celestials are sent to many world in search of information, not just Earth.

The Council is not a police force. However, in one of Luz's pieces in which someone is taken against their will, that individual is taken because his/her knowledge is required.

Why is there a draft?
See my response to Olivia's post below.

Who goes?
We have established that all Celestials within a certain age bracket, which can be formally decided here, will be required to serve a term on Earth. They are posted where they're needed. They don't choose their compeer.

None of the rest of it has been mapped out. It definitely needs to be. Let's do it!

Cris

March 27, 2010 Summer wrote:

Thank you everyone for coming to my aid here. These details are at the heart of the plot for the quad of comics and I want everything to be clear and firm.

So, let me see if I understand the basics so far between what Cris is saying and Luz has written:

At the start (maybe the first hundred years or two), only people who would be good enough to be Missionaries (is that capitalized?) go. Then the Council gets worried because they're not making enough progress. They start to recruit. Finally, in maybe the late 1300s or so, they start forcing certain experts to go.

The Council makes the final decisions about draft or no draft, go or no go?

What is the military body under the Council like? Structure? Titles?

Summer

March 27, 2010 Luz writes:

Mar 18, 2010 0:02:52 GMT -8 Admin said:

Luz, your shorts on the character sheets really give an incredible feel to what the draft is like. I think they're going to be a great reference for any Celestial writer.

Thank you, Brianne. I did that in this way on purpose. I think that every Celestial writer should read your adaption of my story. I think it is better than the original. If anyone wants the fiction about the draft, they will need to get your comic.

March 27, 2010 Luz writes:

Summer, I can tell you what was in my mind as I wrote but I do not know, of course, if this will be what stays as fact. Estella is here. She will type. I will talk to her.

I imagined that a great many Celestials who had trained to be Missionaries or who had intended to become Missionaries would go to Earth for the first hundred years. It was almost a privilege. Missionaries are seen as celebrities or heroes or royalty on Hom. They are handling this crisis with the guidance of a unified council of elders from each Province. There are occasionally troubles and dangers but this is to be expected and risk is not unknown to Missionaries.

Sometime near the end of this first hundred years of scattered missions (very few if any Celestials had not been on the planet nonstop) a Celestial claims the Grail and tries to harness it. This Celestial has Key.

The after shocks from this event, of the sharing of this experience when this Celestial returns to the Great Archive, stops all missions to Earth for some years. Interestingly, the Grail to cease to drop on Hom during this five or ten year period according to Olivia's idea. Celestials ponder on what the Grail is and what they should do. The experience of the single Celestial was horrific. It almost killed him.

We can never forget that to a Celestial, the Grail is like a serial killer or an atom bomb. It is a thing of destruction and evil.

Finally the missions recommence. But the Council takes tasks even more seriously. They are not trying to find a way to stop an occasional attack by some natural occurrence now, they are trying to stop a killer who they believe will escalate attacks over time.

From that time until a peak frenzy in 1400s, the Council recruits and even forcibly drafts experts from outside the Missionary class or family lines. I never saw mandatory service according to age. It was always volunteer in the way it is currently in America. So, if a young person did not enlist for at least one tour of ten years, they would not have other privileges offered to those who served, such as the chance to study anything at an Academy, inside or outside Grail Studies.

More later...

Estella made us pita. She said my blood sugar was low. She was wrong; I could tell. But I like her pita.

We continue here:

The draft that I refer to is that from the 1350s or so onward, the Council takes more and more Celestial experts or young people with special abilities and drafts them into the cause. I would imagine that Summer's Pelucir was one of these.

I have always imagined the missions to Earth as being organized in a military fashion not unlike what we see on Earth in almost every country. There are foot soldiers and various tiers of leaders. Military structure is mathematical and logical. We just need Celestial words for the positions.

Though first we should have a structure and titles for how Missionaries used to function. They would have been independently sent by Academies. Provinces would have competed with each other somewhat for who could fund the most missions and bring back and contribute to the Great Archive the most valuable information. Academies had teachers and deans and Missionaries? Do we actually want to use any of these words at all or change them all? Then there would also be mission leaders or field leaders. Since groups would tend to be specialized and not too large, I don't imagine the need for more structure outside that.

I hope this rambling is helpful.

Luz

April 3, 2010 Summer wrote:

I think your "rambling" is *very* useful, Luz. Thank you.

"I have always imagined the missions to Earth as being organized in a military fashion not unlike what we see on Earth in almost every country. There are foot soldiers and various tiers of leaders. Military structure is mathematical and logical. We just need Celestial words for the positions. ... Though first we should have a structure and titles for how Missionaries used to function. They would have been independently sent by Academies. Provinces would have competed with each other somewhat for who could fund the most missions and bring back and contribute to the Great Archive the most valuable information. Academies had teachers and deans and Missionaries? Do we actually want to use any of these words at all or change them all? Then there would also be mission leaders or field leaders. Since groups would tend to be specialized and not too large, I don't imagine the need for more structure outside that."

I like this idea of first deciding Missionary-era titles and structure and then co-oping that structure for the Celestial military. That way we avoid aping human (Human) culture too much.

[Cris]

Summer wrote:

Over on the Portal thread, Luz, your idea is being considered that Missionaries were aided by Visionaries who foresaw the cataclysmic events that were going to happen on some planets. I really like this idea and want to make sure, when we build the Missionary-era structure that we include Visionaries.

Summer

Little side note: Visionaries seem like they would have Key. Mission leaders would have, obviously, Lead. Then different levels or positions Missionaries could have specialties associated with the other four Skills.

April 6, 2010 Launa wrote:

Summer,

I really love this idea about Visionaries. When you talk about different positions for Missionaries based on skill, do you mean like Celestials with Vanish might be used as spies or Missionaries where stealth is important or Celestials with Presence might be warriors or sent on more dangerous missions?

Also, if Celestials with Key might have this Visionary ability (I take it not all Key Celestials are Visionaries?) What other abilities might be associated with the other skills? It makes me think of the Provinces and how each Province has a Skill that is most predominant. A majority of Celestials with Lead in Bei'Sel, for example, make sense since Bei'Sel is famous for counselors, lawgivers, psychologists, etc. But why, for example, might the predominant skill in Irivale (which is famous as an artistic Province) be Presence? Are there artistic abilities inherent in Celestials with Presence? Or Quet'qu (a more high-tech province with great inventors) is inhabited mostly by Celestials with Grace. Why would Celestials with Grace lean toward inventing?

April 8, 2010: Cris wrote

Luz and Summer

All of this seems perfectly logical and the addition of the Visionaries makes sense--how else would Celestials know when or where to travel?

I can get the list of Celestial words together for the various positions once we establish what their English counterparts would be.

At this point, it seems we need:

1. What is the structure of the Academies on Hom?

I would think that we'd have some sort of President (like you'd find at University) who supervises a set number of Deans (Department Heads). The Department Heads would supervise Instructors/Teachers who, in turn, prepare students for various Missions.

2. What are the areas of training in an Academy? (I've done this kind of a like a list of courses offered)

Basic Survival Skills
Portal Technology
Warp Technology
How to Use Your Wretton
UPloading to the Great Archive
Cataloging Your Finds
Advanced Morph Acquisition
Advanced Summoning
Basic Biology
Advanced Biology
Various Mathematics, Physics and other courses.

When the Academies shift to a military focus, the President would become a General; the Deans would become Colonels or Majors; the Instructors Captains and/or Lieutenants and the students would be the "enlisted" ranks which range from Private (lowest) to Sergeant Major ( highest). I'm taking this from the US Army Ranking. Most of the US forces use a similar system, though the names differ somewhat.

Additionally, there are Warrant Officers, who would most likely be Celestials with certain technical expertise, like Bgahon, as Warrant Officers are generally technical leaders and specialists. Warrent Officers might also end up being team leaders.

We should probably also consider some kind of Military Police force as well.

Some of the "courses" would remain, but the focus would probably shift somewhat.

Summer, one final note about Skills. Not all Skills appear in all Provinces and so Lead won't appear in one of the Provinces. Presence, however, will substitute. Someone with Presence is so dynamic you'd want to follow him or her and I think the two could be used interchangably, especially if you wanted to incorporate some of the characters who are already carded but haven't yet appeared in any fiction.

Cris

April 13, 2010 Summer wrote:

Cris, the titles and positions you mention for Academy (pre-Grail) and Military sound perfect. The only thing that seemed missing was recruiters -- from both settings. Recruiters during Academy days would have been like scouts for foot ball -- highly respected and sought after/wished for. Recruiters for the Military-era would be met with mixed emotion, I suppose. Both of them would be the eyes-and-ears of the Academy/Military and search out and find talented individuals.

Can we established Celestial words for these positions now and include recruiters? Maybe the positions that kind of correspond to each other across the Academy and Military could have similar words? That would be cool.

Also, can we limit the ranks in the Military among the enlisted to correspond them with types of students that would have been at an Academy? You know, like, freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, graduate, post-graduate (or whatever, Cris, you know better than I).

If we could hammer these out, I think I'd finally have what I need for my quad! Thank you all so much.

Summer

Cris wrote:

Apr 12, 2010 23:42:57 GMT -8 Sunshine said:

Cris, the titles and positions you mention for Academy (pre-Grail) and Military sound perfect. The only thing that seemed missing was recruiters -- from both settings. Recruiters during Academy days would have been like scouts for foot ball -- highly respected and sought after/wished for. Recruiters for the Military-era would be met with mixed emotion, I suppose. Both of them would be the eyes-and-ears of the Academy/Military and search out and find talented individuals.

Can we established Celestial words for these positions now and include recruiters? Maybe the positions that kind of correspond to each other across the Academy and Military could have similar words? That would be cool.

Summer, great idea. I had completely forgotten about these individuals. Should we just have a Homidin word for "recruiter" that would be used for both?

Also, can we limit the ranks in the Military among the enlisted to correspond them with types of students that would have been at an Academy? You know, like, freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, graduate, post-graduate (or whatever, Cris, you know better than I).

If we could hammer these out, I think I'd finally have what I need for my quad! Thank you all so much.

Summer

Oh, sure! I just wanted to lay out a bunch of options so that we could narrow it down from there. Let me take a look at the whole thing again tomorrow and then I'll post a couple of suggestions and we can go from there.

P.S. I always saw cubes and marbles as tools that Missionaries used pre-Grail, Cris. The only thing I never liked about them was the names "cubes" and "marbles." I didn't think they made sense (Earth words and all). Maybe Jennifer could come up with some kind of cool quantum words? Or maybe just the cubes existed pre-Grail? Now that I think about it, wasn't it Pholus who invented the marbles?

Summer

I agree. Pholous did invent marbles during the time he's posted on Earth and his son has also been born (his 3D son), so if we want to have marbles included in pre-Grail Homidin culture, we will have to come up with an alternative.

Given what I've seen from Launa's work and also what we're hammering out for pre-Grail Hom, we'll need the following:

1. a cube that is made from plant matter
2. a cube that "enhances" a morph--or stores a morph? I don't think we've worked out how one "carries" a morph around yet
3. a cube/marble that is a weapon

Ideas?

Cris

April 18, 2010 Summer wrote

If Hom was primarily a peaceful planet, then just a few small border disputes and only one major offensive attack (the one that goes down at the fjord) would be realistic. There seems like there was incredible high pressure and competition between the Provinces. I wouldn't be surprised if there were other conflicts when teams of Missioaries were off-world gathering.

Last, the same word for recruiter -- both military and academic -- sounds great to me, Cris.

Summer

April 25, 2010 Summer wrote:


Cris,

I think the only thing I need now is the tiers/ranks for the Academy and the military. Are these names up to you since they're in Homidin? I assume so but if you're waiting on me -- or other writers -- I wanted to know so I can start brain-storming. My sweetie is away until Thursday so I'm at loose ends :{

Summer

[Cris]

Okay, everyone. This is the first of 2 posts. The first one lays out a typical military structure (based on the US Army) and explains ranks, commands, officers and NCOs. It also explains how a University is structured. The second post describes the correlation between these two systems so we can see how an Academy would transition into a Military structure. Once we get everyone on the same page, we can vote the basic titles and responsibilities. Then we can decide on departments and fields of study.

Military Structure

Commissioned Officers are distinguished from other military members (or an Officer in Training) by holding a commission; they are trained or training as leaders and hold command positions.

General Officers: Officers who typically command units or formations that are expected to operate independently for extended periods of time. The ranks include:

• General
  
• Lieutenant General. This officer commands a Corps, consisting of about 60,000 individuals, divided into three divisions which are designated with Roman numerals.
  
• Major General. A Major General commands a Division. Generally between 10, 000 and 20,000 people. A Division is generally made up of several Regiments with the balance being filled out with Battalions, each specializing in different weapons or training.
  
• Brigadier General
  

Field Officers: also called "field-grade officers" or "senior officers," are officers who typically command units that can be expected to operate independently for short periods of time (i.e., infantry battalions, cavalry or artillery regiments, warships, air squadrons). Field officers also commonly fill staff positions of superior commands.

• Colonel. A Colonel commands a Regiment or Group, consisting of four Battalions (Infantry Unit) or five to six air groups (for a Wing).
  
• Lieutenant Colonel. A Lt. Colonel commands a Squadron or Battalion, consisting of between two and six Companies, usually four.
  
• Major
  

Company Grade or Junior Officers: The ranks of junior officers are the three or four lowest ranks of officers. Units under their command are generally not expected to operate independently for any significant length of time. Company grade officers also fill staff roles in some units. In some militaries, however, a captain may act as the permanent commanding officer of an independent company-sized army unit, for example a signal or field engineer squadron, or a field artillery battery.

• Captain. A Captain commands a Company consisting of 4 Platoons, commonly 3 line (infantry) Platoons and 1 heavy weapons. Companies are usually designated by a letter (A Company).
  
• Lieutenant (First, Second, Third, etc.). A Lieutenant commands as Platoon, which is 3-4 Fireteams of 13 individuals each. A standard rifle Platoon is 3 Squads of 13 individuals. They are either numbered (1st Platoon) or named by their primary function (Scouting Platoon, etc.)

Subordinate/Student Officer: These officers may be serving at a military academy, or (as common in the United States), as members of a military training unit attached to a civilian college or university, such as an ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) unit. This is due to a common requirement that commissioned officers have at least a four-year degree.

• Officer Cadet

Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) are enlisted personnel, under the command of an officer, granted delegated authority to supervise other military members or assigned significant administrative responsibilities. They are responsible for the care and direct control of junior military members, often functioning in the smaller field units as Executive Officers. Even the most senior NCO officially ranks beneath the most junior commissioned officer or warrant officer.

However, most senior NCOs have more experience, possibly including combat, than junior officers. In many armies, because junior officers have a great amount of responsibility and authority but little operational experience, they are paired with senior NCO advisers. In some organizations, senior NCOs may have formal responsibility and informal respect beyond that of junior officers.

• Sergeant: Commands a Squad of 3 Fireteams (3 soldiers + 1 Corporal). A full Squad = 13. Squads are given number designations. (1st Squad, etc.)
  
• Corporal: Commands a Fireteam of 3 people.

An Army recruiter contacts, interviews, and advises civilian personnel to obtain qualified applicants for enlistment into the Army. Contacts representatives of schools, public officials, personnel managers, parents of prospective applicants, religious and civil leaders, and others to present the Army as an employment and career opportunity. Presents formal and informal talks on advantages of the Army at civic and service organizations and student bodies.

He or she then interviews and counsels prospective enlistees. Discusses individual aims and goals to include security, personal aptitudes, training opportunities, job satisfaction and stability, advancement, prestige, and military life. Explains Army benefits including: medical care, dependent allowance, housing, reenlistment bonus, retirement program, military/civilian educational opportunities, travel, recreational benefits, and all similar programs. Evaluates applicants’ occupational, educational, and psychological background to determine Army programs with specific individual appeal. Explains occupational and organizational structure of the Army to applicants, parents, and interested groups of individuals.

Finally, he or she administers and scores screening physical examination, and enlisted screening test of applicants and counsels with regard to reasonable occupational aspirations within the Army.

Academic Structure

A University structure is set up in a similar way. A University incorporates a number of Colleges under one administration, though the Colleges may be at different locations rather than on one single campus. A University has a President, who is responsible for everything that happens at that University.

A College has a singular focus such as the College of Music or the College of Business. Each College has a Dean, who is responsible for running all of the departments and other aspects of the College.

Within each college, there are specific Departments. For example, in a College of Arts and Sciences, you would have departments ranging from the English Department to the Chemistry Department to the Spanish Department to the Classical Languages Department. Each Department's focus is the various levels from introductory to advanced of the study of their particular subject.

Each Department is run by a Department Head, who supervises all Professors (full Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor and Instructors). There are educational and experience requirements for each level of Professor.

There are also Research Institutes, such as an Institute of Caribbean Studies. These Institutes have a Head, or Chair.

There are Research Facilities including laboratories. These facilities may be located some distance away from the campus itself. The Facility will have a Head or Chairperson as well as other staff members, who most likely are also Professors at the University as well as graduate students. Graduate students are those who have completed 4 years of undergraduate study and are now entering their Masters, or graduate work. Post-Graduate work earns you a Ph.D or Doctor of Philosophy in X, where X is your specific field of study.

There may also be Publications, e.g. University of Texas Press; Museums e.g. The Harvard Museum and Academic Residences. Each of these organizations will have the same kind of management structure as above.

Dean of Students or Dean of Student Affairs is responsible for the welfare of the student body. This person organizes activities as well as enforces the code of conduct among students.

The Student Body President represents the students' concerns to other University personnel.

On Hom, Recruiters travel to different families within Provinces to interview prospective students. They would be paid a salary, but also get a bonus for bringing a particularly bright or outstanding individual to the Academy. There might be recruiters for different colleges who would compete with each other to recruit the best students.

Cris

[Cris]

Now that you're familiar with the basic structures, here are the correlations I propose we adopt. Remember, all of these words will be in Homidin, we just have to get the basics down first.

General = University President

Major General = Dean of a single College

Colonel = Department Head, Institute Chairs, etc
Lt. Colonel = Full Professor
Captain = Associate Professor
Lieutenant = Assistant Professor

Dean of Students = Sergeant
Student Body President = Corporal

Students = enlisted personnel as well as those who are drafted.

Recruiters would be the same in both situations, basically.

Cris

[Sunshine]

Apr 26, 2010 20:03:08 GMT -8 Cris said:

General = University President
Major General = Dean of a single College
Colonel = Department Head, Institute Chairs, etc
Lt. Colonel = Full Professor
Captain = Associate Professor
Lieutenant = Assistant Professor
Dean of Students = Sergeant
Student Body President = Corporal
Students = enlisted personnel as well as those who are drafted.
Recruiters would be the same in both situations, basically.

These look good to me, Cris. Let me propose some simplifications? Most of these are to lessen the rank titles and also to fit the system to what Homidin (Homidus?) culture seems to me.

It seems there's only one Academy in every Province so the need for a General and a Major General could go away and we could just have a General = Dean.

Then, maybe we could do away with the Assistant Professor position as a titled position and just have Full Professor and Associate Professor with star students able to help out. This makes the "ranks" of teachers smaller and more elite. It also would allow us to assign the ranks as:

Captain = Full Professor
Lieutenant = Associate Professor

As for the Dean of Students (Sergeant) and Student Body President (Corporal), it would be nice if more than one person could be a Sergeant and a Corporal. What if, on Hom, these two positions became Union Leader and Union Officer. Academy Unions would be specialized clubs in various topics or areas of study that excel at that Academy (or across all Academies). Leaders of these unions would have access to the Dean to discuss matters. Students who belonged to unions (one or more union) would be seen as active and willing to have a voice in the system.

Union Officers would be recruiters for their specific union and would do much of the work to launch special events, outings, protests, etc., for their specific unions. Maybe to become an Academy Recruiter, you would want to show the Dean, who hires the Academy Recruiters, that you were good at your job by being a union recruiter first.

So these ranks would be:

Union Leader = Sergeant
Union Recruiter = Corporal

As for the enlisted/drafted students/soldiers, is this like a Private, Private First Class, etc.? Are their other ranks? Would rank/title change per year like the idea of Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior?

Oh, where was it that we decided how long Celestials are in school?

Summer

[Luz]

Over on the Physiology thread, Jennifer posted:

"Prior to the Grail, the greatest academic honor for a Celestial was to be accepted into an Academy to train to become a missionary. Other subjects/careers were taught, but missionary work (archiving the flora and fauna of dying or endangered alien worlds) was the highest honor. Acceptance into an Academy was usually between sixteen and eighteen, but, as it is on Earth with Humans, a youth with incredible gifts might be accepted earlier."

I am working on my story for the Hylonome anthology and ran into this problem. I need these answers as soon as possible please:

1. Celestials can be as young as 16 and be drafted. But most drafted at 18. Enlisting you have to be WHAT AGE?

2. Celestials learn to be soldiers over a training course of HOW MANY years?

Thank you everyone!

Luz

[Cris]

May 2, 2010 3:16:58 GMT -8 Luz said:

1. Celestials can be as young as 16 and be drafted. But most drafted at 18. Enlisting you have to be WHAT AGE?

18

2. Celestials learn to be soldiers over a training course of HOW MANY years?

Jenn and I spoke about this earlier today. I'd like to propose this:

Enlisted and/or draftees spend 12 months in basic training. Those candidates who show the most leadership ability (which will most likely be those with Lead or Presence) will become the Platoon commanders--the Lieutenants.

The second year of training takes place on Earth. During the second year, compeer are assigned with groups of 6 (one with each Skill) being stationed relatively near each other. The Lieutenant will be assigned to a Captain, a Celestial who has been on Earth a minimum of 5 years. The Captain takes over the training of 4 Platoons of new recruits.

Their training begins with basic reconnaissance, becoming acclimated to Earth culture and climate and other like tasks.

At the end of the second year, the graduating class members are assigned to Outposts.

It would be beneficial if compeer stay together, especially if they work well as a team, but this won't always be the case, especially if a particular Celestial has an Ability of Skill that is needed elsewhere. I would also recommend that Celestials are posted in the same geographical area they become accustomed to because they'll know the lay of the land, so to speak, and will be more effective warriors.

How does that sound?

Cris

[Cris]

Summer, this makes sense to me. So, to summarize:

There is one Academy per Province. The head of the Academy is called a Dean.

The teaching positions are held by Full Professors and Associate Professors. Gifted students assist professors, by teaching the first-year students, grading papers, etc.

Union Leaders are each in charge of a separate club or field of study. They help guide students, arrange for tutoring, set up field work, etc. They report to the Dean of Students.

Union Officers would be recruiters for their specific union and would do much of the work to launch special events, outings, protests, etc., for their specific unions. Maybe to become an Academy Recruiter, you would want to show the Dean, who hires the Academy Recruiters, that you were good at your job by being a Union Officer first.

Does this sound accurate?

Cris

[Cris]

To continue...

When Academies transition into Military Institutions, the positions would become the following:

Dean = General

Full Professor = Captain

Associate Professor = Lieutenant, First Class

Gifted Student Assistants = Lieutenant, Second Class

Union Leader = Sergeant

Union Recruiter/Officer = Corporal

Draftees and Enlistees would be assigned ranks after their first year of training. Until then they would be "soldiers." Some would become Privates (of various classes, and some would become Lieutenants, depending on their Skills and intelligence. There's another post above this one which is in response to Luz's questions that addresses this in more detail.

Cris

[Cris]

Jenn and I were talking today about how long a student might stay at an Academy. Since everything in MG3K is based on 6, we thought it would make the most sense if this were also applied to both learning and to the military.

For example, basic training is 12 months, or two 6-month periods. Then there's an additional year on Earth.

Here are some ideas for possible structure of an Academy:

There are either 6 or 12 fields of study. These need to be decided.

Half of these fields of study require, at minimum 3 years (or 6 semesters) of work. The semester, unlike Earth's, should be a full half-year with breaks and holidays built in--there wouldn't be a summer break, per say.

The other half would require 6 years (or 12 semesters). These could be advanced study. Depending on what kind of Missionary the Celestial was either qualified for or wanted to be--we would need to determine the entrance requirements for the Academy--he or she might either be assigned to a 3 or 6 year program or enroll in one.

If acceptance into the Academy was based on aptitude and that was determined by the Recruiter and the group of Professors assigned to evaluate the incoming candidates, then they'd simply be placed into a 3 or 6 year program and maybe into a specific field of study as well.

How does this sound?

Also, what would should our majors or fields of study be?

Cris

[Mira]

This is a great place to start. When I read fiction about immortals or very long lived characters, the always seem to be in training for eons. I know we want readers to identify but maybe a compromise would be that they attend year-round?

I think each Province should have six degrees. Maybe two "Common Degrees" (earning CD after the graduates name) and four "Specialized Degrees" (earning graduates SD). The specific traits of the Province would help us choose apropriate degrees.

Mira

[Cris]

May 4, 2010 3:13:52 GMT -8 Mira said:

This is a great place to start. When I read fiction about immortals or very long lived characters, the always seem to be in training for eons. I know we want readers to identify but maybe a compromise would be that they attend year-round?

Yes, they'd definitely attend year round. I agree.

I think each Province should have six degrees. Maybe two "Common Degrees" (earning CD after the graduates name) and four "Specialized Degrees" (earning graduates SD). The specific traits of the Province would help us choose appropriate degrees.

Mira

I was thinking 6 degrees in which you could, essentially, get your Bachelors (4 years) or Masters (5-6 years) or a Ph.D (7+) years, but you think it might be better to have 2 degrees that are 4-year degrees and 4 degrees that are 4-years and then some additional study?

Cris

[Luz]

Perhaps we could have two year degrees (CD), four year degrees (SD) and then Mastery Degrees (MD) that might take six and more years depending on the field of study.

Luz

[Luz]

Cris, I like the levels and titles of the Academy and the Military very much. They are very clear. I think only Estella can keep more complicated military ranks clear!

Thank you for the answers you gave me. They were perfect. I am also curious about what would be taught to the soldiers after the Academies transition to Military Academies. I think the thing that is sad, which I would like to propose if it has not already been adopted, is that after the transition, all the Academies teach the same things, the same courses.

I think this is very sad but also it fits with the mythology. A certain carded Celestial warned the new Council that Hom would become homogenized and that the distinct beauty of the Provinces (as they were existing mostly unaffected, living isolated and insulated from one another) would be lost after Unification.

I would like to see that prediction coming true in the changes that sweep across the Academies.

This leads me to ask: What courses would be taught the soldiers? Can we have six? Can we find this information about basic training or should I ask Estella?

Only one question: In Homidin (or is the correct use Homidus?) school Academies, the Dean and the Dean of Students is the same person, si?

Luz