"Never, ever give up regardless of the adversity"
OUT-OF-CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create an air assault Battalion for the 76th Pathfinder Regiment
- Image Credit: Black Hawk Down
- Role: Air Assault Unit for the 76th Pathfinder Regiment
- Permissions: Permission from Rara Gowisi, Permission from Vulpesen, Permission from Vuull, the rest are Open-Market or from the Galactic Alliance's War Manifest
- Links: Galactic Alliance Defense Force - 76th Pathfinder Regiment
- Unit Name: 283rd Air-Assault Pathfinder Battalion
- Affiliation: Galactic Alliance, 76th Pathfinder Regiment
- Classification: Air assault unit
- Description:
The 283rd Air-Assault Pathfinder Battalion is under the command of Major Lycus Merita and mostly considered by the rest of the 76th Regiment to be mostly made up of still-yet unproven Pathfinders ever since its reconstitution following the devastating battle of Zoist. Yet these Air-Assault Pathfinders are ever eager to continue to prove themselves in combat and are impressively fanatical to the cause of the Galactic Alliance in spreading democracy and freedom. Most of this can be attributed to the infectious energetic influence of Lycus. The 283rd can be considered a high-reliability unit, though have yet to prove it in open combat, who will quite literally fight against the last man if the situation demands it of them.
Officers and men are trusted by Lycus to be independent, given free reign on the battlefield to act in the best interest of the mission. Yet despite this somewhat chaotic arraignment in training officers and men have proven themselves to be highly co-operative with their peers, constantly giving updates and making plans on the fly. This makes the 283rd capable of operating even in a situation with utter pandemonium.
- Organization:
- 1x Battalion HQ Company (18 Officers, 43 Enlisted)
- Command and Control Section (9 Officers, 4 Enlisted)
- Reconnaissance Platoon (3 Officers, 9 Enlisted)
- Engineer Platoon (3 Officers, 18 Specialists)
- 2x GALLS-72 Tabby Landspeeder (Mechanic Rear)
- 2x GALLS-72 Tabby Landspeeder (Construction Rear)
- Anti-Armor Platoon (3 Officers, 12 Enlisted)
- 3x Air-Assault Mechanized Company
- Type: Mechanized Air-Assault Company
- Total Personnel: 5 Officers, 24 Enlisted, 90 dismounts
- Vehicles: 11 GAIFV-14 Puma, 1 GALLS-72 Tabby Landspeeder
- 1× Headquarters Section (2 Officers, 4 Enlisted)
- 3× Rifle Platoons (1 Officer, 6 Enlisted, 27 Dismounts each)
- 1x Weapon Platoon(2 Enlisted, 9 Dismounts each)
- 1x Battalion HQ Company (18 Officers, 43 Enlisted)
- Unit Size: Medium
- 33 Officers
- 115 Enlisted
- 270 Dismounts
- 418 Total
- Unit Availability: Rare
- Unit Experience: Veteran
Equipment:- Ground Vehicles
- Air Vehicles
- Small Arms
- Other:
- Combat Function:
The 283rd consists of light infantry and light but hard-hitting armor that uses the mobility and firepower of their gunships to engage and destroy enemy forces or to seize and hold key terrain usually behind enemy lines. It's infantry core is entirely made up of Pathfinders, the Galactic Alliance's premier ground troops, that are specially trained in airborne insertion and assault.
Using their rapid insertion, able to deploy the entirety of their force from their transport gunships in less than a minute, they employ shock tactics to overwhelm surprised enemy positions under the covering fire of their gunships.
The 283rd specializes primarily in the seizure of starports and landing zones in advance of the rest of the 76th Pathfinder Regiment and larger units. They are built with the assumption that in the first hours of a planetary invasion air and space superiority cannot be guaranteed and use the speed of their transports to exploit any brief windows of the enemy's air defenses. Once a landing zone has been secured for the rest of the Army, the 283rd can remount their gunship transports or IFVs to be used for fast operational depth operations around 50-80 klicks past the Galactic Alliance's Forward Edge of the Battle Area to seize vital Division objectives before link-up with conventional forces. They can also be used behind enemy lines (though needing air support and SEAD operations to breach a hole in the frontline) to disrupt enemy communications, logistics, and command and control structures.
- Rapid Deployment: The 283rd can deploy into full force and move on an objective with all mechanized and support capabilities in less than a minute. Their extreme mobility enables them to embark on their transport of gunships or IFVs rapidly after a mission is done and be able to deploy to another section of the battlefield. This can often cause the enemy to disregard reports of the 283rd's appearance on the battlefield, because how could a single battalion be fighting a battle and a mere hour later appear in another hundreds of kilometers away? It appears there must be dozens of Air-assault units attacking simultaneously when in reality it's just one.
- Fanatical: The 283rd stand unique among the 76th for their eagerness to prove themselves and their fanatical nature that sprouts from that eagerness. A Pathfinder of the 283rd does not understand the word surrender because it does not exist in their vocabulary. No matter the exhaustion, atmospheric conditions, or firepower they face the 283rd will never flinch.
- Tactical: The 283rd is considered to be highly fluid on the battlefield due to their small-unit tactics and formidable NCOs that allows them to act effective in the most chaotic of situations.
- Firepower: For such a small and even light unit, the 283rd can bring a high amount of firepower to reduce enemy positions in a short time. This is thanks to their small size allowing better infantry equipment, IFV capabilities, and light artillery.
- Wasteful: Due to the specialized nature of the 283rd, it is highly discouraged for them to be used to seize tactical objects (such as trench lines and fortified building clusters) that regular units can undertake. While they would perform to a significant degree better than regular units the losses they would incur in doing so would be highly wasteful. It is better for them to partake in strategic operations that take the form of airfield seizure, disruption, and surgical strikes that would justify any losses they would incur in the process.
- Light: While punching far above their weight they are limited by the fact they are mostly light infantry and light mechanized meaning that taking extremely fortified positions head-on or facing down Walker Divisions is near suicidal. They would take drag down a great portion of their foe in a last stand, but make no mistake that it is a last stand.
- Reinforcement: The 283rd is merely a beachhead force. Once the seizure of an objective is finished they must be reinforced in due time as they lack the heavy equipment to resist dozens of enemy counter-attacks, even if they would make each one pay dearly.
- Endurance: It is highly discouraged to commit the 283rd into attritional combat as they will have trouble replacing losses quickly due to the training time it requires. They are best built for rapid short-burst of combat against vital objectives and slogging away in the mud.
The 283rd was formed in the aftermath at the humiliation at Zoist as an attempt by Major Lycus Merita to bring back an element of pride back to the 76th Pathfinder Regiment by forming an experimental unit that combined both high strategic mobility and tactical firepower. Reconstituting what was left of the 283rd, he forged them through sheer grit and determination on the proving grounds of Balmorra into tempered steel. When they were not bonding and resting, they were training in all manners of warfare that their task demanded of them. Despite their hellish training, they still have a lot left to prove in the field that they are to be worthy of being part of the legendary 76th.
Following recent reforms within the GADF, the Battalion has undergone a refit in its motor pool and a reduction in size in order to increase its strategic mobility.
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