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Chapter 46 - A Long Journey[]
23 May 2786
Mackolla (Federated Suns)
"We cannot do a normal recruitment drive, it will draw too much attention, so how many people show up daily?" Lieutenant General Samuel Mitchell asked
"On average, 20-30 people arrive at the front gate daily here on Mackolla, Bamburgh sees roughly 200 a day, but it is a larger population base and life there is rougher overall. The planet itself is not as friendly as here. I have laid out a six month basic training, same as the SLDF followed by their advanced training. That will vary by their job of course. I made a list outlining the courses we feel we need." Master Sergeant O'Malley said
Training Length
-Basic Training - Mandatory All Services - Six Months
Advanced Training
-Supply, Non Combat - Six Months -Infantry - Twelve Months -Armor Crew - Eighteen Months -Artillery - Eighteen Months -Engineer - Eighteen Months -Medic - Twenty Four Months -MechWarrior - Thirty Six Months -Aerospace - Thirty Six Months -Marine - Twenty Four Months -Space Crew - Twenty Four Months -Mechanic - Twenty Four Months -Mech Tech - Thirty Six Months -Aero Tech - Thirty Six Months -Communication - Twenty Four Months
Lieutenant General Samuel Mitchell looked up from the list and said "So we are looking at almost two years before we see the first recruit enter the force."
"Yes, sir, those are SLDF norms. We could possibly shave a few months and let the line units complete their training, but I do not recommend doing that. Once a new person enters the unit they should be fully trained and ready to perform." Master Sergeant O'Malley replied
"So we have six months to have the advanced training in place and ready to go." Lieutenant General Mitchell said
"Closer to a year sir, we still have to recruit enough people to fill out a class and then transport them out to Morgan's Holdfast. But it was not hard to find folks that had served in a training capacity. I made another list of them. Plus a few extra courses we can field trainers for." Master Sergeant O'Malley replied presenting another list.
Drill Instructor and Advanced Training
-Basic Drill Instructors - 26 -Infantry Instructors - 43 -Armor Instructors - 132 -Artillery Instructors - 22 -Engineer Instructors - 15 -Medic Instructors - 12 -MechWarrior Instructors - 6 -Aerospace Instructors - 8 -Marine Instructors - 13 -Space Crew Instructors - 17 -Mechanic Instructors - 218 -Mech Tech Instructors - 79 -Aero Tech Instructors - 27 -Supply Instructors - 317 -Personnel Instructors - 92 -Communication Instructors - 18 -HPG Comm Instructors - 4 -Astech Instructors - 419
Master Sergeant O'Malley gave him a few minutes to study the list before speaking "The Astechs are sort of a catch all, but it is a course taught by the SLDF, usually six months, how to safely move ammunition, storage, assist the techs in their jobs. It was usually conducted as part of the supply training. But we can also break it down to a more specialized type if you would like that. I took the liberty of making another list of proposed class sizes based on how many trainees each type could reasonably handle."
Class Size
-Basic Training - 200 Recruits per 4 Drill Instructors
Advanced Training
-Supply, Non Combat - 200 Trainees per 4 Instructors -Infantry - 200 Trainees per 4 Instructors -Armor Crew - 200 Trainees per 4 Instructors -Artillery - 200 Trainees per 4 Instructors -Engineer - 200 Trainees per 4 Instructors -Medic - 12 per Instructor -MechWarrior - 4 per Instructor -Aerospace - 4 per Instructor -Marine - 20 per Instructor -Space Crew - 30 per Instructor -Mechanic - 12 per Instructor -Mech Tech - 12 per Instructor -Aero Tech - 12 per Instructor -Communication - 8 per Instructor -HPG Communication - 2 per Instructor
"The more complicated the advanced training the less people per instructor as they need to take more time with each trainee. These were what the SLDF set out. I was surprised to find we actually had a few former instructors on HPG systems. I could not locate a SLDF training length for that specialty, but one of the former instructors said it lasted close to two years to operate the HPG's and then usually another three year course to learn how to maintain and repair an HPG in the field. Only one woman served as an instructor on that particular training. I was not even sure how we would teach it, unless we set one aside for just that purpose. We have the manuals on it though. Your Colin Blaine really went above and beyond getting every manual he could lay his hand on. You want a Gunslinger course, we have the training manuals, care for a Command and Staff course, we have the manuals." Master Sergeant O'Malley said
"That will probably have to wait, those cannot be spared right now nor do I feel ever. We have a limited supply of them. We have some time to figure out the advanced training courses, so let's focus on getting our recruits recruited, that gives us another six to eight months to figure out the advanced courses." Lieutenant General Mitchell said
"I am also going to stagger the Basic Training classes, right now I have the maximum class at 400 recruits, with a new class starting every two months, as we go, we can either slow them down or speed them up. Currently with the Drill Instructors we have right now, we can push thru 1200 recruits if I just max the output, but we are going to need a steady flow of graduates to fee into the line units and not a flood of new people." Master Sergeant O'Malley replied