Ground Force Command

Ground Force Command (GFC) is the land force component of the Imperial Army. It has a larger rank structure than its sister branches because it is usually the largest force component.

Colloquially, GFC personnel are sometimes called 'ground pounders' or (either derogatorily or affectionately) 'grunts'.

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Please see the following articles for related information:

• Imperial Navy (IN)
  • Colonial Navy
    • Subsector Navy
    • Planetary Navy
  • Imperial Star Marines (ISM)
  • Imperial Naval Intelligence (INI)
  • Naval Depot
• Imperial Army (IA)
  • Close Orbit and Airspace Control Command (COACC)
  • Ground Force Command (GFC)
  • Nautical Force Command, a Wet Navy (NFC)
  • Sylean Rangers
  • Colonial Forces (Planetary Defense Forces)
• Imperial Interstellar Scout Service (IISS)
  • Express Boat Network
  • Imperial Intelligence (ImpInt)
    • IISS Rangers
    • Rhylanor Taoiseach
  • Imperial Secret Service (ISS)
• Mercenaries
  • Imperial Rules of War

Description (Specifications)

No information yet available.

Mission (Goals)

No information yet available.

Doctrine & Strategy (Operations)

No information yet available.

Rank & Grade (Hierarchy)

Imperial Army Ground Forces Command ranks
Commissioned Officers
O11a » Field Marshal
O10 » General (Colonel-General)
O9 » Lieutenant General
O8 » Major General
O7 » Brigadier General
O6 » Colonel
O5 » Lieutenant Colonel
O4 » Major
O3 » Captain
O2 » First Lieutenant
O1 » Second Lieutenant
O0 » Officer Cadet
Enlisted Ranks
E9 » Chief Master Sergeant (Sergeant Major)
E8 » Senior Master Sergeant (First Sergeant)
E7 » Master Sergeant (Leading Sergeant)
E6 » Staff Sergeant
E5 » Sergeant
E4 » Lance Sergeant
E3 » Corporal
E2 » Lance Corporal
E1 » Private (Private 1st Class)
E0 » Recruit (Private Recruit)

Some of the organizational ranks and grades used by this force are included in the table to the right.

History & Background (Dossier)

No information yet available.

Corps

Infantry

This, in short, refers to the foot soldiers.

Irregular Infantry A mob or band of fighters. At lower tech levels they are usually equipped with rocks, clubs, knives and other makeshift melee weapons. Any actual weapons are either personal property or were scrounged or looted from a previous battle. At higher technology levels they are equipped with personal firearms. They are usually used as security forces or guides when deployed locally but can be made into raiders or "forlorn hope" units. Unorganized mercenary units and local militias are usually in this class.

Scout Infantry Troops trained in reconnaissance and surveillance. They are either drawn from native or local populations that live in a certain climate type or are special troops trained or acclimated to operate and survive in it. They are usually deployed in small units as scouts and snipers.

Light Infantry Highly mobile units wearing little or no armor designed as screening or reconnaissance troops. At lower tech levels they are usually armed with light missile weapons like slings or bows. At high tech levels they have smaller or lighter fire support, have larger transport assets than normal units, and are designed to bypass or outmaneuver enemy forces.

Medium Infantry The mainstay of the army, these are troops designed to operate in large formations. At lower tech levels they are usually armed with a melee weapon and a shield. At higher tech levels they are armed with firearms.

Heavy Infantry Troops who are used to spearhead an advance or break through an enemy's lines. At lower tech levels they are heavily armed and armored. At higher tech levels they have larger fire support and combat engineering assets than normal troops and are designed to defend or assault strongholds or fortifications.

Airborne Infantry: Troops parachuted out of transport aircraft.

Jump Infantry: Troops parachuted, or using grav-belts to land after being dropped from low orbit.

Airmoble Infantry: Troops carried by transport aircraft capable of Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) like helicopters and jump-jets.

Amphibious Infantry: Troops carried by transport seacraft or hovercraft.

Lift Infantry Troops that are carried in grav vehicles. 65% of all Infantry battalions in the Unified Armies are Lift Infantry.

Cavalry

At lower TLs (1-6), the term "cavalry" is applied to soldiers riding trained animals (for example, horses on Terra). At higher TLs, such as most of the Imperial Army, this generally refers to soldiers riding in motor vehicles, otherwise known as Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFVs).

Irregular Cavalry ("Hussars", "Pandours") Mount-mobile irregular troops or light cavalry that fight from horseback that are used for security, reconnaissance, and raiding. They are commonly militia or mercenary units who are usually from or near the area of operations they are stationed in.

Mounted Infantry ("Dragoons") Mount-mobile infantry with increased mobility that dismount to fight. This style of combat becomes more common as firearms technology improves.

Mounted Archers Mount-mobile archers who fire from the saddle.

Light Cavalry Cavalry on light mounts designed for speed. Troops are either unarmored or wear light armor and are equipped with sabers and/or overarm lances.

Heavy Cavalry Cavalry on large mounts designed to carry the rider and their equipment. Troops wear heavy armor and are equipped with melee weapons and braced lances.

Cavalry Scouts Reconnaissance unit.

Motorized Cavalry Unarmored or lightly-armored wheeled vehicles (cars and trucks).

Mechanized Cavalry Lightly-armored tracked vehicles.

Armor Heavily armored tracked vehicles.

Lift Cavalry / Grav Cavalry Lightly-armored grav vehicles and gunships.

Grav Armor Heavily armored grav vehicles and gunships.

Artillery

This refers to heavy support weapons such as masers and plasma guns. This can also be used to refer to low-tech weapons like catapults or cannon.

Field Artillery

Forward Observation

Support

Administration

Engineers

Medical

Technical Services

Transport

Commando

Special Operations forces.

Sylean Rangers: Army units trained in reconnaissance and raiding. They are also used to train indigenous forces on Low-Tech worlds in vital military skills. They can be deployed in or out of battledress, depending on the needs of the operation or campaign.

Protected Forces (ProtFors): Army elite units trained to wear Vacc Suits and operate in exotic or toxic environments and Low-Gravity, High-Gravity, or Zero-Gravity conditions. They usually use Gauss weapons rather than energy weapons as standard arms because the projectiles can tear or rip through enemy protective clothing, rendering them vulnerable.

Rapid Interface Forces (RIF): Army commando units trained to wear Battledress. They are dropped in capsules from high atmosphere or orbit to planetside.

Force Composition

No information yet available.

Selected Vehicle & Ship Classes

Some vehicle & ship classes widely used within the systems and worlds of the Imperium include:

• TBD

Worlds & Sectors (Astrography)

This force primarily operates in the following areas: Charted Space

World Listing

This force is known to regularly operate within the following systems and worlds:

No world articles for Ground Force Command

References & Contributors (Sources)

This article is missing content for one or more detailed sections. Additional details are required to complete the article. You can help the Traveller Wiki by expanding it.

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Bryan Steele. Mercenary (Mongoose Publishing, 2008), 8.Frank Chadwick. Mercenary (Game Designers Workshop, 1978), 8.
• GURPS Traveller: Ground Forces
• GURPS Traveller: Star Mercs
• MegaTraveller Player's Manual (pg. 20)
• Fifth Frontier War, Counter Mix
• Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science