Babylon 5 revisited part 3

Early history of the Earth Alliance and probable Shadow/Vorlon
involvement in its development.


Going backwards from the events in the television series,
set between 2257 and 2267 (pilot episode "The Gathering
to the short-lived sequel series "Crusade"), the Psi Corps
has existed since 2161 while telepaths had been registered
by the Earth Alliance for 'six generations'.

Telepaths have existed in Lyta Alexander's family for nine
generations, presumably before the Earth Alliance was
established. Going back from 2257, six generations is
roughly 180 years (c.2077) while nine generations previously
gives the year 1987. [The year intended was probably 1989,
the year Babylon 5 was conceived].

Regardless, around this time was when the Vorlons
presumably began manipulating human beings,at both before
and after the foetal stage,in order to produce human
telepaths.

Historical events concerning Earth and the Earth Alliance
mentioned in the series, described as taking place
'100 years before', include the terrorist nuking
of San Diego, the sneak attack on the first Mars
colony, the establishment of the 'African Bloc',
the dissolution of the United Nations and first
official contact with aliens.

Presumably these events succeed the establishment
of the Earth Alliance; the term '100 years before'
as an estimation probably covers 150 years
before Babylon 5 goes online (2257) to 70 years
before the dates in which most of the events in Crusade
are set (2267)
i.e a 90 year period from 2107 to 2197.

With the dissolution of the UN apparently during this period,
it can be surmised that the third world war also occurred
during this time. Although any other details are sketchy, WW3
could simply refer to a protracted 'war on terror'
during this time and the atrocities described.

The specifics of the establishment of the Earth
Alliance are never covered in-series but it
is likely that it started as a joint military
body which replaced the EU and the United
States* in the mid to late 21st century,
possibly as the result of a secret decision
to share intelligence and to establish a common
policy regarding the existence of telepathy
between member states. It is also possible that
the establishment of bases on Mars and manned
missions outside the solar system (for example,
InterplanetaryExpeditions could have been
established as early as 2080 with the near-
discovery of Shadow technology on Mars) were
carried out by the new alliance in order to
access advanced technologies from apparently
dead civilisations.

*The USA as a nation is never mentioned, only
North America or the 'North American Infantry',
presumably because as a federal body it ceased
to have any distinct meaning as more nations
and blocs joined the EA

Babylon 5 revisited part two

Ranks and structure of EarthForce

With regards to the lower ranks of Lieutenant (junior grade) and
Ensign, as officers aboard Babylon 5 with those ranks are not
granted the same security status as regular commissioned officers
and only perform routine technical duties if not pilots I am
considering officers with these ranks to be among the
non-commissioned grades, with an officer recieving a commission
on promotion to Lieutenant. Presumably an officer can then transfer
from the Navy to EarthForce Marines or Security or
one of the intelligence or research divisions.
This promotion may be based on an Officer undergoing further training
while this is certainly likely for the non-commissioned grades in
general.

Presumably, officer graduates enter the Navy at rank Ensign and
again presumably undergo some probationary period or further
training (mmm, shades of Star Trek...) before being considered
for promotion. What is fairly certain is that a candidate must
either undergo basic training or have a degree in a particular
field relevant to EarthForce i.e. Franklin (Stephen) trained
to be a doctor while Sheridan underwent infrantry training.

It is uncertain how the 'Aerodrome' training fits into all this,
but command officers in the Navy, and officers in other divisions
who have had fight training, all wear flight wings on their right
sleeve. It may be that changing division is the only way for
some officers to recieve a promotion beyond, say, Major, bar
flight training,

Chain-of-command: although EarthForce consists of seven corps,
enlisted personnel refer to any superior, regardless of corps,
as 'Sir' (e.g. Garibaldi's 2nd and Bester in series 1),
although this could simply be a formality, while, again,
commissioned and non-commissioned officers are directly
subordinate to any commissioned-level officer at least
of the three main corps: EFNavy, EFMarines and EFSecurity.


Being of such a large size, the organisational divisions of the
Infantry at least are organised on larger sections than in
those of modern armies, while Captains are ranked highly enough
to command fleets of forty warships.

I have given a reasonable estimation of the structure of the
Infantry and, although the Officer/Crew ratio in the Navy and
Security Divisions is probably higher, this can be considered
roughly accurate for those divisions also.

If the basic division is a Division of 25 thousand troops,
working upwards and multiplying by six (significant to
the ancient Babylonians) gives a good indication of
organisation above Division-level, while dividing
by five (i.e. Babylon 5) gives a good approximation
of modern infantry organisation.
i.e.
Corps=5.4 to 25 million personnel
(if EFMarines=1000 Divisions of 25,000 each)

Theater or Corps=5.4 million personnel

Army/Fleet/Corps=900 thousand personnel

Regiment or Flotilla=150 thousand personnel

Division=25 thousand personnel

Brigade=Five thousand personnel

Battallion=One thousand personnel

Company=app.201 to 999 personnel

Unit=app.41 to 200 personnel

Squadron=app.9 to 40 personnel

Section=app.2 to 8 personnel

Total personnel commanded by officer
based on organisational levels covering
multiple Corps and consistent with in-series
depictions.
i.e.
Member Joint Chiefs=25 million

General=5.4 million

Lieutenant General=900 thousand

Captain to Major General=150 thousand

Major to Commander=Five thousand

Lieutenant=(below) One thousand

Senior NCO=200

Sgt=40

PFC=8

Babylon 5 revisited part 1

Hi, I thought I'd put together an overview of the ranks and
organisational structure of EarthForce (the military/
security branch of the Earth Alliance) in order to tie up
and explain some loose ends from previous posts on the
subject.

EarthForce consists of several Fleets of warships, plus bases,
support vessels and Fighter craft; an Infantry section,
consisting of Marines and Security Corps; Intelligence;
a Bioweapons division; a Research and Development Corps
plus, until 2264,the Psi Corps of Telepaths and Telekinetics.

The general ranking structure for the Navy is as follows:

[Flag officers]
Five-star General
Four-star General
Lieutenant-General
Major-General
Brigadier-General

[Regular commissioned officers]
Colonel
Captain
Commander
Lieutenant-Commander
Major
Lieutenant

[Junior/Non-commissioned officers]
Lieutenant (junior grade)
Ensign
Cadet
Sergeant

[enlisted]
Crewman (1st Class)
Crewman (2nd Class)

Considering any 'Air Force' and 'Navy' to be the same entity
(this is neither confirmed or denied in the show), then we can
consider six corps, each headed by a five-star General answerable
to the President of the Earth Alliance, plus Psi Corps
(nominally answerable to a civilian director but basically
functioning as a self-governing militia).

EarthForce Marines and EarthForce Security, at least, have the
same rank system as the Navy above the two junior
officer ranks, with enlisted ranks being the same except
Crewmen would obviously have the rank of Private.

I am assuming that cadet graduates enter the Navy at
rank Ensign and have the opportunity to transfer to EFMarines
or EFSecurity on promotion to Lieutenant. This may or may not
be the case for pilot graduates of 'Aerodrome'.

The ranks of 'Colonel' and 'Major' are used for consistency, as
Navy officers are shown having these ranks, while I am leaving
out ranks like 'Petty Officer' or 'Corporal' as these grades are
never mentioned.

To maintain consistency I have included Psi Corps.

In 'Crusade'a Lieutenant Matheson is the First Officer.
Matheson was formerly of Psi Corps, being a telepath who were
previously barred from serving in EarthForce in an ordinary capacity.
When this regulation ended, Matheson joined EarthForce and soon became Captain Matthew Gideon's First Officer.

There would not normally be enough time for Matheson to start basic
training, attend the EF officer academy and be promoted between 2264
and 2267 so he, presumably, would have had training consistent with
his Psi-rating which was probably P10 as he had some responsibilities,
was trained as a pilot but was certainly not a Psi-Cop (P12). This
would also imply that Psi-ratings are equivalent to EarhForce ranks,
P10 being a junior or full Lieutenant.

From this, nine enlisted ranks can be derived from those mentioned:
Private or Crewman-2nd Class
Private or Crewman (1st Class)
Sergeant
Staff Sergeant
Gunnery Sergeant
Master Sergeant
First Sergeant
Warrant Officer (2nd class)
Warrant Officer (1st class);
equivalent to the first nine P-ratings.

Again, these apply to the Navy, EFMarines and EFSecurity.

A Sergeant-Major Plug is mentioned but I am assuming the rank
this refers to is one of the Warrant Officer classes as
Commissioned-level Warrant Officers exist (i.e. Chief
Warrant Officer Michael Garibaldi). In the U.S army,
these are always referred to as Senior Warrant Officers,
i.e. above Chief Warrant Officer. I assume with Garibaldi's
case the title stays but the rank is higher.

The position of Warrant Officers with relation to the
regular commissioned officers in the chain-of-command
is probably as follows:

Master Sergeant
First Sergeant or Ensign
Warrant Officer (2nd class)
Warrant Officer (1st class) or Lieutenant (junior grade)
Chief Warrant Officer
Lieutenant
Senior Chief Warrant Officer
Major
Master Chief Warrant Officer or Lieutenant-Commander
Commander or Command Chief Warrant Officer

Psi Corps (assumed) higher organisational structure and roles
Lt-Gen,Major-Gen and Brigadier-Gen: Psi Corps 'Brass';
P10 to 12
Commander, Lt-Commander, Sergeant, Lieutenant: Psi-Cops; P12
(presumably)Sergeant and Lieutenant 'Bloodhound Units' and
Security; P11
Instructors/Administrators/Leaders; P10