Ranks and Rank Insignias of the Northern Federation of Sevkra
The following are the rank and rank insignias of the Northern Federation of Sevkra (and also the Elensian Empire, but the insignias are slightly different and there isn't as many ranks, especially for warrant officers and commissioned officers). I will not be including uniforms today because that's a project for a later date. Note: the complexity of this system is due to the fact that in the NFS the military is highly integrated into society and government jobs like medical, judicial, education, etc are apart of the uniformed services; additionally, the longer lifespans of the Viishy allow for a longer progression of ranks.
While used interchangeably, Pay Grade and Rank are different terms. Pay Grade is the numbered “step” on the ladder of progression that indicates seniority, experience, and how much the individual is paid. Rank is the specific title and general duty of the member in question. For example, if a person has the Pay Grade of O4, they can have the Rank of First Officer, Aiding Officer 3, Major, Pilot First Class, or Flight Leader.
Enlisted personnel make up about 80% of the armed forces and 40% of the other uniformed services. They are individuals who either signed a contract of service which has to be renewed once the contract expires or have been drafted. Contracts are come are 6, 9, or 12 years long while conscripts are obligated to perform 3 years of service every 9 years.
Enlisted personnel are individuals trained in a specific field and are expected to become experts in said field. Upon achieving the rank of E4, they start accumulating more responsibilities and managerial duties as they advance through the ranks, now considered non-commissioned officers. E9-12 starting to become more office-oriented and more or less advisors to commissioned officers. E13+ are seen as the experts of their field (usually multiple fields) and function almost purely as managers. However, this system breaks down with the second line (inverted) of ranks; these enlisted personnel remain specialists in their field and do not gain office nor greater responsibility than the people in their direct chain of command. These members are usually in combat or maintenance roles. Conscripts make up the majority of the members with these ranks.
The third row is for special roles. E6-7 (CMN and JRH) have more responsibility and authority than other members with the same pay grade. E14-16 special roles are advisors to commanders and also act as HR to the enlisted members under them.
The fourth row is for the seniormost enlisted member of a base or ship.
Warrant officers are in between enlisted and commissioned and act as extremely specialised individuals who hold no command over anything larger than a fire team (4-12 individuals) and who's job requires specific training that can't be covered by an enlisted member, such as flying troop transports, being a comms officer, or being a technician in a field. They make up ~2-5% of the uniformed services. Unlike the enlisted who are employed via contract and COs who are commissioned by the president, WOs gain a warrant through parliament.
Special warrant officers are very different, however. They usually are commissioned officers (but can be NCOs) who are appointed by the president or a marshal and whose original ranks are then classified. These individuals are almost always plain-clothed and have no rank insignia, though they are authorised to wear any rank they choose as long as it doesn't outrank their perceived rank. Perceived rank is based on their direct commander’s rank and their SWO rank. The formula is [commander’s pay grade]-7-[their pay grade], meaning if a SWO3 is working under a ship captain (O7), they have the same authority as a second officer (O3). SWOs are extremely rare and make up less than 1% of WOs, so many people in the NFS military don't know how to treat SWOs. These individuals usually work in combat roles in special or black operations or as the personal assistants to marshals as marshal-selects (see below).
Commissioned officers are individuals appointed by the president who act as managers and commanders in the uniformed services. They are highly educated for their roles and are held to high standards and make up about 18% of the armed forces and 55% of the rest of the uniformed services.
The first row is for general officers. These individuals gain most responsibility as they progress through the ranks, eventually gaining command over a ship (craft larger than 50m and having multiple sections) at O7.
The second row are the specialty officers. These ranks are in three sections: aiding officers, service officers, and executive service officers. These officers are given titles (as seen below the insignias) rather than an actual rank (e.g. O7A is “Service Officer 2”, but the title of “Doctor” will always be used if the officer in question is in the medical field). In this row O5 has two separate ranks — the second one (HAO) is given command over other O5s and below. Below O7-9 are the specialist ranks; these act like the inverted enlisted ranks where these officers hold no command except maybe a handful of other individuals and solely focus on their field (if it helps, Dr. House would be an RO3). These officers are always considered junior to officers of the same pay grade in the fourth, third, and first rows (in that order).
The third row is combat officers; these officers serve commanding roles for smaller units and have responsibilities only to their men. their commanders are almost always an officer from the first row.
The fourth row are pilots. O4 has two ranks with the second acting as a commander of 5-20 other pilots. O5 commands 2-6 flights (40-120 pilots). O6 commands 2-5 squadrons (150-600 pilots). Since each ship carries about two wings’ worth of people pilots who are promoted past O6 naturally progress to ship captains. Due to combat and flight experience, these SCPTs are considered the best and most competent commanders to have.
The final rank is the O16 rank GANM which is actually considered a M4 rank (see below). This individual is the commander of the entire uniformed services and is appointed the position which they hold for the length of the presidency (12y); however, once appointed no one but the other M4 marshals can remove them from office prematurely.
Marshals are but military and civilian positions placed at the very top of the social hierarchy. I wrote about them previously but the gist is that marshals out rank all military and civilian positions. In the NFS there are only 438 marshals: 431 M1-3, 1 O16M, and 6 M4. The 6 titan marshals and the GANM act as the oligarchs of the NFS, holding absolute political power as well as acting as the commanding body of the marshals. The GANM is the only marshal that is designed to be temporary, acting as a titan marshal for 12 years.
Marshals act as commanders of highly specialised units or act as solo agents. It is possible for SWOs to have a perceived rank of marshal is they work directly underneath one— this is the case with CSWO Varik who is considered a chief marshal since he works directly under a grand marshal.
To become an officer you need at least 12 years of experience as enlisted and 12 years of experience as warrant and/or commissioned officer. If the individual came in as a warrant officer it's 12y WO and 12y CO, if they came in as CO it's 12y CO and 12y WO (requires a pay cut). Marshals are either elected to the position in a general election, elected by the marshals, or hand-selected by the titan marshals, but only when there's an opening in their ranks. Marshal-Selects are people slated to become marshals, these individuals are given the rank of CSWO and assigned to a M1 marshal, meaning their rank is “below” M1 but still above any other military officer.
If you have questions or comments feel free to reach out
