5th Alliance Guards

Allianceguards5th.png
Fifth Alliance Guards RCT
Formed 3045
Disbanded 3085[1]
Previous Designation(s) Tenth FedCom RCT

(3045 - 3057)

Nickname The Fighting Fifth

(3057 - 3085)

Affiliation Federated Commonwealth

(3045 - 3057)


Lyran Alliance
(3057 - 3085)

Parent Command Federated Commonwealth Corps

(3045 - 3057)


Alliance Guards
(3057 - 3085)


Initially posted in the Draconis March, the Tenth FedCom RCT, as it was then known, first served as reserve/garrison unit and later as a raiding unit against the enemies of the Federated Commonwealth. After the Lyran Alliance seceded from the Federated Commonwealth, the unit was integrated into the LAAF and was renamed the Fifth Alliance Guards. It was almost always slightly understrength and maintained a constant recruitment effort to keep its manpower at nominal levels.

History[edit]

Early Years[edit]

Formed in 3045, the Tenth FedCom RCT was initially stationed on the world of Royal in the Draconis March, where it remained until the Clan Invasion began. At that time, it was reassigned to serve as a ready reserve force, to defend against any Clan Jade Falcon or Clan Steel Viper incursions and blooded themselves on numerous raids against both Clans. After the Battle of Tukayyid stabilized the borders of the Occupation Zones, the Tenth FedCom was relocated to Pandora to protect a critical supply depot located there.[2]

Renaming[edit]

The Tenth FedCom was located in Lyran territory when Katherine Steiner-Davion announced the secession of the Lyran Alliance from the Federated Commonwealth, and after her issuance of Archon Order 5730023, was integrated into the LAAF under the new name of the Fifth Alliance Guards. The Fifth Alliance Guards were ordered to garrison Fort Loudon in order to act as a guard and raiding unit, striking into the Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Steel Viper Occupation Zones, and were expected to work alongside the Fourth Davion Guards who were also stationed on that world.[3]

During the opening stages of the FedCom Civil War, on December 2, 3062 the Fourth Davion Guards would be ordered by the fifth Alliance Guard's commander, Lieutenant-General James Ito, to relocate to a new base located 1,500 km away from their old one, in an effort to separate the Fourth from its small support of anti-Katrina protesters. By December 7th the Fourth Davion had not yet begun to move when Lieutenant-General James Ito ordered the Fourth Davion Guards commander, General Alberta Orsina, to step down and be replaced. Orsina refused and launched a strike against the Fifth. Fighting would continue inconclusively until February 3, 3063 when the fourth Davion Guards withdrew, but left special forces units to occupy the Fifth.[4] These special forces units, led by Major Lawrence Montkreith of the 177th FedCom Mechanized Infantry, launched raids and sabotage missions against the Fifth, culminating first in the successful destruction of the Fifth's main supply depot, and later in a much less successful attack against General Ito.[5]

By late December 3064, after ending resistance activities on Fort Loudon, the Fifth moved to Blue Diamond to convince the Fourth Lyran Regulars to enter the war on the Loyalist side when it was learned the Fourth Davion Guards were on nearby Dalkeith. General Ito decided to stop trying to convince neutral units to enter the war and moved his RCT to Dalkeith.[6] The Fifth Alliance Guards arrived on Dalkeith on December 2, 3064 and its arrival swung the advantage to the Loyalist side and put the Allied forces on the defensive. By March 6, 3065 the Fifth had broken through the last defensive line only to learn that the rest of the allied forces had withdrawn earlier into the nearby badlands where the Allied forces had moved to rearm and repair their forces. Scouts sent in were mauled badly by the Deneb Light Cavalry and the Fourth Davion Guards, and by April 4, the Loyalist forces, now under General Ito's command began to advance along a broad front. By April 19, the Loyalists had arrived Point du Raz only to discover that the Allied Forces had withdrawn once again to the nearby Continent of Rockmeir.[7]

After a month of preparation, the Loyalist forces using DropShips began to ferry troops to the Rockmeir Continent when the command staff of the Thirteenth Donegal Guards was killed when their DropShip went down. The Thirteenth Donegal, already badly mauled in the fighting was folded into the Fifth Alliance Guard. The Allied Forces had not been idle during the last month and had built a series of defensive positions and supply caches around the old capital of Newhaven. The Third Royal Guards made an initial push but was forced to pull back until the Fifth Alliance Guards could move up and join them. Unable to mount an effective siege the Third Royal Guards and the Fifth Alliance Guards withdrew to their own positions and began to plan their next move. In mid-December the two Loyalist units launched their attack against the Allied Forces, but the Third Royal Guards while pursuing the Deneb Light Cavalry found themselves caught in a trap. The Third Royal Guards had walked into a minefield and then was boxed in by artillery and missile-delivered FASCAM, soon after conventional artillery began to bombard the trapped unit. The Third Royal Guards lost a quarter of its strength before it could withdraw. Seeing that they would be facing two opponents instead of one, the Fifth Alliance Guards canceled their phase of the attack.[8]

For the next two months the Loyalist and Allied forces raided each other as neither had the strength to destroy the other. On April 11, 3066 the Loyalist forces using their entire strength struck at the Allied Forces in Newhaven and were able to advance twenty-five kilometers into the defensive works, but took heavy casualties doing so and on April 17th a strike by the Deneb Light Cavalry caused the Loyalist Forces to break and retreat in disarray. The Deneb Light Cavalry gave chase but was caught in a surprise attack when the Twenty-sixth Lyran Guards, newly arrived from Port Moseby made an orbital drop on the Deneb Light Cavalry and between the Third Royal Guards. The fifth Alliance Guards, and the Twenty-sixth Lyran Guards were able to effectively destroy the Light Cavalry force, leaving just the Fourth Davion Guards and combined arms battalion of the Deneb Light Cavalry in Newhaven.[9]

On September 27, 3066 the Loyalist forces made a three pronged assault on the Fourth Davion Guards positions in Newhaven, the Fourth were able to destroy the Third Royal Guards but was caught shortly after between the Twenty-sixth Lyran and Fifth Alliance while attempting to complete their breakout and were destroyed.[10]

After the FedCom Civil War the Fifth Alliance Guards remained on Dalkeith at about half strength, the portions of the Thirteenth Donegal Guards integrated into the Fifth reassigned to form the core of a new Thirteenth Donegal Guards regiment.[11]

The Jihad[edit]

During the early Jihad, the Fifth Alliance Guards was assigned to garrison the Lyran Alliance/Clan Jade Falcon OZ border. Though successful in their defense efforts, they did suffer significant losses through the constant raiding. By 3079, they had relocated to the Free Worlds League border, garrisoning the worlds of New India and Timbuktu.[12]

At the end of the Jihad, the personnel of the Fifth Alliance Guards were used to form two new, LCT-sized units: the First Bolan Guards and the Second Buena Guards.[1]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Tenth FedCom RCT
Hauptmann-General James Ito 3045[13] - 3057
Commanding Officers of the Fifth Alliance Guards
Leutnant-General James Ito 3057 - 3085[1]

Tactics[edit]

Thanks to their experience in combat against Clan Jade Falcon, the Fifth Alliance Guards specialized in small unit tactics, focusing on raids, lighting strikes, and precision orbital insertions.[3]

Composition History[edit]

3050[edit]

Tenth FedCom RCT (Regular/Reliable)[13]

3054[edit]

Tenth FedCom RCT (Regular/Reliable)[14]

3062[edit]

Fifth Alliance Guards RCT (Regular/Reliable)[3]

Fifth Alliance Guards (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)
Fifth Alliance Guards Aerospace Brigade (Wing/Regular/Reliable)[3]
Fifth Alliance Guards Armor Brigade (3 Regiments/Regular/Reliable)[3]
  • Tenth Alliance Guards Light Armor Regiment
  • Thirty-third Tamar Heavy Armor Regiment
Fifth Alliance Guards Infantry Brigade (4 Regiment/Regular/Reliable)[3]
  • XO: Leutnant-Colonel Patrick Patterson
  • Nineteenth Alliance Guards Mechanized Infantry Regiment
  • Twentieth Alliance Guards Mechanized Infantry Regiment
  • Tenth Alliance Guards Jump Infantry Regiment
  • Fifteenth Alliance Guards Jump Infantry Regiment

3067[edit]

Fifth Alliance Guards RCT (Veteran/Reliable)[15]

  • CO: Leutnant-General James Ito
  • Base: Dalkeith
Fifth Alliance Guards Aerospace Brigade (Wing/Veteran/Reliable)[15]
Fifth Alliance Guards Armor Brigade (Regular/Reliable)[15]
  • CO: Colonel Ronald Bracco
Fifth Alliance Guards Infantry Brigade (4 Regiments/Regular/Reliable)[15]
  • CO: Colonel Karami Mohammed

3079[edit]

Fifth Alliance Guards (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)[16]

Note: At this time the unit was stationed on New India and Timbuktu.[16]

Unit Colors and Insignia[edit]

  • While a member of the Federated Commonwealth Corps, the unit used the FedCom Corps crest as their insignia. After being renamed to the Fifth Alliance Guards, they changed their identifier to a pair of crossed broadswords set in front of the Steiner Mailed Fist.[3]
  • As a FedCom RCT, the unit used the standard parade colors of the FedCom Corps. After being renamed, their color scheme was changed to the Alliance Guards' brown and tan with black edging.[3]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Field Manual: 3085, p. 99
  2. Objective Raids, p. 56
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 Field Manual: Lyran Alliance, p. 47: "5th Alliance Guards: The Fighting Fifth"
  4. FedCom Civil War, pp. 33–34
  5. FedCom Civil War, p. 66
  6. FedCom Civil War, p. 129
  7. FedCom Civil War, pp. 129–130
  8. FedCom Civil War, p. 145
  9. FedCom Civil War, pp. 162–163
  10. FedCom Civil War, p. 175
  11. Field Manual: Updates, p. 166
  12. Field Report: LAAF, p. 8
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 20 Year Update, p. 19
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 Objective Raids, p. 22
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Field Manual: Updates, p. 177
  16. 16.0 16.1 Field Report: FWLM, p. 8

Bibliography[edit]