Private

Inner Sphere Military Ranks
Enlisted
Field Officer
General Officer
For specific ranks see Military Ranks


Once a recruit has completed their initial training, they are usually promoted to the rank of private. Privates (and their naval equivalent, the spaceman) make up the bulk of every army, performing every task from maintenance (as AsTechs) to the rifle carriers in infantry units to members of naval gunnery crews or vehicle crewmen.

SLDF[edit]

Unlike most militaries, an SLDF recruit was only promoted to private after they had survived one battle. Their rank patch was divided into three sections by diagonal lines.[1][2]

In the Second Star League Defense Force, a recruit was promoted to private immediately after graduating boot camp. Members of the Naval Command at this level were known as spaceman.[3]

SLDF Rank Insignia
Rank Army Insignia (First SLDF)[4][5] Navy Insignia (First SLDF)[4][5] Insignia (Second SLDF)[6]
Private SLDF-PrivateArmy-1stSL.png SLDF-PrivateNavy-1stSL.png SLDF-Private.png

Lyran Commonwealth and Lyran Alliance[edit]

LCAF/LAAF Privates wear the "Narrow Arrow" as their rank insignia, like recruits. Unlike LAAF recruits, privates are allowed to wear Lyran Alliance insignia on their uniforms.[7]

LAAF Military Rank Insignia
Rank Insignia
Private PrivateLAAF.png

Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery[edit]

A DCMS heishi is a private. They wear a stylized kanji "1" in lavender as their rank, on a colored background based on their service branch.[8]

DCMS Heishi Rank insignia by branch of service
DCMS Ranks DCA Ranks
Rank MechWarrior Aerospace fighter Infantry Armor Artillery Rank Naval crew
Draconis Combine Admiralty
Technical
Service
Heishi
(Private)
Heishi-mech.png Heishi-asf.png Heishi-infantry.png Heishi-armor.png Heishi-artillery.png Heishi
(Private)
Heishi-naval.png Heishi-tech.png

Armed Forces of the Federated Suns[edit]

The lowest rank for regular AFFS members is private, which is gained automatically after they pass basic training as a recruit. A private in the AFFS wears single "Scar" on their sleeve to show their rank. The edges of the Scar is black for Regular Army and March Militia units, while planetary militias edge the Scar in dark green. The interior of the Scar is color coded to the wearer's branch of service.[9]

AFFS Private Rank Insignia by Branch of service
Rank MechWarrior Aerospace fighter Infantry Armor Naval crew Technical
Service
Administrative Medical Legal Logistics/
Transportation
Private PrivateMW.png PrivateASF.png PrivateInfantry.png PrivateArmor.png PrivateNaval.png PrivateTech.png PrivateAdmin.png PrivateMedical.png PrivateLegal.png PrivateLogistics.png

Capellan Confederation Armed Forces[edit]

Unlike other militaries, once a CCAF recruit graduates to regular service is still known as a Shia-ben-bing rather than a private. They continue to wear a plain green bar as their rank insignia.[10]

Old Rank New Rank Insignia
Recruit Shia-ben-bing Green bar

Free Worlds League[edit]

Privates in the FWLM use a single gold chevron edged in purple as their rank insignia. The FWLM Navy calls sailors at this rank spaceman. They typically have less than a year in service.[11]

FWLM Military Rank Insignia
Rank Insignia
Private PrivateFWL.png

The Clans[edit]

In one sense, there are no privates or any other enlisted rank in the Clan toumans: Every warrior who tests out of training is simply a warrior. This means that there are no "official" ranks until a warrior tests up to a higher position (like Point Commander or Star Commander) or tests down into a solahma unit. This means that there are no specific insignia until higher ranks, so Clan warriors use their branch insignia (daggerstar) or Clan insignia as a rank device.[12]

The color of the daggerstar varies by branch, and sometimes by Clan. The Snow Ravens, for example, use an orange daggerstar for combat vehicle crewmen, while the Steel Vipers use a white daggerstar. The Clans use the same colors for the main touman branches however: red for MechWarriors, blue for aerospace fighter pilots, green for Elementals, and black for naval forces.

Clan daggerstars, by branch of service
Clan Branch Insignia
All MechWarrior Daggerstar-MechWarrior.png
All Aerospace fighter Daggerstar-ASF.png
All Elemental Daggerstar-Elemental.png
All Naval Daggerstar-Naval.png
All Nova Commander
(MechWarrior CO w/Elementals)
Daggerstar-NovaMWElemental.png
All Nova Commander
(Elemental CO w/Mechs)
Daggerstar-NovaElementalMW.png
All Nova Commander
(ASF CO w/Elementals)
Daggerstar-NovaASFElemental.png
All Nova Commander
(Elemental CO w/ASF)
Daggerstar-NovaElementalASF.png
All Nova Commander
(MechWarrior CO w/ASF)
Daggerstar-NovaMWASF.png
All Nova Commander
(ASF CO w/Mechs)
Daggerstar-NovaASFMW.png
Snow Raven Armor[13] Daggerstar-SR-Armor.png
Snow Raven Conventional Infantry[13] Daggerstar-SR-ConventionalInfantry.png
Snow Raven Support[13] Daggerstar-SR-Support.png
Steel Viper Conventional Infantry[14] Daggerstar-SV-ConventionalInfantry.png
Steel Viper Armor[14] Daggerstar-SV-Armor.png

ComStar/Word of Blake[edit]

Due to their unique base six structure, neither ComStar nor the Word of Blake Militia use the rank of private. Instead, soldiers are identified as acolytes.[6]

ComStar acolytes use a ComStar logo with a gray halo to show their rank. Word of Blake acolytes use a brass medallion. Insignia shows theta symbol, indicating JumpShip/WarShip crew. Other service branches replace theta with appropriate Greek letter.

Com Guard/Word of Blake Militia Insignia
Rank Com Guards Insignia Word of Blake Militia Insignia
Acolyte Comstar-Acolyte.png WoB-Acolyte.png

Free Rasalhague Republic[edit]

The KungsArmé uses the rank of private, but they use the Swedish term. Thus an infantry squad rifle carrier has the rank of menig.[15] These soldiers wear a blue patch with an orange cross with two small orange squares appearing in the bottom corners as their rank insignia.

KungsArmé Military Rank Insignia
Rank Insignia
Menig FreeRasalhague-Menig.png

Periphery Powers[edit]

Magistracy of Canopus[edit]

In the Magistracy Armed Forces, any volunteer who successfully completes basic training (and does not receive disciplinary action) is promoted to first ranker. For those serving out their compulsory service, this is the highest rank they will achieve. Those who want to make a career in the MAF will receive advanced training, typically from their lance corporal.[16][17] Their rank insignia is similar to a volunteer's, but has a second smaller silver-edged blue green-diamond inside it.

Magistracy Armed Forces Insignia
Rank Insignia
First Ranker MagistracyOfCanopus-FirstRanker.png

Taurian Defense Force[edit]

Infantry in the Taurian Defense Force are still known as recruits, though they will have already gone through their eighteen weeks of basic training when they are assigned to a field unit. They wear a silver ring with a red center as their rank insignia.[18][19][20]

Taurian Defense Force Insignia
Rank Insignia
Corporal TaurianConcordat-Corporal.png

Marian Hegemony[edit]

In the Hegemony Armed Forces, a miles is a soldier who has successfully completed basic training in addition to the rank used by HAF recruits.[21] They wear no rank insignia.

Outworlds Alliance[edit]

The Alliance Military Corps identifies all its lowest-level soldiers as defender. This has to do with the fact that the AMC is not granted much respect by the average citizen of the Outworlds Alliance.[22] They wear a single green circle on their lapel to show their membership in the AMC.

Alliance Military Corps Insignia
Rank Insignia
Defender OA-Defender.png

Notes[edit]

  • Ranks, when not preceding a name, are not capitalized.[23]
Ex: The major stood and rendered a salute to General DeChavilier.
  • Non-English ranks, with the exception of those used by the Federated Suns or Lyrans, are italicized.[23]


References[edit]

  1. The Star League, p. 112
  2. Field Manual: SLDF, p. 24
  3. Field Manual: ComStar, p. 81
  4. 4.0 4.1 The Star League, p. 113
  5. 5.0 5.1 Field Manual: SLDF, color plate 1
  6. 6.0 6.1 Field Manual: ComStar
  7. Field Manual: Lyran Alliance, p. 30
  8. Field Manual: Draconis Combine, p. 20
  9. Field Manual: Federated Suns, p. 27
  10. Field Manual: Capellan Confederation
  11. Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 22
  12. Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 11
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 Field Manual: Warden Clans, p. 127
  14. 14.0 14.1 Field Manual: Warden Clans, p. 141
  15. Field Manual: ComStar, p. 66
  16. Field Manual: Periphery, p. 24
  17. Handbook: Major Periphery States, p. 86
  18. The Periphery, p. 74
  19. Field Manual: Periphery, p. 53
  20. Handbook: Major Periphery States, p. 112
  21. Field Manual: Periphery, p. 73
  22. Field Manual: Periphery, p. 89
  23. 23.0 23.1 Per Line Developer Ray Arrastia, 02Aug2022 (screencap)

Bibliography[edit]