Editing 1st Bolan Defenders

{{infoBoxMilitaryCommand
| image          = [[image:Bolan Defenders.png|150px|Insignia of the Bolan Defenders]]
| Designation    = First Bolan Defenders
| formed         = ca. 2558
| Disbanded      = 
| Previous Designation = 
| Nickname       = The Immovable<ref name="FR2765:FWLMp12"/>
| Affiliation    = [[Free Worlds League]]
| Parent Command = [[Bolan Defenders]]
| Sub-Command    = 
}}
==History==
=== Formation ===
The '''First Bolan Defenders''' came into being as a result of the successful [[Age of War]]-era conquest by the [[Free Worlds League]] of the region of the [[Lyran Commonwealth]] that came to be known as the Bolan Thumb. Although the conquest of the various worlds of the Bolan Thumb was completed during the first half of the [[twenty-sixth century]] the First Bolan Defenders wouldn't reach full strength until after the signing of the [[Ian Cameron#Tharkad Accords|Tharkad Accords]] in [[2558]], by which point the borders between the Free Worlds League and Lyran Commonwealth had been formalized and the pressure on the [[Free Worlds League Military]] (FWLM) units holding onto the various conquered worlds had reduced.<ref name="FR2765:FWLMp12">''Field Report 2765: FWLM'', p. 12, "Bolan Defenders"</ref>

In an act of appeasement towards the populations of the various conquered worlds of the Bolan Thumb the majority of the personnel for the First Bolan Defenders and its sister regiments were recruited from the worlds of the Thumb, although the FWLM included a sprinkling of liaisons from the [[National Intelligence Agency]] (NIA) put in place to watch for signs of subversion.When the NIA confirmed that the Defenders had been vetted for loyalty to the region the [[brigade]] was given free rein to police the region as it saw fit. The First wasn't vetted primarily for loyalty to the [[Captain-General]], and this was a distinction echoed somewhat in the nature of the Defenders' place within the FWLM, somewhere between federal and provincial forces.<ref name="FR2765:FWLMp12"/>

=== The Star League ===
The First and the other regiments of the Bolan Defenders continued to sit somewhere between provincial and federal status throughout the Star League era. With no Free Worlds League province to claim political ownership of the worlds of the Bolan Thumb, the Defenders were officially federal troops, controlled by the [[Dormuth Council]] and under the nominal authority of the [[marshal (rank)|Marshal]] of the Tamarind Military District. In contrast with most federal units the Defenders were given a great deal of autonomy and latitude by the Dormuth Council, allowing them to continue to respond rapidly to incidents and incursions within the Bolan Thumb - faster even than the locally-assigned [[Star League Defense Force]] garrisons. The Defenders remained very similar to provincial forces in other ways, however; in particular, no regiment of the Defenders ever deployed outside of the Bolan Thumb region or even below the area known as the Bolan Shoulders, the rimward edge of the Thumb region. The Bolan Thumb may not have been a Free Worlds League province but the Defenders treated it as such.<ref name="FR2765:FWLMp12"/>

The majority of the personnel serving within the First were still recruited from the Bolan region at this point, and those who joined the First rarely requested a transfer outside the brigade. It was this dedication that was in large part responsible for the Defenders as a whole consistently maintaining one of the highest readiness ratings of any FWLM formation; intimately familiar with the landscape of the region - both political and topographical - the Defenders were effective at mobilizing against threats and responding to or repelling bandit raids consistently faster than their SLDF counterparts.<ref name="FR2765:FWLMp12"/>

Like the other regiments of the Defenders, the First began to suffer from the high tempo of activity within the Thumb during the closing years of the Star League; piracy and border raids ramped up sharply from the mid-2740s onwards, placing an increasing strain on the First as the weariness of constantly being on high alert began to affect the morale and performance of the units. Also dragging the morale of the brigade down were the persistent rumors that despite the corrupt NIA having been replaced by [[SAFE]] the League continued to place SAFE agents within each regiment to search for seditious tendencies. The First remained keen to jump across the Lyran border if required, and were determined to live up to the brigade motto ''"Ad Respiratio Ultimus"'' - To the last breath - but the Defenders were increasingly on edge. After [[Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces]] performed a series of military actions in systems bordering the Free Worlds League and toppled the governments of [[Al Jafr]], [[Ilzra]] and [[Maisons]] in the early 2760s the First went on high alert for nine months before being stood down.<ref name="FR2765:FWLMp12"/>

==Officers==
{| class="wikitable"
|- 
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Rank
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Name
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Command
|-
| colspan="4" style="background: #efefef;" | '''Commanding Officers of the 1st Bolan Defenders'''
|-
|}

==Tactics==
Unknown.

==Composition History==
===2765===
'''First Bolan Defenders''' (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)<ref name="FR2765:FWLMp12A">''Field Report 2765: FWLM'', p. 12, "Regimental Status"</ref>
:- At this point in time the First was stationed on [[Promised Land]].<ref name="FR2765:FWLMp12"/>

=== 2786 - 2821===
'''1st Bolan Defenders ''' (Regiment/Regular/Reliable) <ref name= FSSp138 >''First Succession War'', p. 138</ref>
: Note: At this point in time the heavy-weight unit was stationed on [[Promised Land]]. The unit was destroyed during the war. <ref name= FSSp138/>

== Notes ==


==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Field Report 2765: FWLM]]''

[[Category: Free Worlds League Commands|Bolan Defenders, 01st]]