Fairfax Draconis March Militia

Fairfax Draconis March Militia
Formed	2754
Affiliation	Federated Suns
Parent Command	Draconis March Militia

The Fairfax Draconis March Militia was responsible for defending the worlds of the Fairfax Combat Region and Fairfax Polymorphous Defense Zone.

History

Formation

In common with the other March Militias found across the Federated Suns, the Fairfax Draconis March Militia or Fairfax DMM was formed in 2754 as a result of the Preparedness Act enacted by First Prince Richard Davion in 2735. Richard established a formal training program aimed at increasing the general readiness level of the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns reserve forces and formalized the structure of the March Militias, bringing the planetary militias into a common structure.

Richard established a system whereby each of the Marches within the Federated Suns conducted internal wargames every two years, with those wargames being inspired by the Martial Olympiad conducted by the Star League Defense Force every four years. Each March Militia was formed as an ad hoc brigade drawing on the winners from each planetary militia across each Combat Region. These ad hoc brigades then competed against each other at a March level to earn the title of "Best Prepared" March Militia within each of the three Marches.

The wargames proved to be very popular and by 2750 the prestige that was associated with the "Best Prepared" title inspired troops in every combat region to give their best effort, with some commands making plans years in advance to try and ensure that they were ready. After the close of the 2754 games First Prince John Davion activated all of the combat region commands as federal troops and formed them into the March Militias; while this move was controversial and provoked a flurry of judicial cases opposing the creation of the commands, it also added twenty BattleMech-equipped combat commands to the AFFS in a single stroke. Many of the planets that provided troops for the games were resentful of having their best militia troops pressed into federal service, and it would be 2763 before the last of the cases worked its way through the courts. With the final ruling going in favor of Prince John, he then moved to allay many of the fears expressed by the planets involved by laying down specific instructions that the March Militias wouldn't be deployed outside their home combat regions except under a small number of very rare and clearly-defined exceptions.

Firmly established, the Fairfax DMM acted as a mobile reserve for the Fairfax Combat Region and a staging ground through which planetary militia soldiers could move on into the AFFS, while retiring AFFS personnel moved into the March Militia to pass on their knowledge and experience. The Fairfax DMM was one of six March Militia brigades founded within the Capellan March in 2754, with the other five being the Clovis, Dahar, Kilbourne, Robinson and Woodbine Draconis March Militias. In 2765 the Draconis March Militias were engaged in March-wide wargames involving neighboring games to determine which was the best March Militia in the command; two of the Militias were out of the running, and despite the Fairfax DMM being widely tipped to win, the Clovis DMM was still in the running, much to the surprise of observers.

First Succession War

On the 1st of May 2787 the Draconis Combine launched a massive invasion of the Federated Suns, with the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery troops under the command of Jinjiro Kurita, son of the Coordinator. Jinjiro had learned from the battles on Towne earlier in the First Succession War, and had recognized that interservice cooperation between the different branches of the Federated Suns military had largely been replaced by rivalry, and that the various Combat Regions across the Federated Suns had become dangerously parochial, with units being very protective of worlds within their Combat Region but the staff of the various Combat Regions rarely coordinating or cooperating with each other. Jinjiro's forces took full advantage of that; his first wave attacked worlds along the border, overwhelming many before they had a chance to call for help. Each of the Combat Region commanding officers attempted to deal with the attacks on their own, focused completely on the defense of their own Combat Region with little exchange of information between Regions. Jinjiro's second wave capitalized on this, striking in force against the Clovis Combat Region; despite a dogged, fierce defense by Field Marshal Simons and forces directly under his command such as the First Clovis Guards Regiment on Clovis he was cut off and, after a week, killed when his DropShip attempted to retreat from the planet. The loss of Smith caused organized resistance in the Clovis Combat Region to collapse, and before the other senior officers within the AFFS had realized what happened, DCMS forces poured through the Clovis Combat Region and deep into the heart of the Federated Suns.

It would be thirty years before the AFFS had finally recovered and fought its way back to something approximating the prewar border; the risk posed to the Federated Suns as a result of the entrenched parochialism and separation between Combat Regions highlighted the weaknesses of the system within the Capellan and Draconis Marches, leading the Marshals of the AFFS to restructure both Marches, replacing the Combat Regions with a number of smaller Polymorphous Defensive Zones (PDZs), each with its own March Militia.

Officers

Rank	Name	Command
Commanding Officers of the Fairfax Draconis March Militia

Tactics

Unknown.

Composition History

2765

Fairfax Draconis March Militia (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)

- One BattleMech regiment

- Two armor regiments

- Three infantry regiments

- One mobile artillery battalion

- Two aerospace wings, each of eighteen aerospace fighters

- The Fairfax DMM was stationed on Junior at this point in time.

2786–2821

Fairfax Draconis March Militia (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)

- At this point in time the Militia was a medium-weight unit operating at full regimental strength, and was based on Junior. In 2821 the unit was operating at just over half-strength, and was based on Tishomingo.

2830

Fairfax DMM (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)

Note: At this point in time the heavy-weight unit was stationed on Tishomingo with an operational readiness of 108 percent.The unit was destroyed during the war.

Notes

• Field Report 2765: AFFS attributes the Preparedness Act of 2735 to both Richard Davion and Roger Davion. Because other sources indicate that Richard Davion was First Prince in 2735, and that Roger Davion died in 2703, the latter attribution is probably an error.
• By 3025, the system of Combat Regions in place during the Star League era had been replaced with a system of Polymorphous Defense Zones (PDZs) within the Capellan and Draconis Marches. The Draconis March of 3025 consisted of ten PDZs, compared to the six CRs of the Star League era. The region which had originally been the Fairfax Combat Region had been rearranged several times, and Fairfax itself sat within the Bremond PDZ. The Fairfax DMM no longer existed, and the DMM assigned to the Bremond PDZ was the Bremond Draconis March Militia; it is therefore likely—but not certain—that the Fairfax DMM was either destroyed and replaced by the Bremond DMM or that the Fairfax DMM was re-roled into the Bremond DMM at some point in time. However, worlds from the former Fairfax CR had been incorporated into other PDZs including the Mayetta and Dahar PDZs.

Bibliography

• Field Report 2765: AFFS
• First Succession War (sourcebook)
• House Davion (The Federated Suns)
• Second Succession War (sourcebook)