CAAN Regiment

The CAAN Regiment (Cavalry, Armored, Aerospace and Naval) was a combat command type of the Star League Defense Force.[1]

Description[edit]

First formed in 2315, the First CAAN Regiment (at that time Combined Armor, Air, and Naval) was an experiment by the Terran Alliance and continued by the Terran Hegemony, following the McKenna Coup. After a year of training, the CAAN concept received its trial-by-fire on Ingress.[2]

The concept proved immensely successful, with the SLDF eventually fielding no less than 38 Royal CAAN Regiments and 29 (standard) CAAN Regiments. At the time of the Amaris Civil War, only 16 were still on the rolls. The heavy fighting on Carver and Terra took a fearsome toll on the units, with only three surviving as SLDF units. All three (the Twenty-second, Thirty-first, and Thirty-second CAANs) joined Operation EXODUS. The Twenty-ninth CAAN abandoned the SLDF in 2766, eventually forming the First and Second Canopian Light Horse. A battalion of the Thirty-eighth Royal CAAN briefly operated as pirates before being destroyed in 2768. One regiment, the Ninth Royal CAAN, is completely unaccounted for.[3][4][5]

CAAN regiments were headquartered on Carver V, on the large island of Quantico, with other island facilities, such as Parris Island, fulfilling supporting roles.[6][7]

The Terran Hegemony maintained a hostile environment school for CAAN training on Titan, a moon of Saturn (Terra).[8]

The Twenty-first Illician Rangers provided high-risk combat drop training for the CAANs and jump infantry commands, a skill the units had perfected and performed since the twenty-sixth century.[9]

Tactics[edit]

Unknown.

Composition[edit]

CAAN regiments were formed from a mixture of BattleMechs, tanks, hovercraft, fighters, and blue-water warships[10]. Due to their specialized mission they were the only SLDF commands with organic blue-water naval assets and had several units specifically designed for them:

Planned equipment[edit]

The CAAN Regiments were among the SLDF units slated to receive the LRRP (Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol) version of the Beagle Hover Scout, pending successful trials by the SLDF on New Earth. However this was derailed by the Amaris Coup, with the few examples that had been built to date for testing and trials being destroyed while aiding in the defense of the planet against Amaris' invading forces. In addition, Royal CAAN regiments, as with other Royal SLDF units and formations, had been also due to receive examples of the Nighthawk Mk. XXII PA(L) but again this plan was frustrated by the coup and subsequent civil war.[citation needed]

References[edit]

  1. Field Manual: SLDF, p. 13
  2. The Star League, pp. 16–17: "Terra's Errant Flock" & "Viciousness on Ingress"
  3. The Star League, pp. 140–158
  4. Field Manual: SLDF
  5. First Succession War, pp. 32–36: "Those Left Behind"
  6. Total Chaos, p. 187: "Death to Tyrants
  7. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 82: "The Marines of Carver V"
  8. Era Report: 2750, p. 58: "20th Royal CAAN Marine Regiment"
  9. Mercenaries Supplemental, p. 43
  10. The Star League, p. 133
  11. Technical Readout: Irregulars, pp. 12–13: "BattleMech Landing Craft"
  12. 12.0 12.1 Technical Readout: 3085 Supplemental, pp. 18–19: "Manta and Moray Attack Subs"

Bibliography[edit]