Sun Zhang MechWarrior Academy Cadre

Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
Affiliation	Draconis Combine
Parent Command	DCMS Sun Zhang MechWarrior Academy‎‎

The Sun Zhang MechWarrior Academy Cadres consist of graduates from the first phase of training from the Sun Zhang MechWarrior Academy. After four years of classroom and field training, their training continues as active duty warriors in the Cadres. The students are evaluated after tours of duty that last nine months, after which those that pass graduate. The Cadres are considered Free-Floating Regiments, but with an excellent relation with the DCMS Procurement Department. The Sun Zhang Cadres answer directly to and may be transferred at the whim of the Coordinator, though they may be temporarily placed under the command of a prefecture commander or district Warlord.

Sun Zhang MechWarrior Academy

Training

Located on the Draconis Combine's original capital world of New Samarkand, the Sun Zhang MechWarrior Academy is particularly notable in that it graduates the most MechWarriors per year of any training facility in the Inner Sphere at over four hundred. The Academy also has an aerospace fighter pilot program. It is considered the most prestigious military academy in the Draconis Combine and all of its graduates receive a daishō sword. The Sun Zhang Academy Cadre represents the ultimate test for would-be MechWarriors who have spent the previous four years at the academy. In the Cadre, they are treated brutally by their superiors and then subjected to real combat and are expected to react like warriors in the long and glorious tradition of the Sun Zhang MechWarrior Academy.

Though traditionally the Academy trained only MechWarriors and aerospace fighter pilots, the arrival of the Clans prompted the DCMS to add a course of study for battle armor infantry as well.

Excepting in years of great need, such as Coordinator Theodore Kurita's Phoenix Programs and the rebuilding of the late Dark Age, the cadets serve in a Cadre for nine months, and at the end of the term, they are either allowed to graduate or must serve another term in the Cadre. Most do not graduate after their first term in the Cadre. During Coordinator Theodore's Program, the depleted Cadres no longer served the purposes of ready Reserves, so there was instituted an Accelerated Studies Program that gave the cadets more simulator and field time and instructed the officers to be even more demanding of the cadets.

Life in the four Cadres is extremely tough. Cadets are expected to lead patrols in enemy territory, walk unafraid through minefields, and generally perform tasks that would make even the most hardened MechWarrior hesitate. Alumni are used to death, and the death rate among the cadets, including suicide, is extremely high. Those who survive will be treated with great respect for the rest of their lives.

Officers

Rank	Name	Command
Commanding Officers of the Sun Zhang MechWarrior Academy Cadre
General	Isoroku Kurita	3025

Tactics

Different per Unit. All cadre Regiments were classified as light or medium and maintained a BattleMech regiment and aerospace fighter wing. Local conventional vehicle and infantry forces were attached as needed, sometimes for the duration of whatever conflict the Cadres took part in. The Cadres maintain their own DropShips and JumpShips for transport, usually older models, but kept in pristine condition.

Notable Graduates

The Sun Zhang MechWarrior Academy boasts Coordinator Theodore and his son Hohiro Kurita among its alumni. Jinjiro Kurita was also a graduate of Sun Zhang.

See Category:Sun Zhang MechWarrior Academy Alumni

Units of the Sun Zhang Academy Cadre

The First through Twelfth Cadre regiments were in service at the start of the First Succession War.

• First Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Second Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Third Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Fourth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Fifth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Sixth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Seventh Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Eighth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Ninth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Tenth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Eleventh Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Twelfth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Thirteenth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Fourteenth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Fifteenth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Sixteenth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Seventeenth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Eighteenth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre
• Nineteenth Sun Zhang Academy Cadre

After the Jihad the ISF and O5P added severe psychological and loyalty testing to their evaluations to prevent another Black Dragon Society coup. During the Jihad the Thirteenth and Sixteenth Cadres were used along the Combine's border with Clan Ghost Bear. The Fifth was stationed on Kessel and suffered heavy losses against the Word of Blake. The Fourteenth Cadre was effectively destroyed on Luthien, with the few survivors being drafted into the First Genyosha.

As of 3145 the rigors of recent years have strained the Academy, with the best cadets being whisked away to line units before they can serve in one of the Cadres. Though this meets the demands for units bulking out their forces, it starves these cadets from finishing their training. With the same orders to expand their rosters, the Academy has increased its enrollment tenfold. This has led to the creation of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Cadres.

Notes

• The First Cadre was destroyed in 3052 by Clan Ghost Bear during the Clan Invasion.
• The Second Cadre was destroyed during the Second Succession War.
• The Third Cadre was destroyed during the Second Succession War.
• The Fourth Cadre was destroyed during the First Succession War.
• The Sixth Cadre was destroyed during the First Succession War.
• The Seventh Cadre was destroyed during the Second Succession War.
• The Eighth Cadre was destroyed during the First Succession War.
• The Ninth Cadre - Unknown; Thought to have been destroyed during the Clan Invasion in Operation Revival or shortly after.
• The Twelfth Cadre was destroyed in 3051 by Clan Ghost Bear during the Clan Invasion.
• The Fourteenth Academy Cadre was destroyed during the Jihad.
• The Fifteenth Cadre was destroyed in 3057 by Clan Smoke Jaguar during the Clan Invasion.

Color Schemes and Insignia

Sun Zhang BattleMechs and fighters are painted white with blue stripes. The exact pattern differs among the Cadres. The Sun Zhang Cadres do not paint their machines in camouflage. Each 'Mech paints the House Kurita dragon on its upper left torso and the Cadre's insignia of a setting sun at various locations. Only the Fifth Cadre kept a distinct regimental insignia.

• 

  An Quickdraw in 14th Sun Zhang Academy Cadre colors.
• 

  Old Sun Zhang academy logo

Bibliography

• Combat Manual: Kurita
• Field Manual: 3145
• Field Manual: Draconis Combine
• Field Report: DCMS
• Field Report 2765: DCMS
• First Succession War (sourcebook)
• Objectives: Draconis Combine
• Second Succession War (sourcebook)