CAAN Regiment

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

Description

First formed in 2315, the 1st 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 22nd, 31st, and 32nd CAANs) joined Operation EXODUS. The 29th CAAN abandoned the SLDF in 2766, eventually forming the 1st and 2nd Canopian Light Horse. A battalion of the 38th Royal CAAN briefly operated as pirates before being destroyed in 2768. One regiment, the 9th 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 Paris Island, fulfilling supporting roles.[6][7]

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

The 21st 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 26th century.[9]

Tactics

Unknown.

Composition

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:

References

  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