Fronc Reaches Sentinels

Fronc Reaches Sentinels
Affiliation Fronc Reaches
Parent Command Fronc Colonial Military[1]
Sub-Command(s) See Below


History

Formation

The Fronc Reaches Sentinels were founded by the Fronc Reaches during the Jihad for the purpose of defending the small Periphery nation from external threats - internal threats being the province of the Colonial Marshals at the time. Land-rich, the Reaches government attempted to boost recruitment for the Sentinels by offering land-grants to freelance mercenaries and dispossessed MechWarriors alike in exchange for loyalty and service.[2]

The Jihad

By 3079 the Sentinels were working hard to integrate new arrivals with fighting experience into their ranks and to reach a point where the Sentinels could be considered a professional combat command. While the Sentinels were considered to be a brigade, their numbers were still small at this point, consisting of slightly more than a battalion of BattleMechs augmented by locally produced Vedette and Hetzer Combat Vehicles.[2]

Hampering the efforts of the Sentinels was a continuing shortfall in the number of volunteers needed; while the aspiration was to use the Sentinels' armor formations to defend important objectives such as industrial sites while the 'Mech forces acted as a mobile reaction force, the reality was that without the numbers needed the Sentinels remained sorely understrength.[2]

Despite the lack of numbers, the first unit of the Sentinels to form up, the First Fronc Cuirassiers, was considered to be a reliable unit - a reflection of the loyalty engendered by the land grants each was offered, although there was a danger that the loyalty expressed was tied more to the euphoria of being effectively appointed to the rank of minor nobility and would decline accordingly with time.[2]

The Dark Age

The Sentinels began to expand in 3082 with the founding of the second regiment within the brigade, the Second Fronc Cuirassiers. The Second were established as a result of petitioning by Force Marshal Dirk McEvans, leader of the Colonial Marshals and aide to President Carver Trondel, after the First Fronc Cuirassiers had reached half-strength, and was founded to honor the victims of the Bloody Tricentennial attacks launched by the Word of Blake which killed thousands of civilians on the Reaches world of Spencer.[3]

The Sentinels were drawing on the benefits of the exchange program between the Fronc Reaches and the Filtvelt Coalition, with graduates of the Filtvelt Academy taking up commands within the Second Cuirassiers, bringing the benefits of their seasoning in the coalition. By 3085 both units were demonstrating more skill and experience and were focused on fighting off the small-unit raids by pirates that were typical to the region.[3]

The Fronc Reaches Sentinels expanded during the Dark Age, adding a third regiment of Cuirassiers to the brigade roll in 3128; the additional forces were needed as a result of the expansion of the Fronc Reaches through colonization efforts.[1] Despite the addition of a third regiment the Sentinels actually grew relatively slowly during the Dark Age, certainly far more slowly than the military-industrial sectors of the Reaches economy, and the sale of surplus production provided a substantial boost to the economy of the reaches.[4] The military academies within the Fronc Reaches continued to grow during the Dark Age, and while the Marshalry Academy on Fronc was apparently the most successful and well-funded[5] the Sentinelry Academy on Rockwellawan responsible for supporting the Sentinels presumably expanded as well.

Officers

Notes

The Fronc Reaches Sentinels have no brigade-level commanding officer; instead, the brigade appears to report directly to President and his Force Marshal aide.

Units of the Fronc Reaches Sentinels

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Field Manual: 3145, p. 199, "Fronc Reaches"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Field Report: Periphery, p. 11, "Fronc Reaches"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Field Manual: 3085, p. 147, "Fronc Reaches"
  4. Field Manual: 3145, p. 186, "Fronc Reaches"
  5. Field Manual: 3145, p. 190, "Fronc Reaches"
  6. 6.0 6.1 Field Manual: 3085, p. 152, "Fronc Reaches"

Bibliography