Scout Service PC questions

[plop101]

Some questions to help me with constructing Scout PC's

In the Operations Office of the Scout Service, we have the following branches:
Maintenance, Security, Base, and something called the "Scout Fleet".

First Question: For those who are in the Bureaucracy and serving in the operations
Office, do they ever get sent to the "Scout Fleet", or is the "Scout Fleet" simply an
administrative box to put all field people into? This "Scout Fleet" thing confuses me
a little bit. Is this a situation where people from the Bureaucracy can still serve in the
field?

Second Question: According to an article in JTAS#6, THE IISS pg11-14, Scouts in war
time are given a temporary rank1 in appropriate to the service in which they are serving.
Assuming this is done with Book 6 Chargen, would it allow as an example a Scout who is
a O-2 Junior Administrator engaged in a war mission the rank of O-2 Sublietenant? Would
same Scout be able to retain such rank when he/she/it musters out?

Third Question: Somewhat related to the second, if a Scout has been transferred into a
Navy, Marine, or Army unit as a result of a war mission, would such Scout be eligible for
decorations? At the very least, should all Scouts, regardless of Office or Branch, that engage in a war mission serving in a Navy, Marine, or Army unit, be eligible for the purple heart?

I be totally confuddled on these subjects

 

[tjoneslo]

Originally posted by plop101:

First Question: For those who are in the Bureaucracy and serving in the operations
Office, do they ever get sent to the "Scout Fleet", or is the "Scout Fleet" simply an
administrative box to put all field people into? This "Scout Fleet" thing confuses me
a little bit. Is this a situation where people from the Bureaucracy can still serve in the
field?

The "Scout Fleet" office are the bureaucrats who oversee the running of all the ships (Scouts, Xboats, and larger ships) assigned to the IISS. Their primary job is to ensure that all of the ships reassigned during emergencies get assigned back to the IISS when the emergency is over. Their second biggest headache is tracking all of the Type-S's "Loaned" to the "Retired" scouts.

Second Question: According to an article in JTAS#6, THE IISS pg11-14, Scouts in war
time are given a temporary rank1 in appropriate to the service in which they are serving.
Assuming this is done with Book 6 Chargen, would it allow as an example a Scout who is
a O-2 Junior Administrator engaged in a war mission the rank of O-2 Sublietenant? Would
same Scout be able to retain such rank when he/she/it musters out?

No. The IISS does not have ranks. Scouts accepts the fact that in order to work with the overly regimented Imperial Navy they must be given a rank. But the Scouts persist in annoying the IN by ignoring the ranks.

Third Question: Somewhat related to the second, if a Scout has been transferred into a
Navy, Marine, or Army unit as a result of a war mission, would such Scout be eligible for
decorations? At the very least, should all Scouts, regardless of Office or Branch, that engage in a war mission serving in a Navy, Marine, or Army unit, be eligible for the purple heart?

Scouts do not get decorations, even when re-assigned to the other units. The IISS does not hand out Purple hearts for getting wounded during the course of duty, but the Scout frequently gets a cool looking scar and good tale to tell.

 

[plop101]

The "Scout Fleet" office are the bureaucrats who oversee the running of
all the ships (Scouts, Xboats, and larger ships) assigned to the IISS. Their
primary job is to ensure that all of the ships reassigned during
emergencies get assigned back to the IISS when the emergency is over.
Their second biggest headache is tracking all of the Type-S's "Loaned" to
the "Retired" scouts.

I thought that was the Detached Duty Office

No. The IISS does not have ranks.

Book 6 Scouts page 11:
"Scouts serving in the field do not recieve promotions; those in the Bureaucracy can achieve promotions to a variety of Ranks." See also bottom of page 12, "Table of Ranks"

Scouts accepts the fact that in order to
work with the overly regimented Imperial Navy they must be given a rank.
But the Scouts persist in annoying the IN by ignoring the ranks.

So a O-7 Scout Leader with 6 terms of service would still be an O-1 Ensign in the eyes of the Imperial Navy?

This would drive a Newt nuts

 

[tjoneslo]

Originally posted by plop101:
I thought that was the Detached Duty Office

The Detached Duty office keeps track of the retired scout (people). The Fleet office tracks the scout ships (and all other IISS ships). So the Fleet office assigns one or more surplus ships to the Detached duty office for reassignment to the retired scouts. The Fleet office keeps track (in a general way) of the reassigned Scouts, and the Detached Duty office is required to report on the specific ships from time to time.

Book 6 Scouts page 11:
"Scouts serving in the field do not recieve promotions; those in the Bureaucracy can achieve promotions to a variety of Ranks." See also bottom of page 12, "Table of Ranks"

True. In T20 terms, the Bureaucracy Scouts are more likely to be Professional class/prior history (which does have promotion through ranks) rather than a Scout class/prior history(which does not).

So a O-7 Scout Leader with 6 terms of service would still be an O-1 Ensign in the eyes of the Imperial Navy?
This would drive a Newt nuts

Yes, IN treats all assigned scouts as O1, and all unassigned Scouts as the unwashed hive of scum and villiany that they are. The Newts are perfectly fine with this as they understand the concept "Abwaaassha", or the one who works outside hierarchy but within the system.

 

[lisagb]

Scouts kick serious booty! They are tough, smart, adaptable. Not snobby brown nosers (the Navy) psychotic serial killers (Army/Marines) or money grubbing tight wads (merchants) Scouts ultimately...rule!

 

[plop101]

The Fleet office tracks the scout ships (and all other IISS ships)

So, would it be easier to view "the Scout Fleet" as the Scout Service headquarters unit?
And that would make the Detached Duty Office, hmmm, like the Veterans Administration?

 

[plop101]

Scouts kick serious booty! They are tough, smart, adaptable.

I'm with you! I like to view scouts as a combination of the old WW2 SAS and
the NASA astronauts, with a little Coast Guard and Postal Service thrown in for good measure.

 

[tjoneslo]

Originally posted by plop101:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr /> The Fleet office tracks the scout ships (and all other IISS ships)

So, would it be easier to view "the Scout Fleet" as the Scout Service headquarters unit?
And that would make the Detached Duty Office, hmmm, like the Veterans Administration?</font>[/QUOTE]I'd view the "Scout Fleet" office as a combination of the DMV and a bad car rental agency. Something everyone dreads, and they all have to deal with it.

Yes, the Detached Duty office = VA is a good analogy. (Except the VA doesn't hand out multi-million dollar space craft).