Reserves & Detached Duty

[ottarrus]

And thinking of the Reserves generally, nobody has mentioned the ground forces.

When I served in the US military [a million years ago], every enlistment was for 6 years. Your contract stipulated how much time was active duty and how much was in the reserves. We had a thing called the Individual Ready Reserve a category where you didn't have to do join a Reserve or National Guard unit, but had to keep DoD informed of your address in case of national emergency.

What's more, during the Korean War veterans of World War II were recalled en masse and fed into engaged units in theater. With decidedly mixed results. Harry Truman was on record as saying that he absolutely hated recalling combat veterans from an earlier war, feeling strongly that they'd served their time, but that the conscripts of 1950 desperately needed the veteran's experience, especially in the officer and NCO billets.

So using that as an example, it isn't unreasonable to think that a former United Armies or Imperial Marine Force veteran in their first term after service might be recalled to the colors. In the case of United Armies troops, if they report to their homeworld they're assigned to their old regiment as a wartime filler. If they report to the nearest Imperial facility, they're treated like the Imperial Marines and assigned where the needs of the service dictate.

No matter what previous service, if a veteran is serving in a mercenary unit and that unit is taken up en masse then they serve with their employer.

 

[Condottiere]

Healthy, technical competence, and follow instructions.

Generally speaking, I recall a study which says it's actually easier to train a new batch of recruits, then trying to bring up to speed reservists.

 

[ottarrus]

Sure. Recruits don't have nearly as much to un-learn and are far less cynical and resentful about the system.

But units heading into combat need more than a herd of conscripts with Guns [Slug] 1. They need NCOs with Leadership, Tactics [Military], Admin, Recon, and Heavy Weapons, and that skill-set doesn't happen in 12 weeks-Basic-plus-AIT.

Calling up reservists is a necessary evil in a wartime situation, but I agree that for Army Inc. [the upper rogers at the subsector capital] it's monumental pain in the fundament.

 

[Condottiere]

One possibility, could be offering reenlistment with a guaranteed promotion and sign up bonus, to retain experience and leadership.

Could be a dilemma, when you need warm bodies at the front, while recruiting a new crop.

 

[ottarrus]

There are many schemes to retain trained NCOs, but it's dealt with in the character generation rules as Mishaps, mandatory reenlistment and reductions in force in a strictly mechanical game sense.

And yeah, the struggle to match healthy young bodies with experienced leadership at the point of battle has been a constant ever since Sargon the Great organized the spearmen of Sumer in 3000 BC.

 

[Takei]

You know, that's a good question. I don't recall that as a contract stipulation, but there are good 'Traveller logic' reasons both for and against the idea.
If it's an IMTU decision, I would have one of the players roll a die... on a 1 or 2 the subsidy contract calls for an automatic recall as naval auxiliary and 3-6 it doesn't.

I tend to base it on campaign/plot requirements as a way of nudging the players In my current game the players got use of a heavily modified Scout Type-A Free Trader on a subsidy contract. On one occasion they arrived in-system to have the ship reactivated and they were welcome to continue as it's crew or pick it up once the service was finished with it.

 

[Limpin Legin]

How many campaigns actually take advantage of Detached Duty and Reserves concepts in normal peacetime play? Do your scouts ever use the space available barracks at Scout stations? Do your Naval personnel visit Navy bases?

How do you explain not calling up the PCs with appropriate backgrounds if your campaign features the 5FW? Just ignore it?

Classic JTAS10 Traveller News Service bulletin suggests only relevant if retired scout or scout vessel is within subsector that is on alert. Since I am not in a campaign with directly affected subsectors, then my games will eventually become aware but unaffected by the FFW. Otherwise, could be interesting situation if Scout Vessel is within jurisdiction, but the party is elsewhere, at the time of recall.

Generally agree with @Condottiere : subject to medical check and treason if ignored. Would be interesting on how you would referee a medical. Would you impose a a characteristic check to imply effort, or would you use a characteristic's value as a minimum requisite?

I would choose the latter, and perhaps use the Scout Career's Qualification and Survival as a guide. That is a minimum INT of 5 (to reflect what is needed to qualify as a Scout), and a minimum END of 5/6/7 (to reflect what is needed to survive - no point enlisting if it is likely that they are just going to die while serving in reserve.)

 

[ottarrus]

Well, the notice of recall will travel with the war news and propagate at the same rate. Depending on how far your characters are from the theater of war, it could take up to a year.

[as an interesting side note, travellermaps has the fast J-6 route to Capital at 26 weeks, probably a little longer if the ship constantly has to refuel itself instead of handing the message traffic off 'Pony Express' style]

I don't know if reservists avoiding service would constitute 'treason' per se, but you can bloody well bet that they can be charged under the Emperor's Regulations for 'failure to report in order to avoid hazardous service'. The USN used to call the book of regulations 'Rocks and Shoals' and that is one of the bigger 'rocks'.

 

[Limpin Legin]

I don't know if reservists avoiding service would constitute 'treason' per se, but you can bloody well bet that they can be charged under the Emperor's Regulations for 'failure to report in order to avoid hazardous service'. The USN used to call the book of regulations 'Rocks and Shoals' and that is one of the bigger 'rocks'.

Treason was in the mentioned News Bulletin issued order, sent from Rhylanor. Haven't seen it elsewhere, but there again I don't own all JTAS.

EDIT:

 

[MasterGwydion]

Adventure Class Ships, page 4

"
THE DEAL
Once a subsidised ship has been agreed to in principle,
the corporation or government will impose several
conditions on its use, and free-thinking Travellers will
find them extremely limiting.
• The Traveller must make a down payment on
the ship equal to 20% of its cost. The subsidising
organisation will assume all other payments on the
cost of the ship itself.
• The ship will be restricted to an area of operations,
typically a subsector or even a single trade route
between a handful of star systems. This may be
a permanent restriction or a certain number of
months in a year.
• The Traveller assumes responsibility for all running,
repair and maintenance costs.
• The subsidising organisation will take 50% of
all gross receipts (that is, before any costs are
deducted!) generated by the ship.
• The Traveller will respond to any emergencies
the subsidising organisation deems necessary
for them to attend. This could be anything from
assisting another ship in the fleet that is in
distress, to taking part in a full blown war (likely
in an auxiliary role; merchants are unlikely to find
themselves on the frontline)"

 

[Vormaerin]

I may be mixing up my editions, but IIRC subsidised merchants are subject to call up as and when required by the Navy, this being part of the subsidy agreement.

That would depend entirely on who is subsidizing your ship. The most common subsidy is a group of backwater planets that want to ensure regular service. They may or may not have an interest in shifting the ship to the Colonial Navy. They will probably just insist that the ship keeps serving the planets despite the increased risk. But the ship could be subsidized as a Naval Reserve vessel or a scout "totally not a spy ship" program by the Imperial Navy or IISS.

For example, the US Navy has the Strategic Sealift Officer Program, which essentially has merchant marine officers be part of the Naval Reserves, ready to be called up to man merchant vessels used for wartime transport.

But I don't recall there being much discussion of such in respect to Charted Space. The Subsidized Merchant campaign gets mentioned here and there as a thing, but rarely given any actual attention. Even The Traveller Adventure, which is nominally about a subsidized merchant ship and its adventures leads with "hey, you are on your free to do whatever you want" period. And then cancels the subsidy before the crew needs to return to their regular route.

 

[Condottiere]

For shipping lines, if you make a pact with the devil, and accept subsidies from the Admiralty, the vessels so subsidized will have to incorporate certain features, and need to be surrendered to the whims of the needs of the nation.

The crew, I'm not quite sure how they could be press ganged, unless it's written in their contract.

This should be where the merchant mariner comes in.

 

[MasterGwydion]

For shipping lines, if you make a pact with the devil, and accept subsidies from the Admiralty, the vessels so subsidized will have to incorporate certain features, and need to be surrendered to the whims of the needs of the nation.

The crew, I'm not quite sure how they could be press ganged, unless it's written in their contract.

This should be where the merchant mariner comes in.

CRB page 34. Merchant Marine.

 

[Condottiere]

That would depend on how rigid regulations are about crew education and certification.

If you can recruit a bunch of barbarians, teach them how to operate certain equipment, and then have them sign indenture contracts, your shareholder value would rise.

 

[ottarrus]

Something that never gets talked about but is undoubtedly part of Imperial military life is the the truism that you cannot govern civilians like you regulate the military and you can't regulate the military like you govern the civilians.
While the Third Imperium is a feudal technocracy with a patchwork of local laws underneath, there are still some things that civilians are free to do and military members are not free to do. For example, under Imperial High Law it is illegal to order someone to their assured death. But soldiers, Marines, and spacehands get just those orders and are bound to obey them.
For these situations the Imperium needs a set of regulations, articles, or codes that separate serving military personnel from the requirements of civil law while on active duty. Call it The Imperial Regulations, the Uniform Code of Imperial Military Justice, or simple the Imperial Articles of War, but this body of regulations and legalese is absolutely necessary for the proper functioning of a military.

Therefore, while the TAS might describe the charge of failure to report as a Reservist, the actual charge is most likely in the regulations is 'Failure to Report for Duty and Missing a Shipment to Avoid Hazardous Service.' But at the end of the day, yeah, they can shoot you for that in wartime.

 

[ottarrus]

That would depend on how rigid regulations are about crew education and certification.

If you can recruit a bunch of barbarians, teach them how to operate certain equipment, and then have them sign indenture contracts, your shareholder value would rise.

Chattel slavery is illegal in the Imperium under Imperial High Law. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but the Uncaring Buddha of War save you if you get caught. Clones might be excused with the legal fiction that they're not 'people' but a 'biological product of work', but some scheme involving giving barbs PGMPs is gonna have every IMOJ marshal from here to Deneb looking for you.
But again, legal consequences have never stopped a megacorp before, so....

 

[Limpin Legin]

Not sure what *Buddha* is, cited in:

the Uncaring Buddha of War

If you were to check the relevant rulebooks, I think you could find that is not how this notion of *Buddha* works. Hmmm. Maybe you men something more Viking?

 

[ottarrus]

Not sure what *Buddha* is, cited in:

If you were to check the relevant rulebooks, I think you could find that is not how this notion of *Buddha* works. Hmmm. Maybe you men something more Viking?

I picked that up from GT: Starmercs. I just found it funny.

 

[Limpin Legin]

Ill Met by Moonlight, author: W. Stanley Moss.

 

[Condottiere]

Chattel slavery is illegal in the Imperium under Imperial High Law. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but the Uncaring Buddha of War save you if you get caught. Clones might be excused with the legal fiction that they're not 'people' but a 'biological product of work', but some scheme involving giving barbs PGMPs is gonna have every IMOJ marshal from here to Deneb looking for you.
But again, legal consequences have never stopped a megacorp before, so....

This would go more under wage slave.