CO Faction: The "Hawks"

A well-organized and functional military force does not tend to encourage factionalism within its ranks, but such developments inevitably occur even at the highest levels so long as there are differences in mindsets and approaches. The USCM is no exception to this rule, and has seen three primary schools of thought become prevalent throughout its ranks. The paradoxically peaceable ‘Doves’ avoiding their nature as a fighting force to focus on humanitarian aid, the warmongering ‘Hawks’ seeking to crush all resistance on active fronts and bring back glory through victory, and the loose coalition of self-centered opportunists united under the banner of ‘Magpies’ for the sake of profit or personal opportunity.

These are not the formal titles for their associated political entities, as the bird terminology comes from long before these particular incarnations. Nonetheless, referring to a faction by its respective bird is more likely to spark recognition from the everyday marine than its official organization names.

The Colonial Protection Organization

Faction Leader: Assistant Commandant of the USCM, General Delyla S. Vaughn

Local Leader: USCM Colonel Margaret A.W. Shanks.

The Colonial Protection Organization was founded only a few years after the foundation of the UA itself in 2108. The CPO’s founders were enraged by the handling of the Paraguayan Colony of Torin Prime and the J’Har Rebel Insurgency. The Outer Rim Defense Force’s unwillingness to destroy J’Har headquarters, due to fears of civilian casualties, was widely regarded by the CPO to have allowed such a rebellious insurgency to take much stronger root than they had any right in doing. This result was further argued to actually have led to more civilian casualties than if the J’Har insurgency was dealt with swiftly regardless of collateral damage. The CPO argued, instead, for an end to the ORDF’s push for expansion and a strong boot style to stamp out any seditious embers swiftly before they become infernos.

The CPO is, similarly to the HMM, an organization that has roots in other government organizations, and has considerable support in the USCM. Yet, following the massive PR victory for the organization after the Fallen Archangel Fiasco, and the inbuilt support from AWs following the creation of the AW programme in 2110, the CPO fell into dormancy during the inter-war decades of the 2110s-2140s due to poor leadership of the faction and a lack of military success stories or failures to rally a strong-arm attitude.

Then, the wars over 3WE colonies and the Dog War managed to pull the CPO back into limelight. Furthermore, following the battle at the Red Line during the Dog War and the ensuing peace treaty in 2163, Delyla S. Vaughn was furious (along with much of the CPO) at the UAAC’s willingness to abandon attempts to pierce the Red Line and became one of the most effective and well-respected leaders of the CPO since its founding: being the one-lady-army leader that promoted a push to the less centrist parts of the organization and some (especially AWs) to strong devotion to the CPO. However, her USCM focus has alienated much of the CPO’s support in other government organizations, with CPO support falling rapidly in the LACN and the CANC as HMM support in both of the organizations was flourishing.

USCM Colonel Margaret A.W. Shanks, in an organization dominated so much by the single seminal personality of Vaughn, came to her position as local leader of the Neroid sector’s CPO mainly through her relation to Vaughn and little else. She is a matter-of-fact leader, unsurprisingly so with her being an AW, and the fact she holds little pretense has made her quite capable at garnering political support through simply being incredibly clear and dedicated in her rhetoric. Her push for AW acceptance under her command has resulted in less AW prejudice than in any other command. Her critics say this is mainly because none wants to criticize their commanders (for fear of charges), and commanders under her area of influence are disproportionately AW.

Ideology

Note: These points reflect the general overarching attitudes of the faction as a whole. Individual members may or may not only reflect certain portions of the faction's ideologies, have their own beliefs that are not listed here, or even disagree with some but agree with others.

• Alignments: Politically Traditional, Force Projection, Military Dominance, Glory. Non-Corporate.
• A marine’s life is worth more than an entire colony’s. Ammunition, supplies, and uncooperative civilians are all expendable. Your fellow marines are not.
• Sacrifices must be made for tangible progress, but sacrificing marines should only be considered once all other resources have been expended, including local populaces.
• If locals will not cooperate, burn the entire structure down to smoke out the rats.
• Shock and awe tactics are an opposing force’s one and only opportunity to learn to cooperate.
• Victories are necessary to maintain the USCM’s presence and position within the UAAC. Do not shy away from an encounter.

Infighting and Sub-Factionalism

On the surface the Colonial Protection Organization appears monolithic, upheld by a shared belief in overwhelming military force and operational decisiveness. However, beneath this outward image of unity there exists a subtle simmering of tension revolving around its leadership and internal structure.

At the heart of the CPO's unity is General Delyla S. Vaughn, whose titanic presence and notoriously forceful personality keep the organization in line through sheer force of will and shrewd political maneuvering. This top-down form of control has fomented a quieter variety of division in the form of resentment among regional commanders and marines who feel stifled by Vaughn's overwhelming presence or otherwise alienated by her focus on the USCM at the cost of broader support from the government. Generally, this has created an unspoken divide within the faction: those who rally themselves behind Vaughn's hardline vision, and those who feel the organization is overly centralized and stagnant.

Popularity

Much of the Colonial Protection Organization's admiration within the UA stems from its unabashedly aggressive stance on foreign and domestic security threats. In the increasingly unstable existence that is life on the UA's frontier, the CPO's rhetoric of strength, control, and swift retribution has struck home with a wide spectrum of officials, both military and civilian, that are eager for clear and defined leadership in otherwise chaotic times.

This support is not always overt, however, as while some officials openly back the CPO and cite its successful efforts at pacifying hostile colonies and reducing insurgent activity others offer their support in a more quiet manner, citing fear of backlash from more moderate or humanitarian-focused branches of the government. Within the USCM, officers aligned with the CPO often form tight-knit cliques that share intelligence, assets, and back one another politically to further their objectives without formally declaring an allegiance to the organization.

However, this growing admiration carries alongside it a handful of risks. The CPO's ever increasing prominence has begun to polarize the internal politics of the Colonial Marine Corps, drawing criticism from the HMM who view its methods as classical military overreach and from MODI leaders concerned that uncontrolled CPO operations might destabilize delicate corporate interests. Yet these criticisms only serve to further validate the belief of CPO members, being that of an uncompromising approach in a galaxy that increasingly favors force over finesse.

Successes

The Colonial Protection Organization's hardline approach to security in frontier territories has shown undeniable results in several strategic areas, though this has come at the clear cost of subtlety, public approval, and long-term diplomatic considerations. In regions where diplomacy has faltered and piracy has flourished, the CPO's counter terrorism and anti-piracy operations have brought a form of stability that the CPO claims only military supremacy can achieve.

Operating under the doctrine that proactive violence can and will save more lives than the reactionary traditions of the HMM, CPO-aligned commanders have authorized broad operations across historically unstable sectors. These missions are often labeled as "containment directives" or "insurgency denial actions" and typically involve the rapid deployment of heavily armed marine platoons to target insurgent hotspots, pirate strongholds, and suspected safehouses belonging to terror organizations like the CLF before they are able to mobilize and coordinate attacks of their own. Entire settlements suspected of harboring dissidents have been flattened and spaceborne pirate fleets eradicated with overwhelming force regardless of attempts to surrender and with no regard for non-combatant casualties.

Critics call these operations "indiscriminate and inhumane," but to many within the CPO and an increasing number of government officials who value safety and security over diplomacy they are a necessary evil. CPO methods have a proven track record of success as in several frontier regions pirate activity has dropped by over 60%. Colonial governors report increased stability and a significantly reduced volume of distress signals, even if the local populations of these regions remain as resentful and fearful of the USCM as they ever have.

What's more surprising, however, is the CPO's increasing shift towards covert warfare, an area that many consider antithetical to their straightforward doctrine of overwhelming force. In response to more elusive threats, including CLF cells deeply embedded into otherwise loyal colonies and UPP-sponsored networks of saboteurs, certain CPO-aligned forces have begun to form black ops teams specialized for the task of pre-emptively eliminating threats before they can strike.

Controversies

Though counter terrorism and anti-piracy operations spearheaded by the CPO have seen great successes in securing many frontier territories, the tactics employed by associated units have generated no insignificant amount of controversy. Their doctrine prioritizes marine lives and operational successes over civilian preservation in almost all situations, a fact that has led to multiple instances of significant collateral damage, especially in densely populated colonial regions where insurgency groups like the CLF have embedded themselves among non-combatants.

The general belief among members of the CPO that civilian casualties are an acceptable cost for rapid and decisive victories has alienated an increasing portion of the colonial population, especially among work-class individuals who often bear the brunt of the damage inflicted by these operations. Many of these colonists have historically been skeptical of the authority of the United Americas, but as a result of these operations they've begun to view the USCM and wider UA as more of an occupying force than a protective one, fueling local resentment to new heights and complicating any future operations.

Compounding these issues is the overall public image of the CPO. While hardliners within the USCM and other military circles praise the CPO for its strength and clarity of purpose, particularly when it comes to repelling UPP border incursions and the dismantling of CLF cells, the broader public and several government agencies have levied significant criticisms against the organization. The tendency to disregard the welfare of civilians and breach many protocols surrounding ethical warfare have prompted several investigations into the CPO.

Relations With Other Factions

Doves and Hawks conflict over the handling of colonies and insurgents present on those colonies.

• Hawks believe that the Doves are not only wasting marine lives in exchange for potentially hostile civilians, they are also enabling future insurgencies and deeper movements that will require even more effort to remove.
• Hawks consider Doves to be naive, irresponsible, and morally incorrect; they believe the Doves’ efforts will only lead to worse outcomes, meaning more civilian and marine losses.
• Outside of the moral considerations, Hawks also consider the Doves to be endangering overall USCM funding. Humanitarian aid is significantly cheaper in terms of equipment and does not usually lead to advancements or RnD.
  • Not only that, but victories and visible results bring in funding from the higher-ups. Even if the Doves’ rhetoric of hearts and minds is somehow correct, the effects won’t be seen for years and the return of hostilities is inevitable so long as it’s not crushed.
  • Every bit of lost funding as a result might mean more marine casualties from inferior equipment, insufficient supplies, etc. This is not a risk that the Hawks wish to deal with.

Hawks disagree with MODI’s corporate connections, mainly because of the massive prevalence of foreign entities and uncontrollable factors.

• The biggest example of this is WY, who has so much influence in the UAAC/USCM that they can independently station executives on board USCM combat vessels, have separate agreements for corporate access to military vessels with the USCM, have funded, built, and provided entire vessels that are currently active-duty in the USCM, and so on… All while being a national mega-conglomerate aligned with the 3WE.
• On the other hand, they do approve of smaller entities such as UA Government companies. The larger ones that are aligned with the UA/UAAC are still concerning, due to their potential meddling in the military and essentially taking agency away from the military itself, but the concern of foreign influence is far above that in terms of priorities for the Hawks.