Earthforce
Earthforce is a military organization that features in Babylon 5.
Contents |
History
Earthforce was the military, scientific, and exploratory arm of the Earth Alliance.
At some point, exploratory mission headed by Captain Michael Jankowski ended in a disaster referred to as the Omega Incident. Despite that, a military tribunal by Earthforce cleared Jankowski of any wrongdoing. (Movie: In the Beginning)
By 2243, Earth came to be emboldened following their victory over the Dilgar and good will they gained with the League of Non-Aligned Worlds allowed Earthforce to expand its sphere of influence. In this time, they came to hear of a species called the Minbari and assembled an expedition tasked with probing their territory to determine if they would impede the Earth Alliance's expansion. The Centauri were consulted with ambassador Londo Mollari warning Earthforce personnel from such an endeavor but his advice was ignored with them only interested in any maps to avoid Minbari territory. Captain Michael Jankowski headed the expedition on-board the EAS Prometheus which inadvertently stumbled on a passing Minbari fleet. Rather than withdraw, he looked to gather as much intelligence through scanners before departing. This attracted the attention of the Minbari whose warrior caste looked to greet the unknown race as per custom with their gun-ports open. The gesture combined with the Minbari's powerful sensors jamming the Earthforce fleets ability to escape via jump meant that they interrupted these events as a sign of aggression. Thus, the order was given to open fire thus damaging the Minbari fleet with the humans managing to escape. Unknown to mankind, the attack actually damaged the Minbari flagship and killed their leader with the disastrous first contact triggering the Earth-Minbari War. (Movie: In the Beginning)
Earthforce Public Relations arranged for Commander Sinclair to have an interview with a popular reporter from Interstellar Network News at Babylon 5 to mark the second anniversary of it coming online. At the time, agents from the bio-weapon's division moved to acquire recently discovered organic technology at Babylon 5 where it was claimed it was being taken by Earth Central for defensive purposes. (Episode: Infection)
In 2259, EarthGov had been involved in secret talks with the Sh'lassen Triumvirate and agreed to intervene in suppressing rebel forces on the planet Akdor. This saw an army unit being assembled under General Richard Franklin who headed Operation Sudden Death that was kept secret. A transport ship took his forces to Babylon 5 seemingly as part of a training operation but this was because the station was used as the closest point to jump to Akdor where they took part in the surprise attack. (Episode: GROPOS)
At Io, General Hague in command of the Alexander along with friendly ships engaged those of President Clarke's where his compatriot vessels allowed him to escape despite taking damage during the skirmish. This came as a result of martial law being declared in the Earth Alliance leading to riots and uprisings across human space. Hague attempted to call upon others in the military and the disbanded Earth Senate to rise up against Clarke. However, four of the five cruisers that defected were destroyed whilst Hague himself was on the run. (Episode: Point of No Return) The crew of the Alexander managed to intercept a message from Earthforce Command that saw bombing runs made on Mars after it refused to obey President Clarke's order of martial law. This campaign against Mars was stated to continue until the Mars Provisional Government followed Earth's orders whilst rebel forces arriving at Babylon 5 saw loyalist ships being deployed to take control of the station. (Episode: Severed Dreams)
After the death of President Clark, Sheridan surrendered to Earthforce authorities in order to decide the legality of his action. Ultimately, he was praised for his campaign against Clark but was forced to resign his commission though was given amnesty along with his crew on Babylon 5. (Episode: Rising Star) Though Babylon 5 served as headquarters of the Interstellar Alliance, this was until they could buy the station from the Earth Alliance. In that time, it was decided an Earthforce Captain was meant to manage its operations with Elizabeth Lochley selected by President Sheridan in 2262. (Episode: No Compromise)
Overview
The mandate of Earthforce was to protect Earth against all threats be them foreign or domestic. It was not the policy of the military to dictate the actions of the government. (Episode: No Surrender, No Retreat)
Under the authority of Earthforce Command, it was possible to order a junior commander to take control of a ship if its captain was deemed to be conducting a court martial offense. (Episode: No Surrender, No Retreat) All high ranking Earthforce com systems carry an identifier code on a sub-channel that was kept secret so that false orders could not be given and thus could not be faked. (Episode: Voices of Authority) Members had their genetic code being mapped and recorded for identification purposes. (Episode: A Late Delivery from Avalon)
Review boards were put together in order to examine the actions of personnel and determine their guilt. (Episode: A Late Delivery from Avalon) Advancement and promotion depended entirely on high visibility assignments. (Movie: In the Beginning)
Security officers in Earthforce were noted to hold a clearance level of ultraviolet alpha. (Episode: A Voice in the Wilderness, Part I)
A communication band used by Earthforce was Gold Channel that carried the highest levels of security encryption and was priority-one over any other messages transmitted at the time. Gold Channel One was a direct line to the Office of the President of the Earth Alliance. (Movie: A Call to Arms) Only Earthforce command-staff or high-level diplomats were allowed to access this channel. (Episode: Born to the Purple)
Earthforce Internal Security operated as an internal affairs branch with its members being referred to as "Eyes". (Episode: Eyes) A civilian intelligence service operating alongside Earthforce was the Earth Special Intelligence Division. (Episode: Matters of Honor) One of its branches was Earthforce defense's bio-weapons division that sought the acquisition of organic technology and weapons. (Episode: Infection) Earthforce New Technologies Division was responsible for the acquisition of advanced technology from alien worlds. (Episode: Z'ha'dum)
The Earthforce Postal Service was a military postal system that allowed serving EF personnel to receive packages from home, no matter where they might be posted. (Episode: A Late Delivery from Avalon)
Its ground based forces were known as the Earthforce Marine Corps. (Episode: GROPOS)
Notable units within Earthforce included:
- 361st Tactical Fighter Squadron :
- 54th North American Unit : Sheridan was part of this unit when he first joined Earthforce. (Episode: No Compromise)
The President of the Earth Alliance during interstellar travel went on a special transport referred to as Earthforce One that was protected by a dedicated Starfury escort. (Episode: Survivors)
One of the awards given for decorated officers was the Silver Star of Valor. (Episode: Voices of Authority) Military tribunals were assembled in order to consider the actions of a crew involved in possible war crimes or illegal actions. (Episode: No Surrender, No Retreat) Standard indemnification clauses in personnel contracts meant that insurance covered for legal action made against the person but if it went above a certain financial threshold then the individual had to pay the remaining amount. (Movie: River of Souls)
At some point, Earthforce armed its personnel with PPG's in order to have a weapon that burnt flesh but would not puncture the hull like a slug thrower would do. (Episode: Grey 17 is Missing)
Known small arms used by Earthforce included:
- Westlake & Grummon PPG Pistol :
- Auricon PPG Assault Rifle :
Classes of starships used by Earthforce included:
- Olympus class corvette :
- Hyperion-class heavy cruiser :
- Nova-class dreadnought :
- Omega-class destroyer :
- Warlock-class destroyer :
Edgar Industries chemical weapons division was one of the major suppliers of Earthforce. (Episode: The Exercise of Vital Powers)
A notable ground base on Mars was Fort Walters that was located in Solis Planum. (Episode: Between the Darkness and the Light)
Station Io was a facility located above the Jovian moon of Io that acted as the main transfer point for ships entering or leaving the system. (Episode: Chrysalis)
Personnel
- Jeffrey Sinclair :
- John Sheridan :
- Elizabeth Lockley :
- Susan Ivanova :
- Warren Keffer :
- Hague :
- Richard Franklin : a male general who headed a ground army to Akdor to assist the Sh'lassen Triumvirate in suppressing a rebellion. (Episode: GROPOS)
- Smits : a male general who informed Captain Sheridan that Nightwatch was to taken over security duties at Babylon 5 though secretly gave a message to him show him how to circumvent their authority. (Episode: Point of No Return)
- Sandra Hiroshi : a female captain who commanded the Churchill who participated in the rebellion against President Clarke where her vessel was destroyed during the stand at Babylon 5 against loyalist forces. (Episode: Severed Dreams)
- Dexter Smith : a male captain in charge of the destroyer Agrippa who was part of Clarke loyal forces and deployed to take control of Babylon 5. (Episode: Severed Dreams)
- Elizabeth Lochley : female captain assigned as the new commander of operations for Babylon 5 in 2262. (Episode: No Compromises)
- Ari Ben Zayn : a male Colonel who was a member of Internal Affairs. (Episode: Eyes)
- John Clemens : a male human who served under Clark's regime and operated as a Major on Beta 3 colony but was forced to escape when Sheridan led the Liberation Fleet to free Earth. In 2262, he made an assassination attempt against President Sheridan during the inauguration ceremony. (Episode: No Compromise)
- Elizabeth Durman :
- Robert Black :
Appearances
- Babylon 5: "Voices of Authority"
- Crusade:
External Links
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