Posted on Feb 22, 2016
While working on my book, I came up with a rank structure and I'd like some feedback on it.?
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Creative Writing
Writing
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 10
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SPC Adriel Martinez
Well when I'd get writers block, I'd draw or sketch-one thing lead to another and I ended up researching the ranks structures of all branches from all era, and I learned a lot I'm particularly smitten by Civil War era ranks-I digress but short answers is imagination and an computer art program are best friends.
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CPT Jack Durish
The best remedy for writer's block is always more writing. I shift to short stories to use up ideas that are interfering (have no place in the story I'm writing). This has given me a large stock that can be morphed into full length stories or aggregated into a collection. Short stories also help build your skill at writing.
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SPC Daniel O'Neil
As I scroll I started to wonder, when will I see the rank in the book, and then I come to this. Haha! Is it a picture book? Because the rank will need to be described to the reader, unless a picture is provided in appendix or glossary, etc.
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SPC Adriel Martinez
Right on , maybe after I finish the novel, ill make a Companion Picture book lol.
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The officer ranks are relatively simple, and it is nice not to have to distinguish colors at a distance, but the 4-bar Major is kind of huge. Why not just use a different symbol for Major - like the oak leaf, but not necessarily an oak leaf? Where are the Generals? It seems as though it needs at least one level of General. It also seems as though promotion times would be incredibly long ion the officer side with so few ranks, unless life expectancy happens to be very short for officers in your world. ;-) On the enlisted side, I find it confusing that a recruit has an insignia and a Private does not, if these are each considered separate ranks. The two specialists and the three Master Sergeants are hard to distinguish at a distance. Functionally, it is also hard to imagine why a system would have two Specialists and a Corporal. The Master Sergeants' insignia seem out of place relative to the Sergeants Major in that the insignia do not progressively build upon the prior ranks. I would suggest instituting rockers earlier, with fewer levels of Master Sergeants, and then perhaps adding another rocker and/or one of the tiny symbols in the center for Sergeants Major. I like how the existing structure you have created explicitly designates the level of the command structure at which each level of Sergeant Major serves. It may or may not be relevant to your structure, but I wonder if you would need a way to differentiate staff NCOs from direct leadership respensibilities, like the SGM/CSM differentiation in the real Army.
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SPC Adriel Martinez
Thanks for the thoughts sir, in this little world I'm writing about, the country the military serves is the size of Alaska and almost as desolate and unlike the US military, each BDE is responsible for a certain local area, and there are 11 total province, and to keep each BDE from being too uppity, they rotate command from each of the Colonels in the regiments, as 3 regiments make up a BDE (at least here in my story) the real life CARS system and BCTs is something i wanted to avoid. So invented Brigadier Colonel as a position not a rank for whatever officer is running the brigade in BDE sized ops. The ranks size would -I agree be pain to recognize at a distance but with distinctive cover designs for enlisted, NCOs and officer a quick glance at the entire uniform will denote what rank they are. Also NCOs will have shoulder rank about the size of the contraptions used by west Pointers, well maybe not as big.
The recruit rank would be a armband on the right arm, so if any one of them tried sneaking off AWOL style they'll stick out like a sore thumb-stories have been told of BCT trainees were thought out their escapes a little too ell and were able to blend in for while before being caught, the armband could mitigate such wastes of time and money searching for wimps.
The specialists are a conundrum in my story as in real life, here they equal in rank to TCNs but the junior receives CPL pay and the senior the SGT type pay, this rank is more like a position with a rank insignia for jobs like a drone pilot who is specifically skilled for one thing and has no leadership responsibility. Specialists only hold the rank for a set time, allowing other to rotate through jobs and such, after a stint in a Specialist job they are not lateraled to CPl hey go back to TCN and have to earn rank regularly. This is kind of taste of what the Masters do in my story as a Specialist may fly the drone and its his sole job where as a Master, can fly it, take it apart, fix it, design an improved version and then teach how to build, use and integrate it with all systems and units.
The ranks are based of US Army ranks from Civil war until early 1910s where usually only the Sgt Maj had any rockers so that why I had the Sgts Maj here have a worsted chevron above the stripes. The Masters are a combo of technical NCO ranks and Warrants so i decided on the silver inserts to denote that they are SMEs, and trainers not leader NCOS, though of course they can if need be. And to help with the promotion rates and time in grade questions here a table on unit sizes:
Team-4
Squad-8
Platoon 25
Company-100
BN-400
RGT-1600
So relatively small units compared to modern day equivalents.
I apologize for the length and thanks agian for the interest.
The recruit rank would be a armband on the right arm, so if any one of them tried sneaking off AWOL style they'll stick out like a sore thumb-stories have been told of BCT trainees were thought out their escapes a little too ell and were able to blend in for while before being caught, the armband could mitigate such wastes of time and money searching for wimps.
The specialists are a conundrum in my story as in real life, here they equal in rank to TCNs but the junior receives CPL pay and the senior the SGT type pay, this rank is more like a position with a rank insignia for jobs like a drone pilot who is specifically skilled for one thing and has no leadership responsibility. Specialists only hold the rank for a set time, allowing other to rotate through jobs and such, after a stint in a Specialist job they are not lateraled to CPl hey go back to TCN and have to earn rank regularly. This is kind of taste of what the Masters do in my story as a Specialist may fly the drone and its his sole job where as a Master, can fly it, take it apart, fix it, design an improved version and then teach how to build, use and integrate it with all systems and units.
The ranks are based of US Army ranks from Civil war until early 1910s where usually only the Sgt Maj had any rockers so that why I had the Sgts Maj here have a worsted chevron above the stripes. The Masters are a combo of technical NCO ranks and Warrants so i decided on the silver inserts to denote that they are SMEs, and trainers not leader NCOS, though of course they can if need be. And to help with the promotion rates and time in grade questions here a table on unit sizes:
Team-4
Squad-8
Platoon 25
Company-100
BN-400
RGT-1600
So relatively small units compared to modern day equivalents.
I apologize for the length and thanks agian for the interest.
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You can use any rank structure; ideally the reader will be filling in such mundane details with their own experience and imagine it in a way that enhances what's happening in the narratived. Read Evelyn Waugh's Black Mischief for hilarious descriptions of a fictional African country's military rank and order, inspired by Ethiopia's military under Haile Selassie, or The Good Soldier Schweik by Jaroslav Hasek for the utter absurdity of rank and order in the face of complete ignorance.
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