[The E]

Hmm.

Many low-level officers and senior non-commissioned have combat experience from either the NTF or the Shivans.

This is something I always wondered about. If BP takes place 18 years after the second incursion, how many of those veterans are still in service? While I agree that the GTVA has a level of institutional experience that the UEF lacks, I wonder if the personal experience is still there. Especially among lower ranked Officers.

[Rodo]

well bei was a rookie back then.. I might guess that all veterans are captains or somewhat higher than that.. the other veterans might have been only rookies back on the second incursion.

[QuantumDelta]

I thought the great dark spot of Neptune had disappeared?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Dark_Spot

It's a bit random

[Colonol Dekker]

This is something I always wondered about. If BP takes place 18 years after the second incursion, how many of those veterans are still in service? While I agree that the GTVA has a level of institutional experience that the UEF lacks, I wonder if the personal experience is still there. Especially among lower ranked Officers.

Assuming people cna join up at 18, then a fair number of staff would be between 36 and retirement age. A fair age gap.

[The E]

True.

....

I really should have done the math beforehand.

[Colonol Dekker]

No worries, Iamzack is making age concious at the moment 

[-Norbert-]

Destroyers, and Chimeras and Bellerophons, are not antipirate assets.

True, but how many Chimeras and Bellerophons does the GTVA actually have?
Acording to what I read so far, they have very few of the new generation of ships.

Since it's been 50 years since the great war and 18 years since the 2nd great war I'd guess there are very few Orions in service, which would leave you with the Hecate as the most common destroyer. And the Hecate is more of a carrier than a frontline battleship.

Edit:
typo in the years corrected... Thanks Aardwolf

[Aardwolf]

It's been 50 since the great war, not 40.

[NGTM-1R]

This is something I always wondered about. If BP takes place 18 years after the second incursion, how many of those veterans are still in service? While I agree that the GTVA has a level of institutional experience that the UEF lacks, I wonder if the personal experience is still there. Especially among lower ranked Officers.

This is The Future^TM, so I'm making an assumption that the active lifespan of a fighter pilot extends into his fourties. Assume most of them entered active service at about twenty. A lot of the experience would still be there.

[The E]

Considering that FS fighter combat doesn't seem as stressful (from an acceleration perspective) as real-life fighter ops, that seems like a safe bet.

[Dilmah G]

Hmm.

Many low-level officers and senior non-commissioned have combat experience from either the NTF or the Shivans.

This is something I always wondered about. If BP takes place 18 years after the second incursion, how many of those veterans are still in service? While I agree that the GTVA has a level of institutional experience that the UEF lacks, I wonder if the personal experience is still there. Especially among lower ranked Officers.

I'd disagree very much with NGTM-1R's statement there, to give you an idea, pilots in the RAAF who join right out of school, do you a 3 year university degree at the Defence Force-Academy and resume a 12.5 IMPS usually end their IMPS as Squadron Leaders. In 18 Years, + some local conflict, I'd expect Second Incursion Vets to be at least Squadron Leaders, or CAGs. And if we're talking NCO's, I'd say they would've been given Battlefield Commissions by now, and would be Captains at the least.

As far as I'm concerned, the GTVA's Junior Officers would have little to no actual combat experience. However, superior training methods and high quality exercises improved by Battlefield Experience of the people who run them would result in pilots who are much, much, better than the UEF's offering.

This is The Future^TM, so I'm making an assumption that the active lifespan of a fighter pilot extends into his fourties. Assume most of them entered active service at about twenty. A lot of the experience would still be there.

I wouldn't be so sure about a lot of the experience still being there. Pilot training costs a fair bit and the IMPS of Aircrew reflects that, but anyone who wants to retain pilots for 18 years minimum is out of their minds, especially if that stands in a time of war. (Though I would be happy to stay in for 18 years) Based on what's happened in previous conflicts, I'd guess the GTVA were offering 2~5 Year IMPS's at the start of the NTF insurgency, to attract more pilots, and  I would assume that by the end of the conflict, about 60%-80% of their Fighter Corps were made up of Volunteers rather than Career Pilots

Some of the experience would still be there of course, but certainly not more than about 40% by this stage, I mean, the human body just can't handle those kinds of G-Forces/stresses (Wait, does the force of Gravity mean anything in space?) past 50 or so years of age.

[Dragon]

(Wait, does the force of Gravity mean anything in space?)

Not gravity, G-forces generated by fighter acceleration, deceleration and turning are what pilots really feel, both in space and in atmosphere.
Gravity has influence on strength of G-forces felt by pilot though, but it can both weaken and strengthen them, based on the maneuver that aircraft is pulling.
For example: In space, G-forces will be equal regardless of direction in which you're accelerating, in atmosphere gravity will strengthen the force felt by pilot when climbing and lessen it when diving.
EDIT: To be precise: If you are accelerating at 1G when diving, you will basically feel nothing, but if you accelerate at the same rate when climbing, you will feel 2G, of course if planet have it's natural gravity equal 1G (like Earth).

[Dilmah G]

Ahh I see. Thanks.

[-Norbert-]

I'd expect Second Incursion Vets to be at least Squadron Leaders, or CAGs

Of course with the occasional exception, because of disciplinary reasons I'd guess 
After all promotions have to be earned (unless you know the right people) and you can always be demoted again.

[Dilmah G]

Yeah, well in times of peace these don't always have to be earned by Bravery Under Fire (Though a Battlefield Commission would). I mean, the RAAF only deployed one F/A-18 squadron to Iraq, and yet we still have a fairly balanced Chain of Command.

[NGTM-1R]

I wouldn't be so sure about a lot of the experience still being there. Pilot training costs a fair bit and the IMPS of Aircrew reflects that, but anyone who wants to retain pilots for 18 years minimum is out of their minds, especially if that stands in a time of war. (Though I would be happy to stay in for 18 years) Based on what's happened in previous conflicts, I'd guess the GTVA were offering 2~5 Year IMPS's at the start of the NTF insurgency, to attract more pilots, and  I would assume that by the end of the conflict, about 60%-80% of their Fighter Corps were made up of Volunteers rather than Career Pilots

Some of the experience would still be there of course, but certainly not more than about 40% by this stage, I mean, the human body just can't handle those kinds of G-Forces/stresses (Wait, does the force of Gravity mean anything in space?) past 50 or so years of age.

Culturally, however, the GTVA has a killer reason to enlist and stay enlisted: the Shivans. As I said earlier, this a culture whose only real hope is its warriors. Being a GTVA pilot is not going to be like being a military pilot elsewhere. (For one thing there's no civilian flight industry you can transition into.)  Enlisting offers you some control over your own fate instead of hoping the military keeps the Shivans away. The threat of the Shivans also means that the military almost certainly has broad powers to reactivate veterans in time of war.

Also even assuming some sort of emergency pilot program was instituted right at the the start of the NTF rebellion, it could have at most graduated three classes. The vast majority of pilots in the service would have been career not "for the duration".

Also as noted stresses on GTVA pilots appear to be significantly less because their craft do not accelerate the same way. And, again, this is The Future^TM so improvements in human longetivity is pretty much required. Truthfully, I'm being generous. If we combine the less-stressful fighter combat and the probable advance of human active age, there's no reason someone couldn't by flying Hercs until sixty.

[Dilmah G]

Fair enough, but I wouldn't bank on the Civilian Flight/Space Industry thing not existing, I mean, people have to get around somehow. And the military lifestyle takes its toll on people, I mean, how much of your life do you really want to spend moving every 2-5 years? Plus family etc, I mean, there are other reasons besides the civilian flight industry people leave the service (For instance, it was a combination of family and the military life that resulted in my Uncles leaving the SLA after 25+ years). On the note of recalling veterans, I wonder if the GTVA would ever go so far as instituting a draft?

I don't know about only three classes, I mean, that's assuming Flight Training is still at what? 6 Months or so? You just can't keep your full regime going, when your fighters need filling, everything that isn't completely essential gets the cut. I can realistically see GTVA Pilot Training in full being cut down to 3 months (1 Month Basic Flight School, Second Month Advanced Flight School, Third Month would be operational conversion, with some subsistence Officer Training thrown in there. Anything else such as COMSURV would easily be cut.) And the GTVA has nearly THIRTY systems, and with the demand for Aircrew/Spacecrew, it makes sense to open at least 5-7 training schools to cover your applicant base. The worst thing the GTVA can do right now is have potential pilots twiddling their thumbs waiting for a Letter of Offer for Pilot Training because of great demand.

Fair enough, we would have advances by then, but sixty sounds a little bit on the high side. Actually, I guess sixty is fairly reasonable by that stage, and having the cut-off at around 70~75 for Service members (dependent on a Medical most likely.)

[Imposible Uncorrect]

Looks great guys - allthough it reminds me a bit of Battle for Endor (The syndrome). Anyway, I'm looking forward to it.

[General Battuta]

It is a bit BoE-esque. There's a reason it's probably gonna be a bonus mission, not part of the main campaign.

[NGTM-1R]

I don't know about only three classes, I mean, that's assuming Flight Training is still at what? 6 Months or so? You just can't keep your full regime going, when your fighters need filling, everything that isn't completely essential gets the cut. I can realistically see GTVA Pilot Training in full being cut down to 3 months (1 Month Basic Flight School, Second Month Advanced Flight School, Third Month would be operational conversion, with some subsistence Officer Training thrown in there. Anything else such as COMSURV would easily be cut.) And the GTVA has nearly THIRTY systems, and with the demand for Aircrew/Spacecrew, it makes sense to open at least 5-7 training schools to cover your applicant base. The worst thing the GTVA can do right now is have potential pilots twiddling their thumbs waiting for a Letter of Offer for Pilot Training because of great demand.

All GTA pilots are officers, so we're talking a ninety-day wonder officer training program in addition to flight training. I'm making the assumption that standard flight training is about two years from the time the recruit enters the system to the time he's piloting a fightercraft. (Admittedly, you could dispense with a lot of it being physical in practice, but then, we will.) Cutting it in half, first to a year, then again in half to six months, is about what historically people do. Those nations which have in wartime gone below the quarter-peacetime training regimen usually see a drop in pilot quality so sharp as to nullify the benefits.

Of course I'm assuming an integrated training scheme here rather than a seperate preflight and flight one.