Survey Corps

The Survey Corps, also known as the Scout Regiment, Recon Corps, or Scouting Legion are the main protagonists of the Attack on Titan franchise.
It is the branch of the Eldian military most actively involved in Titan combat and human expansion. Despite having little to no success, they still symbolize "the hope of mankind", hoping that someday, their victory will change the world known to humanity, recovering what has been lost.
In the end only five soldiers from the old Survey Corps until the year 850 before the timeskip have survived in the finale: Levi Ackerman, Mikasa Ackerman, Armin Arlert, Jean Kirstein, and Connie Springer. The last survivors have been killed by Zeke Yeager, Bertolt Hoover, and Zeke's Titans in battle. All previous members died fighting against the Warrior Unit, the Pure Titans, and the Royal Government of the Walls serving Rod Reiss.
During the 4 years before the Raid on Liberio, numerous new soldiers from the Garrison, the Military Police, and the Training Corps joined the Survey Corps. However, Eren Yeager and Floch Forster later defected the Survey Corps and the whole military to create their own rebel movement, the Yeagerists. Almost all of the new Survey Corps defected to join them, along with several Garrison and MP members, becoming the original first Yeagerists. The only ones who remained part of the Survey Corps during the Yeagerist uprising were the commander Hange Zoë, her direct 5 subordinates mentioned above, and 30 other soldiers including Varis, who were transformed into Pure Titans by Zeke. The majority of the original Yeagerists were killed by the military forces of Marley and by the remaining Survey Corps during the Revenge for Liberio and the Rumbling, and new Yeagerist members took control in their place afterward. Hange also perished during the Rumbling.
Keith Shadis, Historia Reiss, Reiner Braun, Bertolt Hoover, and Ymir also survived their time in the Survey Corps and quit alive. Ymir, Bertolt and Keith were later killed, but not as members of the Survey Corps.
==Duty==
This division of the military is in charge of the exploration and the eventual reclamation of human territory from Titan-infested land. Prior to the breach of Wall Maria, they explored the land outside of the Wall, though never getting far due to the heavy casualties suffered by Titans.
Presently, they have been laying down supplies from the Wall Rose Trost District to Wall Maria Shiganshina District in preparation to seal the breach and reclaim Wall Maria.
A more recent unofficial duty has been Titan observation and research. Given the safer nature of exploring within Wall territory (since Titans can only enter Wall at one point), a wealth of information has been revealed such as their tolerance of pain, sunlight dependence, and intelligence.
==Qualities==
Since the Scouting Legion is constantly on the front line, fighting Titans, its high fatality, low success rate (if at all) discourages most people from joining the legion. Thus, the legion suffers an all-time personnel shortage and the only soldiers who enter the Scouting Legion are dedicated to the cause of humanity usually at the cost of their own lives.
While most soldiers do not survive their first expedition, each successive expedition exponentially increases their chances of survival. This fact makes the veterans some of the most experienced soldiers in the entire military.
Aside from personnel shortage, disciplines of the soldiers are the best out of the three military branches.
Unfortunately, this branch is also the most pressed one because despite being the best out of the three military branches in terms of soldiers' and officers' quality, the bureaucrats, rich conservatives and many Military Police members dislike the Scouting Legion and view it as a waste of money and resources due to the Legion's lack of definite, decisive successes and high losses of lives. Only from the 'support' of the king does the Legion still remain intact from the greedy bureaucrats and hostile conservatives.
==Statics & Tactics==
Due to the constant horrific losses suffered at the hands of Titans, the Scouting Legion has been forced to fight smarter to achieve their goals.
===Formation for Long Distance Enemy Detection===
Developed by Commander Erwin Smith, the key to this formation is Titan avoidance. Because the Scouting Legion cannot afford to fight every Titan out in the open, the entire Legion is spread out over a large area, maximizing visibility. Upon encountering a Titan, a red flare indicates the danger and all soldiers who see the flare fire a red flare of their own, allowing Erwin to quickly be alerted to the Titan's presence. 
He will then fire a green flare in the desired direction to avoid this Titan with all members firing a green flare as well to allow the information to spread quickly. However, there are occasionally deviant-type Titans that understand the basic principle of this formation and will atempt to break it apart by ignoring scouts on the perimeter and instead, attack the middle of the formation. In this case, a black flare indicates the danger and the Titan is disposed of as quickly as possible.
The entire formation is in the rough shape of a circle with Commander Erwin in front and scouts surrounding the outside of the circle. In the center of the circle are the supply wagons which keep all the necessary food, weapons, and other supplies for the expedition. Connecting the outer and center of the circle are relay members who keep fresh horses and help spread communication between everyone in the group.
This formation has lowered the Scouting Legion losses by 30%.
===Ambush===
Although not a 'true' tactic in the sense of common battle doctrine, the Scouting Legion has been involved in two attempts at capture and are worthy of note given their similar procedures.
Scouting Legion Ambush follows this pattern:
#Target is lured into area where Scouting Legion forces have the maximum advantage. i.e. Leading target into a forest (where 3DMG gear is most effective) or underground (where Titans cannot move).
#Target is incapacitated.
#3DMG soldiers surround target area and prevent escape.
==Members==
===Previous Commanders===
*The 11th Commander †
*Keith Shadis † (resigned)
*Erwin Smith †
*Hange Zoë †
===Last Commander===
*Armin Arlert (formerly)
===Second-in-command===
*Keith Shadis † (under the 11th Commander; squad leader) 
*Erwin Smith † (under Keith Shadis; squad leader) 
*Levi Ackerman (under Erwin Smith, Hange Zoë and Armin Arlert; squad captain)
===Fourth Squad (Squad Hange, disbanded)===
*Hange Zoë † (squad leader) 
*Moblit Berner † (squad vice captain, executive officer, Hange's assistant and escort)
*Keiji † (ranking officer)
*Abel † (officer)
*Nifa † (officer)
*Lauda † (team leader)
*Rashad † (team leader)
*Harold † (team leader)
===Special Operations Squad (Squad Levi, disbanded)===
*Levi Ackerman (squad captain)
*Eld Jinn † (second-in-command)
*Gunther Schultz †
*Petra Ral †
*Oluo Bozado †
*Jean Kirstein (commanding officer, formerly)
*Mikasa Ackerman (officer, formerly)
*Connie Springer (officer, formerly)
*Armin Arlert (formerly)
*Eren Yeager † (formerly)
*Sasha Braus †
*Historia Reiss (formerly, last known Queen of Paradis and member of Premier Zachary's military division)
===Squad Mike (disbanded)===
*Mike Zacharias † (squad leader)
*Nanaba †
*Thomas †
*Gelgar †
*Lynne†
*Henning †
===Squads of Urgent Recruits (dissolved)===
*Dirk † (team leader)
*Klaus † (team leader)
*Marlene † (team leader)
*Floch Forster † (only survivor)
*Marlo Freudenberg †
*Sandra †
*Gordon †
*Walen X. Schartzen † 
===Other Team Leaders===
*Dita Ness †
*Darius Baer-Varbrun †
*Sasha's Team Leader (status unknown)
*Lima (status unknown)
===Other Squad Members===
*Peer † (officer, directly under Erwin)
*Moses Braun †
*Ilse Langnar †
*Luke Siss † (Ness' assistant)
*Dieter †
*Jurgen †
*Ivan †
*Darius' subordinates †
*Beirer †
*Lobov †
*Daz † (anime version, formerly)
*Samuel Linke-Jackson † (anime version, formerly)
*Varis †
*Holger (formerly)
*Wim (formerly)
*Louise (formerly)
*Oliver † (formerly)
*Reiner Braun (formerly)
*Armin Arlert (formerly with Ness, joined Squad Levi)
*Jean Kirschtein (joined Squad Levi)
*Krista Lenz (joined Squad Levi)
*Mikasa Ackerman (joined Squad Levi)
*Bertholdt Hoover † (former) 
*Connie Springer (joined Squad Levi)
*Sasha Braus † (joined Squad Levi) 
*Ymir † (former)
*Claude Duvalier (former, resigned)
*Other 11 104th Training Corps Cadets †
===Squad Flagon (disbanded)===
*Flagon Turret † (squad leader)
*Sairam †
*Unnamed twintailed woman †
*Levi Ackerman
*Furlan Church †
*Isabel Magnolia †
===Defectors and Spies===
*Bertholdt Hoover † (Marley Warrior)
*Reiner Braun (Marley Warrior)
*Ymir †
*Eren Yeager † (leader of the Yeagerists) 
*Floch Forster † (second-in-command of the Yeagerists)
*Holger (Yeagerist, status unknown)
*Wim (Yeagerist, status unknown)
*Louise (Yeagerist, presumed deceased)
*Daz † (Yeagerist)
*Samuel Linke-Jackson † (Yeagerist)
*Oliver † (Yeagerist)
===Horses===
*Charrette † (Ness' horse)
*Buchwald (Jean's horse)
===Before the Fall members (NC)===
*Sorum Humé †
*Carlo Pikale
*Kuklo
*Jorge Pikale (retired)
==Allies==
===Garrison===
*Dot Pixis † (highest-ranking Commander of the Southern Territory)
*Kitz Woermann (captain)
*Hannes † (unit captain)
*Ian Dietrich † (team leader)
*Rico Brzenska (team leader)
*Mitabi Jarnach † (team leader)
*Anka Rheinberger †
*Gustav
*Phil (status unknown)
===​Others from the Walls===
*Dhalis Zachary † (Commander-in-Chief of the Three Regiments)
*Nile Dok † (Commander of the Military Police Brigade)
*Keith Shadis † (Training Corps Instructor)
*Hitch Dreyse (private MP)
*Minister/Pastor Nick † (Pastor of the Church of the Walls)
*Dimo Reeves † (Association Boss of Trost)
*Flegel Reeves (Association Boss of Trost, formerly)
*Roy (journalist and director of Berg Newspapers, formerly)
*Peaure (journalist of Berg Newspapers, formerly)
*Roeg † (MP commanding officer)
*Waltz (MP officer)
*Reeves Company (formerly)
*Majority of the population of the Walls (formerly)
*The entire population of Trost (formerly)
*Military of the Walls' highest branch (Zachary's subordinates and Historia's guards, formerly)
*Military Police Brigade (formerly)
*Garrison (formerly)
*Training Corps (formerly)
===​From Outside the Walls===
*Onyankopon (former Marleyan soldier, and former Anti-Marleyan Volunteer)
*Kiyomi Azumabito (member of Hizuru's government for foreign affairs and head of the Azumabito Clan)
*General Theo Magath † (head of Marley's military party)
*Reiner Braun (Marley Warrior Vice Chief)
*Gabi Braun (Marley Warrior candidate)
*Falco Grice (Marley Warrior candidate)
*Annie Leonhart (Marley Warrior)
*Pieck Finger (Marley Warrior)
*Secretary Muller (Marleyan military party's secretary and commander of Fort Salta, during and after the Rumbling)
*Zeke Yeager † (former Marley Warrior War Chief and former symbolic leader of the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers; helped for 3 years, double-crossed after planned execution of Eren, helped again during the Rumbling)
*Yelena (Marleyan former soldier, former Anti-Marleyan Volunteer leader, helped for 3 years, double-crossed after planned executions of Zeke and Eren)
*Bertholdt Hoover † (Marley Warrior, soul helping during the Rumbling)
*Ymir † (condemned citizen of Marley and former Scout; soul helping during the Rumbling)
*Grisha Yeager † (doctor from Liberio and Shiganshina and former Eldian Restorationist leader; soul helping during the Rumbling)
*Marcel Galliard † (Marley Warrior, soul helping during the Rumbling)
*Porco Galliard † (Marley Warrior, soul helping during the Rumbling)
*Tom Ksaver † (Marley Warrior and scientist of the Titan Biology Research Society; soul helping during the Rumbling)
*Eren Kruger † (former Public Security Authority of Marley and founder and former leader of the Eldian Restorationists; soul helping during the Rumbling)
*Niccolo (Marleyan retired soldier, friend, overall not taking sides)
*Anti-Marleyan Volunteers
*Some members of the Marleyan military
*Azumabito Clan
*Leaders of Marley and the world's other nations (after the Rumbling)
*Global Alliance (after the Rumbling)
*Marleyan military (during and after the Rumbling)
*Hizuru's leaders
*Most of the surviving populations of Marley and other nations of the world (after the Rumbling)
==Enemies==
===The Titans===
*All Pure and Intelligent Titans (former archenemies)
===​Marley and most of the world's nations===
*Bertholdt Hoover, the Colossal Titan † (Warrior and "Humanity's Greatest Enemy", posthumous ally through Paths)
*Reiner Braun, the Armored Titan (Warrior Vice Chief, formerly)
*Zeke Yeager, the Beast Titan † (former Warrior War Chief, formerly)
*Willy Tybur † (noble and shadow supreme leader of Marley)
*General Calvi † (leader of Marley's military party)
*General Theo Magath † (leader of Marley's military party, formerly)
*Marleyan government before the Rumbling
*Global Alliance (inc. Marley, formerly)
*Annie Leonhart, the Female Titan (Warrior, formerly)
*Porco Galliard, the Jaw Titan † (Warrior, posthumous ally through Paths) †
*Pieck Finger, the Cart Titan (Warrior, formerly)
*Lara Tybur, the War Hammer Titan † (noble)
*Gabi Braun (Warrior candidate, formerly)
*Falco Grice, the new Jaw Titan (Warrior candidate, formerly)
*Koslow † (Magath's aide)
*Panzer Unit † (Marley Army soldiers)
**Carlo †
*Liberio internment zone's gate guards before the raid † (Marley Public Security soldiers)
*Niccolo (Marley Army and Navy soldier, formerly)
*Griez † (former Marley Army and Navy soldier, joined the Volunteers with hostility)
*Marleyan military (inc. Warrior Unit, formerly)
*Majority of the populations of every country in the world
===The Government of the Walls===
*Rod Reiss † (the previous true King of the Walls)
*Kenny Ackerman † (Interior MP Captain and Leader of the Anti-Personnel Control Squad)
*The fake King of the Fritz royal family (noble, deposed)
*Minister Aurille (noble, imprisoned)
*Minister Gerald (noble, imprisoned)
*Minister Deltoff (noble, imprisoned)
*Minister Roderich (noble and Pastor of the Church of the Walls, imprisoned)
*All previous corrupt members and enforcers of the Royal Government (all imprisoned and/or removed from power)
*Traute Caven † (Interior MP, Anti-Personnel Control Squad)
*Nicholas Lovof (noble)
*Nile Dok † (formerly, Commander of the normal Military Police Brigade, defected the Monarchy)
*Djel Sannes (Interior MP officer, imprisoned)
*Ralph (Interior MP officer, imprisoned)
*Duran † (Interior MP, Anti-Personnel Control Squad)
*Roger (Interior MP officer, imprisoned)
*Dimo Reeves † (formerly, defected for Survey Corps)
*Reeves Company (formerly, defected for Survey Corps, later became Yeagerist supporters)
*Roy (formerly, journalist and director of Berg Newspapers, later became Yeagerist supporter)
*Peaure (journalist of Berg Newspapers, later became Yeagerist supporter)
*Military Police Brigade (during political conflicts, formerly)
*Military Police Brigade's First Interior Squad (Reiss loyalists)
*The majority of the population within the Walls, especially from Stohess (formerly)
===New Eldian State and Yeagerists===
*Eren Yeager † (Leader) 
*Floch Forster † (second-in-command)
*Holger (status unknown)
*Wim (status unknown)
*Louise (presumed deceased)
*Daz †
*Samuel Linke-Jackson †
*Oliver †
*All other Yeagerists
*New Eldian Army
*Supporters of the Yeagerists (majority of the population of Paradis)
==Gallery==
Scouting Legion.png
==Trivia==
*21 graduates of the 104th Training Unit joined the Scouting Legion, including Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman, Armin Arlert, Jean Kirschtein, Connie Springer, Sasha Blouse, Reiner Braun, Bertholdt Hoover, Historia Reiss, and Ymir.
*The symbol of the Scouting Legion is called the "Wings of Freedom"
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