Deathless Navy's Officer Career

Here we detail the training and career progression of the Deathless’ Navy’s officer corp, from the basic training to the higher levels of command. If a recruit joins with prior experience, as is often the case, they may start their career progression at a different stage, depending on their prior qualifications and performance on the aptitude test.

## Recruitment

When going through the hiring process, a prospective officer for the Deathless Navy has some, apparently very limited trade choices, this, however, is to allow for specialization down the line after the first year of training. Any prospective recruit is thoroughly screened prior to enrollment, as Deathless naval officers are supposed to be a cut above the rest of humanity. Any graduate from the Koscheian Military Academy program is already considered to have been screened and to have the proper qualifications.

### Naval Officer

The aptly named “Naval Officer” makes up most of the Navy’s officer corp. This trade is the only through which an officer will access command of Frigate sized and higher ships. As they are the bulk, these officers are found en masse across various ships and, although their trade might be the same, no Naval Officer will have the same career progression.

### Pilot

Piloting officers control anything that flies that is smaller than a corvette and their crews, among the various engines they may get to command are drop pods, fighter ships, bombers, shuttles, etc. A piloting officer may get to command flights, squadrons, or wings after their flying careers.

### Engineering Officer

The engineering Officers make sure the ships in the Deathless navy run while in pretty much any situation, they manage the various engineering departments and are the most likely to be transferred to the Maintenance or Technology department once their sailing career is over. Although an engineering officer will never command a fleet or a ship they are crucial to the proper functioning of the navy.

### But what about marines?

Although marines are part of the navy technically, their recruitment and training process is tied to the army, and as such marines aren’t considered as Naval Officers for the purposes of this document

## Naval Indoctrination Period (1 month)

Every naval recruit spends 1 month in Deathless HQ to be taught corporate and naval values, receive basic weapons handling training with the AC-47 as well as some general knowledge on the Deathless as a whole organization, like who the President is, and why DVodkaTM is your best friend.

## Basic Naval Trade Qualification (1 Year)

BNTQ for short, this year is known to be a crucible for any prospective officer of the Deathless Navy, and for good reason. Not only are you ripped from your comfortable gravity environment and put on Vechernyaya moonbase for the duration of your training, but you are also constantly tested. A few officers have compared BNTQ as “Drinking from a keg of DVodka or four”, as they are constantly bombarded with new discipline. A total of three failures in any form of tests equals a failure of the course, and the candidate is recommended for either release, or transfer to a non-navy trade. As such the attrition rate for the BNTQ is the largest in an officer’s career, averaging at about 15%. It is quite the high stress environment, and it is designed to be this way, as any good naval officer is expected to perform admirably under life or death conditions.

The common core of the program goes over Deathless naval structure, role, composition, and various traditions. Any officer of the Deathless navy worth their salt is expected to know this basic knowledge by heart, unless they have enough experience to get a pass of course. The instructors running the course are viciously smart, all of them are retired or active naval personnel with at least 20 years of experience and one ship command, if officers, or senior enlisted position. Their instructional capabilities are recognized, but are also known to show no mercy to their students.

At the beginning of BNTQ the aspirants are promoted to Acting Sub-Lieutenant, which technically enables them to give commands to enlisted members, in practice however, no one is expected to follow them into battle, as they are still trainees. BNTQ also separates the officer corp into their trades, and beyond the common curriculum the course varies quite wildly depending on an aspirant’s trade.

### Naval Officer (BNTQ-N)

During their year, Naval Officers are tasked with learning all of in-system navigation on a Sadko-class training vessel. This includes the basics of sub-light propulsion, the proper functioning of a ship, how to conduct planetfall and escaping orbit, etc. The year also concentrates on proper procedure aboard a Deathless spaceship, how to give conning orders to the helmsman and an introduction to naval leadership and discipline. Intense care is put into the management of non-combat crises, with multiple practical tests such as, but not limited to: Collision with an asteroid, fire on board ship, Atmosphere failure, etc. By the end of BNTQ-N.

### Engineering Officer (BNTQ-E)

As engineering officers aren’t expected to take on the weight of responsibility of command, they are expected to know every single mechanical thing about a certain ship, and how to fix them, because of course, how can you tell someone to fix something, if you can’t even fix it yourself? As such Engineers learn the inner workings of Deathless ships and weapons systems, from how they are manufactured to the most ridiculous ways they have been broken down. The lucky engineers even get to live through some of those breaking downs! And have to fix them! Engineers also learn how to manage a small engineering team, made up of more experienced enlisted members who know more than their “officer” just to foster a professional learning environment.

### Pilot (BNTQ-P)

Aspiring pilots will learn to fly, literally, using an unarmed fighter frame capable of both void and atmospheric maneuvers, including the physics behind all of it, they are more or less required to know their frame like the back of their hand. During this time they also learn the basics of tactics and formation flying as well as the multiple safety precautions a pilot must take beyond not getting shot at, technology is great, but not infallible.

## First Year Review Board

Following the BNTQ is the dreaded First Year Review Board, what is possibly the most crucial step for an officer in the Deathless navy, as it determines one’s future career. Every officer has to pass through one, whether they be a pilot, engineer, or naval officer.

The first step to the Board is to select your specialization preference, if you showed enough promise during the BNTQ a selection of officers from your desired specialization will attend to your Board. If your performance is judged to be lacking, your needs may be overshadowed by the needs of the service. All officers attending the board are fully qualified Lieutenants (Lt), and are usually in line for more senior roles in the navy.

The goal of the Board is simple: Convince one of the sitting officers to accept you for an apprenticeship, and it will run until someone accepted you, or 8 hours have passed, with each Lt being allowed to leave at any moment they want to, to be replaced by another. Following the 8 hour mark, the Board is considered a failure and the trainee is given a final chance, a week later. Sometimes, even though he isn't supposed to, the current *Grand Amiral,* Admiral Afanasyev, sits on the Board of some young officers and even takes one under his tutelage from time to time. This isn't limited to the Naval Officer trade, and is a position of either prestige or utter dread, as only a select few ever passed their apprenticeship under the aptly named *Author of Annihilation*.

Once you’ve passed the Board, congratulations! You are now a Sub-Lieutenant, apprentice to your mentor, and ready to learn your specialization while on board of a Deathless warship.

## Apprenticeship (3 Years)

The three year apprenticeship of the Deathless navy’s officer is done on active ships as part of its company or space stations, within a wing or fleet, the young officer is expected to shadow their mentor while also continuing their learning process and gradually taking on more and more responsibilities within the crew. The first year of this program is still very much a learning process, as the trainee is required to accommodate themselves with the ship or frame they’re flying. At any point during the 3 year apprenticeship an officer may be failed by their mentor or any other senior officer for a variety of reasons, sending the young officer back to BNTQ, or even recommending for a non-navy trade. Another key, yet unofficial characteristic of the apprenticeship is that it determines what kind of officer the trainee will become, and especially how they view naval doctrine. Different schools of thought have developed within the Deathless Navy, even to the extent of visible factionalism between the officer corp. It has been noticed that the joining of such factions is done during this apprenticeship.

### Naval Officers

Naval Officers are assigned to their mentor’s department, and act as part of it, during the first year they learn the subtleties of their specialization, which is one of these three: Navigation, Gunnery, and Communications. Navigation deals with course chartering, bridge management, making spike drills, and generally keeping the ship going in the right direction. Gunnery departments, of which there might be many, or few, depending on the ship’s size, manages the weaponry of the ship, they fight the war, and are very proud of doing that. And finally the Communications department are those in charge of all things broadcasting, IFF recognition, sensors, and Electronic Warfare. All specialization are integral parts of the ship’s command team and their warfighting capabilities.

Another determining aspect of the Naval Officer’s future career is the type of ship they are assigned to. There are three general types of Deathless Navy ships, Standard, Transport, and Deathshead. “Standard” ships are those battlecruisers, carriers, corvettes, and patrol boats who have one task: Good old warfighting, Standard ship culture is one of tradition, and a proud one at that, they are supposed to be the first line, and the backbone of the Deathless navy, others might think they are looked down upon by those serving in “Standard” ships, and they might be just right. Transport ships go from 40 people corvettes to massive troop carriers, usually less armed and armored in order to accomodate for more cargo space. Transport ship culture is one of proper people management, because who the hell wants to manage thousands of angsty marines when there is something that shakes just a \*tad\* bit too much? Finally the multitude of ships that make up the type known as the Deathshead are an interesting bunch. Their tasks are in the underhanded:  smuggling, infiltration, sabotage, wanton and unseen destruction to name a few. Due to the nature of their task, crewmen of Deathshead ships tend to be on the wilder side of the military, where bold (and sometimes crazy) ideas are often favored. A strong rivalry is felt between the officers crewing those different ship types, although it almost never comes to blows, almost. Sub-Lieutenants will very rarely work outside the type of ship they do their apprenticeship in, as their culture is ingrained during the 3 years.

Following the first year of specialization training the Sub-Lieutenant will receive gradually more responsibilities, are they are deemed to be qualified to act and give commands in warfighting situations and are expected to do so with professionalism. All the while of course they must be up-to-date with their training packages and keep up with the current naval affairs of the sector. As they are an officer, the training sub-lieutenant is expected to take charge should crises ensue, and are of course expected to act admirably in life or death situations, hesitation is solely tolerated and severely reprimanded. By the end of their 3rd year the Naval Officer is recommended for a final evaluation by their mentor for a final evaluation where they run the department in which they have served for a straight 24 hours, a variety of scenarios are thrown at the officer to test their skills, and should they succeed, they will be recommended for the final test of knowledge.

### Engineering Officers

Engineering officers follow a very similar program to the Naval Officers, in which they act as second in command to their mentor’s department, and where they learn their specialization in either ship or weapon systems as well as vehicle engineering. Ship systems engineers make sure that the ship keeps running and that the atmosphere doesn’t leak, and if it does, they manage the repair teams tasked with repairing it. Weapon systems engineers work closely with the gunnery team to ensure proper function and maintenance of the holiest of the Navy’s tools: the weapons. Finally vehicle engineers run the teams on carriers that keep the smaller ships running nicely. By the end of the 3 years the engineering officer should be able to manage a full department or maintenance team by themselves, depending on the ship’s size.

Unlike Naval Officers however, the Engineers are not beholden to the type of ship they do their apprenticeship on, whether you’re ensuring that the engines work on a Transport, Standard, or Deathshead ship, the job is the same, and engineers don’t have the time nor care for the factionalist politics the Naval Officers oh-so enjoy.

### Pilots

Pilots are tasked with operating in one specific frame, which varies greatly, of course their mentor’s frame type determines which one they will be serving in. A pilot will typically operate fighters, bombers, marine drop ships, shuttles, and a most a free merchant-like vessel, with the maximum crew at around 4-10 members maximum. The first year of the apprenticeship is spent learning the new frame, basically learning to fly once again. This is done at Vechernyaya moonbase with the mentor acting as a one-on-one flight instructor on specifically made training versions of their frames, sometimes with adapted two-person ships if necessary.

At the end of the first year of apprenticeship the pilot is awarded their wings by the flight instructor, should they pass the tests of course. Following the obtention of their wings the pilot and their mentor are posted to a squadron, and they join that squadron for full operations. The last two years are spent flying your own frame as the mentor’s wingman or co-pilot depending on the frame. Of course performance is expected, and should you fail to show your skill in battle, should it be required, well you might as well die doing your job, or fail the course, whatever happens first. following your mentor also means that if they go on as independent contractor with their frame, you are tasked with following them, and coming back at the end of your apprenticeship for the final evaluation.

## Naval Occupation Board

Affectionately called the NOB by all in the navy’s officer corp, it is the final evaluation before an officer is promoted to Lieutenant. The board starts with a recommendation from the mentoring officer for the final test, it is a crucial step, after all it demonstrates that your mentor trusts your capabilities to pass this Board. The test itself is done back on Vechernyaya by the Deathless Fleet School Captain’s Board, who are in charge of running the school and writing the training programs for the entire Deathless navy. These captains know exactly what the officers have been through, and have even designed most of it, their task is to quiz and challenge the officer on their knowledge obtained for the last 4 years, going back to basic training even. The Board is an ordeal, but with enough training and having passed the 4 years of training an officer has all the requirements needed to pass. Should they succeed, the officer gets promoted to Lieutenant and is allowed to be posted on a ship as a fully trained officer.

## What’s next?

After promotion the officer is posted to their respective ship or squadron. A naval or engineering officer can be tasked as the head or sub-head of department depending on the ship’s size, while a pilot will take place within their respective frame squadron.

### Naval Officers

Career progression for naval officers can vary quite a bit past the Lieutenant rank, depending mostly on the ship’s size you’re serving on you might find yourself as a head of department at the rank of Commander or you could have your own ship command as early as Lieutenant-Commander. Generally speaking, however, an earlier command of a ship is better should you want to reach the admiralty as a Naval Officer. The peak of a Naval Officer’s career is the position of Grand Amiral, which commands the entirety of the Deathless Navy, this position however has been held by the same man for 200 years, and his LET treatments aren’t stopping.

### Engineering Officers

Engineering officers will never get to command a ship, however there are still many possibilities for advancement into the admiralty, as an engineer takes on bigger and bigger engineering departments. The highest rank an Engineering Officer is tied to the position of Director of Naval Engineering, where they work right under the Grand Amiral  to organize engineering and procurement projects for the navy. Engineering Officers are the most likely to transfer to the Corporate side as either maintenance or even logistics personnel.

### Pilots

Pilots get their frames as a fully autonomous officer, and their career progression should lead to flight leader, then Squadron Leader at Lieutenant-Commander, and then Wing Commander as a... Commander. Upon reaching the rank of Captain pilots are either at the position of Flight Director for a carrier or in Headquarters writing up new strategies and doctrine.