Squadron Organization and Regulations Manual

Squadron Organization and Regulations Manual (SORM) Page 1 Introduction Congratulations on your assignment to a fighter squadron of the Star Fleet. This assignment is an indication of Fleet's confidence in your skills and potential. By joining a fighter squadron, you become part of a proud tradition which extends back, not merely to the formation of your squadron, nor to the beginning of the Mako Project, nor yet even to the founding of the Star Fleet, but to the day when one member of your species first took up arms in the defense of another. Today, fighter pilots put themselves in the way of danger, protecting the citizens of the United Federation of Planets just as their predecessors have done for generations. It should by no means be imagined, however, that only the pilots are vital to the success of a squadron's mission. Without a staff full of mechanics, technicians, logistics specialists, intelligence analysts, stellar cartographers, mission planners, yeomen and mess specialists, the fighters could not fly, the pilots could not perform at peak efficiency. There are no insignificant jobs in a fighter squadron. Whoever you are, whatever your job, you have demonstrated your excellence. Now, we of the squadron are counting on you to continue that excellence, so that together we can fulfil the awesome responsibility we have -- to go in harm's way. CDR S'task FSCO, VF-11 Star Fleet Training Command, Fighter Division History The history of starfleet's fighter project, and ultimately of all fightercraft the Federation may yet use in the Star Fleet, can be traced to the Khitomer Accords of November 2291. With the Klingon Empire dealing with internal problems, and the Romulan Star Empire soon to withdraw all contact, the Federation and the Star Fleet were left without a perceptible major threat to peace. During the seventy-three years between the Khitomer Accords and the reemergence of the Romulan Star Empire, the Star Fleet underwent a major drawdown of its combat forces. Instead of defense, Starships were optimized for exploration. Then, within a year after the initial contact between USS Berlin and seven Romulan warships, USS Enterprise encountered the Borg. Suddenly, the Federation faced a need for combat vessels. Several projects were considered, to fill the need. Before any of them could be implemented, the Borg invaded, and the cataclysmic battle of Wolf 359 ensued. This was to be a harbinger of things to come. In short order, the United Federation of Planets faced wars with the Borg, the Dominion, and the Cardassians (twice). The century of peace was over. In 2376, Star Fleet commissioned the first Mako fighter. Designed to serve as defense for stationary installations such as planets and starbases, the Mako Mk. 1 fulfilled its mission admirably, contributing to the defense of Earth during the second Borg invasion. During the Dominion War, Mk. II Makos of the First Fighter Squadron formed a rearguard. Though many pilots were lost in the battle, their sacrifice enabled several transports full of civilians to escape safely. Despite its excellent service record, there were deficiencies in the Mako that Star Fleet Command felt needed to be addressed. Key amongst these was the fighter's low survivability ratio. Only sixty-five percent of the Makos sent on combat missions were returning. The original Mako designers, along with several members of the Defiant and Sovereign class starship design boards, began work in 2398 to redesign the fighter. The first Mk.III Makos entered service with the newly formed Ninth Fighter Squadron (9FS), in 2401. Before the year was out, the Ninth Fighter Squadron was assigned to USS Gaius Marius, and renamed Carrier Fighter Squadron Nine (VF-9). The assignment was an experiment, intended to test the new fighter's usefulness in new roles -- close air support for Marines, CAP for fleet units, and other missions. The Second Cardassian War saw the baptism by fire of VF-9 and the proof of the carrier-borne fighter concept as a vital part of the Star Fleet. The Assault at B'khai started as a minor confrontation between Star Fleet Marines and a garrison of occupying Cardassian troops. In short time, both sides called for reinforcements. By the end of the battle, an entire Marine Regiment had faced and defeated nearly double their number of Cardassian Army regulars, and a large contingent of Jem'hadar left in Cardassian control after the Dominion war. Though VF-9 lost nearly a quarter of its fighters, they were cited with keeping the death toll among Star Fleet Marines from being higher than it was. Through close air support, artillery suppression, dropship escort, and enemy troop transport interdiction missions, VF-9 ensured the future of carrier-borne fighters in the Star Fleet. Despite these impressive accomplishments, many fighter pilots still felt that the design of the Mako could be improved upon. ASDB indicated a lack of interest in persuing further design changes, so a private firm, Broken Drive's Suzuki Konbinaato, began looking at the question. Recruiting a panel of expert pilots, including most of the Fighter Squadron Commanding Officers in the Fleet, Suzuki quickly focused on the area they felt could be improved most effectively: the fighter's propulsion suite. With its maximum speed of Warp 4.5, the Mako was ineffective in fleet point defense roles, as well as in customs and border patrol roles, where larger ships could easily out run the small fighters. Suzuki quickly developed a new Matter-Antimatter Reactor Assembly and warp engines capable of propelling the small craft to greater velocities, though range was strictly limited. Now being issued to fighter squadrons, the Gueken promises to play an important role in fleet and station defense for many years to come. Mission The basic mission concept for the Gueken was defined in the Design Specification Package as "a vessel capable of: 1. Operating in defense of fixed or mobile installations with minimal resource expenditure; 2.Providing support and defense to ground units, as well as serving as a mobile communications relay, and providing tactical coordination; 3.Operating as a point-defense fighter during Fleet operations, including traffic interdiction. 4.Coordinating with major Fleet units in any conceivable offensive or defensive scenario." The Gueken is a major upgrade from the Mark III Mako. While retaining the Mako's atmospheric capability, which allows the fighter to act in roles such as close air support, artillery coordination and suppression, and drop ship escort for Marine units, the new fighter has significantly improved manuverability, increasing its capablity to assume roles such as traffic interdiction for Fleet point defense, as well as customs / border patrol activities. As a communications relay station and battle coordinator, the Gueken is capable of handling and relaying message traffic on a geometrically scaling level; the more fighters are present, the more message traffic they can handle. The expert systems link to handle the message traffic in a cooperative fashion, rather than each fighter handling every frequency. This relay can be performed without noticeable degradation of the system's normal functionality. Gueken fighters can be carried aboard any ship which has standard shuttlebays; as part of the design specification, no special equipment is required to launch, recover, or maintain the fighters, other than that which can be moved from ship to ship using a standard cargo transporter. Fighter Squadrons A total of ten fighter squadrons currently serve the Star Fleet actively, with an eleventh assigned to Training Command. They are numbered sequentially in order of founding. VF-11, assigned to Star Fleet Training Command, serves a dual purpose. Only 16 pilots are assigned on a permanant basis. Half of these serve as a cadre of flight instructors, training new pilots to handle the Gueken fighter. The other half are trained in enemy tactics, and fly against the other squadrons during "Agressor" training sessions. Stations and Carriers Squadron / Station Carrier Fighter Squadron 1 (VF-1) / USS Quanah Parker 2nd Fighter Squadron (2-FS) Starbase 867, Broken Drive Carrier Fighter Squadron 3 (VF-3) / USS Goddard 4th Fighter Squadron (4-FS) / Starbase 1, Earth 5th Fighter Squadron (5-FS) / Deep Space Gamma 1, Kelsius IV 6th Fighter Squadron (6-FS) / Starbase 4, Vulcan 7th Fighter Squadron (7-FS) / Starbase 968, Bajor 8th Fighter Squadron (8-FS) / Starbase 23 Carrier Fighter Squadron 9 (VF-9) / USS Vanguard 10th Fighter Squadron (10-FS) / Starbase 3, Andor Carrier Fighter Squadron 11 (VF-11) / USS VonBraun, Star Fleet Training Command