EarthForce

EarthForce is the military branch of the Earth Alliance, Earth's governing body in the fictional Babylon 5 universe.

Related Topics:
Earth Alliance - Earth - Babylon 5

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EarthForce is organized into three separate branches:

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• the Navy (blue uniforms),
• the Marines (brown/olive),
• and the Security forces (gray).

Officers are apparently allowed to transfer between branches - Richard Franklin (father of Dr. Stephen Franklin) once served in the Navy, as first officer on the EAS Ares, but by the time we actually meet him, the elder Franklin was a general in the EarthForce Marines (which, in the episode GROPOS, were specifically identified as "EarthForce Marine Corps" in their marching song).

Related Topics:
Stephen Franklin - GROPOS

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Each branch of EarthForce uses the appropriate style of ranks for that branch:

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• The Admiral ranks are semi-conjectural because they had never been held by any character on the show, although they can be assumed to exist since they were mentioned in dialogue (and one character is said to be on the fast track to making Admiral). Richard Franklin was a Major General and there was a Lieutenant General communicating to Babylon 5 from the Senate building during the episode "Point of No Return". Several five star generals were shown including Hague, of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Earthdome commander, General Foote.

Flag officers from all three branches comprise a Joint Chiefs of Staff which is mentioned in a few episodes.

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It should be noted that, in many instances, the naval rank structure above captain seems to be rather variable; Generals (presumably transfers from Marines or Security) can transfer in, and are as likely to command a battle fleet as a ground-based infantry division. (Admirals are still mentioned in several episodes, however; for example in And the Sky Full of Stars we learn that Jeffrey Sinclair was on the fast track to making admiral, and Signs and Portents in which it is said that both generals and admirals were in the running to command Babylon 5.)

Related Topics:
And the Sky Full of Stars - Jeffrey Sinclair - Signs and Portents

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EarthForce operates a large fleet of ships, comprising such vessels as the Cotten class tender, Olympus class corvette, Omega class destroyers and Hyperion class heavy cruisers, Nova class dreadnought, and numerous smaller support craft. Their newest design is the Warlock class destroyer, which incorporates several new technologies such as artificial gravity (given to EarthForce by the Minbari).

Related Topics:
Cotten class tender - Olympus class corvette - Omega class destroyer - Hyperion class heavy cruiser - Nova class dreadnought - Warlock class destroyer - Artificial gravity - Minbari

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