Sketches – deWulf Ranks 2

The band beyond the Noncommissioned Officer ranks is entered via two paths. The more common is a direct commission, where candidates are either offered slots in the academy due to promising criteria upon induction, or by direct application. Most officers will have a mixed training between leadership and applied skillsets; if they self-select towards a specific track (or are assigned to a specific track due to Military needs), then the balance can change.

Informally, Cadets are sometimes referred to as a Collar, as they have the skill and training (presumably), but have not been fully tested. “We’ve got three collars onboard this cruise. One of them’s shaping up very nicely” as an example. The Corporate Army tends to refer Navy officers as “Bluejackets” due to the light blue dress jackets that they often wear.

Example	Equivalent Rank
Junior Hunter	Commander
Master Lancer	Lt. Commander
Senior Lancer	Senior Lieutenant
Lancer	Lieutenant
Junior Lancer	Ensign

The move from officer to true command ranks again brings a shift in duties, though this time more in scope than in tasks. Command means looking at the broader picture, and the shift from Junior Hunter to Hunter is the biggest of those jumps. Beyond Hunter, this shift becomes even more pronounced as even individual units cease to be a concern as the bigger picture becomes The picture.

deWulf Rank	Equivalent Rank
Senior PackHunter	Fleet Admiral
PackHunter	Admiral
Junior PackHunter	Rear Admiral
Senior Hunter	Commodore
Hunter	Captain

The final three ranks are barely command ranks at all, but more administrative positions where the goals and concerns aren’t merely elements of the Corporate Navy, but the entire Navy itself. PackMasters almost never deploy in combat operations, instead working from offices and meetings and deciding strategic policy for the entire Navy, or their specific part thereof.

deWulf Rank	Equivalent Rank
Senior PackMaster	Chief Naval Officer
PackMaster	Admiral of the Fleet
Junior PackMaster	Flag Admiral

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When I was first building out my ranking structure, it was the command and flag ranks that got put together first. No surprise that, since I was primarily writing with an eye to ships and fleets. That meant the characters there all had various mid to high ranks as a matter of course. However, while the rank structure was built out, the actual design of the ranks was not (and still isn’t, actually), as I’m missing rank insignia for the top three ranks still. Well, fodder for a future sketch, I guess.