Org Chart

deWulf Naval High Command, 88th Floor
Conference Room 2
City of Lowell, Fenris
deWulf Corporate Democracy

“We’ve made the changes you’ve suggested, PackMaster Heinrichs.”

PackMaster Janeth Heinrichs was still settling into her new office. Her new command. It was only last month that Strategic Planning had gotten the biggest bone thrown to it since its inception when it was decided to form a coherent fleet organizational system. No more ad-hoc command groups, no more scratch task forces or on the fly reassignments. Well, she conceded, those would still be happening. But now there would be structure. And those attachments would become the exception rather than the rule.

“Good. Shall we give the presentation one more try before we go schedule the official meeting?”

“Sure. I think we’ve got it down. Don’t want our first presentation to be a bomb.”

Janeth chuckled grimly “We’ve been dropping a lot of those. Let’s try not to add us to the list.”

“Noted. So, shall I start?”

“Please”

Lancer Waldmuller nodded, the presentation leaping to life at the front of the meeting room.

“This presentation is to familiarize everyone with the upcoming organizational changes that will be coming to the deWulf Corporate Navy in the coming months. This is intended as an initial ‘first look’ that provides an overview of the changes. Naturally there will be some differences between this initial plan and actual implementation, but no plan survives contact with reality.”

The presentation flicked from a splash page to the organizational chart, with the top row highlighted. “The top-level organizational element will be the Fleet. For simplicity fleets will be numbered, but we expect that some fleets may be named in the future. A fleet will primarily be a logistical and organizational construct, assigned to a collection of systems or a specific theatre. Support elements such as repair ships, munitions transports, and army lift capacity will be assigned on a fleet level and then deployed as needed.”

The slide shifted to highlight another section of the chart. “Beneath fleets are Task Forces. Task Forces will be the primary operational element for the fleet, and where the majority of combat units will be assigned. The general specification is that task forces will be sub-numbers of a fleet. So, 3rd Fleet would have task forces 31, 32, and so on. Task forces can also be subdivided cleanly, as task group 31 can be broken down into 31.1, 31.2 and so on. While individual ships can be assigned to task forces, the operational concept is that task forces are built up from…”

The highlighting changed again, pointing to the bottom third of the chart “… squadrons and battalions. These are the individual combat units that ships are assigned to, and ideally these will remain the basic unit blocks that larger groups are built from. Practically speaking, each squadron or battalion will be one or two datagroups of ships built around a specific engagement concept such as long-range fire, small craft operations, or warp point assault. The decision to use two datagroups allows for more flexible and effective datagroup buildouts, and allows for these smaller units to ‘flex’ upwards as technology improves to match the combat environment.”

“And here’s where the screaming starts” Janeth teased as the next slide cycled in.

“Squadrons and Battalions are, on an organizational level, the same size, but with different intended purposes. Squadrons are to be considered fleet elements and are to be primarily concentrated at nodal positions to support fleet operations. Battalions are units that are expected to operate in detached or distributed operations, functioning as border patrol units, commerce protection, and rear area defense in the case of major combat operations.”

The slide changed again, showing a pair of other command chains. “There are two other parts of this reorganization that need to be discussed. First, while logistic ships are assigned to fleets as a matter of practical use, they still remain under the nominal command of the Bureau of Logistics in matters of administration and management. The second is that Skywatch Command retains command of all fixed unit defenses, as well as mobile units that have been explicitly assigned to system defense. Mobile units so assigned are considered to be part of a ‘pseudo’ squadron that is part of the local Skywatch Command unit.”

The last image was a splash image, nothing more than the deWulf Navy logo on a plain background. “Any questions?”

Janeth smiled a bit “Oh I’m sure there will be questions. But we’ll have answers in turn.”