"Vanguard Security's got a bunch of specialists—Demolitions, Counterterrorist, Intelligence, Security, and so on.

"Of all of them, though, I'm probably in the most demand.

"What am I? A normal, grunt, dogface infantryman.

"Think about it. If you're some banana republic and you want some specialists for a job, every 'Security' firm's got Engineers, Commandos, and every other kind of whoopdedoo expert on their staffs. But if you want to train your actual ARMY to be anything but a bunch of thugs with machine guns who don't know the difference between an ambush and a patrol, you've either got to turn to one of the big governments, or, if that doesn't work for whatever reason, you're on your own.

"Ever since I got out of the 101st Airborne, I've been working fulltime, turning green recruits into decent soldiers.

"I mean, what's the point of hiring some Special Forces hotshot to teach troops to HALO jump, when they can't even walk a decent patrol?"

This category includes the vast majority of the world's infantry"Leg" infantry. It also includes "Air Assault" Troopsany airmobile infantry.

Entry: No Restrictions

First Term Skills: The character receives the following skills in the first term:

• Small Arms 2
• Unarmed Martial Arts: 1
• Grenade Launcher: 1

Subsequent Term Skills: A total of three levels from any one or a combination of the following:

• Autogun
• Forward Observer
• Grenade Launcher
• Ground Vehicle (or wheeled)
• Small Arms
• Stealth
• Survival
• Tac Missile
• Unarmed Martial Arts

Contacts: One per term,. Roll 1D10 for 8+ for the contact to be foreign.

Special: "Air Assault" troops can add "Parachute" to subsequent Term skills.

"In this M113 we have a squad of eight guys, plus the driver and TCTrack Commander. We all have our packsthe big onesplus a lot of extra ammo for M16's, a couple thousand extra rounds for the M60, three reloads for the Dragon ATGM that Corporal Relph carries, which is no small package itself, and a bunch of extra grenades for the M203's, plus more ammo for the M2 up on top.

"Add to that a case of mines, a case or two each of frag and smoke grenades, some heavyduty entrenching tools, a few extra cases of food and other stuff, and PFC Blake's dog, some mutt he picked up somewhere the other side of DjongHae, and our track is one pretty darned crowded place."

This category includes all Infantry whose primary mode of transportation is Armored Personnel Carriers or Infantry Fighting Vehicles.

Entry: No Restrictions

First Term Skills: The character receives the following skills in the first term:

• Small Arms 2
• Grenade Launcher or Autogun: 1
• Unarmed Martial Arts: 1

Subsequent Term Skills: A total of three levels from any one or a combination of the following:

• Autogun
• Forward Observer
• Grenade Launcher
• Ground Vehicle (tracked or wheeled)
• Small Arms
• Stealth
• Survival
• Tac Missile
• Unarmed Martial Arts

Contacts: One per term,. Roll 1D10 for 8+ for the contact to be foreign.

Special: None

"I am Sergeant Major Jaques Bernier. I joined the Parachutistes nearly twenty years ago. Since then, I have jumped from aircraft nearly four hundred times.

"None of those times were in combat, however. When we were sent to Chad, we drove about as common infantry, in trucks. C'est humiliating, Ne c'est pas?

"Since I went out on the private market, I have jumped into combat three times. I can see now that the army, she had a point in going in by truck. C'est Dangereuse!"

Airborne troops are generally elite infantry, distinguished by the means by which they infiltrate enemy territory.

AIRBORNE - Enlisted

Entry: Constitution+Strength+Agility 15+

First Term Skills: The character receives the following skills in the first term:

Navigation: 1

Parachute: 2

Small Arms: 2

Unarmed Martial Arts: 1

Subsequent Term Skills: A total of three levels from any one or a combination of the following:

• Autogun
• Forward Observer
• Grenade Launcher
• Ground Vehicle (wheeled)
• Navigation
• Parachute
• Small Arms
• Stealth
• Survival
• Tac Missile

Contacts: One per term,. Roll 1D10 for 8+ for the contact to be foreign.

Special: None

AIRBORNE - Officer

Entry: Strength+Agility+Constitution 14+, and OCS, Military Academy, or Commission.

First Term Skills: The character receives the following skills in the first term:

• Small Arms 2
• Parachute 2
• Navigation 1
• Leadership 1

Subsequent Term Skills:

• Autogun
• Forward Observer
• Grenade Launcher
• Ground Vehicle (wheeled)
• Leadership
• Navigation
• Parachute
• Persuasion
• Small Arms
• Stealth
• Survival
• Tac Missile

Contacts: Two per term, Military. Roll 1D10 for 7+ for the contact to be foreign.

Special: None

Why are airborne troops usually considered elite?

Any soldier can put on a uniform in peacetime, and be pretty much the same as any other. But in combat, with the possibility of death hovering around every corner, a group of soldiers quickly sorts itself out between those who can handle the stress and those who can't.

Jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, which puts the risk of death squarely in a soldier's face, helps perform that sorting before the first shot is fired. By jumping out of that airplane, the soldier has proven that he can look at least one type of death in the eye and keep doing his job.

That's the reason most special forces units require parachute training, even though they may never use 'chutes in combat.

(Thanks to Gordon Rottman, "World Special Forces Insignia", Osprey/Vanguard Press).

"This was after the war in Norway sorta ground down into a lot of skirmishing—almost more like gang turf wars than a "real" war.

"Me and a couple other leathernecks had wound up way up in the mountains near Skanesviksjoen—a little Norwegian village you've never heard about—with this bunch of Norwegian Mountain troops.

"In the year we were there, the twelve of them wrought this unbelievable amount of havoc on the Russian garrison in the valleys below.

"In Norwegian, they used to say, 'Froota Byool na Snoor voorna Boorg.' I think it means 'you can't fight what you can't catch'and you sure couldn't catch these guys by trying to drive a tank up a mountain!"

These troops include the US Tenth Infantry Division (Mountain), the German "Gebirgsjaeger" brigade, Norway's Mountain Infantry battalions, France's Chasseurs Alpins, much of the Swiss and Austrian armies, and Italy's Alpini.

Entry: Strength + Agility 10+

First Term Skills: The character receives the following skills in the first term:

• Small Arms 2
• Climbing: 2
• Snow Skiing 1

Subsequent Term Skills: A total of three levels from any one or a combination of the following:

• Autogun
• Climbing
• Forward Observer
• Grenade Launcher
• Small Arms
• Snow Skiing
• Survival
• Unarmed Martial Arts

Contacts: One per term, Military or Specialist (Mountaineering). Roll 1D10 for 8+ for the contact to be foreign.

Special: None

MOUNTAIN INFANTRY—Officer

Entry: OCS, Military Academy, or commission.

First Term Skills: The character receives the following skills in the first term:

• Leadership 1
• Climbing 2
• Snow Skiing 1
• Navigation: 1

Subsequent Term Skills: A total of three levels from any one or a combination of the following:

• Autogun
• Climbing
• Forward Observer
• Grenade Launcher
• Leadership
• Navigation
• Persuasion
• Small Arms
• Unarmed Martial Arts

Contacts: Two per term, Miltary or Specialist (Mountaineering). Roll 1D10 for 7+ for the contact to be foreign.

Special: None

Officer grades in all infantry but the Airborne use this table.

Entry: OCS, Military Academy, or Commission

First Term Skills: The character receives the following skills in the first term:

• Leadership 1
• Navigation
• Persuasion 1
• Small Arms 1

Subsequent Term Skills: A total of levels from any one or a combination of the following:

• Autogun
• Forward Observer
• Grenade Launcher
• Ground Vehicle (tracked or wheeled)
• Leadership
• Navigation
• Persuasion
• Small Arms
• Stealth
• Survival
• Tac Missile
• Unarmed Martial Arts

Contacts: Two per term, Military. Roll 1D10 for 7+ for the contact to be foreign.

Special: None