Colonial Planetary Forces (CPF) are divided into the following groups.
ACV/Artillery: (Armored Combat Vehicle): These Warriors operate the ‘tanks’ and other armored vehicles used by the Colonial Military. They are trained to operate their vehicles ina variety of environments and conditions. There are (or rather were) a large variety of ACVs in the Colonial arsenal. Only a few types that were kept on the warships survived.
Artillery, ground based, indirect fire, projectile weapons remains a valuable asset in the military inventory. Direct fire energy weapons are often unable to reach a target that is sheltered behind a hill or in rugged terrain. Though orbital Space Assault Ships (SAS) provide much fire support, it is not always practical to employ a warship full time for such use.
Infantry
The basic Colonial Infantry Warrior, (CIW but usually referred to as a ‘Regular’) is trained in the use of his primary weapon plus one secondary and one heavy weapon. Standard training includes use of grenades, hand to hand combat, knife/bola combat, basic tactics for open country, woods, urban environments, mountains and jungle, stealth techniques, computer and sensor ops, communication protocols, first aid, climbing, swimming, basic Free Fall techniques and military operations.
These Warriors are the basic fighting arm of the CPF. Some receive specialty training which may include Space Assault (landing on hostile ground from orbit) and Boarding Action (Engaging in, or resisting, Boarding Actions) Sub Orbital Assault (Paratroops) Urban Combat and Survival in a variety of environments including Hostile Atmosphere, NBC and Vacuum. Others are trained as Military Police and in civilian crowd control techniques.
CIW (Regulars) are not typically found on the average warship unless they are being transported somewhere. They are generally found on Space Assault Ships (SAS) or troop transports. Regulars are used as garrison troops and security in most ground bases.
Space Assault Warriors
Space Assault Warriors (SAW) are the elite ‘Special Forces’ of the CPF. They operate from Space Assault Ships (SAS) or form detachments of SAW on the large warships. Not every Infantry Warrior qualifies as a SAW.
SAW troops work in five man squads in Platoons of twenty with 4 squads. Depending on the size of the ship or station this can vary somewhat. A small destroyer will have a Half Strength Platoon (2 squads, 10 warriors) A larger warship may have a Light Platoon (3 squads, 15 warriors) A mid size warship or installation may have a Full Platoon (4 squads, 20 warriors) A larger ship, like a light Cruiser, may have a Reinforced Platoon (either 5 or 6 squads, 25 to 30 warriors.) A Heavy Cruiser, such as Prometheus, often has two platoons while a Battlestar will typically have three or four platoons on board.
The basic SAW has all the training available to the basic Infantry Warrior, including the Specialty training, and then some. All SAW are qualified with a wide variety of weapons, from small arms through heavy man portables and are able to operate Land Rams and armored combat vehicles, artillery and conduct advanced demolitions and orchestrate command and control techniques for directing and coordinating orbital bombardments. Additionally SAW are trained in more advanced medical procedures then just first aid, they have more detailed sensor, computer operations and communication skills. They are skilled in zero G operations and combat including the use of thruster packs for boarding operations. They have been trained in advanced survival techniques in a variety of environments including jungle, desert, ice, radioactive, biological and chemical, hostile atmosphere and micro gravity.
Sub Orbital Operations: Flying craft that operate in atmosphere. Generally speaking these are VTO (Vertical Take Off) craft (like helicopters) used for tactical combat support and transport of supplies and wounded. Major attack operations are coordinated from orbit and use Vipers, Asps and such. The Sub Orbital Operations group does maintain a fleet of transport shuttles for conducting supply and transport to and from orbiting ships. Though these can technically leave orbit, they lack any FTL ability. The pilots and crews of these craft are Warriors. No sub orbital craft survive in the Fugitive Fleet. Any that were onboard SAS or Supply ships were long since dismantled for parts and materials.
Aquatic Operations: Warriors trained in the use of submersible craft and surface craft along with general submersed action. (Frogmen) No aquatic craft survive in the Fugitive Fleet. Any that were onboard SAS or Supply ships were long since dismantled for parts and materials.
Combat Engineers: A Warrior/Technician trained in the construction (and destruction) of fortifications, bridges, spaceports, canals, dams, roads, trams, tunnels, buildings etc…
Combat Support: A catch all that covers most of the other areas of the CPF, including, but not limited to, medical staff, supply and logistics, R&D work, civilian relations, etc… Those Technicians whose job it is to keep the armored fighting vehicles running and the sub orbital craft flying, are considered Combat Support. MOST of these people are NOT Warriors but are actually Technicians, (except for the Med Techs.)
NOTE: With the exception of those Infantry, ACV/Artillery, Sub Orbital Operations, Combat Engineers and Med Techs that were on board the SAS Horus, the SAS Bast or were assigned to the other warships at the time of Cimtar, virtually all CPF units have been destroyed by the Cylons. Most of the surviving CPF Infantry after Cimtar were Space Assault Warriors (SAW) assigned to the various destroyers and the Galactica for boarding operations.
Several units of CIW regulars were onboard the SASs and in the intervening yahrens additional CIW have been trained, as have new SAW.