Assignments in the Star Army

A soldier's Assignment is the place and role in which they are serving their duties as part of the Star Army of Yamatai. Star Army soldiers are, whenever possible, assigned to both a unit (which is an organization within the Star Army and to a Duty Station, which is typically a starship or a base.

At a basic level the Star Army of Yamatai seeks to match soldiers with the appropriate occupation with openings or forecasted openings (e.g. Characters Wanted) in units throughout the Star Army of Yamatai. Assignments, when possible, have a fixed length of time, which is typically roughly one, two, or three years (a standard length of an Star Army Enlistment Contract). Actual assignment lengths vary based on things like training times.

The flow of assignments for a new soldier typically is:

1. Assignment to an initial training unit, such as one at Fort Ready
2. Assignment to a training school
3. Assignment to a long-term assignment at on a starship and/or base, or to a temporary holding unit if necessary, such as Fort Minori Reserve Center

Once the soldier's time is coming to a close they can choose to either reenlist or receive a discharge.

A soldier may bring their family with them for an assignment on planets and space stations open to civilians (e.g. Yamatai (Planet)) or military families (e.g. Nataria) of the Star Army of Yamatai. Families cannot go with the Star Army soldier on a tour of duty (e.g. deployment to a combat zone) or to an assignment at a remote location. The same applies to pets, which are generally not allowed on starships.

The Star Army will ship soldiers' personal possessions for free in some cases:

• On standard tours of duty soldiers may bring 2 foot lockers of personal items.
• On permanent/long-term assignments to friendly areas such as Yamataian cities, soldiers may bring
  • the contents of their home
  • one privately-owned vehicle (POV).

Soldiers can be assigned to the military forces of foreign nations and suzerains. See Star Army Exchange Program.

When a soldier goes through a major personal hardship event of a temporary nature such as having a terminally ill parent to take care of, a death in the family, or other extreme situation, they can be given an assignment that places them where they can deal with that situation, such as being assigned to a base near their dying parents. If the hardship is expected to last more than a year, the Star Army will consider a hardship discharge instead.

Soldiers can apply together to be assigned to the same location as another soldier, such as their spouse. The Star Army of Yamatai strongly prefers to keep spouses assigned to the same duty station, and usually manages this, although this is not guarantees and the needs of the Star Army come first. If the Star Army is unable to organically pair a couple, it may still be possible to pair them via swapping assignments. Paired soldiers need not be married to be assigned together; pair assignments are also available for best friends, family/clan members, Nekovalkyrja batch sisters, and for soldiers in a long-term relationship.

Also known as a permissive reassignment, an assignment swap is when two members agree to swap their assignments.

In most cases, the Star Army will, at its discretion, allow two members with the same or very similar rank and occupation, to swap assignments, particularly since this does not cost the Star Army in terms of time and resources. This can be used by members to creatively obtain preferred duty stations and join preferred units.

The amount of time spent at the duty station is referred to as “Time on Station” and requests to change assignments are generally only processed when a soldier has met a minimum time-on-station of 6 Yamataian Calendar months (210 Yamataian calendar days) except in cases of emergency (e.g. hardships).

This page was originally created on 2017/12/02 09:18 by Wes.