Chapter

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A chapter is a local subsidiary of an organization.

In The Royal Manticoran Navy: The Official Honor Harrington Fan Association, Inc. (TRMN), all members choose a chapter to join, and are invited to form new chapters. Chapter structure is defined by PD-SC-1003 Chapter and Echelon Policy.

Chapter size requirements

Chapter size "Tiers" are the same throughout all TRMN branches:

Chapter Tier Minimum Member Composition 1st Officer Payscale 2nd Officer Payscale 3rd Officer Payscale
1 2 E-6 to E-10
C-6 to C-10
N/A N/A
2 3
Must include 1 Officer
O-1 to O-6
C-11 to C-16
N/A E-6 to E-10
C-6 to C-10
3 3
Must include 1 Officer
O-3 to O-6
C-13 to C-16
N/A E-7 to E-10
C-7 to C-10
4 6
Must include 2 Officers
O-4 to O-6
C-14 to C-16
O-3 to O-6
C-13 to C-16
E-7 to E-10
C-7 to C-10
5 8
Must include 2 Officers
O-5 to O-6
C-15 to C-16
O-4 to O-6
C-14 to C-16
E-7 to E-10
C-7 to C-10
6 10
Must include 3 Officers
O-6
C-16
O-5 to O-6
C-15 to C-16
E-8 to E-10
C-8 to C-10
7 12
Must include 3 Officers
O-6
C-16
O-5 to O-6
C-15 to C-16
E-8 to E-10
C-8 to C-10
8 14
Must include 4 Officers
O-6
C-16
O-5 to O-6
C-15 to C-16
E-8 to E-10
C-8 to C-10
9 16
Must include 4 Officers
O-6
C-16
O-5 to O-6
C-15 to C-16
E-9 to E-10
C-9 to C-10
10 20
Must include 5 Officers
O-6
C-16
O-5 to O-6
C-15 to C-16
E-9 to E-10
C-9 to C-10

Meeting Chapter

In TRMN parlance, a meeting chapter refers to one which is required to convene a minimum of three times annually.[1] This means that most, if not all, of the chapter members live near enough each other that they can meet in person periodically. However, TRMN has no regulations restricting which chapter any member may join, which means that even meeting chapters may have one or more members who live on the other side of the planet.

City of Charter

City of Charter is a term sometimes used to refer to the city where the founding Commanding Officer lives. This place will be referenced in the Commissioning Certificate for the chapter when it founded and be the "location" of the chapter.

Correspondence Chapter

A correspondence chapter is contrasted to a meeting chapter in that there is no requirement to convene in person, so the members of the chapter typically do not live near each other. This was originally designed for people who live in remote areas with small populations that would not support a meeting chapter.

The term "correspondence chapter" is a carryover from the pre-internet days, when people in such remote areas could join a correspondence chapter of a fan club, receiving newsletters by mail in order to keep up with club events. In the 21st century, social media and video-conferencing allow frequent contact with fellow chapter members living anywhere on Earth.

Ships

The most common framework for a chapter (whether it be meeting or correspondence) is that the members are the crew and other embarked personnel aboard an imaginary military spaceship.

For regional oversight, ships are assigned to a fleet based on their location.

Star Nations

In the early days of TRMN, the club leadership conceived that meeting chapters would be Royal Manticoran Navy ships, while correspondence chapters would be ships of the Grayson Space Navy. In practice, this scheme has not been adhered to, as the nationality of the ship is more commonly based on the role-play interests of the members, so both RMN and GSN ships may exist as either meeting or correspondence chapters. Other nationalities and types have been introduced, so that a ship may be from any of the following Grand Alliance member services:

Chapter nomenclature

The chapter name will be the name of a ship from the Honorverse canon approved by BuShips, such as HMS Invincible.

Prefixes

Hull Numbers

After the name, the ship's Hull Number is appended. This includes a Hull Classification Symbol for the ship type, and then a number identifying that ship within its navy. (example: HMS Invincible SD-455. "SD" for superdreadnought, 455 to signify the 455th superdreadnought of the RMN).

Ship types

The type of ship which a chapter may portray is limited by minimum crew complement requirements. Although the fictional spaceship would have a much larger crew (the largest superdreadnoughts might have crew complements numbering in the thousands),the chapter requirements are:

Tier RMN GSN IAN RHN
1 Pinnace Pinnace Pinnace Pinnace
2
3 Light Assault Craft
(LAC)
Light Assault Craft
(LAC)
Light Assault Craft
(LAC)
Light Assault Craft
(LAC)
4 Destroyer
(DD)
Destroyer
(DD)
Destroyer
(Z)
Destroyer
(DD)
5 Light Cruiser
(CL)
Light Cruiser
(CL)
Light Cruiser
(L)
Light Cruiser
(CL)
6 Heavy Cruiser
(CA)
Heavy Cruiser
(K)
Heavy Cruiser
(CA)
7 Battlecruiser
(BC)
Battlecruiser
(BC)
Battlecruiser
(S)
Battlecruiser
(BC)
8 Dreadnought
(DN)
Dreadnought
(DN)
Dreadnought
(W)
Dreadnought
(DN)
9 LAC Carrier
(CLAC)
LAC Carrier
(CLAC)
LAC Carrier
(T)
LAC Carrier
(CLAC)
10 Superdreadnought
(SD)
Superdreadnought
(SD)
Superdreadnought
(W)
Superdreadnought
(SD)

Marine Detachments

Additionally, members who portray the Royal Manticoran Marine Corps may form Marine Detachments (MarDets) as part of an existing ship chapter. The MarDet members portray the marine complement stationed on the ship and have their own structure, organization, chain of command, and reporting requirements, forming a "chapter within a chapter."

Leadership

Chapters are required to have a "command triad" consisting of the following:[2]

  • Commanding Officer (CO): Analogous to the chapter president. Sometimes called the "skipper" in club jargon.
  • Executive Officer (XO): The chapter's second-in command.
  • Bosun: The senior enlisted member of the chapter, who must have a minimum grade of E-7 (called the "gunny" for MarDets or "NCOIC" for Army chapters).

The "triad" structure is also used for leadership of larger echelons formed of multiple ships as well as the bureaus and service branches which makeup the organization.

Army Chapters

Unlike the Navy and Marines, whose chapters are ship-based, Royal Manticoran Army chapters are ground and atmospheric units, with composition requirements delineated in Adjutant General Order 2412-01:

TIER GROUND
UNIT TYPE
AEROSPACE
UNIT TYPE
Minimum
members
Minimum
CO rank
Minimum
XO Rank
Minimum
NCOIC Grade
T1 Squad Section 2 - - E-6
T2 Platoon Flight 3 O-1 - E-6
T3 Company Squadron 3 O-3 - E-7
T4 Strike Company Strike Squadron 6 O-4 O-3 E-7
T5 Battalion Group 8 O-5 O-4 E-7
T9 Regiment Wing 16* O-6 O-5 E-9

NOTES: Tier refers to the Chapter Tiers delineated in PD-SC-1003 Table 1.
RMA does not use Tiers 6, 7, 8, or 10
*Regiment (Tier 9) chapters require 4 commissioned officers (i.e. CO, XO, plus two additional officers)

Army chapter nomenclature

In TRMN, an army chapter is a regiment, or portrays part of a notional regiment if the chapter is less than regimental strength. For example a Tier 3 sized chapter takes its name from a regiment, but portrays a company within that regiment. The regiment name stays the same as the chapter grows to portray larger echelons within the regiment, up to the entire regiment (if it is a Tier 9 chapter).[3]

Civilian Chapters

Members who portray non-uniformed civilians serving in the Diplomatic Corps or the Special Intelligence Service may be members of RMN ship chapters, but also may form chapters that portray diplomatic missions or intelligence stations.[4] These can be part of ship chapters, in the same manner as Marine Detachments.

Holding Chapters

A holding chapter is the term for a general organization-wide chapter for members who have not joined meeting or correspondence chapter.[5] These are commonly fictional space stations.

  • HMSS Greenwich (HMSS= Her Majesty's Space Station) was the original holding chapter for all Manticoran members.

In 2021, separate Holding Chapters were introduced for each regional fleet, with Greenwich retained for First Fleet:[6]

  • HMSS Hephaestus was designated as the initial waystation for all incoming RMN branch personnel pending further assignment.

Flagship

When Commanding Officers of Fleets, as well as other flag officers select a ship to be their chapter, that ship is known as their flagship.

External Links

Worldwide TRMN chapter location map

References

  1. TRMN Membership Handbook, page 23
  2. A pinnace needs only a CO, and a LAC needs only a CO and a Bosun
  3. Adjutant General Order 2407-01
  4. Home Office Directive 007-20
  5. Admiralty Order 2307-04 designates branch heads as the authority for appointing holding chapter COs.
  6. Naval Directive 21JA-03