Ranger Recruiting (What, do they have an office in the mall?)

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Ok, when introduced in the original B5 series, the Rangers were a small, elite group of people who seemed to operate mostly on their own or in small groups. While a Mimbari creation, B5 era Rangers contained humans, most notably Marcus (Cole?). These Mimbari and humans stuck to the traditional use of the term 'ranger' in scifi, being individualistic, inteligent, fierce in combat, blah blah blah. The humans involved in the Rangers came across as men and women who were adventurers, nomads and individuals on the fringe of human society (no negative conotation meant). Hence, one can understand how they would end up joining up.

However, where do they draw their numbers now? With the advent of the Interstelar Alliance, the job of the Rangers has taken a far more official status. They are now the law enforcement/military arm of the ISA. With that responsiblity, their numbers would have to swell substantially to fill the need. This fact is alluded to in the comment that 'the only ship available' is the Liandra(or however you spell the bloody thing). Obviously they're trying to get people out on the job as quickly as possibly.

Also, would the human response be substantial? In the Legend or the Rangers, the commander speaks of wanting to join up, etc, 'ever since he heard' about the rangers and the alliance. If he was from Earth, wouldn't that make it all of what, three or four years?

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[**DONOTDELETE**]

Also, what about lingering animosity on the human side regarding the Earth-Mimbari war? If my timeline is correct, it's only been around 18-20 years since the war. This may not effect the average Ranger hopeful, but the idea that they were joining a Mimbari organization? May not go over well with the parents, friends and neighbors.....

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[**DONOTDELETE**]

No, it might not go down well.

But it is no longer a fully Minbari organisation, with members from all species and worlds being accepted. Rangers are no longer controlled by the Grey Council, but by the Interstellar Alliance.

Their training takes place on Minbar, but starting from 2263, the ISA headquarters are also located on Minbar. Seems that Minbar is, no matter if they want it or not, becoming quite a diverse place. That would decrease the resentment for joining what might seem a "Minbari organisation".

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"We are the universe, trying to figure itself out.
Unfortunately we as software lack any coherent documentation."
-- Delenn

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I should have been clearer, when saying 'mimbari organization' I was refering to the way many (if not most) Earthbound humans would see it.

And to highlight and possibly broaden my comment on the timeframe, is the Ranger Corp's training on the slide, be it ever-so-slow? They need bodies to walk the beat, even if that beat happens to be galactic trade lanes and they are walking them in combat star ships.... Seems like the perceived explosion in size is going to have to result in the cutting of corners somewhere along the line.

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[Quagmire]

They have more support, resources, and responsibilities than when we first see the Rangers. You may be able to have a few people in a sector and get the needed intelligence but having some sort of military presence requires many more people. I would also think that winning the shadow war would be good for p.r. There is a certain appeal to being a member of such a storied organization.

Don't take this the wrong way but it's Mi-n-bari.

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"Crying isn't gonna get your dog back. Unless your tears smell like dog food. So you can sit here eating can after can of dog food until your tears smell like dog food or you can go out there and find your dog."-Homer in The Canine Mutiny

 

[hell2555]

po-ta-to

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We live for the one, we die for the one. and... I am the one.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Hahah, no biggie, I need to use the spellchecker on my OWN name from time to time.

See, the victory in the Shadow war would be decent PR OFF-planet. Of course, off planet humans were already the type I outlined before as signing up. For Earth-bound humans, remember the response of the one Mars resistance fighter to the Shadow war? It was just something vaguely out there on the fringe, not really something they needed to worry about. Heck, they knew next to nothing about it, and frankly didn't seem to care.
I expect the reaction to some reports of fighting way off among the aliens would mostly be shunted off to Section B of the papers.

[This message has been edited by SnaitN (edited January 20, 2002).]

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

But in any instance, I'm hoping that public perception of human Rangers' jobs and their reasons for joining will be touched upon if(please, I hope that's 'when')it goes to series. I think it's an important idea to address for characterization.

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[GKarsEye]

Ok everyone, pay attention:

David Martel did not say he wanted to join the Rangers since he was a little child. He said that he wanted to be a part of something that worked for the greater good and involved fellowhship and tradition. This was inspired by studying history and culture, ie knights of the Round Table. When he found out about the Rangers, he figured that they were doing what he was looking for.

I have seen people complain about this "mistake," when it is not a mistake at all. They are just not paying attention to the dialogue.

Perhaps this point should be put in the FAQ, because I foresee a lot of people asking about this.


Now, about the Rangers "recruitment."
After Clark was deposed, the truth about the Shadow War and the Earth Civil War would start to come out. All those who struggled against Clark's regime would come out of the woodwork. A think a good analogy is Stalin: during his reign, many did believe in him, or at least said they did. He was as repressive as Clark, and people mistook that for order and security. Now, Stalin is considered a black mark on the history of Russia, and rightly so. The same thing would happen with Clark.

With the facts of the Shadow War coming out and Earth joining the Interstellar Alliance, the Rangers would become common knowledge. They would quickly earn a good reputation amongst humans, since many of the Rangers in the Shadow War were indeed humans. This would lead to lots of humans signing up to become Rangers.

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"You do not make history. You can only hope to survive it."

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Sinclair started recruiting Humans into the Rangers back in 2259. Among other things he made a point of personally interviewing every Human who visited Minbar. Many of his recruits were indeed from the colony worlds, presumably those who were not in the direct line of the Minbari advance, and therefore were in hardly any danger at all during the E-M war.

Remember, even on their way to Earth the Minbari largely by-passed civilian colonies, limiting themselves to military targets. So the war would have had little effect on big swaths of the civilian population. And if the government didn't announce their belief that the Minbari intended to wipe out all the colonies after they took Earth out - which they likely didn't for fear of panic - nobody would know how much danger they were in. Certainly not after the Minbari were "defeated" at The Line and "surrendered." (Which, don't forget, is what most people believe happened.)

Therefore, despite the usual idiots and Clarke's propaganda (and the hostility within the military), there was probably less "anti-alien" and "anti-Minbari" feeling among Humans in general than it sometimes appears. It didn't take the Allies long to kiss and make up with the Germans and the Japanese, after all, once they were safely beaten.

So a certain amount of Human tourism was happening on Minbar. Many of the recruits, in turn, recruited their friends (and relatives

) while off on missions. The warrior caste still looked down its nose on the Rangers, and recruiting was also relatively slow among the workers and religious. The existing cadre of Anla'shok were mostly old. It wasn't long before Humans began to predominate.

During the Shadow War, a lot more Humans joined the Rangers, as those on distant colonies or doing business on alien worlds were caught up in the fighting. People in the Sol system (under Clarke's news black-out) might not have known what was happening, but colonists outside the system would have had access to alien travelers and news sources.

The next big boost for the Rangers would have come from the Earth Civil War. A number of ships, with crews numbering in the hundreds or thousands, came over to Sheridan's side. Many crewman on ships that stayed loyal to Clarke, or were neutral, would have liked to have joined Sheridan. I'm willing to bet a lot of these folks weren't comfortable staying in EarthForce after the war, and the Rangers would make a natural home for them. (I'm sure that Sheridan also recruited aggressively among them, since he would need experienced soldiers, pilots and weapons experts for his new paramilitary force.)

So by the time of Rangers someone like David (from "lots of places") could have been hearing about the Rangers for about six years, since his late (and impressionable) teens. And lots of other Humans had probably joined in the interim. (Which is probably where the Valen came from.

)

Random thought:

Did anyone else love Dulann smacking the wall to get the holographic control to work, after telling David that this is not the way to fix something?

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I thought that was quite clear, and I haven't actually seen anyone (at least posting here) make the mistake of thinking he said 'since he was a kid' or something like that.
The Stalin analogy, while making sense ons some levels, is shakey on others. As for being a 'black mark', several studies have been made where Stalin is still seen as being a great leader of the people.
As for the PR benifits of human involvement in the Shadow war, I agree, it WOULD be a boost for recruiting. I also think that quarter of a million odd casualties in the Earth-Minbari war and the leeriness that could produced from that would have an effect as well.

Heheheh, DAMN YOU!!! Damn you people posting while I'm trying to type!!!

Very good points made in that last post, the level of recruitment from the colonies is where I've always imagined most of the Ranger involvement.

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[This message has been edited by SnaitN (edited January 21, 2002).]

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

As for the smacking of the holo system, I laughed my ass off. I think that's one of the reasons I like that character so much, he comes off as a very 'human' Minbari. I still think the crack he makes about Minbari finishing wars was terrific.

As for recruiting in LotR timeframe(for the ISA), what changes do you think have been made? Although the name of this thread is obviously a joke, WOULD there be an office-type setup? Obviously there are a ton of slots to fill........ and what about training? How would the shift to such a large scale be handled? Would there be a slide in skills/abilities?

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