In message <ce7in1+1son_at_...> "Mark Galeotti" writes:
>Just popping in to make one comment
>
>> So far we've been working on the basis that he's not present. The
>> problem with him being there is that he outranks Jorkandros so
>> would have been in charge.
>
>I hope this makes our lives easier, not harder, but remember that
>the LE does not have a formal, ranked chain of command. This is not
>a modern army in which a general automatically outranks a
>colonel.Instead, the ranking officer is whoever the higher powers
>say it is. The Lunar military has a plethora of senior officers,
>often with very different formal titles based on their home
>cultures, so there is nothing a priori to say that Tatius -- who
>admittedly is no doubt of higher social standing and political
>clout -- needs to be in charge. Jorkandros was designated to lead
>the army and the operation, and that's that... until politics mean
>that he is replaced. (In other words, it is possible for Tatius to
>be present before he is in command, and all these ieas about
>political machinations around the Bat could indeed reflect his
>efforts to discredit J and be appointed i/c).
That's the model I've been working to. However Tatius is so senior
to Jorkandros from the point of view of social standing and political
clout (he replaces Fazzur not Jorkandros when he's appointed) that
he would be in defacto command even if Jorkandros was still formally
in charge.
--
Donald Oddy
http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/