Originally posted by thrash:
Note also that a reserve need not be inferior in equipment, though this is often the case as a cost-saving measure. A commander may, for example, constitute a "local reserve" from among his front-line forces and rotate units in and out of reserve to prolong their fighting fitness. A reserve may also consist of the very best fighting elements, if they are few in number, precisely because they can turn the tide of a battle or campaign when committed. This appears to be the role of battlerider-equipped squadrons after the Imperial Navy adopts the operational defense in depth.
This is a key point.
I think you may be confusing "reserve" and "reservist".
To me, "reserve" refers to the forces strategically and tactically held back to allow a commander to react to crises and opportunities.
"Reservists" are forces that are only mobilised in times of war (or for training to prepare them for this situation). That is, they do something else when they are not required. The nature of this "something else" may vary.
I tend to read "Reserve Fleets" as being the administrative centre/wartime command structure for forces in the latter category.
These forces may or may not be the same forces as the colonial (subsector) navies. In this particular situation I think they are, given that a lot of subsectors have continuing low-level military needs like keeping the Vargr away. That is, the forces that from the point of view of the Sector fleet are reservists are routinely engaged in garrison and patrol duties at the subsector level.
The Reserve Fleet headquarters may or may not be the same as the Colonial fleet headquarters. It seems logical enough that they would be - it's in the interest of the Imperium that there is as little as possible administrative disruption involved in mobilising its reservists, and the colonial forces benefit from having Imperial-grade command structures.
In the pre-WWII period, and probably post-War, most European countries had conscript armies. Their "regular" armies consisted of a mix of long-service professionals, and short-service conscripts. These were organised conventionally.
In addition, of course, former conscripts were subject to mobilisation in the event of war. Such forces would (and did) constitute the majority of the army in wartime.
They were often attached to units that maintained a regular cadre, but in any case were often grouped into administrative categories, often with names like "Military Districts" or something of the sort. These "Military Districts" typically had headquarters units, and generally, these units were intended to be able to constitute divisional (or even higher level) cadres in case of mobilisation.
They were, in a sense, "Reserve Divisions".
This is what I think the "Reserve Fleets" are. They are cadres for fleets to be mobilised in the event of conflict.
As it happens, these fleets are mobilised from units present and active at the subsector level, rather than units whose equipment is mothballed, and whose personnel is dispersed amongst the civilian population. Units in the latter category may exist as well, of course, but aren't particularly relevant here.
The subsector governments, in cooperation with the reserve fleet command structure (who are actually in effect part of the "subsector governments"), are responsible for ensuring that adequate reservist forces are available for mobilisation. This includes the acquisition of former regular navy equipment, where appropriate equipment is not otherwise available.
Do you agree that this is a workable enough interpretation of the evidence?
There is an Imperial "Reserve Fleet" structure, that is organised on a subsector level, and whose assets are available to the subsector government when not otherwise required.
Yes, we have moved a little towards liquidating the "subsector" navies into being an aggregation of planetary squadrons - but that's a perfectly reasonable interpretation of what they would actually be. After all, real taxation ability still lies with the individual worlds, and the subsector government's main role is probably one of coordination. Plus, of course, the biggest and richest planetary economies carry almost all of the weight and influence here anyway.
There is still the case of the old Pocket Empires absorbed by the Imperium, but the Imperium notionally breaks these up into planetary units anyway. We can treat this as a special vestigial situation.
To summarise: I think we are close to a mutually acceptable compromise. Do you agree?
