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| - The Marine Aerospace Division is a specialty branch of the Union Marines tasked with any and all flight duties in the Marines' mission profile. Unlike their Naval Aerospace Arm peers, the pilots and crews of MAD have as an explicit goal to get as close to the action as possible — to close with the enemy, or the engagement, whether it be ground, sky, or space — and apply direct fire support. Wherever Marine combat units go, they are able to summon an awaiting MAD unit to provide fire support, observation, bombardment, reinforcement, or extraction.
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| abstract
| - The Marine Aerospace Division is a specialty branch of the Union Marines tasked with any and all flight duties in the Marines' mission profile. Unlike their Naval Aerospace Arm peers, the pilots and crews of MAD have as an explicit goal to get as close to the action as possible — to close with the enemy, or the engagement, whether it be ground, sky, or space — and apply direct fire support. Wherever Marine combat units go, they are able to summon an awaiting MAD unit to provide fire support, observation, bombardment, reinforcement, or extraction. Casually referred to as Madmen (for MAD-men) or Madpills by their comrades-in-arms, the pilots that constitute the Division are among the hardiest in known space. Many of them have backgrounds stemming from other starfighter corps in the Galaxy, or have risen through the ranks of the "groundpounders", pursuing an extended opportunity to take flight training. Nearly every Caspian warship or installation has Madmen attached to it, whether it be as bonafide strike fighter pilots or as operators of lifter craft. Of special note, the CAG of a Flight Group cannot be a MAD officer, since the Marines, in their "mobile" state, are not assigned to a specific ship or larger unit. Instead, they are attached to a unit, and fall under the direction of that unit's commanding officer first and foremost. If they are berthed aboard a carrier, they operate under the disclosure of the Admiral as a "force asset", and not an asset of that exact ship.
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