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Depends on the regiment, really. An agri-world likely does not have the same class-distinctions that a Hive World does. However, the bulk of IG fiction bases the operation and culture of the IG on that of the British Army, circa 1941M20.

However...

An NCO (non-commissioned officer) is probably not going to be Schola Progenium material. An NCO is a Corporal or a Sergeant, or some variation of these ranks, depending on the specific military rank-structure. These are going to be people who have come up through the ranks, either through their own merits or because they're the most-veteran of the survivors of the companies' most recent combat action.

Regardless of how he got to Sergeant, or his time in the rank of Sergeant, he's still out-ranked by a Lieutenant or higher rank, regardless of how long that Lieutenant has been in the IG. Of course, wise officers know to pay attention to the information their NCOs provide them... but the military is full of fools. It is these Lieutenants and higher-ranking officers who are going to be Schola products. More than likely, they will be the good sorts of officer, rather than some noble-blooded upstart who bought his commission, because they've been trained to be good at what they do.

Psienesis wrote:Depends on the regiment, really.

Yeah, true. That said, agri-worlds could also easily be feudal societies suffering under the scourge of their local lords. I'd say a PDF regiment from there will have nobles for officers and commoners as soldiers, and nothing in-between. If this regiment gets to join the IG, they're going to keep that.

Psienesis wrote:An NCO (non-commissioned officer) is probably not going to be Schola Progenium material.

Mmhm. I was about to cite the SoB Codex, but it actually talks of progena becoming Navy NCOs. Of course it could be that this does not carry over to progena sent to the IG. iirc, the Guard codices also go a bit into detail and mention that progena can become transregional staff officers - which makes sense, considering that sector and subsector commands stand outside of the "traditional" Munitorum recruitment practices...

I suppose it could be that the only way a progena finds his way into an IG regiment is as a replacement in cases where weakened regiments get merged and they need more command personnel? If the Munitorum just snatches a PDF formation from some planet to turn it into Guard, its entire hierarchy will already be established, and it won't have any room for Schola boys.

Lynata wrote: I don't buy it. A Commissar

Isn't an officer.

They are outside of the command hierarchy.

Melissia wrote:

Lynata wrote: I don't buy it. A Commissar

Isn't an officer.
They are outside of the command hierarchy.

That's besides the point I was trying to make. If both were progena at the Schola they went through the same kind of indoctrination, so they'd treat the troops in a strictly professional manner as befitting service to the Emperor (meaning "death before dishonor"-style) - not in a "buddy" kind of way like it's fairly common in modern day western world armies. Though both are probably still more benevolent towards the common soldier than the majority of officers recruited from the nobility, as unlike the former, the latter would likely hope for a bit of personal gain (glory, fame, reputation for their House etc) and use their troops to that end, however subconsciously it may happen.

It may also be (and probably is) that the GW people simply don't know the difference between an "officer", a "field-grade officer", a "company-grade officer" and a "non-commissioned officer"... or the IN simply uses some strange definition of the terms, at least to my understanding. I was an infantryman, not a boat-rider.