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I think it’s important to separate intelligence and education, you can have one without the other. An uneducated recruit from Baal say could easily turn out to be very intelligent and thrive in a specialised role for example.

I imagine each chapter has its trials, many of which will have problem solving and mental adaptability built into them to find troops with the kind of intelligence the chapter wants.

Some chapters, like the space sharks wouldn’t be trying to find the guys who have the tact and diplomatic traits that say the ultramarines would be looking for. So their trials would be different.

If you look at modern special forces selection they are designed to test you physically and mentally and find those people with the mental skills and resilience you need. All the soldiers in the SAS for example undergo extensive medical or engineering training and selection weeds out those who don’t have the intelligence to operate they way they do. But it is nothing to do with education, just innate intelligence.

This boils down to definitions of intelligence. And that’s a boring chat really. But regardless it’s clear what ever form selection tests take, the test fir marines rigorously select those with the best suited traits to be a marine. Including intelligence. They not might sit a written paper, although I like the thought of it and can imagine ultramarine aspirants having to present essays on politics etc, but will be tested and selected on intelligence to some extent. Be it more problem solving and reasoning maybe more than emotional intelligence, as that is removed from them to an extent in the fluff, but if you read the Hersey books they are a right bunch of emos.

Any soldier that has to operate independently for long periods of time like the space marines may have to has to have a degree of intelligence, but it will very specific types of intelligence. I have worked with and trained special forces types in hospitals and they are very intelligent, they have to be. Marines would be the same.

As for the whole being too intelligent will mean you will question orders etc, I am not sure that’s true, but even if it were the whole psycho indoctrination thing would take care of that.

So like I said earlier, having skills like lateral thinking and problem solving would be vital to a space marine recruit, I am not saying they are all rocket scientists, but all the chapters would have a desired level of intelligence and a desired set of mental capabilities and characteristics they would be after.

Jerram wrote:
When I read description of Space marine combat the first thing that comes to mind isn't so much special forces as it is Marine Corps. And as much as I love my brothers in arms on average they aren't known for being the brightest tools in the shed even if they're damn good at their job.

I am not saying that marines will be great thinkers or problem solvers. I think there will be a range, at one and the types who get promoted and become captains or tech marines, veterans, etc and then the types who will try to fix every problem with brute force and violence. And then everything in between. And then variety between chapters as well. The space sharks will want/need less thinkers than the ultramarines for example. That’s the beauty of marines, they are so buildable fluff wise as your dudes, you can have a chapter full of idiots who just punch everything or one full of philosophers and artists.