Unit Detail:
Corvian 2nd Marine Combat Team

High tide, low tide, bring 'em on.

Current Command Staff

Combat History

Corvia's 2^nd Marine Combat Team is an elite, highly versatile force that, since its inception, has richly earned the nickname "the Rough Riders" in some of the hardest fighting in the galaxy. The Federation's premier rapid response unit, this MCT currently consists of three marine landing brigades (Armistead's Brigade, Rally's Brigade, the Bonecrusher Brigade), a naval marine support squadron, and an air group. The Rough Riders are a battle hardened combined arms force consisting of ground, aerospace, and logistics forces capable of projecting offensive combat power without need of further supply for two months.

The 2^nd first saw action at the Siege of Hera with the Corvian Expeditionary Force. After the 1^st MCT broke and ran, the Rough Riders had to hold the planethead by themselves, which they did, despite being greatly outnumbered. Despite constant aerial and artillery bombardment and ground attacks, the MCT stubbornly held on station until relieved by the First and Second Corps.

Among the Rough Riders' myriad other stories of their legendary toughness, daring, and initiative, one of the most notable recently happened following the Allies' disastrous attempted attack on New Luzon. After the 2^nd completed their landing on the planet, the main body of the assault force fled after the Terran battleship TMS Essex appeared and promptly destroyed several orbiting Allied naval escort ships. Stranded and without external support, General Shaka broke up the MCT into battalion- and regimental-sized units and they melted into the jungle to conduct a vicious guerilla campaign against the Terrans. They held out for half a year until extraction, inflicting staggering casualties on the blue suits and tying up two corps in the process.
 

Notable Members

General of the Army Lori Armistead

Although the ace mobile armor pilot of the Akashan War of Independence, and a founding member of the Shadow Knights, it was as the Commander of the 2^nd MCT that Lori Armistead earned her third star and cemented herself as a legend in her own time. Between the Akashan and Corvian Wars of Independence, Armistead kept in contact with her old friend and CO, Robert Gould Shaw, and watched with interest as the latter created the Marine Corps of the Republic.

After the 22^nd Airborne Division was broken up to support the new 141^st and 198^th Airborne Divisions shortly before the Federation entered the First War of Unification, Armistead was appointed the new CO of the Rough Riders. As such, she masterminded their triumph on the Black Rock. However, it was after this that the general truly made her mark with the 2^nd.

When the Alliance shifted back to the offensive after the Siege of Hera, Armistead commanded the MCT during the Cimbar Campaign, culminating at the Five Forks. Fighting six major engagements in 72 hours, she personally led the 2^nd in the savage struggle, where they blunted the enemy advances, and successfully counterattacked, restoring the line and inflicting heavy casualties on the Federals, although also suffering heavily themselves. For this service, the general was offered a second Order of the Golden Lion, which she refused, stating, "The Rough Riders had the hard part," and instead, the MCT was awarded the first and only Presidential Illustrious Unit Citation.