United Nations Exploratory Force

:This article is about the fictional military organization. For other uses of "UNEF", see UNEF

The United Nations Exploratory Force is the fictional world-wide military of Earth and her colonies in the science fiction novel The Forever War.

History
In the mid-1980's, humanity discovers collapsar jumps - a means of propelling spacecraft to a random point in the galaxy through a collapsar, serving as an efficient method of interstellar travel. This discovery also represented an economical advantage, as space ships no longer required a large amount of resources to perform a jump from one point of the galaxy to another.

During one of the expeditions, a colony ship was pursued and destroyed by a Tauran vessel near Aldebaran in the Taurus constellation. Colonization vessels thereafter were escorted by an armed warship in order to repel or avoid further attacks. As the routine progressed, the escorting warships began traveling independently. This ultimately led to the creation of the United Nations Exploratory Force to replace the original "Colonization Group".

The Elite Conscription Act of 1996 allowed the UNEF to assemble a company-sized force of infantry soldiers to guard the portal planets situated close to the nearer collapsars. The unit was made up entirely out of fifty men and fifty women, all of them having IQs over 150 and unusually healthy physical conditions and strength.

Throughout its existence, the UNEF has also experienced rebellions and guerrilla wars in the face of its former veterans. One such example is the Pacifist movement which took place some time between 2458 and 3143 on Earth. The movement gained considerable popular support, and was led by survivors of the Yod-38 and Aleph-40 campaigns.

However, the Pacifist movement was not the only rebellious uprising to affect Earth and the UNEF. In 2007 - following a series of natural disasters in North America, South America and the southern Asia - an unprecedented food crisis had arisen which determined the UN to ration food distribution. The crisis led to an increase of violence sparked by a group of extremists in Ecuador named the "Imparciales". The group began assassinating people who appeared to be well-fed, and the violence spread all around Earth, culminating into a world-wide armed conflict known as the "Ration War". By the time the UN military put an end to the conflict, had come down to 4,000,000,000. It also appears that the year 1987 was marked by an armed conflict of either regional or world-wide scale.

Administration
Although the administration of the United Nations Exploratory Force remains partially unknown throughout the novel, a number of facts can be extracted. The UNEF is run by the United Nations and the General Assembly, the latter having executive power over the military. Its specific political relations with the UN and other military organizations hosted by the UN (such as the United Nations International Guard) are largely unclear.

Military
The military of the UNEF appears to be divided into two separate branches of service; the Navy and the Army. By 2458 (Earth time), sixty thousand active infantry soldiers served in the Army, while the particularities of the Navy are not made entirely clear. Another known fact is that a number of commanding officers in the UNEF have served in the Vietnam War with the U.S. Army. The UNEF also consists of scientific and command sub-branches. A few of them would be:

* The "Strike Force Command" is a part of the Army which organizes and deploys special Strike Teams into combat zones. Known strike forces are Strike Force Alpha and Strike Force Gamma (which participated in the Sade-138 Campaign). The Strike Force Command Small Unit Leader's Handbook is issued to commanding officers of platoon-sized strike forces.
* The "Eugenics Council" is a non-military authority which only operates on Earth. It is responsible for genetic research and manipulation.

It should also be noted that in 2106, the Lazlo Emergency Commission Reports were issued. The reports involved a generation of genetically enhanced, partially mind-controlled soldiers trained to become more efficient than the old SS and Green Berets combined. It was later proven that, although this special force of soldiers was extremely effective in combat and acted beyond personal interest, they did not survive in the face of the numerically superior Tauran military.
Training
Soldiers are drafted in the UNEF at the age of twenty and follow a diverse training regime. Basic training for regular soldiers is conducted on Earth and Luna. However, the task force assembled to defend portal planets was also required to learn how to survive harsh conditions in cold environments before advancing to the construction of military bases on other planets such as Charon, as well as handling highly effective explosive devices. Once the task force was acquainted with construction techniques, their military base's defensive measures were tested in a simulated attack by guided drones.

Service
The UNEF subjects soldiers to ten years of obligatory service. However, since the UN and national governments had taken measures to transform the human population into homosexuals, soldiers who do not participate in combat are usually discharged in five years. This was not a standing rule for the task force drafted through the Elite Conscription Act, as those soldiers were subject to two years of mandatory service at the time they were conscripted, and five years after 2007. Furthermore, the opportunity of becoming a Lieutenant was given to anyone who signed up for a training position.

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