Marines

In the sense of what they are universally known as, Marines are the toughest of the tough in combat situations. Armed with bleeding-edge technologies, armored with near-impenetrable armor, and trained to adapt to any situation they are a force to be reckoned with by even the best organized of their enemies. Of course, this portayal might be a little bit of a romantacism of what Marines actually are. For the most part, yes, they are equipped with some of the best military technologies available, and trained quite a bit more strictly than any private military. But few, rather than all of them are the elite agents of the UPDF that most people see them as. Only a few units receive the recognition of being true 'marines' by the standards of most colonists. Burn Teams, Special Combat Operatives , and Exosuit Teams are the three most well known of the marine-subclasses, and as such recieve most of the public's attention. Thus, the standards for these programs tend to be quite a bit higher than the standards for simply joining the military.

During times of distress, the UPDF Marines are able to conscript a certain percentage of the population from any and every world in the vicinity of the emergency. These conscripts are paid fairly nominally by the standards of the UPDF, though on some planets the positions of conscriptees are actually fought over as a means to get off a planet.