Bereitschaftbataillone (Radictistan)
The Bereitschaftbataillone (literally “Readiness Battalions”) are rapid reaction units of the Royal Security Police. They are organized and equipped as motorized infantry units and are responsible for responding to major outbreaks of public disorder. In wartime, the Bereitschaftbataillone form Police Motorized Brigades which are attached to Royal Radictistan Army units for territorial defense. Forty-two battalions are active as of 2022.
Missions
The Bereitschaftbataillone are the primary RSP units tasked with responding to serious outbreaks of civil disorder such as riots, mass shootings, and mutinies. During periods of heightened alert the battalions are deployed to augment the security of sensitive government installations.
Because of their high organic firepower, the Bereitschaftbataillone are the primary units assigned to presence patrols within blustats, the largely ungovernable slum areas found outside most major cities. The battalions’ focus on emergency response means that they frequently run exercises alongside the Light Armor Battalions which have a similar role.
Detachments of Bereitschaftbataillone are sometimes utilized as a cordon force during operations of the Special Action Group and other forced-entry units. The battalions have seen extensive action against the ongoing Communist insurgency in Norcustsur where dozens of personnel have been killed including thirteen while protecting polling cites and candidates during the 2014 Assembly election.
Organization
The Bereitschaftbataillone are organized among military lines into companies and platoons and garrisoned in barracks, often located near strategically sensitive locations. One major distinction between the Bereitschaftbataillone and other RSP units is the level of organic logistical support the former possess, allowing them to deploy long distances from their home garrison without relying on other units for support. By 2014, thirty-six battalions were in service, one for each of the Royal Security Police’s thirty-six Regions. In August 2015 the Royal Security Police announced that it would raise an additional six battalions for service in Norcustsur. The expansion was completed in the summer of 2017. All battalions fall under the Patrol Service of the Royal Security Police.
Each Bereitschaftbataillon is organized as follows:
- Headquarters and Staff Company
- Battalion Headquarters
- Signals Platoon
- Service Platoon
- Medical Platoon
- Transport Platoon
- Sniper Platoon
- Four Rifle Companies in infantry mobility vehicles, each with
- Support Company
A Rifle Platoon comprised three Rifle Squads. A Rifle Squad is comprised of eight personnel, one of whom drives the assigned Dingo 2 IMV. The squad is subdivided into equally sized fireteams, each equipped with three Steyr AUG A2 rifles and one FN Minimi light machine gun. The Platoon Headquarters comprises the Platoon Leader, Assistant Platoon Leader, Medic, and two Signalers, for a total of 29 personnel within the platoon.
In popular culture
In the television series Schumacher, the character Karl Schumacher was company commander in a Bereitschaftbataillon before being wounded during the 2014 Norcustsur elections and reassigned to a rural post in Eastval.