Riots, Terrorists, and Uprisings

[MEP]

The large scale presence of mercs probably means that the local government doesn't have a scrap of legitimacy left to stand on.

It's not as though that's never happened in the Battletech universe.

[Mohammed As`Zaman Bey]

Wait.  How many modern day countries/cities/muncipalities/villages do you know where hiring mercs to control your populace would be considered a GOOD thing?  Anything mercs do WILL be blamed on the hiring government.  You know what hurts police/local military morale?  Bringing in a bunch of cowboys above your paygrade to apply lethal force against fellow countrymen.

Hiring mercs means the local government is hitting the panic button, having exhausted all available avenues, including local military and (in CBT's case) realm military assets. 

The large scale presence of mercs probably means that the local government doesn't have a scrap of legitimacy left to stand on.

  In the BT universe hiring mercenaries doesn't have the stigma as it has in the real world today. Corporations, municipalities, and individuals can hire mercenaries in the BT universe and not only is it considered normal, there are agencies that enable, regulate and fully legitimize the practice.

  While there may be some negative press over a government that sends professional forces (and face it, all professional soldiers today are really mercenaries) to solve its stability problems there are no argument that can stand against results.

  A local militia or security force may gripe about mercenaries doing their job but they will also be relieved that it isn't their necks on the line -Weekend warriors and mall cops might be good for annual parades and intimidating children but when people are ready to gun them down most militias prefer to cower behind the real soldiers and take the credit after they leave.

  Hiring mercenaries in the BT universe is as normal as going to a restaurant instead of fixing a meal at home -It may cost more but the quality is usually better without making a larger investment in staff and equipment.

[vergaul]

I'm not really sure what you mean by "all professional soldiers" are mercenaries.

One of the tropes of Mercs in CBT is that the majority of them survive two years before folding up and most of them get by with spit and a ball of twine.  Note exactly a guarantee of professionalism.   

Also, local security forces do not constitue "weekend warriors" and "mall cops".  It depends on the planet.  I doubt anyone would consider SWAT teams or the FBI a bunch of scrubs.  In an event of a riot, they law enforcement will certainly have the edge over the local populace.

[Mohammed As`Zaman Bey]

I'm not really sure what you mean by "all professional soldiers" are mercenaries.

It means exactly that -You either have conscripts, which are slave soldiers, or a paid, volunteer force of mercenary soldiers:

    General William Westmoreland, the U.S. Commander in Vietnam, strongly supported involuntary conscription, and told the [Gates] commission that he didn’t want to command an army of mercenaries.  “General,” [Milton] Friedman interrupted, “would you rather command an army of slaves?”

    Replied Westmoreland indignantly, “I don’t like to hear our patriotic draftees referred to as slaves.”  Friedman shot back: “I don’t like to hear our patriotic volunteers referred to as mercenaries.”  Friedman moved in for the kill.  “If they are mercenaries,” he told Westmoreland, “then I, sir, am a mercenary professor, and you, sir, are a mercenary general; and we are served by mercenary physicians, we use a mercenary lawyer, and we get our meat from a mercenary butcher.”

  It was the Gates Commission that debated the need for the US military draft system and it was economist Milton Friedman who eventually convinced all of its members to end involuntary conscription.
Ref: http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG265/images/webS0243.pdf

One of the tropes of Mercs in CBT is that the majority of them survive two years before folding up and most of them get by with spit and a ball of twine.  Note exactly a guarantee of professionalism. 

  Yes, mercenary units run the gamut of units vastly superior to House armies and down to crappy mall cops. You get what you pay for. Most businesses struggle for their first year of existence and since mercenary units are composed of one or more volunteers, you'll see as many units as rock bands forming, breaking up, and reforming as normal practice. House units are just as variable but don't just fold when they are strapped for cash and supplies and they still get paid even when sitting around doing nothing, which makes a temporary, trained force of mercenaries very attractive.

Also, local security forces do not constitue "weekend warriors" and "mall cops".  It depends on the planet.  I doubt anyone would consider SWAT teams or the FBI a bunch of scrubs.  In an event of a riot, they law enforcement will certainly have the edge over the local populace.

  Don't confuse the BT universe with cutting edge United States level technology and training -Even the vaunted Clans are laughably incompetent when it comes to intelligence gathering and law enforcement.
  Perhaps you aren't old enough to remember the Los Angeles riots where police just stood by and allowed looters and rioters to do what they wanted because local law enforcement and militia were overwhelmed and satisfied to protect the richer neighborhoods.
  You could even use the example of post Hurricane Katrina where local law enforcement actually participated in looting and theft.

  The average planetary government isn't 21st Earth, New Avalon or Strana Mechty. Try somewhere between France and Somalia in local law enforcement and militias.

[Bad_Syntax]

Reduce populations by 99.9%, otherwise the population is so freaking large, it takes every army in the inner sphere combined to garrison it.

Dropping those populations means you can take modern percentages of military (.5% for US) as a good guide.

Lets say a planet with 3B people, that is 3M when reduced 99.9%.  .5% is 15,000.  That is about 20 infantry regiments for a country like the US, though Israel with its 24% military is like 970 regiments at that ratio!

The city of Dallas is 1.9M people, and 3121 cops.  Basically 4 regiments of police officers, and with 20% civilians fit for service, up to  about 500 regiments of militia, for just 1.9M folk.

If even 1% of the people are disgruntled enough to riot, they outnumber cops.  If 2% or more are, they significantly outnumber the cops.  If 2% of those fit for service decide to take arms and fight, that is 10 regiments of green infantry armed with bolt action rifles, and perhaps inferno grenades (molotav cocktails).

If you stick with the printed populations, your talking tens or hundreds of thousands of regiments, even if you say only 1 in 10 soldiers is a "fighter", and the rest are support.