Games Workshop - Warhammer 40,000 - Astra Militarum: Commissar

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Commissars are also in charge of supervising the raising of new regiments, sometimes from primitive worlds whose inhabitants are savage and do not adapt well to Imperial discipline. [1a] These children are known as the Progena, and most of them will end up serving the Ministorum or in other branches of the Adeptus Terra. Others will go on to become military leaders and special forces troops within the Imperial Guard or Imperial Navy such as elite Tempestus Scions or iron-willed Imperial commissars. A commissar was a type of political officer of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union utilised primarily by the armed forces of the former Soviet Union and the present-day People's Republic of China, responsible for political education, control and organisation of the population and military. Over the last 10,000 Terran years, the Commissariat has remained an important facet of the Imperial Guard's command structure, and it is rare not to see at least one commissar attached to the command staff of a Regimental Officer or Lord Commander's staff. The Schola Progenium takes a constant influx of war orphans from the embattled worlds of the Imperium of Man. These young individuals are officially known as Progena Novum. Mindscaped, schooled and trained to an almost inhuman degree, those who pass their Trials of Compliance and make it past Selection Day are then split off to serve in the different organs of the Imperial hierarchy.

Codex: Astra Militarum (6th Edition), pp. 15-16, 21, 28, 31, 53, 57-58, 71, 80-82, 91, 109, 151-153, 184, 200, 307-308 Commissar-Captain - Commissar-Captain is a rarely-seen rank that is an intermediary position between a full commissar and a commissar-general. Though the particular role of a commissar-captain is not easily defined, it has been observed that commissars who maintain this rank have been seen supervising at a regimental level. Commissar Pius Kowle - Pius Kowle was an effective and ruthless commissar beyond reproach, but his actions were not tempered with humility or concern for the troops under his charge. After having a Guardsman flogged to death for wearing the wrong badge on his cap, Commissar Gaunt reported Kowle's heinous actions to Warmaster Slaydo, shortly before the climactic battle on Balhaut during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Kowle felt cheated and robbed of glory and never forgave Gaunt for this personal slight to his honour. Commissar Kowle was reassigned to the world of Verghast to the Vervun Primary Imperial Guard regiments, and took charge as the senior commander of the Vervun Primary Commissariat. This local Commissariat was theoretically subordinate to their parent organisation, the Imperial Commissariat, and possessed fewer powers over regular Imperial Guardsmen, but jurisdiction concerns arose during the Defence of Vervunhive during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Gaunt later placed Kowle under arrest, relieving the commissar of his weapon and his rank pins for various actions he had committed. Kowle then accompanied the small party that Gaunt led to confront Salvador Sondar and reactivate Vervunhive's defence shield. In a fight with a Chaos-corrupted servitor-beast in Sondar's chambers, Kowle killed it by thrusting a cluster of grenades down its jaws, losing both his arms. As he bled to death, he sneered that he had proven his point: that Gaunt was a weakling who didn't have the resolve needed to win. He cursed Gaunt for ruining his career and "robbing" the Crusade of a great leader. As a valediction, Gaunt returned Kowle's rank pins to him in the final moments of his life, and saluted him for "giving his best." Their fanatical dedication to the service of the Emperor overrode any feelings of compassion, mercy or Humanity when carrying out the summary executions of those found wanting, for which they employed a ceremonial Electro-scythe.

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Also, a ruthless individual named Lady Commissar-General Viktoria Balshin was charged with purging the perceived taint of Chaos from the Second Front of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Under her command, the company then carried out their assigned mission to storm the Chaos-held fortress of Mone. Despite the expected heavy casualties against the potent Chaos defences, her troops succeeded in penetrating the fortress and planting explosives that when triggered destroyed the citadel after their escape. The Imperial offensive could continue. Inquisitor • Commissar • Priest • Tech-Priest • Enginseer • Sanctioned Psyker • Primaris Psyker • Wyrdvane Psyker

Personnel selected to become cadet Commissars are drawn from the Schola Progenium - Ecclesiarchy-run schools where the pupils have already received a strict Imperial Cult education. The training of Cadet Commissars lasts for an indeterminate length of time, and their advancement depends entirely upon the judgment of the full/senior Commissar responsible for their development. Training may involve deployment as part of a Commissar Training Squad [4] and/or secondment to an individual full/senior Commissar. [Needs Citation] During the Age of Apostasy in the 36th Millennium, most of the Schola Progenium were corrupted and rife with slavery and depravity. Orphans were used as slave labour in factories and mines making goods for the Ecclesiarchy. Particularly promising individuals were sold to Imperial Commanders as slaves and servants, and the most attractive became concubines for Imperial nobles. His, and his regiment's, next destination was the planet of Keffia, where he spent a restful few years of the 920's, with the only major battle he participated in was assisting the local enforcers (calling themselves Custodes, though the title is unrelated to the Adeptus organisation of the same name) in unveiling a genestealer infestation in the sector and assisting in the defence of the enforcers' headquarters. [10] Within the Imperial military, some Planetary Defence Forces and individual sectors or sub-sectors of the Imperium possess their own Commissariat who maintain authority over the local military forces in their region of the galaxy. The Regimental Standard: Notice for Immediate Retraction of Medals (Posted on 18/9/2019) (last accessed 16 January 2020)

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A subordinate role to a full Commissar, a junior aids his senior in overseeing the the regiment or ship assigned to the full Commissar, performing adjutant and investigation duties as well as Commissarial ones. Junior Commissars do appear to undertake Commissarial supervision at a regimental (or equivalent) level, starting with smaller formations, such as an individual squad. [Needs Citation] Commissar

They were used almost exclusively for garrison and pacification roles on both their home and foreign worlds throughout the early stages of the crusade, but by the latter half, they were fighting offensive battles and supplementing the Space Marine Legions as the Astartes began to be stretched too thinly across the growing Imperium. Although Cain performed acts in his long commissarial service that were nothing short of heroic, they were always - by his own admission - done reluctantly. He chose the posting with the Valhallan 12th Field Artillery specifically to avoid front-line combat, as artillery regiments generally remained at the rear of any army. After the events on Desolatia, however, Cain often made the observation that his commanders were bent on sending him into deadly situations simply on the basis of his reputation. The first thing on his mind was always his own safety, and how he would be able to escape the situation he was in. [Needs Citation] When a Commissar decides that a Cadet has failed in his duty to become a Commissar, but has not shown cowardice or insubordination, the Cadet is relieved and may be either sent to a Stormtrooper unit or become an officer in a penal battalion. Others volunteer for service in a Rogue Trader's entourage, and others may face darker destinies. [4] Junior Commissars Lord Commissar - Lord Commissars are senior-ranking commissars, promoted to this esteemed rank after displaying exemplary battlefield service over many solar decades of experience. The battlefield heroics of a lord commissar are often the stuff of legends to the average guardsman. See below for more information. With Horus' defeat, and the retreat of the forces of Chaos to the Eye of Terror, the remaining Loyalist regiments of the Imperial Army underwent massive changes, and became heavily standardised. The Imperial Navy was separated from the Imperial Army and transformed into a separate service, whilst the Imperial Army's ground forces were renamed the Astra Militarum or " Imperial Guard."Commissar - Commissar is the standard rank of these political officers, at least one being assigned per regiment of the Astra Militarum or voidship of the Navis Imperialis. It is their duty to "encourage" the troops of an Astra Militarum regiment to fight, fighting alongside the regiment's officers and taking control when morale is flagging or the troops are not fighting with sufficient zeal. In such situations a commissar can take over command from an officer and summarily execute any trooper who tries to flee. Even a colonel of a regiment must be sure to display courage and zeal at all times when the regiment's commissar is watching them.

To the masses of Humanity, these men and women are symbols of Imperial authority whose sole remit is to ensure that all do their duty in the Emperor's name. Yet the truth of these high-ranking officers is rather more complex. Commissars attached to certain regiments sometimes adopt unique elements of that regiment's uniform, such as a gas mask or desert head scarfs, for the dual purpose of practicality and to make them seem more at home in the regimental culture.A rarely seen intermediate role between full Commissar and Commissar-General, the particular role of a Commissar-Captain is unclear, other than ranking above full Commissars. They have been seen to supervise at a regimental level. [11] Lord Commissar