[X] My Assistant

[Tzeentch]

These sorts of requirements often go in to procurement contracts to assure certain winners, it's quite likely that Ares supplies the UCAS with Pallets, the Trucks they load to, and the crates of Rifle ammo that go on them. An you better believe that those pallets don't fit Steyr Ammo crates neatly

-- That's possible, and actually somewhat advantageous from a logistics standpoint. Of course, being locked into vendor standards can also be a huge hassle -- especially if it's consumables.

[Tzeentch]

I've actually always imagined it similar to the Army's Aviation program. Those with demonstrable magical ability have a warrant officer program that they can apply for right out of high school. There would be a "Magic Pay" bonus similar to the current foreign language bonus, which pays more for certain specializations and/or grades of initiation. Warrant Officers form the bulk of the Thaum Corps who are providing magical support on the field, running Astral Overwatch, or summoning support spirits. Mages who possess a BA or BS in Thaumaturgy can go the Officer route and be put into leadership positions, over both magical and non-magical personnel alike. Adepts with no college degree can enlist and go through basic training, then undergo a Warrant Officer program for Magical Support Staff in whatever field they choose (I once made a retired Warrant Officer who was an adept and had powers focused on Intelligence, Tactical, and Logistical analysis).

-- That's pretty much in line with my thinking, but I consider full mags more akin to doctors and thus start as Lieutenants. Warrant officers for adepts sounds logical. They are FAR too valuable and rare to be treated otherwise.

-- I suspect that college being a requirement for officers isn't a huge importance for the CAS/UCAS and other military forces (especially the NAN).

[Dumori]

Isn't Steyr a sub of Ares. I know HK is SK. Also lets not forget pratcial all the gear in Aresnal and the BBB has any corp equivalents. The bleeding edge less so but still I know Aztech has it's own Alpha clone I'm sure there more like it. The same goes with maybe it wont be a Renraku com but it will be more or less the same stats wise. Though Renraku is one of the comunications megas.

[stevebugge]

-- That's possible, and actually somewhat advantageous from a logistics standpoint. Of course, being locked into vendor standards can also be a huge hassle -- especially if it's consumables.

And that's how it's justified in a lot of cases, and as pointed out the result isn't always bad, it just limits competition and closes the market to a degree. It also explains why a lot of soldiers supplement gear with off the shelf stuff from REI and Cabellas.

In game it's a flavor issue but also something an astute runner can take advantage of, for example if your target has been on one side of a proxywar between two corps where the participants are Banana Republic militaries and you know one side is running drones from say Mitsuhama and the other side has been running countermeasures from Renraku you can have your fixe procure accordingly.

[stevebugge]

Isn't Steyr a sub of Ares. I know HK is SK. Also lets not forget pratcial all the gear in Aresnal and the BBB has any corp equivalents. The bleeding edge less so but still I know Aztech has it's own Alpha clone I'm sure there more like it. The same goes with maybe it wont be a Renraku com but it will be more or less the same stats wise. Though Renraku is one of the comunications megas.

Even though in the end it al goes to the same parent company, each Ares Brand has it's own balance sheet and they do compete with each other (even to the point of running on each other for schematics and marketing strategies). It is also mentioned that most gear comes in a variety of brandnames that are functionally equivalent though in the RAW.

[Lanlaorn]

Communications
-- The ECM/ECCM environment in Shadowrun is SERIOUS BAD NEWS for modern conceptions of C4I. Troops probably have high-rated comm systems that are reasonably SOTA (in fact, that's probably the only thing they use that is!) but Tom Clancy micromanagement is a recipe for disaster with wireless hackers around. I suspect a military commlink will be something like an Renraku Airware (Signal is more important than Response, good price point) with a custom OS that strongly emphasizes Firewall Rating). Probably has skinlink and subvocal mic. All together this is a pretty inexpensive bit of kit, and is largely off-the-shelf. A simrig is asking for trouble in most cases.

I've been thinking on this too, and honestly IMO when an enemy hacker is detected the only sane response would be to turn off all commlinks right there. Unless we're assuming super high rating military hardware and software (that cannot possibly be issued to grunts or it would be all over the street markets) even if every soldier has his commlink slaved to the unit hacker, a shadowrunner specialist hacker will take that guy apart and then own their communications. And smartlinked weapons. And any cyberware, etc.

Needless to say a lot of the military unit's advantages are gone with reducing communications to each other or calling for support.

[Dumori]

I'm goign to guess that the comlinks have an offline mode. Turning them in to simple radios when thats called for. Stop the wifi entierly switch to older tech.

[stevebugge]

I'm goign to guess that the comlinks have an offline mode. Turning them in to simple radios when thats called for. Stop the wifi entierly switch to older tech.

That would make sense, redundant backup systems are a frequent feature of military gear.

[Rand]

Sorry if this was addressed before, I haven't been able to read the entire thead yet. (Boy you guys can sure spit out a multi-paged thread in no time!!):

Remember than standard army units are usually above police SWAT team in terms of training and equipement.

Wrong. A SWAT team gets much more specialized training and more money is spent on each individual member than in the army. (Heck, even more than in the Marine Corps.) SWAT teams are concidered ELITE units nowadays, didn't used to be, but they are now.

Perhaps, in 207X, the trend towards smaller, more capable militaries has continued and then you would get the average soldier being about a match for the average runner, but not as they are currently. Especially, when you take into consideration that governments aren't as powerful/wealthy as they used to be.

But, I agree that the smallest unit you would generally run across is a squad. (It is the sized unit I had in one of the adventures I put together.) In the USMC we had squads of 12 - 3 fireteams of 4 individuals - and 4 made up a platoon. Yes, you could be "short-handed" with fewer, and you could be augmented with extra, but generally that was the base size/make-up. (OF course, i have been out since '91 so things could have changed - though I doubt it the Marine Corps is nothing if not a creature of habit.)

As for a massive number of drones, I doubt it. Maybe 1 or 2 per squad, tops. You have to treat them like heavy weapons - not everyone had one for a reason. The drones themselves may be cheap, but to train and dedicate a soldier to fill that role, as well as up-keep of the drones, would get expensive. Only specialized units are likely to have more, but I am sure that more can be sent from regimental command if needed.

Tactically, a well seasoned squad should be able to take care of a group of undisciplined shadowrunners (and they all are, no matter how long they have worked together, it seems) except for 2 things: IP and magic. Having a few guys with 3 IP (the base for any combat types) makes a huge difference. So does having magic, while the other side doesn't. This is where I think the modern military would be recruiting like crazy! Imagine the sign-up bonuses if you are a mage! That would be a way to get some good money fast. (At first, then it would take a long time as you served out your contract - when they offer you a huge re-signing bonus!!!)

[Runner Smurf]

One thing to consider with military equipment - I think army troops (be they corporate or government) are always going to have much better software than runners. Per unit costs on software, likely developed specially for the services, are going to be quite low - sure, they spent 20M developing it, but they probably don't have to pay license costs on each copy.

I also think a lot depends on how current trends in acquisition continue - do we invest more and more in fewer and fewer soldiers (the American trend), or do we go with lots of cheap, disposable troops. I think the answer will vary by country/corp, and by tier. Someone like CAS, with conscription, won't invest too much in regular, rear-echelon troops. But I suspect that front line troops in CAS, UCAS and other heavily industrialized nations will be pretty significantly augmented. And the enlistment period probably significantly extended in the case of those modifications. I think the distinction would be pretty profound, with forces being defined by the prevalence of augmentation.

As for prevalence of magic, I think the use of bound spirits would be a serious force multiplier, with combat mages having as many spirits bound as they could handle (Cha). With an obvious need for recruiting mages, their prevalence might be 1 in 100 in a country like the UCAS, putting individuals at the company level, with small groups (fireteam?) attached to higher units. At that point, you could reasonably consider that any given platoon may have a spirit tasked to support it. And considering the costs, I can't imagine many aviation assets would be operating without multiple spirits in support.

I can't really see the need for large dedicated magical units - once you get beyond a certain point, ritual circle have diminished returns. Physical adepts could be treated as regular (augmented) troops, or be tasked as part of specialist teams (particularly for counter-spirit operations).

A heavily Awakened nation might have much higher prevalence of mages, which would push down the tier at which they would be found - even as low as the squad level. Which matches with where Amazonion forces have been described in adventures and the like.

Just my thoughts. Once you start noodling the implications of magic on military operations, things get complicated.

But I still think the average shadowrun team is going to get their tails handed to them in an open fight with the average UCAS combat fireteam. Mind you, if they are in an open fight with an average UCAS combat fireteam, the runners have already lost. And the biggest problem is there isn't one fireteam, there's an entire brigade out there too, and they have the ultimate runner-killer: artillery. There ain't a whole lot they are going to be able to do with the GPS-guided 155's come down. Or, Ghost help them, a few MLRS rockets.

[Tzeentch]

One thing to consider with military equipment - I think army troops (be they corporate or government) are always going to have much better software than runners. Per unit costs on software, likely developed specially for the services, are going to be quite low - sure, they spent 20M developing it, but they probably don't have to pay license costs on each copy.

-- The military almost NEVER does its own software development. They still pay licensing fees for Windows for example. The US military in particular fobs almost of its R&D to private companies and universities.

-- That said, the Unwired software development rules are actually pretty optimistic in many cases, and it might make sense to have a programmer team devoted to say, military commlink Firewall programming.

But I suspect that front line troops in CAS, UCAS and other heavily industrialized nations will be pretty significantly augmented.

-- Why? There's pretty much no "big ticket" advantage that can't be replicated by a few thousand nuyen in wearable electronics. That's been the case since Shadowrun, First Edition. The sole exception was wired reflexes, which are both monstrously expensive and monstrously overpowered (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

And the enlistment period probably significantly extended in the case of those modifications. I think the distinction would be pretty profound, with forces being defined by the prevalence of augmentation.

-- I can't see any military taking on the long-term issues with augmentation without good reason. Not only are their health issues (surgery, Essence costs, maintenance requirements) but if you give everyone wired reflexes (for example) then you have these guys out in the civilian population at some point.

As for prevalence of magic, I think the use of bound spirits would be a serious force multiplier, with combat mages having as many spirits bound as they could handle (Cha). With an obvious need for recruiting mages, their prevalence might be 1 in 100 in a country like the UCAS, putting individuals at the company level, with small groups (fireteam?) attached to higher units. At that point, you could reasonably consider that any given platoon may have a spirit tasked to support it.

-- I find that dubious. That spirit is doing nothing useful most of the time that platoon is doing its thing. You're better off using the limited magical assets available to dole out a spirit as a form of fire support.

And considering the costs, I can't imagine many aviation assets would be operating without multiple spirits in support.

-- The corps have a competitive advantage in recruiting mages, and they don't seem to do this. So why the rump national governments?

A heavily Awakened nation might have much higher prevalence of mages, which would push down the tier at which they would be found - even as low as the squad level. Which matches with where Amazonion forces have been described in adventures and the like.

-- That could be a sign of serious manpower issues actually. 10 mages in a force of 100 might look more magically capable compared to 100 mages in a force of 10,000 if you don't look closely.

But I still think the average shadowrun team is going to get their tails handed to them in an open fight with the average UCAS combat fireteam. Mind you, if they are in an open fight with an average UCAS combat fireteam, the runners have already lost. And the biggest problem is there isn't one fireteam, there's an entire brigade out there too, and they have the ultimate runner-killer: artillery. There ain't a whole lot they are going to be able to do with the GPS-guided 155's come down. Or, Ghost help them, a few MLRS rockets.

-- They probably can't or WON'T exploit a fire support advantage in every case. Rules of engagement are an issue, especially when they have to throw this stuff around in inhabited areas or in places where that sort of thing could really piss off Awakened critters best left alone.

[kzt]

Remember that a Fireteam is 4 or 5 people. AT support is handled by an entirely separate platoon altogether, who will attach themselves to a Grunt squad if they are expected to go up against armor.

US Army has a AT section in the platoon weapon squad.

[Rand]

As a former USMC Artilleryman, I can attest to the affectiveness of 155's. The guns I crewed were Mi98 155mm Medium* Towed Howitzers, and we were expected to hit a mansized target on the second shot.

Eventhough magic concentration would be higher in the military (due to reasons mentioned above), I still don't think that the average fireteam (4 guys) would have magical support, and thusly, they would likely loose on that alone. Add in the fact that generally 2 of the runners would have 3 IPs, with one or more having 2, and the soldiers definately loose. (Even if you want to stretch things, the best that the average soldier could hope for in reaction enhancers is Wired Reflexes-1, the rest would be way too expensive. (In the main book, it isn't until Professional Rating 5 that you see any IP past 1. I don't think the average soldier would be PR-5, not even PR-4; I would put them at PR-3, though, which means no reaction enhancers.)

But, I don't think you run into a fireteam, I think you would run into a squad: 12 guys (or gals, it is late in the 21st century, after all). A squad is much more likely to destroy a group of runners, magic and IP and all. (Unless they are Prime Runners, that is.)

* I always like that they called them: medium. I guess the 205s (I think that was their size) are the large howitzers.

[kzt]

Wrong. A SWAT team gets much more specialized training and more money is spent on each individual member than in the army. (Heck, even more than in the Marine Corps.) SWAT teams are concidered ELITE units nowadays, didn't used to be, but they are now.

Many modern SWAT teams are part time. For example, there in ONE full time SWAT team in the state of New Mexico. Many smaller, part time SWAT teams have limited training, limited access to training ammo, etc. The more effective and motivated teams train on their own and buy their own ammo. Lots of teams don't have people that motivated on them.

IIRC, the few hundred members of Delta Force shoot a million rounds a month in training.

[Dumori]

-- I can't see any military taking on the long-term issues with augmentation without good reason. Not only are their health issues (surgery, Essence costs, maintenance requirements) but if you give everyone wired reflexes (for example) then you have these guys out in the civilian population at some point.

It's quite simple you implant second-hand wires and rip em back out. Do you keep your rifle? This is the 6th world we are talking about people starve to death in numbers 100-200m away from a stuffer shack as they are in a Z zone. You really think govement is going to be heavly worried about removing argumentations? I can see maybe for cybereyes and legal implants a scheme where you pay a bit each pay cheak to keep them after but for things like wires taking them out sloves a lot of problems and money.

[Tzeentch]

It's quite simple you implant second-hand wires and rip em back out. Do you keep your rifle? This is the 6th world we are talking about people starve to death in numbers 100-200m away from a stuffer shack as they are in a Z zone. You really think govement is going to be heavly worried about removing argumentations? I can see maybe for cybereyes and legal implants a scheme where you pay a bit each pay cheak to keep them after but for things like wires taking them out sloves a lot of problems and money.

-- You're reaching (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
-- It's been forever since I read Burning Bright, but doesn't it talk a bit about some of this?

[Lanlaorn]

Regarding military software, the stuff guarding military nexi and strategic communications (and the hacking software intended to target enemy military nexi and strategic communications) will be amazing higher-than-6-rating stuff, "weapons grade" software if you will.

But the stuff in any given soldier's commlink? Hell no, shooting a grunt and taking his 'link would then instantly give whoever a copy of your state of the art military firewall. Those guys will be using something far more basic.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Overly long post from a former grunt below:

[ Spoiler ]

I was a grunt (though granted, it was Marine Corps and we regularly out-ran, out-shot, and generally out-did "Rangers." - though "Rangers have undoubtedly better PR.)

Here's the thing: When thinking of regular infantry, you have to realize they are mass produced. Everyone's extra mag is stored in the same place. Everyone's medkit has the same ingredients. Everyone's using the same ammo, the same tactics, knows the same hand signals (in 2072 the same AROs?). They all eat together, sleep together, chase skirt together, get in trouble together. Their key advantages are homogeneity, standardization, ethos (runners do it for $, grunts to it for the guys on his left and right and for love of country), and oh, yeah, numbers.

Unless tactics have changed significantly in the 10 years since I was out, no regular infantry unit goes anywhere significant in units smaller than battalion level. It's just too logistically difficult to send smaller units to different geographies. A battalion consists of:

• a headquarters element,
• a (heavy) weapons company, and
• three line companies.

Each line company consists of:

• a headquarters element,
• a (heavy) weapons platoon, and
• three line platoons.

Each line platoon consists of:

• a headquarters element, and
• three squads.

Each squad consists of:

• a squad sergeant,
• and three fire teams.

Each fire team consists of:

• a fire team leader,
• a rifleman,
• a automatic gunner, and
• an assistant automatic gunner.

Generally any significant patrols is made up of at least a platoon. That means:

• an officer,
• a staff NCO,
• a medic,
• a radio operator (2072: hacker),
• 12 NCOs, and
• 27 enlisted men.

Total firepower:

• 9 medium machine guns,
• 9 assault rifles with underbarrell grenade launchers,
• 23 assault rifles with bayonets,
• two pistols,
• one radio (commlink) and
• one significant medkit.

How would a typical shadowrun squad fair? Depends on the level of professionalism. As has been mentioned previously, the key advantages are concentration of magic and surprise.

For surprise, standard ambush tactics dictate a charge if contact is within 50 meters. For that reason, the shadowrun squad would need to either inflict crippling damages in the opening combat turn or assault from more than 50 meters away with overwhelming firepower.

For magical concentration, due to scarcity, I would imagine military mages would be concentrated at the battalion and regimental levels and server primarily intelligence gathering, healing, and fire support roles. In other words, a platoon is going on patrol through dangerous terrain? Expect a projecting mage on overwatch duty and as insurance against signal damage. Communication is the lifeblood of the infantry. If the run into magical trouble? Expect a quick call for help to the command post and multiple bound spirits of varying force to show up with orders like "protect anyone wearing this uniform." Heck, I could even envision units that have been in the @#$% for a while to have long term bound spirits who can pick out the unit members just by astral signature.

Anyway, that's my take. You're looking at homogeneity, standardization, tactics, numbers, and ethos vs. magical concentration and surprise.

Short version:
I expect the grunts unit would win except against very smart shadowrunners, who probably would be smart enough not to take on a platoon of regular infantry to begin with. The smarter shadowrunners would probably use tactics much like we are seeing Iraq: IEDs, use of the civilian population, and very, very rarely guerilla skirmishes and even then, mostly against their logistical support units.

EDIT: added bullets for readability

Semper Fidelis Augmentin...

Keep the Faith

[IceKatze]

hi hi

I can see the military removing cyberware only if the cost of the cyberware is greater than the cost of the operation. Cybersurgery can be expensive, so unless they're chopping the body up, they probably wont bother with the small stuff. If they do let people keep their ware, they've probably got dibs on it when they die though.

[augmentin]

In my scenario, there are significant portions of the ACHE (Archology Community Housing Enclave) that are still under the jurisdiction of the UCAS Army, because despite the propaganda, they STILL haven't been completely pacified and/or some of the floors have things that the Federal Government doesn't want to let fall into anyone elses' hands. There's also a ton of other nasty stuff too, like bugs, shedim, and Tamanous that keeps the Army there.

Also, as much as it pained me to do so, I made the decision that with the split of the CAS, and the joining with Canada (not to mention the loss of both MCRDs), factions of the Army and Air Force finally were able to succeed in getting rid of the USMC for good. The tradition is being kept alive by the CAS (with many Marines informally calling themselves the "USMC" in things like cadence), who are looking forward to celebrating the Corps' 300th birthday soon.

But... But...

"The raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next five hundred years."

Check out the link. It also argues for the relevance of the Marine Corp going into the future.

From a dystopian magical cyberpunk future, I'd argue that in the age of diminishing nation-states, and considered from a financial perspective, the marine corp becomes more vital than ever.

The Marine Corps is 6% of DoD's budget, but

• 16% of the U.S.'s maneuver battalions,
• 15% of the U.S.'s attack aircraft, and
• 19% of the U.S.'s attack helicopters.

The average Marine costs $20,000 less than the next closest service man.

So yeah, Semper Fi, Teufelshunde.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Isn't that when they send the E-1's to the Commisary for the Canned Steam to get the boiler going again?

Oh and while you're there get some headlight fluid for the Jeep and a stack of grid squares. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

I was always partial to obtaining Skyline, and even a can or two of Backblast^TM for weapon cleaning... and don't forget the BFA for the .45... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif)

Keep the Faith

[Lanlaorn]

A lot of cyberware is cheap as hell too. Cybereyes, Cyberears, Skillwires and a Datajack would probably be standard issue. It would definitely cost less to put 8,000 nuyen into Skillwires than training to skill level 4 in multiple topics, hell even his firearms skills could be artificial, who cares?

The activesofts cost a lot but again, the army probably just develops an in house marksmanship skillsoft from some of their own riflemen and makes as many copies as they want, dropping the price to damn near zero.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Remember that a Fireteam is 4 or 5 people. AT support is handled by an entirely separate platoon altogether, who will attach themselves to a Grunt squad if they are expected to go up against armor.

As for Snipers, again, that's an entirely separate unit that handles those duties, and farms their people out as needed. Usually, thought, they operate in support of higher HQs mission, rather than the Squads or even the Platoon. There are troops known as "Designated Marksmen", who generally use scoped semi-auto rifles at medium ranges, where rapid firepower at range is more important than single shots from way far out.

Don't forget, LivingOxymoron, that even us lowly Marine Corps grunts were issued LAAWs and AT4's in the First Gulf War in '91... I vividly remember carrying 3 LAAW's and 1 AT4 personally, while in the field... It is not just the weapons platoon that is getting the AT rounds... we all carried at least a couple of Rockets to supplement the Weapon's Platoon guys.

Oh yeah, My credentials: 0311 (Rifleman)/0331 (Machinegunner)/0341 (Mortarman)/0351 (Infantry Assault Gunner)/0352 (AT Missleman), and also trained as a STA Marksman... Crosstrained over multiple Tours... Served with E Co. 2/7... Served as Platoon Radioman for the Gulf War... I requested as much crosstraining as I could get, and was still requesting when I eventually left the Corps...

"Every Meal a Banquet, Every Formation a Parade... I Love The Corps"

Keep the Faith

[augmentin]

QUOTE (Tzeentch @ Jul 12 2010, 05:46 PM)
Communications
-- The ECM/ECCM environment in Shadowrun is SERIOUS BAD NEWS for modern conceptions of C4I.

You're assuming the military hasn't adapted tactics to the realities of 2072. Granted, there's a definite tendency for US armed forces to both 1) prepare for the last war and 2) draw down military power after every major conflict.

However, in the dystopian canon, don't we see wars and rumors of wars? Nothing spurs innovation like conflict.

Frankly, the concerns about signal integrity and compromised networks have been around since the early 1980s. The SINCGARS (technology) and new SOPs (behavior) were the answer.

The SINGARS is heavy as hell and doesn't have any better range than what you can buy at Sports Chalet. What it does have is very sophisticated encryption. It also has a "shoot here" spot. If your unit is being overrun, there is a clearly marked "X" that you shoot with your last bullet. This renders the SINGARS inoperable and makes it unable to be used for future signal interception. (For the curious, yes, we take it off the RTO first.)

Even without breaking encryption, any radio transmission greater than 5 seconds can be triangulated. For that reason, no one ever broadcasts for more than 3-5 seconds at at time. Unless you really like push ups and field day and hate liberty (free time).

I would envision a future fighting force that has adapted to these weaknesses and played to their strengths. I'm not very smart and I can offer several solutions:

• centralize, centralize, centralize: slave every commlink to the team of hackers (ais?, tms?) at the battalion, or heck, even DoD level.
• specialized technology: virtually unhackable laser and microwave links could keep the squad slaved to EchoMirage 2072 sitting comfortably back in the Pentagon.
• force multiplying drone support: retrans units, microdrones, CAS, oh my. Since the inception of the Predator UAV program, nearly every Predator mission has been piloted from Nellis AFB outside of Vegas. Why would 2072 be any different? If anything the hacker threat makes this even more likely.
• force multiplying magical support: how long does it take an astral form to travel from D.C. to Beijing? Any reason why that wouldn't be the primary method of magical support? This would be 1) cost effective, 2) allow greater command and control, and 3) protect mages from fear and prejudices in the field. I'm sure there would be some mages at the battalion level, but most would probably be at MAGCOM in D.C. Astral overwatch mages could provide recon and counterspelling support and when needed access vast reserves of bound spirits.

As a shadowrunner, it's not very pleasant to think about, but all but the most prepared and disciplined teams of runners would have a very short life span in direct combat with an infantry unit. Those with the smarts to pull it off would have the wisdom not to try.

[LivingOxymoron]

But... But...

"The raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next five hundred years."

Check out the link. It also argues for the relevance of the Marine Corp going into the future.

From a dystopian magical cyberpunk future, I'd argue that in the age of diminishing nation-states, and considered from a financial perspective, the marine corp becomes more vital than ever.

The Marine Corps is 6% of DoD's budget, but

• 16% of the U.S.'s maneuver battalions,
• 15% of the U.S.'s attack aircraft, and
• 19% of the U.S.'s attack helicopters.

The average Marine costs $20,000 less than the next closest service man.

So yeah, Semper Fi, Teufelshunde.

In a "regular" dystopian universe, I agree with you. In the unique politics and history of Shadowrun, however, I think that it is perfectly plausible to say that the UCAS got rid of the Marine Corps as a separate service.
[*] All Marine Corps bases of today are located outside of territory. Pendleton? Nuclear Slag. MCRD San Diego and Miramar? Aztlan. Hawai'i? It's own nation. Lejeune and Cherry Point? CAS. Okinawa? Imperial Japan. I can totally see the Army, Navy, and Air Force completely unwilling to give up space on "their" bases.
[*] No power projection anymore. It seems like the Marines' modern day role as rapid deployment and the MEUs just don't exist in UCAS foreign policy
[*] General Isolationist policies.

By Contrast, the CAS inherited Lejeune, Cherry Point, and PI. Since Aztlan and the Carrib League play heavily into CAS Defense Policy vis-a-vis the Gulf, I can see a dedicated Amphibious Warfare component being desired. Add to that the culture of the CAS as the legacy of the good 'ol USA, and you can see where I'm going with this.