While I did have a small hand in conceiving this idea, I mostly only pitched a few vague tidbits towards
@nite train while he was writing this up. His relatively short time thus far on SARP coupled with my own modest at best familiarity with the inner workings of the Nepleslian state are most likely to blame for the kind of murky initial submission for this group. However, small as my contribution to this organization may have been, I did kind of leave poor Nite Train out to dry in not chiming in earlier. So for that, I'm sorry, honey!
Reading the criticisms against the IATF, and after speaking with Sigma at length in the IRC, I completely understand the resistance to this submission as it is now. I will accept the responsibility for not being familiar enough with the NPF and its sister forces to give adequate advice to Nite Train while he was putting the concept together. But that's why we have a submission process, and I'm glad that the discussion here seems to be moving towards a constructive solution.
Thus, I'm proposing (assuming that Nite Train is agreeable, since this is after all his project) that the size of the IATF be significantly reduced in accordance with the suggestions before, and more clearly establish it as a
police force, and not as a paramilitary or military force. To quote Admiral Adama from the reimagined BSG series: "there's a reason we keep the police and the military separate. One is to fight the enemy of the state, and the other is to protect the people. When the military acts as the police, the enemy of the state tends to
become the people."
More to the point, the focus of the IATF may fit into the setting better if it's more clearly defined to be an investigation force, or even better, as an actual internal affairs cell, with far less resources than the military and equipped more for law enforcement rather than wanton carnage and destruction. These wouldn't be shock troopers like the SS, but more along the lines of U.S. Marshalls, after all. Since the main factions of SARP are already saturated with military plots, I wonder if something more akin to a detective group would be well received? As for a specific purpose, here are some of my initial thoughts:
One, since as Sigma said, it's well known that smugglers operate within Nepleslia, it probably isn't too big a stretch to assume that there is at least a slightly concerning amount of police and government corruption that makes such a thing possible. Perhaps the powers-that-be in Nepleslian territory recognize this, and an eager young politician or visionary (or whatever) start an initiative to actively weed out this corruption. That's where the IATF would come in, serving as an actual internal affairs group that investigates NPF and IPG officers, empowered to arrest any that they discover to be corrupt.
Two, again springboarding off of the smuggling issue, perhaps their primary function is to serve as the heavy hand of Nepleslian customs, and are equipped to board and/or disable suspected smuggling vessels, seize their cargo, and arrest the offending crew. This idea could tie in nicely with independent plots that lean towards criminal acts such as piracy; even if the IATF doesn't get its own plot, other RPs like my own could use it as an antagonist on certain missions in which they have to run illegal goods through Nepleslian territory. While I realize that the military would be suited to this task as well (and feel free to correct me if this is too off-base), it seems to me like kind of killing a fly with a cannon to deploy military vessels against small-time crooks, unless said crooks are a significant threat to Nepleslian civilians or infrastructure.
Three, the IATF could be organized to specifically counteract criminal syndicates like the Blacks and the Reds that still operate within Nepleslian territory. This may necessitate outfitting them with a bit heavier gear, but still nothing on par with the IPG or any other battalion of Awesome Soldiers.
Would any of these suggestions help clarify things a bit?
