tlb wrote:If we know of NO examples of a thing, then it is possible that the thing does not exist; however if we know of a least ONE example of a thing, then is it possible that more things exist.
Indeed, and the MAN may have performed actions under the guise of another navy (the MSN and the Mannerheim ones come to mind) to train their officers. And as proposed earlier, imported officers from the Mannerheim navy, which they had thoroughly infiltrated anyway. The problem is still that the number of opportunities is very small and those are also going to be very minor in scope.
Yes, it's possible they performed a clandestine takeover of some system out in the Verge. They've probably also performed boarding actions in the stations that the Jessyk Combine used to transport the slaves, whenever things got out of hand, then killed everyone who had an idea of who had done anything. The Galton navy officers probably did a bit of that indeed. But again, limited in scope, because otherwise word would leak out that there's a navy out there conducting operations.
Let me see if I understand your second point. Since we know from chapter 9 of Mission of Honor that the Ghost scout ships had to dodge patrols within the hyper-limit of the systems that were attacked; you seem to be saying that since no shots were fired, then they were not combat soldiers. So artillery spotters and pilots for photo reconnaissance missions, such as the SR-71 and U-2 planes (with the exception of Gary Powers, since he was shot down), were not combat soldiers. In addition, no member of a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol was on a combat mission, unless shots were fired?
I don't think that's what's being suggested.
I think it's an issue of scope. Performing clandestine operations against very weak opponents, or even anti-piracy operations (or pro-piracy operations, as the case may be), don't qualify one to fight a major engagement against a peer or better opponent. It's definitely better than nothing, but it's a far cry from enough.
Until the Manticore-Haven wars, NO ONE had fought a superdreadnought war (IIRC). There had been actions where SDs participated, but never against peers with SDs of their own. And then of course the whole concept changed from an energy-range engagement to a long-range missile engagement, which was a completely new concept. There were exactly two sets of personnel with experience in fighting said wars and they both banded together to give the SLN a beat-down, which meant the SLN never learned the lessons either. There's been no opportunity for the Galton or Darius officers to learn on the job how to fight the Grand Fleet or even import anyone who's got a clue.
I'm not saying they're stupid or green. I'm saying they may (will most likely) have gaps in their training because it's based on incomplete data. The simulations are also based on incomplete data, so garbage in garbage out may have caused self-reinforcing feedback loops of garbage solutions too. The Battle of Galton was a major opportunity to correct any mistakes in the assumptions. Also the only one for the foreseeable future.