On a slightly more important note ...  well, actually, it probably doesn't really matter to anyone ... I decided my character should have a tattoo.. something small on an upper bicep patterned after his regimental crest ... a four leaf clover, each leaf a different color, to represent the predominant ethnicities (think Ireland, Scotland, Wales on Earth-that-was) making up the unit:<br/><br/>(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff443/tgramm69/fourleafclover-tattoo.jpg)<br/><br/><br/>Also, some thoughts on military matters.  I don't think anyone should expect anyone to recognize the crest or patch of any particular military unit at random.  Looking back at WW-2, even an American historian of the period wouldn't recognize the patch for every one of the hundred-plus U.S. divisions that were formed, much less the regiments that made up those divisions.  Then, add to that the number of divisions the British, Germans, Italians, Japanese and Russians had.  Given that the Unification War involved dozens of planets and (hundreds?) of moons, I'd say the task would be just as daunting without references.<br/><br/>On the other hand, there are some units which are famous, either because of their historical significance (82nd and 101st Airborne, or for the real history buffs, the Big Red One, the Americal Division, the Third Armor Division, or the First Marine Division patches are things you might recognize) or their incorporation into books and movies (Can anyone say Band of Brothers?  Or maybe the Fighting 69th for you old movie buffs?)<br/><br/>Then there's geography.  Though I'm no expert on WW2 order of battle, I do recognize the patches of the 36th Infantry Division and the 49th Armor Division, because they were (and still are, off and on) National Guard units from my home state.  I imagine this is (or was) even more true in England, with their really cool regimental names, until the bureaucrats had to shuffle everything around.<br/><br/>So, I imagine this would be much like the War Between the States (aka: American Civil War) and WW-2, when massive mobilizations meant the raising of the armies was less centralized.  Therefore, my guy wouldn't necessarily expect anyone to recognize his regimental crest without sufficient reason.  However, it wouldn't be that unusual to expect to<em>occasionally</em>run across someone who has reason .. someone from another unit in the same campaign or theater of operations, or from the same home planet. (I remember traveling from Naples Italy to Washington DC and bumping into a guy in an airport I had been stationed with in San Antonio.  Years later, I was in a completely different part of the country and needed a new tire, and the guy at the tire shop was someone else I had known from the same command in San Antonio... so it does happen.)<br/><br/>I'm babbling.  I think I'm suffering from temporary insomnia.  I do like the fact that we have all these people, many of whom have perfectly reasonable reasons for knowing / flying with one another, and not a group where half the people are former parliamentary operatives, while the other half have escaped from the Alliance Academy, and everyone knew Malcom Reynolds during the war.<br/><br/>No, I haven't been drinking, just can't sleep.  I'll shut up now.