Editing 11th Donegal Guards

{{infoBoxMilitaryCommand
| image          = [[File: Donegalguards11th.png]]
| Designation    = Eleventh Donegal Guards
| formed         = 
| Disbanded      = 
| Previous Designation = [[One-Eyed Jacks]]
| Nickname       = Twin Towers (2765);<ref name=FR:2765LCAFp11>''Field Report 2765: LCAF'', p. 11: "Donegal Guards" - Regimental Status</ref><br>The Push-Me-Pull-Yous (3145)
| Affiliation    = [[Lyran Commonwealth]]
| Parent Command = [[Donegal Guards]]
}}

==History==
The '''Eleventh Donegal Guard''' was a [[BattleMech]] [[regiment]] in service to the [[Lyran Commonwealth]].

In [[2765]] the Eleventh was stationed on [[Bella I]].<ref name=FR:2765LCAFp11/> They were stationed in battalion sized formations across the system's three inhabited worlds. This deployment was forced by the population's dissatisfaction with the practice of guarding only Bel II, which led to increased raids on the other two worlds.<ref>''Field Report 2765: LCAF'', p. 10</ref>

As of [[3025]], the Guards were stationed on [[New Capetown]].<ref name=HSp121/>

At the start of the [[War of 3039]], the Guards were again based on New Capetown. They were briefly moved to [[Nekkar]], but by the end of the war were returned to New Capetown. They would see no fighting.<ref>''Historical: War of 3039'', p. 137</ref>

In September [[3044]], together with the [[Third Lyran Guards]], the Guards participated in the liberation of [[Alphecca]].<ref name=FMLA70>''Field Manual: Lyran Alliance'', p. 70: "11th Donegal Guards Unit Profile"</ref>

As of [[3050]], they were based on [[Hyalite]], in the [[House Davion]] half of the [[Federated Commonwealth]].<ref name=20YU>''20 Year Update'', p. 22: "AFFC Deployment Table - 3050"</ref>

They returned to the Lyran half of the Commonwealth to help meet the threat of the [[Clan Invasion]]. They took heavy losses fighting [[Clan Jade Falcon]], and by [[3054]], they had been reduced to a battalion in strength, and were based on [[Graceland]] alongside their companion unit from the assault on Alphecca, the 3rd Lyran Guards [[RCT]].<ref name=ORp22>''Objective Raids'', p. 22: "AFFC Deployment Table - 3054"</ref>

Cooperation between the units allowed them to easily counter Clan raids on Graceland and other nearby Lyran worlds, and would be expanded after the arrival of the [[Com Guards|Com Guard]] [[388th Division (ComStar)|388th Division]], with the [[Lyran Alliance]]'s increasing distrust of ComStar after [[Victor Steiner-Davion]]'s rise to [[Precentor Martial of ComStar]] resulting in both units moving to isolate the Com Guard Division along with their usual duties.<ref name=FMLA70/><ref name=FMC-41>''Field Manual: ComStar'', p. 41: "11th Army V-eta: The Honorable"</ref>

===FedCom Civil War===
Despite the fact the 388th Division steadfastly maintained their sole interest in protecting the surrounding worlds from the Jade Falcons after Victor Davion's broadcast on December 8th [[3062]] that triggered the [[FedCom Civil War]], the hot-headed Colonel Andes prepared the Eleventh Donegal to launch a preemptive strike against the Com Guard unit no matter the penalty, only held back by the level headed [[Leutnant-General]] [[Paul Zardetto]] of the Third Lyran Guards. Though stymied by the Guards' efforts to hold the Eleventh Donegal in check, Andes fomented extremists with [[Brotherhood of Cincinnatus]] loyalties into staging two weeks of increasingly violent anti-ComStar protests to engineer a reason to eject the ComStar unit from the world, culminating in a protester-triggered incident that led to the death of twelve citizens and three Com Guards, along with hundreds of wounded. On January 7th [[3063]] Colonel Andes ordered the Eleventh to disarm the 388th in response to the massacre, despite the Com Guard division pulling back to ComStar defensive emplacements and the Third Guards' best efforts to contain their fellow unit. The Eleventh Donegal launched near suicidal attacks on the 388th which provoked extremists to attempt to bomb Graceland's [[HPG]] compound.<ref name=FCCW-42>''FedCom Civil War'', pp. 42–43: "Flashpoint - Graceland (7 January 3063)"</ref>

Angered that Andes' actions had now led ComStar to invoke a [[Interdiction|Communications Interdiction]] on the world, the Third Guards CO Leutnant-General Paul Zardetto ordered his unit to push aside the Eleventh and completely contain the 388th. While apologizing for the Eleventh's action, Zardetto ordered the 388th to withdraw to prevent further escalation of the situation. Recognizing they had little choice to avoid fanning the conflict, with the stipulation that a mixed 'Mech and armored infantry [[Level III]] be left behind to guard the HPG compound from further attacks, the 388th lifted off Graceland on February 5th. Long an embarrassment for his outspoken views, three days later the commander of the [[Pandora Theater]] General Walter Gothard "rewarded" Andes for his disastrous actions with a promotion to a staff position, transferring command of the 11th Donegal to Leutnant-General Zardetto's aide Colonel Kay Hanley. On February 14th, [[Tharkad]] ordered the 3rd Lyran Guards to move out to [[Pandora]], leaving the Eleventh Donegal as the sole defenders of Graceland.<ref name=FCCW-42/>

They would not remain alone for long. Despite the bad blood between the units, the threat of the [[Jade Falcon Incursion (3064)|Clan Jade Falcon incursion of the Lyran Alliance]] led Precentor Martial Pro-Tem [[Gavin Dow]] to order the 388th Division back to Graceland to reinforce the Eleventh Donegal. Landing on June 1st, the Falcons' [[74th Battle (Clan Jade Falcon)|Seventy-fourth Battle]] and [[22nd Provisional Garrison (Clan Jade Falcon)|Twenty-second Provisional Garrison Cluster]]s focused the bulk of their attacks on the Eleventh, breaking the veteran Lyran unit within two weeks before turning their full attention onto the 388th. The survivors of the Eleventh Donegal were saved from complete destruction when [[Archer Christifori]]'s [[Archer's Avengers]] and sections of the [[Twentieth Arcturan Guards]] landed to assist in the defense of the planet, pushing the Falcons back.<ref name=FCCW-115>''FedCom Civil War'', p. 115: "Jade Falcon Incursion - Graceland"</ref><ref name=FMU-169>''Field Manual: Updates'', p. 169: "Donegal Guards bio"</ref> Remaining on Graceland and bolstered by the arrival of [[1st Kell Hounds]] and [[Clan Wolf-in-Exile]]'s [[3rd Wolf Guards (Clan Wolf-in-Exile)|Third Wolf Guards Cluster]], as August 1st [[3067]] the rebuilding Eleventh Donegal Guards had returned to 20% strength.<ref name=FMU177>''Field Manual: Updates'', p. 177: "Deployment Table"</ref>

===Destruction and Re-formation===
Remaining on Graceland during the early part of the [[Word of Blake]] [[Jihad]], the partially rebuilt Eleventh was destroyed by [[Free Worlds League]] forces during [[Operation BROKEN FIST]].<ref name=FRLAAF-11>''Field Report: LAAF'', p. 11: "Donegal Guards - Condition"</ref>

The story of the Eleventh would have ended there were it not for the Blackjacks, the renamed [[One-Eyed Jacks]] [[mercenary unit]]. Honoring the mercenary unit's long service to the Lyran realm and the losses it also suffered during Broken Fist, the mercenaries accepted the invitation to become an LAAF line-unit under the name of the Blackjacks.<ref name=FRLAAF-18>''Field Report: LAAF'', p. 18: "Irregular Forces - Mercenaries"</ref>

Originally assigned to the Lyrans' generalized "irregular" forces during the Jihad,<ref name=FRLAAF-18/> after that conflict's conclusion the LAAF high command chose to standardize the unit as an [[LCT]], renaming it as the new Eleventh Donegal Guards. The new but combat-experienced Eleventh quickly exorcised their namesake unit's demons by recapturing Graceland. Admirably serving to protect the world from further attacks from Clan Jade Falcon, the ex-mercenary Eleventh's biggest problem has been integrating its new support elements.<ref name=FM3085-100>''Field Manual: 3085'', p. 100: "The Lyran Commonwealth - Donegal Guards - Eleventh Donegal Guards"</ref>

===Dark Age===
In [[3145]] the Eleventh was used as the only purely offensive formation in the Donegal Guards. They spent a great deal of time striking at systems in the [[Clan Jade Falcon Occupation Zone]]. The Eleventh went on a series of small raids on worlds that were formerly part of the [[Isle of Skye]]. The Falcons dispersed in an attempt to catch the Eleventh, and the Eleventh used this opportunity to raid [[Glengarry]]. While on the world they captured nearly sixty suits of battle armor from the [[Gray Death Technologies]] plant on that world, and sabotaged the GDT plant before retreating off-world.<ref>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 127</ref> They then returned to their garrison world, [[Gladius (system)|Gladius]].<ref name=FM:3145p133/>

===ilClan Era===
When the [[Operation BLACK ICE|Black Ice]] team on [[Pobeda]] reported the departure of that world's front-line defenders in late [[3050]], the Eleventh was dispatched the following year to reclaim it for the Commonwealth. Veterans in fighting the best of Clan Jade Falcon, the Eleventh's soldiers easily crushed the Falcon paramilitary garrison and secured Pobeda.<ref>''Tamar Rising'', p. 21-22</ref>


In February of 3151, the 11th Donegal Guards launched raids into the Jade Falcon Occupation Zone. Specifically, they made landing on [[Seginus]]. After engaging with the Jade Falcon defenders, they hastened the Falcon's already planned withdrawal from the planet. <ref>' 'Honor's Gauntlet', p. 139</ref>

==Officers==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Rank
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Name
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Command
|-
| colspan="4" style="background: #efefef;" | '''Commanding Officers of the 11th Donegal Guards'''
|-
|[[Colonel]]||[[Jonathan Thurman]]||[[3025]]<ref name=HSp121>''House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)'', p. 121 (PDF version): "Unit Deployment Table"</ref>
|-
|Colonel||[[Cyrus Andes]]||[[3049]] - [[3054]]<ref name=ORp22/><ref name=FMLA70/><ref name=FCCW-42/>
|-
|Colonel||[[Kay Hanley]]||[[3063]] - [[3067]]<ref name=FCCW-42/><ref name=FMU177/>
|-
|[[Leutnant-General]]||[[Darrel Duke]]||[[3085]]<ref name=FM3085p109>''Field Manual: 3085'', p. 109: "LAAF Deployment Table - 3085"</ref>
|-
|Leutnant-General
|[[Nathan Bergstrom]]
|[[3145]]<ref name=FM:3145p133>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 133: "Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces - Donegal Province"</ref>
|}

==Tactics==
The command takes the lead from the beginning. The enemy must take a defensive position to react.<ref name=FMLA70/>

==Composition History==
===2765===
'''11th Donegal Guards''' (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)<ref name=FR:2765LCAFp11/>
: Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on [[Bella I]].

=== 2786 - 2821===
'''11th Donegal Guards ''' (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)<ref name=1SWp139>''First Succession War'', p. 139</ref>
: Note: At this point in time the medium-weight unit was stationed on [[Bella I]]. In 2821 the command was reduced to 51 percent of its strength and was deployed on [[Zwenkau]].<ref name=1SWp139/>

=== 2830 ===
'''11th Donegal Guards''' (Regiment/Regular/Reliable)<ref name=2SWp99>''Second Succession War'', p. 99</ref>
: Note: At this point in time the medium-weight unit was stationed on [[Senftenberg]] with an operational readiness of 115 percent.<ref name=2SWp99/>

=== 2864 ===
'''11th Donegal Guards''' (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)<ref name=2SWp99/>
: Note: At this point in time the heavy-weight unit was stationed on [[Lorie]] with an operational readiness of 80 percent.<ref name=2SWp99/>

===3025===
'''11th Donegal Guards''' (Regiment/Green/Questionable)<ref name=HSp121/>
:*CO: Colonel Jonathan Thurman
:Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on [[New Capetown]].

===3040===
'''11th Donegal Guards RCT''' (Regiment/Green/Questionable)<ref name=HWo3039p137/>
:Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on [[New Capetown]].<ref name=HWo3039p137>''Historical: War of 3039'', p. 137</ref>

===3050===
'''11th Donegal Guards ''' (Regiment/Green/Questionable)<ref name=20yup22/>
:* CO: Hauptmann General [[Cyrus Andes]]<ref name=20yup22/>
:Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on [[Hyalite]].<ref name=20yup22>''20 Year Update'', p. 22</ref>

===3054===
'''11th Donegal Guards (1 Battalion)''' (Regiment/Green/Questionable)<ref name=OpjRp22/>
:* CO: Hauptmann General Cyrus Andes<ref name=OpjRp22/>
:Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on [[Graceland]].<ref name=OpjRp22>''Objective Raids'', p. 22</ref>

===3062===
'''11th Donegal Guards''' (1 [[Regiment]]/Regular/Questionable)<ref name=FMLA70/><br>
CO: Colonel Cyrus Andes<br>
Aide: Kommandant [[Philip Ho]]<br>

'''95th Donegal Light Tank Regiment''' (1 Regiment/Regular/Questionable)<ref name=FMLA70/><br>
CO: Colonel [[George Wildman]]<br>

'''217th Donegal Commando Regiment''' (1 Regiment/Regular/Questionable)<ref name=FMLA70/><br>
CO: Colonel [[Wyatt Vines]]<br>
- The 217th includes a [[Platoon]] of [[battle armor]]<br>

'''11th Donegal Guards Air Wing''' (1 [[Wing (Military Unit)|Wing]]/Regular/Questionable)<ref name=FMLA70/><br>
CO: Kaptain [[Seren Johansson]]<br>

===3067===
'''11th Donegal Guards''' (Veteran/Questionable)<ref name=FMU177/><br>
CO: Colonel Kay Hanley<br>

'''11th Donegal Guards Air''' ([[Wing (Military Unit)|Win]]/Veteran/Questionable)<ref name=FMU177/><br>
CO: Kaptain Seren Johansson<br>

'''95th Donegal Light Tank''' (Regiment/Regiment/Questionable)<ref name=FMU177/><br>
CO: Colonel [[Wallace Hopper]]<br>

'''217th Donegal Commando''' (Regiment/Regular/Questionable)<ref name=FMU177/><br>
CO: Colonel [[Katrina Loess]]<br>

===3085===
'''11th Donegal Guards LCT''' (Regular/Reliable)<ref name=FM3085p109/><br>
CO: Leutnant General Darrel Duke<br>

'''11th Donegal Aerospace''' (Green/Reliable)<ref name=FM3085p109/><br>
CO: Kaptain Viorel Sobol<br>

'''11th Donegal Armor Brigade''' (Regular/Reliable)<ref name=FM3085p109/><br>
CO: Colonel Pier Blackbourne<br>

'''11th Donegal Infantry Brigade''' (Regular/Fanatical)<ref name=FM3085p109/><br>
CO: Colonel Vidar Simpson<br>

===3145===
'''11th Donegal Guards''' (Elite/Reliable)<ref name=FM:3145p133/><br>
CO: Leutnant General Nathan Bergstrom<br>

'''33rd Gladius Reaper''' (Veteran/Reliable)<ref name=FM:3145p133/><br>
CO: Colonel [[Janel Gorman]]<br>

'''11th Donegal Infantry Brigade''' (Elite/Reliable)<ref name=FM:3145p133/><br>
CO: Colonel [[Marty Willett]]<br>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[20 Year Update]]''
* ''[[FedCom Civil War (sourcebook)|FedCom Civil War]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: 3085]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: 3145]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: ComStar]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Lyran Alliance]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Updates]]''
* ''[[Field Report: LAAF]]''
* ''[[Field Report 2765: LCAF]]''
* ''[[First Succession War (sourcebook)|First Succession War]]''
* ''[[Historical: War of 3039]]''
* ''[[House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)]]''
* ''[[Objective Raids]]''
* ''[[Second Succession War (sourcebook)|Second Succession War]]''
* ''[[Tamar Rising]]''


[[Category:Lyran Commands|Donegal Guards, 11th]]
[[Category:Federated Commonwealth Commands|Donegal Guards, 11th]]