Editing 1st Kearny Highlanders


{{Cleanup|reason=review needed|date=September 2023}}
{{infoBoxMilitaryCommand
| image     = [[File:Nh1k.png|150px|1st Kearny Highlanders]]
| Designation  = First Kearny Highlanders
| Formed    = [[2362]]
| Disbanded = c. [[3137]]<ref name=FM3145p140>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 140: "Twelfth Hastati Sentinels"</ref>
| Previous Designation = 
| Nickname  = 
| Affiliation = [[Republic of the Sphere]];<br />[[Mercenary]] (formerly)
| Parent Command = [[Northwind Highlanders]]
| Sub-Command = 
}}

==History==
===Early History===
The '''First Kearny Highlanders''' were the oldest and longest lived of the [[Northwind Highlanders]] formations. The regiment was originally formed by volunteers from the mining settlement of [[Kearny]] on [[Northwind]].  The unit fought early battles for various Great Houses, including the [[Capellan Confederation]]. Its career in these early times was checkered with victories and defeats.

The unit's first notable conflict was during the [[1st Andurien War|First Andurien War]], where the unit fought for the Confederation. The unit was nearly routed on [[Lopez]] by elements of [[House Marik]]'s [[Oriente Hussars]].  This route nearly cost the unit its career.

*[[2761]] - First Kearny redeem themselves by successful occupation of the Davion world of [[Demeter]] with odds against them.

===Succession Wars===
*[[2801]] - The unit is deployed to [[Lincoln]] to successfully defend the world from elements of [[House Kurita]]'s Dieron Regulars attempt raid the world.

*[[2802]] - The unit fought and lost to elements of the DCMS on Lincoln, losing their command ''battle standard''. The standard was presented back to the Highlanders as a gift of goodwill by [[Omiko Kurita|Omi Kurita]] in [[3058]].<ref name=IW35>''Impetus of War'', p. 35</ref>

*[[2865]] - First Kearny returned to [[Northwind]] to defend the world from House Marik regulars and their mercenary support units.  The First Kearny was able to drive off the invaders. They inflicted heavy damage on the fleeing units, including the mercenary force known as the [[Jal's Jaegers]] but lost half of its men and equipment in the effort. The unit resolved to rebuild itself with heavier equipment, so it restricted itself to raiding until it fully rebuilt.

*[[2866]] to [[2880]] - First Kearny conducts a number of raids on Free Worlds League holdings for 'Mechs and supplies.  Recovering large quantity of medium BattleMechs to allow the regiment to fully recover.

*[[2943]] - The Second Company of the Second Battalion, under the command of Captain Erika Laurel leader her company held the defense of Hsien against Marik troops until the [[Warrior House Ijori]] regiment arrived.

*In the [[3008]] Battle of New Aragon, the First and [[2nd Kearny Highlanders| Second Kearny Highlanders]] faced [[Wolf's Dragoons]] and successfully held off five different assaults, including one from Zeta Battalion.<ref>''Wolf's Dragoons'', pp. 11–12</ref>

*[[3028]] - Stationed on [[Highspire]] the First Kearny departed, after news reached them of the negotiation between the clan elders and the Federated Suns, to their new home on Northwind.

===War of 3039===
During the [[War of 3039]] the First Kearny Highlanders remained stationed on Northwind throughout the conflict.<ref>''Historical: War of 3039'', p. 143: "Deployment Table"</ref>

===Clan Invasion===
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===Jihad===
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===Dark Age Era===
This unit was the sole regiment from the famed Northwind Highlanders to remain in service after the founding of the [[Republic of the Sphere]], the First Kearny spent a couple of decades as a garrison unit for the [[Northwind Military Academy]] before being reinvented as a roving troubleshooter force.<ref name="EDDA"/>

====Early Republic Era====
At the [[Jihad]] ended, the First Kearny Highlanders were stationed on [[Northwind]] in [[Prefecture III]] of [[The Republic of the Sphere]].<ref>''Field Manual: 3085'', p. 186</ref>
The Northwind Highlanders leadership negotiated with Republic government, where they would broker a deal to join the Republic Armed Forces while preserving the Highlanders legacy. In the end the First Kearny was elected to remain intact, while rest of the regiment would eventually be absorbed into the RAF losing their identities as Highlanders.  While rebuilding from [[Operation SCOUR]] in [[3078]], the First Kearny would end up detaching a battalion of its forces to help rebuild the [[Third Republic Auxiliaries]] after the fighting during [[Operation: Golden Dawn]].<ref>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 183: Independent Units - First Kearny survival and some details of First Kearny's actions during the early days it serving the Republic of the Sphere</ref>

After the initial conflicts Republic had during the 3090s, the First Kearny would remain on Northwind as a garrison for the [[Northwind Military Academy]]. After years assigned to this duty, the regiment would be reinvented and tasked themselves as a troubleshooting force. As independent unit, the Highlanders would end up not being utilized during the [[Capellan Crusades]] of 3112–3113.<ref>''Historical: Wars of the Republic Era'', pp. 86–87: Capellan Crusades Deployment Tables - "Northwind Highlanders are not listed as being deployed as part of the conflict</ref><ref>''Era Digest: Dark Age'', pp. 15–16: First Kearny Highlanders - "Brief profile gives a basic early history of the First Kearny as garrison unit for the academy and later as troubleshooting unit its later years</ref>

The First Kearny Highlanders made a combat drop against [[Black Dragon Society|Black Dragon]] pirates, when [[Colonel]] [[Emil Wallace]] suffered a [[BattleMech]] malfunction, and it was [[Tara Campbell]] (daughter of a former Highlander Commanding Officer) who step up into command of the operation with a masterful strategy that saved his life, threw the pirates off [[Sadalbari]] and crushed an entire company of the pirates, even capturing one of their [[DropShip|DropShips]].<ref name=DARoSp36/><ref name=ASitH/>

====The Blackout and after====
In August [[3132]] the [[HPG]] network largely went offline or was attacked during the event later dubbed "[[Gray Monday]]".<ref>''Era Digest: Dark Age'', p. 10: Dark Age Timeline - Gray Monday / HPG Crash listed</ref> True to their mission, the First Kearny were deployed across Prefecture III aiding in putting down uprisings and newly arisen splinter groups trying to gain power for themselves. Under the direction of Prefecture III's Prefect Tara Campbell, the First Kearny served as a roving troubleshooting force across her and neighboring Prefectures during the early years of the Blackout. The First Kearny along with two newly created sister regiments (the [[Northwind Fusiliers]] and shortly after the [[Republic Guards (Northwind Highlanders)|Republic Guards]]) would end being spread thin across the Rimward and Spinward portions of the Republic.

Elements of the First Kearny would end up engaged in fighting an invasion of Northwind itself, by [[Steel Wolves]], a Clan-oriented splinter group, twice. Over the course of nine months (first in June [[3133]] and in February [[3134]]) with minimum resources, Campbell and the elements of the regiment would end up fighting off two takeover attempts by the Steel Wolves and its uncanny leader, [[Galaxy Commander]] [[Anastasia Kerensky]]. Despite betrayal of Paladin [[Ezekiel Crow]], the Highlanders succeeded, mounted what amounts to a counterattack to stop Steel Wolves from its next destination, which would soon be found out as [[Terra]]. The First Kearny with the rest of the available Northwind Highlanders Tara Campbell could muster, end up fighting off Steel Wolves with the [[Tenth Principes Guards]] on the fields of former nation of Russia in April.

The regiment would continue to be stretched for a few more months until they would be requested to muster on [[Skye]], where they would face threat of invasion by [[Clan Jade Falcon]]. They would need to dig in and help build clever strategies as they faced elements of multiple [[Galaxy|Galaxies]] of troops after the Clan had captured a number of [[Prefecture VIII]] and [[Prefecture IX|IX]] worlds. The regiment, along with other coalition forces (including Steel Wolves) would manage to repulse the Falcons' first invasion in August 3134, however they would be forced to withdraw from Skye failing to fight off the second attack.<ref>''Era Digest: Dark Age'', pp. 8–10, 15–16: Brief highlights of the combat for Northwind, Terra, and Skye noted</ref><ref>''Field Manual: 3145'', pp. 14–15: Descend - Campbell and Highlanders effort noted and more details of the Battle for Skye</ref>

[[DCMS]] forces took [[Scheat]] in June [[3135]] after engaging and routing elements of the Third Battalion, [[1st Kearny Highlanders|First Kearny Regiment]] from [[Republic Armed Forces]].<ref name=DA3135PDAJp201>''Dark Age: 3135 PDA Journals'', p. 201: "30 June 3135"</ref>

====Absorption into the RAF and legacy====
By [[3137]] the First Kearny had been absorbed into the RAF. While considered a military necessity the move was met with disquiet by Northwind's inhabitants. To placate them the RAF High Command included a high percentage of Northwind-descended soldiers in the newly raised [[XII Hastati Sentinels|Twelfth Hastati Sentinels]], and the unit itself also fostered a close relationship with the Northwind Military Academy.<ref name=FM3145p140/>

===IlClan Era and Rebirth===
After the [[Battle of Terra (3151)|Battle of Terra]], the surviving Highlanders returned to Northwind, now an independent world. They dissolved the Twelfth Hastati, to recreate the First Kearny into a full regiment. mercenaries once more, they hired on with the [[Duke of Tybalt]] [[Loren Hansen ‎]], the recently titled commander of [[Hansen's Roughriders]] whom also survived Terra. One of the first assignments was to probe border world defenses, obsetensibly for an upcoming offensive.  At least a company of Highlanders [[Battle of Caph (3151)|fought]] the [[Third Star League|Third Star League's]] [[Clan Jade Falcon]] units on [[Caph]] as a result of these reconnaissance-in-force missions.<ref>''Unit Digest: First Kearny Highlanders'' in ''Shrapnel#11'', p. 78-79</ref><ref>''Chaos Theory''</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 First Kearny Highlanders'''
|-
| [[Colonel]]||[[Timm McDougal]]||[[2841]]<ref name=NHp20>''Northwind Highlanders'', p. 20</ref>
|-
| Colonel||[[Timothy Senn]]||[[3025]]<ref name=NHp47>''Northwind Highlanders'', p. 47</ref>
|-
| Colonel||[[Sandra McPierce]]||[[3029]]<ref name=NHp24>''Northwind Highlanders'', p. 24</ref>
|-
| Colonel||[[Edward Senn]]||[[3050]]–[[3067]]<ref name=NHp47/>
|-
| Colonel||[[Marshall MacLeod]]||[[3085]]<ref name=FM3085186>''Field Manual: 3085'', p. 186: "RAF Deployment Table - 3085"</ref>
|-
| Colonel||[[Emil Wallace]]||[[3124]]–[[3127]]<ref name=DARoSp36>''Dark Age: Republic of the Sphere'', p. 36: "Tara Campbell"</ref><ref name=ASitH>''A Silence in the Heavens'', p. ??{{cn}}</ref>
|-
| Colonel||[[Caden Senn]]||[[3132]]<ref name="MWDADPCp10">''MechWarrior: Dark Age - Dossiers and Pilot Cards'', p. 10: "Caden Senn profile"</ref>
|-
| Colonel||[[Robert Ballantrae]]||[[3134]]<ref name="EDDA">''Era Digest: Dark Age'', p. 15: "First Kearny Highlanders"</ref>
|-
| Colonel||[[Cadha Jaffray]]||[[3151]]-present<ref>''Unit Digest: First Kearny Highlanders'' in ''Shrapnel#11'', p. 78</ref>
|-
|}

===Other officers===
* In 3134 the XO of the unit was [[Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Carole McMasters]]<ref name="EDDA"/>
* [[Lieutenant]] [[Francis Forbes]] in [[3135]].<ref name=DA3135PDAJp201/>
* The Reborn 1st Kearny's XO, in 3151, was [[Luis McNamara]].<ref>''Unit Digest: First Kearny Highlanders'' in ''Shrapnel#11'' p. 77</ref>

==Tactics==
The First Kearny were known to be the most conservative unit of the Highlanders, refusing to give any ground no matter the cost.<ref>''Era Report: 3062'', p. 143: "First Kearny Highlanders"</ref>

==Support==
The naval fleet of the First Kearny contains following JumpShips:
:''Monolith''-class = ''[[Spirit of Edinburgh]]''
:''Star Lord''-class = ''[[Queen Anne]]'' and ''[[Queen Mary]]''
:''Invader''-class = ''[[King's Own]]'', ''[[Jacoby]]'' and ''[[Monymusk]]''
:''Scout''-class = ''[[Argyll (Individual Scout-class JumpShip)|Argyll]]'' and ''[[Princess Louise]]''

==Composition History==
=== 2786–2821===
'''First Kearny Highlanders''' (Regiment/Elite/Questionable)<ref name=1SWp136>''First Succession War'', p. 136</ref>
: Note: At this point in time the medium-weight unit was stationed on [[Halloran V]]. In 2821 the command was reduced to 42 percent of its strength and was deployed on [[Halloran V]].<ref name=1SWp136/>

=== 2830 ===
'''First Kearny Highlanders''' (Regiment/Elite/Questionable)<ref name=2SWp96>''Second Succession War'', p. 96</ref>
: Note: At this point in time the medium-weight unit was stationed on [[Ilmachna]] with an operational readiness of 101 percent.<ref name=2SWp96/>

=== 2864 ===
'''First Kearny Highlanders''' (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)<ref name=2SWp96/>
: Note: At this point in time the medium-weight unit was stationed on [[Kyrkbacken]] with an operational readiness of 78 percent.<ref name=2SWp96/>

===3025===
'''First Kearny Highlanders''' (2 Battalions/Veteran/Reliable)<ref name=hslioap105>''House Liao (The Capellan Confederation)'', p. 105</ref>
:*CO:
::*First Battalion - CO:
::*Second Battalion - CO: [[Major]] [[Holly Hendersenn]]<ref name=HLp81>''House Liao (The Capellan Confederation)'', p. 81: "First Kearny Highlanders Unit Profile"</ref>
:Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on [[Highspire]].<ref name=hslioap105/>

===3040===
'''First Kearny Highlanders''' (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)<ref name=HWo3039p141/>
:Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on [[Northwind]].<ref name=HWo3039p141>''Historical: War of 3039'', p. 141</ref>
:Contract: AFFC<ref name=HWo3039p141/>

===3050===
'''First Kearny Highlanders ''' (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)<ref name=20yup19/>
:* CO: Colonel Edward Senn<ref name=20yup19/>
:Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on [[Errai]].<ref name=20yup19>''20 Year Update'', p. 19</ref>

===3054===
'''First Kearney Highlanders''' (/Veteran/Reliable)<ref name=OpjRp22/>
:* CO: Colonel James D. Cochraine<ref name=OpjRp22/>
:Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on [[Mogyorod]].<ref name=OpjRp22>''Objective Raids'', p. 22</ref>

===3059===
'''First Kearny Highlanders ''' (Regiment/Elite/Fanatical)<ref name=FMMercsp114/>
:* CO: Colonel Edward Senn<ref name=FMMercsp114/>
: Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on [[Northwind]].<ref name=FMMercsp114>''Field Manual: Mercenaries'', p. 114</ref>

===3067===
'''Regimental Command Company''' (Company/Elite/Fanatical)
:The company fields 12 Clan BattleMechs.
:The First Kearny Air Wing contains 6 elite fighters.

'''First Kearny Highlanders''' (Reinforced Regiment/Elite/Fanatical)
:Queen's Own Battalion: Major David Lee Senn
:78th Highland Battalion: Major Til Honey
:Gordon Battalion: Major Evelyn Marks
:The regiment contains a vehicle company.
The unit contains 85% upgrades.

'''[[First Gurkhas]]''' (Battalion/Elite/Reliable)
:Sixth Company
:Seventh Company
:Tenth Company
The unit is elite special forces. The unit now contains full complement of battle armor.

===3085===
'''First Kearny Highlanders''' (Two Battalions/Veteran/Questionable)<ref name=FM3085186/>
* CO: Colonel Marshall MacLeod

===3132===
'''First Kearny Highlanders''' (Reinforced Regiment/Elite/Fanatical)<ref name="EDDA"/>
* CO: Colonel Robert Ballantrae \ XO: Lt. Colonel Carole McMasters.
Note: The Regiment's Equipment Rating is listed as having access to "B" level tech/equipment.

===3151===
'''First Kearny Highlanders''' (1 reinforced Regiment/Elite/Fanatical)<ref>''Unit Digest: First Kearny Highlanders'' in ''Shrapnel#11'', p. 77</ref>
* CO: Colonel Radha Jaffray \ XO: Lt. Colonel Luis McNamara.
: 1 reinforced Heavy 'Mech regiment, 1 battle armor battalion, 1 medium aerospace fighter wing.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
1st Kearny Highlanders (RotS) logo.png|First Kearny insignia (Dark Age)
</gallery>

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* ''[[20 Year Update]]''
* ''[[Dark Age: Republic of the Sphere]]''
* ''[[Era Digest: Dark Age]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3062]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: 3085]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: 3145]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Updates]]''
* ''[[First Succession War (sourcebook)|First Succession War]]''
* ''[[Historical: War of 3039]]''
* ''[[House Liao (The Capellan Confederation)]]''
* ''[[MechWarrior: Dark Age - Dossiers and Pilot Cards]]''
* ''[[Mercenaries Supplemental Update]]''
* ''[[NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 1]]''
* ''[[NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 2]]''
* ''[[Northwind Highlanders (scenario pack)|Northwind Highlanders]]''
* ''[[Objective Raids]]''
* ''[[Second Succession War (sourcebook)|Second Succession War]]''
* ''[[Shrapnel Issue 11]]''
* ''[[A Silence in the Heavens]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Warrior: Riposte]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Wolf's Dragoons (sourcebook)|Wolf's Dragoons]]''
{{div col end}}


[[Category:Mercenary Commands|Northwind Highlanders, 1st Kearny Highlanders]]
[[Category:Republic of the Sphere Commands|Northwind Highlanders, 1st Kearny Highlanders]]