Editing Colonial Military Authority

{{Era|UNSC|HCW}}

The '''Colonial Military Administration''', abbreviated '''CMA''' and commonly known as the '''Colonial Military''',<ref name="Dirt">'''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''', "[[Dirt]]", ''page 109''</ref> was created by the [[Unified Earth Government]] in the early 2300s. Its original mission was to serve as the controlling body for UNSC ships and ground forces reassigned to colonial protective operations. However, over the years its role gradually became usurped by the [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]].

==History==
===Origins===
Colonial duty was essentially a ceremonial function, primarily intended to placate the colonists' fears of pirates and marauders, so the UNSC felt a separate command—the CMA—would suffice to administer to these less important activities. At the time, [[UNSC Naval Command|NAVCOM]] and [[Unified Ground Command|UNICOM]] believed that their own resources were better spent on activities within the [[Sol system]]. As the colonies spread and became more vital, NAVCOM and UNICOM tried to disband the CMA and usurp its role on a number of occasions, but the colonial command was adamant in protecting their turf. Their charter (approved by the UNSC) left little room for external maneuvering. Even so, by 2400 CE, NAVCOM and UNICOM were operating the [[Inner Colonies]] alongside the CMA.

===CMA and the Outer Colonies===
In response to the two encroaching commands, the CMA made the [[Outer Colonies]] their province, and tended to assign most of their forces to the periphery of the border worlds. They drew most of their recruits from the colonies and their soldiers often thought of themselves as frontiersmen, more bold and adventurous than their UNICOM counterparts. As humanity spread, the CMA was at the forefront, helping colonists to tame worlds and protecting citizens from lawlessness in sparsely populated areas.

===Split allegiances===
In the late 2400s, as brushfire wars began to crop up across the various colonies, tensions began to develop within the military hierarchy. Some soldiers of the CMA tended to sympathize with the plight of the colonists, while the soldiers of UNICOM held more allegiance to [[Earth]].

===Demise===
In [[2494]], CE, secessionists within the [[Eridanus system]] began a campaign of violence against their Earth-sponsored government, using equipment supplied by traitors within the military, believed by many to be members of the CMA. The colony petitioned the UNSC for aid, and [[UNSC High Command|HIGHCOM]] dispatched a battle group that crushed the rebellion, though not so conclusively as to avoid continued dissent.<ref name="HE34">'''[[Halo Encyclopedia]]''', ''page 34''</ref>

In [[2497]], the CMA's involvement with the rebels went public.<ref name="HE34"/> This was considered the beginning of the end for the colonial military. Over the next few decades, citing security concerns, the UNSC gradually shifted the resources of the CMA to NAVCOM or UNICOM control, relegating the CMA to patrolling the most distant colonies and providing logistical support to remote stations.

By [[2525]], the CMA had been sidelined to the point of redundancy. Its budgets had been slashed and as such it was reduced to using obsolete and worn out vehicles, equipment and uniforms. Unlike the UNSC, CMA boot camp lasted just two weeks, which in the words of CMA veteran [[Gage Yevgenny]] was ''"enough to teach you how to use your weapon, salute, march, and drive a Warthog before they booted you right on out there."''<ref name="Dirt"/>

===NAVCOM/UNICOM control===
After contact was lost with [[Harvest]], the CMA sent the scout ship [[CMA Argo|''Argo'']] to investigate. A CMA-controlled [[Battlegroup 4]] then followed the ''Argo'' when the latter failed to report for six months. Once the existence of the [[Covenant Empire|Covenant]] was made known, all CMA combat forces were placed under NAVCOM or UNICOM control "for the duration of the crisis". This reassignment essentially became permanent as the [[Human-Covenant War]] dragged on, and by [[2552]], the Colonial Military Administration was little more than a fleet of navigational buoy tenders and remote fuel depots manned by wounded veterans and those unfit for combat service.

===Super soldier program===
The original super soldier program lies not with the UNSC, but with the Colonial Military Administration, which started its own program in [[2321]].<ref>'''Halo Encyclopedia''', ''page 80-81''</ref> Even though the program failed, it would be resurrected by the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] as the [[ORION Project]] in [[2491]].<ref>'''[[Halo: The Flood]]''', page ''16''</ref>

==Sources==
<references/>
[[Category:Unified Earth Government]]