Colonial Militia Training

Colonial Militia Training (CMT) is the designation of a UNSC program raising local Colonial Militia forces on human colonies. Officially, Colonial Militia Training was to train colonists how to deal with natural disasters, basic internal security, and several other difficult situations. It allowed the colonists to help themselves supplementing the UNSC forces, so that far fewer UNSC Marines and soldiers needed to be stationed away from the main theaters of combat during the Insurrection, such as Epsilon Eridani. In practice, however, it was designed to train a paramilitary counter-insurgency force. There is controversy surrounding the program, with some individuals believing that giving colonists adequate training and weaponry was not a good idea, in the event that they may turn against the UNSC.

The Colonial Militia Training was led by personnel from the UNSC Marines and Navy. However, some personnel exploited the program by using it as a way to leave the Insurrection behind or as a vacation of sorts.

Training

The training for Colonial Militia consists of several exercises that were used in training the United States Marine Corps. Militia recruits would have to go through two weeks of physical training (PT), which included a daily ten-kilometer marches to one destination and back. These runs are later augmented when the recruits are ordered to don twenty-five-kilogram rucksacks. Recruits would also go through combat training such as pugil stick competitions between trainees and learning how to defend an area from attack. Then, militia recruits were given live-fire weapons training on a gun range. The Harvest militia were trained with MA5 assault rifles against three-hundred meter targets. The recruits with the most skills and accuracy at the range would qualify for sharpshooters in the militia. The recruits were also given training through pugil stick competitions between trainees. The recruits would wear protective armor and mouth guards. The two combatant trainees stood on a beam a half meter above a pit of sand, and the first person to knock their opponent off the beam was the winner.

The final part in Colonial Militia Training was a live-fire exercise that had the recruits battling their drill instructors. The exercise helped demonstrated the weaknesses and strengths of each militia recruit to the drill instructors. Following CMT graduation, Colonial Militia service was often considered beneficial to an individual's résumé and would give individuals a greater opportunity at enlisting in an Officer Candidate School.

List of appearances

• Halo: Contact Harvest (First appearance)
• Halo: Silent Storm (Mentioned only)