The army and its role in the world of RWBY is a complex and confusing topic. In short, a team of Huntsmens
cannot replace a company of soldiers. If you are ready to listen to my reasoning, then I will try to outline my opinion on this matter.
To begin with, the RWBY-verse itself was originally invented with a lot of internal contradictions. The most important of them is the discrepancy between society and the world. As the classic said: being defines consciousness. In other words, people in particular and society as a whole will adapt to the environment and shape themselves in accordance with it. Remnant is a death world in which civilization is: first, it is under threat of permanent destruction and has already slipped into the Bronze Age at least once. Secondly, there is an acute shortage of resources. It would seem that society should correspond to this state of affairs, but instead we have a typical Western (American/European)
peacetime society with its own peculiarities and problems.
To exist for centuries, such a society simply must have the necessary survival tools, be survival-oriented, and as a result have a high degree of practicality, thrift, militarization, and civic responsibility. The public is above the personal, conservative values are above liberal, every grain of resources and manpower matters. One can only survive together; therefore, each person must become a useful part of society and contribute to its prosperity, otherwise, left without the support of fellow citizens, he will simply die.
Any
harmful or
useless elements, whether they are criminals, dissidents, or just loafers, should be treated as hostile and are highly likely to either be rejected or brought into subjection.
You are either with us, or against us – in such a paradigm, the local population will exist, laws, culture, traditions, science and art will correspond to this.
Organizations such as the White Fang or the Branwen Tribe will not only not be tolerated, they will be ruthlessly destroyed at the slightest sign of criminal or terrorist activity. First, the government will offer them surrender, and then simply pour napalm or cluster bombs on their heads, after which it will clean up the survivors with a hunting squad. When the whole world is on the verge of destruction, rocking the boat is unacceptable. Crime can only exist in very moderate and mild forms, like the Junior Club. Any nail that sticks out too much will be hammered in as soon as possible, because the kingdom already has enough problems to spend its limited resources and forces on crime.
Therefore, the picture drawn by the authors of the script, to put it mildly, raises questions. Events unfold in the death world, but its inhabitants are openly disdainful of internal and external threats, wasting time and scarce resources. They do anything but strengthen society in the face of the threat of the Grimm. I repeat once again: we are being shown a prosperous Western-type civilization, a consumer society in peacetime, while it should be something similar to the USSR of the 30s. Or the Imperium from Wh40, if you want to take it to the extreme.
As for comparing the Huntsmen Corps and the regular army, this is a useless and pointless matter. Simply because they are two completely different structures with completely different goals and ways of organizing, neither of which can fully replace the other. Huntsmens should be used primarily for rapid response to threats, as well as for the destruction of particularly dangerous species of Grimm, which ordinary soldiers may have problems with. At other times, they can reinforce regular military units.
For all other tasks, the army is preferable. First of all, these are border protection, garrison duty in cities and towns, protection of strategic facilities such as power plants, mines, factories and transport hubs, and escort of transport convoys. Any small town should have a garrison whose sole task will be to protect it. One might think that the militia can handle this, but in all senses, a professional army is preferable, it will cope with this better, will have a higher level of training and material support. There are reasons why the people's militia has practically fallen out of use in the modern world.
Huntsmens, for all their strength, have several obvious disadvantages. Firstly, there are simply few of them. They cannot shut up all threatened areas, especially in times of crisis. This also applies to necessary but routine tasks, such as patrols or the protection of important facilities. For example, there is an ordinary railway bridge, through which communication is carried out between the Vale and one of the satellite settlements. Tons of food, consumer goods, dusts, fuel and ammunition are transported along it every day. It is through him that, if necessary, reinforcements will arrive and civilians will be evacuated. The Grimms or White Fang can destroy the bridge at any moment, creating a critical vulnerability in Vale logistics. So this bridge needs to be guarded around the clock or at least kept under surveillance, but we can't assign a team of professional Huntsmens to this, can we? There are hundreds of such bridges, as well as other facilities – mines, power plants, hospitals; there simply won't be enough Huntsmens for all of them.
Secondly, there are very few Huntsmens. Yes, I'm repeating myself, but it needs to be repeated. If a Huntsmen fails, for example, is injured, gets sick, or has diarrhea, it will be very difficult to replace him. Moreover, it takes about eight years to train a Huntsmen (correct me if I'm wrong), while a soldier can be brought up to an acceptable level in a year. In a couple of months, if you cut corners and focus on the most important things. And they can be cooked by the thousands, unlike the scarce Huntsmens.
Thirdly, compared to Huntsmens, soldiers are not that weak. Their main drawback is the lack of Aura, that is, personal protection that allows them to survive a fatal blow. They also cannot replace most of the Semblances. If we talk only about the attacking ability, then everything is not so bad here. Let's think about what the canonical teams are armed with. Let's put aside melee weapons and focus on shooting. RWBY team? A large-caliber sniper rifle, a pistol, and the equivalent of a shotgun. JNPR? A rifle, a grenade launcher, and a pair of small-caliber SMG. CFVY? A minigun and a Velvet's copycat weapon. And so on and so forth.
With rare exceptions like Penny, Huntsmens don't use some incredibly powerful small arms. They mostly use varieties of real weapons that simply have an exotic shape and appearance. At the same time, all of the above weapons are obviously quite effective against Grimms, since professional Huntsmens use them. It may well be used by soldiers without an aura and in much larger numbers.
You also mentioned that soldiers are less mobile than Huntsmens, but this is only partially true. Yes, Huntsmens are generally more mobile and this is achieved through two factors – the use of aura to accelerate and the small number of team members. If nothing can be done about the first one, then the second one is not such a problem. Let's not compare the Huntsmen squad with a motorized rifle company and go down to the platoon level. That's a total of thirty to forty soldiers, who can be transported by a pair of M35 trucks or one CH-47 Chinook (their equivalents).
At the same time, thirty to forty soldiers, even with M1 Garand rifles, can create a fire density greater than the entire RWBY team. They also carry significantly more ammunition and auxiliary equipment, such as grenades, for example. If you equip them with more modern weapons, as well as strengthen them with machine gunners and grenade launchers, then the firepower simply becomes incomparable. What can we say about technology – Huntsmens don't have it at all. Even a single M2 Bradley attached to a platoon can provide significant support against both humans and Grimms. I am more than sure that a series of shots from a 25 mm automatic cannon is fatal for a Huntsmen, regardless of whether he has an aura or not.
At the same time, it is not necessary to arm soldiers according to the standards of high-tech modern armies. Grimm's confrontation is in some ways easier than for other people, since there is no need for many devices and specialists, such as mine detectors or electronic warfare equipment. It is enough to develop a line of cheap, unpretentious and easy-to-learn weapons, and then start mass production. Soviet weapons fit almost perfectly: AK-74M, RPK, PKM, RPG-7, AGS-17, SVD and so on.
To summarize, the Huntsmen's Corps cannot replace the regular army in principle. It should be a highly professional special forces unit, whose task is to respond quickly to threats and strengthen regular units; it relies on and complements the army, rather than trying to replace it.
By the way, I don't understand at all the freedom with which Huntsmens operate in the canon. It looks like some kind of mercenary market without strict accountability. No contracts, protocols, or obligations to the kingdom are properly mentioned. It turns out that a random guy like Jaune can enroll with forged documents, and then die, wasting the lighthouse's time and resources? What if he finishes his studies and changes his mind at the last moment? Is there really no control at all? Against this background, Atlas looks like a model of foresight and common sense, although its creators did not think everything through very well.
I would like to emphasize once again that in a world like Remnant, the army is not a whim of the government or a burdensome expense item, but a fundamental part of society, the basis of its survival. Without professional military personnel, civilians can literally be devoured at any moment. Consequently, a lot of time and effort will be devoted to the development of the armed forces, and resources will necessarily be spent on them. I will say more: historically, society should have developed in such a way that the career of a soldier will be considered an honorable and heroic deed. Both public culture and state propaganda will work for this.
I see the system adopted in the USSR as a good, or at least reasonable, form of organization of military service. Such a system consists of several related elements and aims to maintain a permanent professional army, as well as create a large number of reservists who can either protect themselves or who can be quickly conscripted into military service. As shown by the canon of RWBY in general and the fall of the Beacon in particular, such a situation can occur without warning at literally any moment.
So, how do I see it:
1) Initial pre-war training. Teaching schoolchildren aged 14-17 the basic skills they may need to live in a society under constant threat of destruction by the Grimm. The training course should include the basics of handling and maintaining weapons, providing medical care to the wounded, using personal protective equipment, and basic topography. Regular exercises should be conducted both in schools and in production facilities. The entire population should know what to do in case of a Grimm attack, where shelters and arsenals are located. Civilian shooting ranges and clubs (with pneumatic and blanks) should be accessible to everyone.
2) Compulsory military service. Upon reaching the age of majority, all young men undergo compulsory one-year or two-year service in the Vale Army. The exceptions are those citizens who are already undergoing training in socially important professions, such as engineers or doctors. During this period, conscripts will complete a full-fledged combat training course and receive military specialties. Most of the time, they
won't be used to protect the kingdom from the Grimm. In case of emergency, they can be used as reserves or auxiliary forces for the regular army of Vale. At the end of their term of service, all conscripts are demobilized as reservists.
3) Professional military service. Any adult citizen of Vale can sign a contract and enlist in the military. Recruits undergo training, take the oath of office, receive a military rank and position, after which they are sent to one of the active units. These are mainly border fortifications and garrisons located inside settlements or near objects of strategic importance. At the same time, unlike modern Earth's armies, soldiers are not transferred from place to place every few years, on the contrary, they are encouraged to grow into the local population. Soldiers are encouraged to form bonds with the community and start families. I repeat that in the Remnant, a soldier is primarily a warrior-defender; this is what state propaganda works for, this image is supported by traditions and public opinion.
5) The Huntsmen's Corps. Huntsmens should be considered as elite warriors necessary for the existence of society. There are always not enough Huntsmens, so a significant part of the resources and efforts are devoted to their training. This is a very attractive and socially acceptable career that promises a good salary, government benefits, as well as honor and respect among fellow citizens. Therefore, the state is looking for children with a high level of aura from an early age and very persistently offers education in specialized schools. This training is conducted in a paramilitary manner, where students are not only taught professional skills, but also instilled a high level of discipline and social responsibility.
Huntsmens for training have many privileges, but their level of accountability and responsibility is also much higher. Thus, the episode where Yang destroys the nightclub is not just a minor prank, but a serious criminal offense. An attack on a civilian will result in very severe punishment, unless it was committed in self-defense, to protect someone else's life, or to prevent the commission of a crime.
In general, Huntsmens should become the equivalent of special forces, an integral part of the army, whose abilities are in high demand. Alternatively, they can form highly professional military communities, such as knights' orders. However, one way or another, they will be accountable to the state and will benefit people. But what they definitely won't be is a mercenary labor exchange (a guild of adventurers from any typical fantasy) that you can't rely on and whose actions can't be controlled.
6) Military industry. To ensure its own security (and existence in general), any Remnant state must have a developed military industry. Not necessarily high-tech, but economical and focused on the mass production of cheap, reliable and unpretentious weapons. The armies of the Remnant as a whole should be more practical and defense-oriented than the armies of Earth. It makes no sense to spend a lot of money on aircraft carriers or ballistic missiles when several artillery batteries will be much more useful. When everything is filled with Grimm, there is no such thing as excess firepower.
At the same time, the entire military (and most of the civilian industry) will either be nationalized or have a high degree of accountability. When the survival of humanity as a species depends on timely deliveries and quality of products, corporate owners and private contractors
will have to fulfill obligations on acceptable terms. If a businessman like Jacques Schnee decides to unreasonably raise the price of products above those approved by the state, or for some reason simply refuses to sell his goods to the Atlas army, he will simply be removed (arrested or killed as an enemy of the people in the truest sense of the word), replaced by someone more understanding and loyal. Remnant is not a Land, and if capitalism exists there, it will be in some other form, different from the one we know.
That's kind of how I see it. I hope you found this post useful or inspired some interesting thoughts.
Otherwise, I wasted 6 hours writing and translating.
Good luck and have a nice day.
