What if the various branches of the military were equated to the classes of D&D

If you were to equate any of the branches of the military to dnd classes, or vice versa, what would they be?

Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, Army, Marines, etc.

I tried, but I'm pretty sure they're all Rangers.

Well, the thing is, each branch you named is a huge organization.
Look at the Air Force, for example. Within it, you have air superiority, ground support, air transportation, I don't know if paratroopers are Air Force, but if they are there's that as well. Plus all the support personnel.
With the Navy, you have even more variation because in addition to all their roles, they have an air branch as well.

The Army, of course, is probably the most versatile of all, with corps of riflemen, engineers, tanks, artillery, doctors, logistics, and probably a dozen others I haven't even thought of.

So, with that in mind, they're all Wizards.


If, however, you want to get more specific, Riflemen are probably fighters; put them in combat, and they're self-sufficient, and can fulfill most roles, or be fine-tuned to one.

Special Operations, like Marines, would probably be Clerics; they're really powerful fighters, and have extra tricks up their sleeves. Choosing your domain would give you the exact Spec Ops variant you're going for. Some branches might be Rogues and one of their Prestige Classes instead.

The combat side of the air force would be Sorcerers or Wizards; they get in, equipped for whatever scenario they're dropped into, they do what needs doing, and they get out before they take damage.

The Navy would be... these days, maybe a Warlock? Good, reliable damage, along with some limited support? But I don't know enough about this branch or class to say for certain.



Note, these all assume the classes are roughly balanced. Obviously, in practice, Wizards can do anything, any time, with optimization. I also don't know too much about the Armed Forces, so feel free to correct me.

Well, the navy-- at least, the American one-- has an unparalleled ability to strike any point around the globe at intercontinental range, as well as highly sophisticated air defence and anti-ballistic systems to deny adversaries the ability to do that. I really don't know enough about D&D to say what class that would be (perhaps ironically, I have very much the inverse of Strigon's problem) but whatever class it is, I'd probably go straight for it if I were to play D&D.

Sounds like a wizard, basically. You can't touch me, but I can (literally, more or less) nuke you while not even being in the same timezone as you.

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Originally Posted by Comrade

Well, the navy-- at least, the American one-- has an unparalleled ability to strike any point around the globe at intercontinental range, as well as highly sophisticated air defence and anti-ballistic systems to deny adversaries the ability to do that. I really don't know enough about D&D to say what class that would be (perhaps ironically, I have very much the inverse of Strigon's problem) but whatever class it is, I'd probably go straight for it if I were to play D&D.

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Well, I think the issue with that is what you're describing is more a question of optimization than picking the right class.
When I answered, at least, I tried to match up what that branch of the military is used for to what the class was designed to do. If you just open it up to what they are both capable of doing, then it becomes a lot tougher. For example, when deciding on the rifleman's class, I thought of what class would be best at engaging in frontline combat, with a standard amount of weapons and equipment, and can at least be moderately useful in non-combat roles. The Fighter, with his good health, weapon proficiencies, bonus feats, and relevant skills to soldiering, fits that niche nicely.
On the other hand, if I were to design something to deliver death at a range of a few hundred meters, be in contact with his superiors at great range, cause explosions, and the like, I'd have to go with a caster.

Of course, that's just how I'm reading the question; it isn't exactly specified how we're to compare them.

Fighter's skills aren't actually relevant to soldiering. Like at all. Fighter gets Climb, Swim, Ride, Handle Animal, Jump, Craft (every soldier needs maintenance abilities for their own equipment), yes. Fighter does not get Spot, Listen, Hide, Move Silently, Knowledge: History (which according to various sources includes Warfare/Tactics and the like), Balance, Tumble or Search though. The observational skills more than anything are paramount - though some tactical acumen or stealth is not amiss either. Not that they have the skill points anyways. Rangers make a much more accurate "Soldier"-class than Fighter. They can even use D&D First Aid Kits! (Wand of Cure Light Wounds) Hell, in war, even Favored Enemy: Human is pretty good.

I'm sorry, I should've added a qualifier: feel free to go by stereotypes.

The only branch I think I have pegged is the Air Force, which would be the wizard of the party, because of the int stat requirement, and the various instant death methods.