"If you will not serve in combat, then you will serve on the firing line." — Commissar Anton Gebbet, 1st Kronus Regiment
Commissar is the term used to designate a political officer of the elite Officio Prefectus who serves in the regiments of the Astra Militarum or aboard the voidships of the Imperial Navy. Commissars are tasked with the duty to maintain the morale of the troops during their massive campaigns, often in the face of staggering casualties. The Commissar is empowered to use any means necessary to ensure the loyalty and moral purity of his or her charges, including overriding or even executing a regiment's commanding officer if necessary, and so is regarded with a mixture of fear and admiration by rank-and-file Guardsmen -- and not a few of their officers.
Every Imperial citizen recognises the distinctive cap and greatcoat of the Commissar, whether from hab-block propaganda frescoes or grainy Departmento Munitorum recruitment picts. To the masses of Humanity, these men and women are symbols of Imperial authority whose sole remit is to ensure that all do their duty in the Emperor's name. Yet the truth of these high-ranking officers is rather more complex.
Commissars are recruited from amongst the students of the widespread Schola Progenium. While the majority of the Schola's wards go on to become Adepts of the Adeptus Terra's various branches or join the Militarum Tempestus, only the best of the best will be recommended for service in the Officio Prefectus. Inductees must have absolute faith in the Imperium. They must display the proper levels of sincere totalitarian idealism. They must be able to fight as well as any hive-spire duellist while fulfilling the conflicting roles of merciless taskmaster and inspiring hero with equal ease.
Commissars provide the link between regimental officers and the Departmento Munitorum. They are tough, ruthless individuals whose primary responsibilities are to preserve the courage, discipline and loyalty of the regiment. Commissars have the absolute authority to punish and execute any member of a regiment who fails in their duties. As Commissars are not from the same world as the regiment they serve with, they are not coloured by that world's traditions and culture. Instead, a Commissar can provide an objective and unbiased viewpoint, one seen purely from the Imperium's perspective
It is further the duty of a Commissar to learn the culture and customs of the regiment to which he is attached. He must command equal respect whether assigned to dutiful Vostroyans or hard-bitten, insular Catachans. Should discipline or morale falter, it is the task of the Commissar to take whatever steps are necessary to restore order, and to do so in the absolute knowledge that his actions are just.
Under the steely gaze of such an officer, Imperial Guardsmen are inspired to deeds they never believed possible. In extremis, a Commissar must be prepared to execute wavering soldiers or incompetent officers without a moment's remorse; few things enforce discipline better than a malcontent or coward being shot dead for their failings, and this message is all the stronger when a mass-reactive bolt shell sprays a Guardsman's brains across his horrified comrades in a shower of gore. Such an unflinching display of a Commissar's authority ensures that the first soldier who tries to flee from battle is invariably the last.
History:
The Imperial Army of the Great Crusade was raised from the fighting men of the worlds liberated by the Space Marine Legions of the Emperor of Mankind in the late 30th Millennium. They were used almost exclusively for garrison and pacification roles on both their home and foreign worlds throughout the early stages of the Crusade, but by the latter half, they were fighting offensive battles and supplementing the Space Marine Legions as the Astartes began to be stretched too thinly across the growing Imperium. The Imperial Army at this time was organised with no particular standardisation, and regimental makeups ranged from barbarians wielding Power Axes to advanced mechanised infantry armed with energy weapons whose designs have now been lost. During this time, the regiments were left almost exclusively to their own recognisance as long as they served faithfully, and conformed to the few restrictions placed on them.
