History Main / MildlyMilitary

** For some reason, in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'' the crew allow prepubescent children to remain on board even when the ships are about to go into battle.[[note]]They clearly had opportunities to have the children taken off.[[/note]] Apparently Bright Noa and Char Aznable don't see many problems with possible infant mortalities.

* ''ComicStrip/BeetleBailey'' features extremely laid-back discipline and has not had a real combat situation in the entirety of its 57-year history. Then again, it is a parody. "Laid-back discipline" ... except when Sarge "disciplines" Beetle with a BigBallOfViolence. Of course if you read it from the beginning, it's a series about a college kid whose experiences in basic training when he briefly joined the Army on a lark turned into a 60-year digression from the main plot.

* ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'': Played with. When they are off-duty, the soldiers and even commanding officers of the Avalon army are pretty laid-back and often enjoy quipping or poking fun at each other. When they are on-duty or attending an official ceremony, though, they are downright serious and profesional.
* ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'': NERV's formality Varies depending on the character. Gendo [[spoiler:fired his best pilots only because they did not follow orders, even though they won the battle and he had no replacements.]] Misato is pretty informal but she puts her foot down when she thinks it is warranted: she was okay with two of her pilots dating each other because she thought it was cute, but she was against them sleeping together, and brought up chain-of-command concerns when her wards argued the matter with her.

* ''Manga/Evangelion303'': Played with. On the one hand the Evangelion squad members are allowed grow long hair, their commanding officer insists on them calling her Misato at all times, and some of them are dating despite of being members of the same unit. On the other hand their commanders expect obedience and demand discipline from them, Misato chews them out when they step out of line, and some officers think allow relationships between members of the same squad is a bad idea.

* Varies by character in the ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' fanfic ''Fanfic/BaitAndSwitchSTO''. Captain Kanril Eleya nearly always calls her command staff by their first names, and though she follows a semblance of military discipline when speaking to superiors she also isn't afraid to speak her mind. Her first officer [[InSeriesNickname Tess]] Phohl has two modes. She's perfectly professional when speaking as first officer, but when speaking as Eleya's best friend they chitchat informally about everything from holonovels to Eleya's sex life. Her science officer Birail Riyannis doesn't bother with it at all, even on duty. Specifically called out in the short "Fanfic/{{Downbelow}}". It turns out it's Eleya's preference to run a loose ship, but that's contingent on the work getting done. In an address to the crew she threatens to dock weeks of pay from entire sections if individual crew are caught shirking combat drills.
* In ''Fanfic/FracturedSovereignGFC'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'']] [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover crossover]] and its sequel ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'', this is mostly played straight by the [[Franchise/StarWars Trans-Galactic Republic]]. Especially the case compared to the more resource-constrained Citadel races as Star Destroyers are both [[BiggerIsBetter larger]] and [[StarshipLuxurious more comfortable]] due to being [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien more advanced technologically]] wherein building such opulent ships isn't really an issue. Furthermore, the politicians of the Home Galaxy have made the seemingly-silly distinction that the Trans-Galactic Republic [[ExactWords has no military]], only "protection" forces (Spacelane, Planetside). Hence, on [[LoopholeAbuse that technicality]], being "non-military" fits, even if the ships are [[MileLongShip huge]] and [[TheBattlestar armed to the teeth]]. Never mind that the legal system still calls it "Standardized Regulations of ''Military'' Law." This is even lampshaded--something along the lines of "We follow the parts that help us do our jobs, but ignore things like 'rules regarding hair length.'"

* ''Fanfic/PacificWorldWarIIUsNavyShipgirls'', the page image, zig-zags this. While [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction STEC]] was founded by the US Navy, not to mention all of its human members being part of the US Military, it's the [[BunnyEarsLawyer ship girls]] themselves who aren't so keen on following military protocol.

* Played with in ''Fanfic/TheSecondTry''. NERV is a semi-military organization, but Misato is very permissive with her subordinates despite of being a commanding officer. Gendo criticized her behavior when Shinji went against his orders.
* In ''Fanfic/LeftBeyond'', both CATS and the Omega go out of their way to make it clear that just because they have enough firepower to rival small armies, they aren't. The Omega are a distributed AI, so every human and posthuman agent reports to them directly and there's no need for a military structure (the Omega are also used as a Siri/Cortana expy specifically so that people won't feel intimidated by them during off time). CATS is basically a loose group of telecommunication contractors that happen to have access to super-science for the purpose of making sure that the internet never goes down, even in case of Apocalypse. They take their mandate very seriously.

** After Gorman is incapacitated and Apone is captured by the xenomorphs, Corporal Hicks is in command (as Ripley herself points out later). However, Ripley (who is a civilian) starts giving the Marines orders. Not only does Hicks allow this, but ''the other Marines obey her''. Of course this one is just about justified by the Marines knowing that Ripley is an expert on the aliens, but still.

** The main rule of the Possiltum army is the RuleOfFunny. Since the main character is ''trying'' to screw things up, and hates the idea of being in the army at all, much less having rank, ''of course'' he's going to [[SpringtimeForHitler make things work better and be promoted for it]].[[note]]Example: receiving a requisition for seasonal gear, he deliberately ships gear for the opposite season. But he didn't notice that the requisition was half a year old, so the gear was for the appropriate season when it arrived.[[/note]]

* The ''Literature/PhulesCompany'' series, to a degree at least. The protagonist, Willard Phule Jr., is put in charge of the Space Legion's Omega Unit - the unit where "discipline problems" and other misfits are sent.[[note]]He displayed initiative and captured an enemy leader, unfortunately he didn't know there was a truce on. So they promoted him and ''and'' put him in charge of their worst outfit.[[/note]] Things are very casual, even after he turns them around, but they do know which procedures need to be followed and which ones they can get away with ignoring (or just paying superficial attention to), and they make a point of showing their detractors that they ''can'' and ''do'' follow procedure to the letter when it counts. Omega company isn't actually that unusual in terms of this trope, however; the Legion is loosely organized (the uniform is officially "something black" for example) and largely consists of people who didn't make the cut for the regular army.

* In ''Literature/TheLostFleet'' series the Alliance navy has become this after a century of constant warfare and massive attrition in the officer ranks. Neither officers or enlisted personal salute anymore and ship captains actually get to vote on the fleet commanders battle strategy. When Jack Geary is put in charge of the fleet he reintroduces saluting and makes sure that his orders are followed without any voting. His main problem is that he does not have enough senior competent officers to replace all the idiots and glory hounds who refuse to follow his orders. The only units who still maintain proper military discipline are the Marine detachments. However, even they are frequently subject to this due to the insistence of ship and fleet commanders on micromanaging their actions during ground and boarding engagements. It is a little strange that this is allowed, as Marines are supposed to have their own chain of command. Another strange (and idiotic) thing that appears to be par for the course is the fact that, whenever a ship commander is rescued from captivity, he or she immediately demands to be put in command of an appropriate ship. The current ship commander is expected to be reassigned elsewhere. Geary is incredulous and initially assumes it's a joke. After all, why would anyone replace a competent ship commander, who, likely, has a good working relationship with the crew, with someone who has spent months or even years as a prisoner-of-war, simply because of seniority? After all, the person who's currently in command of that ship has earned that right, and reassigning him or her in favor of some GloryHound would be an unfair punishment. The only reason the war's been grinding on for a century of brutal, bloody stalemate is because the military of [[OneNationUnderCopyright the Syndicate Worlds]] are as bad or worse, with a command structure that's half feudal and half ''office politics''. [[spoiler:That a third-party is subtly playing both sides against the middle to keep humanity's two largest power blocs squabbling amongst themselves probably has something to do with all the above.]]
* ''Literature/CatchTwentyTwo'' has, among its many things, a man who keeps intentionally getting court-martialled so as to get sentenced to dig ditches instead of go on the front lines. He also fraternizes with the officers.
* When ''Literature/TheCulture'' needs some armed forces the Minds politely inform more senior Minds that they are willing to take orders, the crews never wear uniforms, and the whole attitude is as civilian as possible, except that the Culture is amazingly good at kicking butt. Just ask the Idirians.

** They have a well defined chain of command that terminates with the head of state
** They are careful to make a clear distinction between speaking to 'Grandad' and speaking to 'Earth Prime, sir'

* This is the [[PlanetOfHats "hat"]] of the Gzilt in Literature/TheCulture novel ''Literature/TheHydrogenSonata''. Citizenship is tied to military service à la ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'': every member of society serves in the military forces at some stage in some way, and holds a lifelong reserve position afterward. However it has been a very long time since the Gzilt have engaged in any kind of combat.
* Discussed in ''Literature/EndersGame'' when Ender switches armies in Battle School: The new army is a lot less disciplined than his previous one, to the point that Ender wonders if the leader even cares. Arguably, this trope is true for Battle School as a whole, who seem to be under a lot less rigid orders than the rest of the IF.

** Armies tend to be quite shambolic, if only for the sake of comedy -- although it's also clear that conventionally disciplined, properly trained armies, which do exist, can be expected to had those idiots their butts. The presence of the trope is usually justified by the plots.

** By the time of ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'', Ankh-Morpork seems to have acquired a moderately well-organized army, although its discipline at the highest level is somewhat undermined by the presence of Sam Vimes, who holds the highest theoretical rank but who doesn't really approve of soldiering. In that book, the barely-military force is the group of Borogravian soldiers including the main protagonist; this is justified by the fact that the Borogravian army -- in fact, all of Borogravia -- is going to pieces 'Nam style, and these are a bunch of barrel-scraping new recruits being thrown into action with no training.

* The Hexosehr in ''Literature/IntoTheLookingGlass'' come across as this due to coming from a very informal species. The human captain is thrown by the Hexosehr captain addressing him as "dude" but the CunningLinguist says that as near as she can tell it's an accurate translation and the Hexosehr simply don't have the more formal modes of address used in a human military.

** Season 7 uses TimeTravel to show us how SHIELD evolved over the years. In the 1950s it is using US Army resources so its bases are run as standard military bases. Its civilian agents are World War 2 veterans so they understand army discipline. In the 1970s it has become much more of a civilian organization though it is run by a general.

** The Demon Research Initiative. The soldiers lacked military haircuts and proper uniforms, didn't use military ranks (instead using the title "agent"), and allowed a civilian to look around their secret operation. Justified, in that their cover as [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Perfectly Ordinary College Students]] explains the lack of uniforms and haircuts, they were ordered to show the Slayer (a potential ally) around only after she'd been interviewed by their commander, and using the term "agent" is perfectly reasonable for a secret government organization that probably isn't ''technically'' part of the military. The aforementioned person in charge isn't even a military officer herself in fact, but a scientist.

* ''Series/CombatHospital'': Much like the ''[[Series/{{MASH}} M*A*S*H]]'' example above, actually military protocol in a day-to-day situation is treated relatively casually in the hospital. However the chains of command are still followed, and Colonel Marks on occasion will dress down officers for not following their responsibilities with regards to rank and uniform.

** Averted with UNIT; commanded by the [[TropeNamer original]] [[TheBrigadier Brigadier]], military [=SOP=] were a large part of their character, and caused more than a little friction between the Doctor and the Brigadier.
** Although in terms of diverse formations, roles and tactics, ''Doctor Who'' never really portrays this accurately. The amount of troops available to UNIT varies, they are all light infantry apart from the odd bazooka, and although they manage to get the hierarchy right in terms of order, a private is shown leading and ordering a small group of other privates in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E5ThePoisonSky "The Poison Sky"]].

** The Doctor is officially "scientific advisor" but he has rank on almost everybody. Granted, this is {{justified|Trope}} because, regardless of what his position is on paper, basically everyone at UNIT knows he's a centuries-old time-traveling alien after a while (and by New Who, young recruits worship the ground he walks on because of it) and know he knows what's he doing or that he will [[BavarianFireDrill just find some ridiculous protocol-breaching reason to take charge anyway]]. (From [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E12DeathInHeaven "Death in Heaven"]] onwards, he really ''does'' have rank on everyone since there's a protocol in times of planetary crisis to make him [[spoiler:officially ''President of Earth'', making him UNIT's Commander-in-Chief]], whether he likes it or not.)

** High-ranking Peacekeepers like Scorpius (whose rank wasn't given, but stated to outrank a captain) were given a lot of latitude as to how they conducted their duties. Commandant Grayza usually wore alluring outfits with lots of cleavage (though the actor playing Grayza stated that she interpreted this as being like a soldier whose fatigues are informally unbuttoned to show off their chest). The higher ranking a Peacekeeper was in the series, the more unorthodox their methods tended to be; they could even pursue their own pet projects, and were exempted from some of the totalitarian conditions that governed most troops' and officers' personal lives (like not being allowed to form emotional connections).

* Averted in ''Series/{{JAG}}''. For a staff corps office they take military protocol very seriously.

** Giving civilian conscripts the rank of Army Captain on arrival will do that (most Army [=MDs=] hold the rank of Captain or higher, or did during the UsefulNotes/KoreanWar). Somewhat based on RealLife, as military units based around specialist support instead of combat tend to become the military equivalent of a BunnyEarsLawyer. Simply put, the military needs them more than they need the military, so trying to make them toe the line just isn't worth it.

--->'''Freedman:''' Look, Colonel, they don't want to burn the whole camp, just carefully selected bits of it. Actually it's a pretty controlled response to this place. They might actually have found themselves that pressure valve you're looking for.\\

** ''Series/StargateSG1'': Stargate Command is a relatively restrained version of this trope. Make no mistake, the SGC is very Mildly Military; but this is lampshaded and explained on a semi-regular basis, as well as being a frequent bone of contention between the SGC and their Earth-based antagonists (who are occasionally depicted as [[VillainHasAPoint having a point]]). For instance, a GeneralRipper comments on his discomfort with an archaeologist and an alien being on a front-line Special Forces team, but the logic is that [[BunnyEarsLawyer since they get the job done they can get away with it]], and also the fact that their situation means that they have to play things by ear on a regular basis. Daniel's linguistic and cultural knowledge and Teal'c's first-hand experience are invaluable on a team that regularly makes FirstContact.

* ''VideoGame/NintendoWars'' until ''Days of Ruin'' was a major offender, fairly intentional. Some of the Commanding Officers are obviously too young or old to lead a real military force, and some of their outfits barely even qualify as uniforms. Then we have characters like Grit, a laid-back guy who openly mocks his superior, and Andy, who is easily distracted by a new wrench. And let's not get started on the English version of [[TotallyRadical Jake]]...

** The Systems Alliance is fairly spit and polish, but the ''[[CoolStarship Normandy]]'' itself goes completely [[BunnyEarsLawyer bunny ears]] after Shepard takes command. Shepard can get away with this because, as a Spectre, they're not answerable to the brass who would otherwise be their superiors, and one minor character who is critical of the ''Normandy's'' situation can actually be told off on these grounds. Shepard is also able to blow off the council in the first game because the politics are in their favor for awhile, but this changes as the series progresses.

** In [[VideoGame/MassEffect3 the third game]], you can get away with this even more than in the first, right down to keeping an entire cabin full of fish and model ships (plus a hamster) while strolling around in jeans and, in the right circumstances, being romantically involved with your communications specialist or logistics officer. Mind you, given that you are pretty much indispensable at this point - half the galaxy respects you at least a bit, you've got at least one highly placed contact with every still-extant major galactic power except ''maybe'' the asari, the most connected information broker in colonized space is an old friend, the only other human Spectre (assuming they survive) is at minimum a personal friend, and both the head of the Alliance military and the leader of the Earth resistance will back you to the hilt - it's perhaps not surprising that you can get away with a few regulatory oddities. [[spoiler:Then, in ''Citadel'', the Normandy is briefly taken over by a clone who is ''much'' more draconian about regulations, to the point of leaving a note that your hamster should be disposed of at an animal shelter. Shepard is ''not'' amused]].
** Joker is a much more straightforward example; no military in reality would ever accept a recruit with a crippling disease.[[note]]Although Joker does cite modern medical science as helping him out and he doesn't use his legs to fly the ship, he's very cumbersome when not in the pilot's seat[[/note]] In the real world, old knee injuries that have ostensibly healed can be grounds for refusal. His backstory specifically excludes any ChildProdigy plot devices to excuse this with his skill: he's only the best pilot in the Alliance because he worked hard to become the best ''after'' joining up. Worse, one of the comics shows that he got his posting on the ''Normandy'' by ''stealing'' it out from under the original pilot's nose and proving he could run the test flight better, gaining the position through [[BunnyEarsLawyer sheer audacity.]] In real life, a stunt like this would end [[{{Prison}} very differently.]] Lucky for Joker, the CO of the Normandy at the time (who was also Shepard's mentor, showing where they get it from) also leans towards this trope, albeit to a smaller extent.
** Ashley Williams has also been labelled this trope thanks to her redesign in the third game. Her previous appearances had tied-back hair and an armour design that everyone else uses. In ''Mass Effect 3'' however, she has her hair down and uses a casual leather outfit with a skirt and heels that makes her look like she stepped off a Tenessee country music catwalk than a military vessel. And while her default "out in the field" outfit is the same armour design that Shepard wore in the second game, this can be [[EnforcedTrope enforced]] by deliberately switching to the leather one.
** Shepard themselves can fall into this in ''Mass Effect 3'' thanks to their casual outfit, which can include a leather jacket/dress, urban clothing that leaves the arms exposed, and even a hoodie. There is one cutscene in the game that switches Shepard to their dress blues for a military meeting, but it can feel very inappropriate at the end of the game when Admiral Hackett boards the ship and Shepard is saluting him in a hoodie.
** Captain (later Admiral) Anderson is, for the most part, fairly spit-and-polish, but he is generally more relaxed with Shepard, [[LikeASonToMe his beloved protege]], particularly by the third game.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'': For a MilitaryAcademy that produces the [[BadassArmy toughest and most elite soldiers in the world]], Balamb Garden is remarkably light on the 'military' side. Dress code is tenuous, chain of command is borderline nonexistent, and the overall discipline of the members is less than you'd expect in stricter private grade schools. At one point, Zell only gets very brief reprimand for bringing a flying skateboard into Garden and riding it to a briefing just before departing on a mission. During the graduation mission, where you are evaluated on your performance, the rubric has some very odd criteria; ignoring orders or talking when you shouldn't is a 1 point deduction, while not saving a random dog you meet during the mission costs you 10 points. And since it's a game, there is plenty of leeway for horsing around and [[SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer playing card games while on duty]].

* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia's'' Valuan Empire seems to avert this trope for the various mooks seen around. However the higher up the chain of the command you go the less militaristic it becomes. Seems that the Admirals are hand picked for their individual talents (or political connections) and once given command are free to do pretty much what they want to get the job done. Ramirez for example is Galcian's Vice-Captain at the start, dispite having no background in any military or sailing organizations, and then later given admiralship and command of his own fleet. The Platform/NintendoGameCube version provides backstory that show Ramirez did rise through the ranks, starting off as a regular Valuan soldier and advancing rapidly due to his abilities.

* ''VideoGame/AceOnline'' makes it clear that the mercenary unit Free S.K.A. is said to have "more personal issues", but is just as good as regular Bygeniou army. The instant giveaway is however Operator Gina herself; no army employs their personnel with midriff-baring uniform with fishnets!

** There's also extremely lax uniform standards across the board, particularly in the New Conglomerate. As long as you wear something vaguely resembling your faction's colors (which includes the dreaded pink camouflage patterns) you're good to go.

* The Freedom faction of ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}'' are basically heavily-armed anarchists. They have no real rank structure and very few rules, so members casually refer to each other in a friendly manner and do whatever they feel like doing (or what they're good at). Alcohol and marijuana consumption is also common. However they're still a highly capable paramilitary force and able to give their main rival Duty a run for their money (Duty are [[{{Foil}} by contrast]] ''very'' militaristic and professional - in fact most of them are ex-soldiers).

* In ''VideoGame/ExitFate'', your officers don't adhere to any kind of uniform or armament standard, preferring to wear whatever they're comfortable with (suits, pimped-out dresses, ceremonial robes, lab coats, longcoats, bikini tops, ''the actual uniform of the enemy''...) and stick with their preferred weapon of choice. This is because they are unusually gifted individuals rather than rank-and-file troops, and would probably not have joined were it not for the unusual charisma of the protagonist. The ''actual'' soldiers wear proper uniforms.

** Being a collection of... ''colorful'' personalities brought back from the dead from a wide range of locations and environments whose sole unifying trait is [[OneManArmy their ability to kill huge numbers of enemies]], and made up of a mixture of [[SpaceMarine conventional if punch-happy]] Titans, MadScientist Warlocks, and [[BunnyEarsLawyer free-spirited, authority-defying]] Hunters, it's difficult to keep them organized into a real military force. Instead they operate like a loosely allied collection of KnightErrant warriors who roam the system and fight the enemies of humanity.

** Despite their RealityWarper powers of the light, the Vanguard learned several times that when they decide to go on the offensive as a large army it tends to end in disaster. Just before the timeline of the games they got cocky and thought they could root out the Hive on Luna, but only resulted in many guardians dying a final death. This is what inspired the three man fireteam and six man raid teams, they work best in [[BashBrothers small groups that watch out for each other]] and allow for [[IndyPloy more improvised efforts]] while massive numbers leads to overconfidence (and serves as GameplayAndStoryIntegration).

** The army of Atlas, the Crimson Lance, is well-trained and highly disciplined as well, but [[IncompetenceInc because of an absurd level of incompetence and nepotism at the top levels of Atlas]], they are completely hamstrung and their soldiers turned into more brutal and undisciplined thugs. It got to the point that a CEO named his ''three-year-old son'' a Crimson Lance admiral, and [[OnlySaneMan General Knoxx]] was nearly DrivenToSuicide by having to deal with it all.

** Maliwan's army is effectively just a horde of brutal thugs who are little better than bandits, including [[EvilerThanThou psychopaths who compete over who can be the most evil.]] Their main claim to effectiveness is the sheer tech advantage they have, with highly-advanced weapons, armor, and transportation equipment.

* Nigh-universal in ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' series.

* An awful lot of special ops units can look like this to the casual observer - generally because anyone who can pass selection is self disciplined and motivated enough that they don't need to be ragged about by spit-and-polish [=NCOs=]. The key here is that special forces, by definition, don't operate ''en masse'', so they have their own rules that are more relevant to their unique situation.

* The United States Air Force is often considered "military-lite" by the other branches, but this is neither new nor unique to the United States. Rather it seems to be endemic to air forces everywhere. Winston Churchill once referred to RAF airmen as "uniformed civilians" during the Second World War. There are several reasons for this: the physical requirements and level of danger are generally lower (especially in the 21st century). Actual fighting is overwhelmingly done by a comparatively small number of officers, with most enlisted personnel regulated to maintenance and support. Air forces must operate out of airbases, ensuring a minimal level of creature comforts for personnel stationed there (you're probably not going to have to sleep in a ditch). Everyone tends to have a specific task to perform, leaving fewer occasions where giving orders is necessary. The chance that these tasks will have to be performed under direct fire is also extremely low. The result of all this being the emphasis on discipline and subordination to superiors is considerably relaxed. However this is all by comparison to other branches. For ''actual'' civilians, life in the air force will still seem highly regimented.
** On a similar note, non combat-arms jobs like Cooks and Administrators in any military are more lax in their training and operations than those whose jobs are meant to stack bodies. Again though, their life is still highly regimented compared to a civilian working the same job in a non military field, due to the need to adhere to strict regulations. Still, those transfering from the combat arms will experience a culture shock for how much less stress there is.

** The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noaa_corp NOAA Corps]] has its roots in the Corps of Discovery with Lewis and Clark. It was made into a uniformed service during [=WWI=] due to the need for coastal surveyors. If captured, they would be classified as prisoners of war and couldn't be tried for espionage. However the service is not military and maybe the closest to Starfleet. Their purpose is currently to support NOAA's efforts. These are [[BadassBookworm the guys who fly airplanes into hurricanes to take measurements for the National Weather Service]].

** The US Air Force's Auxiliary, the Civil Air Patrol, is made up entirely of volunteers, many of whom use their own aircraft to support search and rescue, disaster relief, Air Force training exercises, etc. And although it is a auxiliary of the Air Force, it technically is only such when the aircraft is being used on a Air Force mission, otherwise it is a private, non-profit corporation.

* The United States Lighthouse Board (1852-1910) was like this as well. It consisted of uniformed Army and Navy officers who oversaw lighthouses, but of course their expertise was primarily technical and logistical. The postings were often relatively comfortable, with each officer having his own house at the post, and allowed to have his family live with him ([[GoMadFromTheIsolation to ward off insanity]]).

* The Israeli Defence Forces tend to act like uniformed civilians when off duty. Discipline is much more strict while actively serving, at least for combat units. It's just that in such a small country and with universal conscription, they get a lot of off time, usually to go home for a weekend or holiday--that is, unless intel says they need to be on alert. During these off days, they are essentially uniformed civilians (this typically does wonders for morale).
** Non-combatant bases (most notably [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HaKirya the Kirya]]) also tend to have a very informal attitude about them, unless they've a lot of work to do.[[note]]The IDF is particularly notorious for its constant internal bickering, resulting in a rift between various corps. This can result in some offices having four secretaries with virtually no work, and another with one secretary collapsing under the pressure of four secretaries' work, as the head of one corps was better at gaining more human resources, and the unprofessional (as they were conscripted and not hired) people handled managing them half-assedly.[[/note]] However, they still have to make sure their uniforms are proper and not be seen drinking in uniform, lest the hated Military Police or just a mean-spirited officer catch them and bring them to military court. Also, breaking minor laws like jaywalking can also get them doubly screwed when in uniform. In fact, IDF personnel carry their weapons [[http://tokicollection.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/israel-part-one-chu-chu-my-camel-friend-from-israel when they're off-duty]] and [[http://hubpages.com/politics/Israeli-Girl-Soldiers-in-Bikinis out of uniform]].

* Paramilitary forces are usually like this, due to not being a proper military, and having laxer disciplinary standards. Some of the more professional ones defy this trope however, and are much more effective for it.
* The Republican soldiers in the party and union militias in the Spanish Civil War count. Heck they elected officers and could hand in their guns and leave at any point, at least before the [[ThePoliticalOfficer commissars]] arrived from the Soviet Union.
** The armies of the French Revolution also had elected officers as did the Union army for much of the American Civil War. There are many aspects of the Spanish militias which fits this trope, but not having a military hierarchy imitating 17th century monarchist forces is not one of them.

--> "Uniforms were not worn . . . Though there was no rank and no-one was required to salute, it was the rare man who didn't address Chennault as 'Colonel' and salute. But when the work day was over and the men played baseball or volleyball . . . when [Chennault] acted as umpire, it was a common sight to see some mechanic screaming at him in rage when he called out on strikes."

* A French military joke from UsefulNotes/WorldWarI goes about how an officer was complaining about the poor state of upkeep of a forward post during an inspection. The post commander, slightly annoyed, merely commented "When I am a guest, I am polite enough to not complain about the host's house." Similarly it was common towards the end of [=WW1=] for some of the worse off armies (e.g. Austria-Hungary) to have only one presentable dress uniform shared by all officers within a company or even a battalion for when they were summoned to HQ.
** Two of Murphy's Laws of Combat state "No combat-ready unit has ever passed inspection" and "No inspection-ready unit has ever passed combat."

* Most police forces. They sometimes have military ranks and follow many military ways, but are supposed to be a civilian force (in Britain and the U.S. they are now called a "service" or "department" instead of a "force" but...). Unfortunately, in the U.S., because of "the [[DrugsAreBad War on Drugs]]" and "UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror", for the past 25 years or so they have become [[SWATTeam more and more militarized]] and the training or reforms that can help reduce unintended incidents and outrage is just not there. One of the common criticisms of "militarized" police is that they are not held to the same standards of discipline and training as soldiers of the same nation are when performing policing duties overseas.
* The Iranian IRGC (or Revolutionary Guard) acts like this. They even take pride in it, their unofficial motto being that their "order is in their lack of order". Military ranks mean little in practice, with common soldiers and high ranking officers interacting casually on daily basis and having people of lower rank serve in "higher" positions compared to those of higher rank isn't that rare (like a Major being the direct commanding officer of a colonel) and their apparent lack of strategy and order used to drive the more disciplined Army crazy during Iran-Iraq war. However, arguably, this is their strength (specially since any conflict they were ever involved in was a guerrilla war or one in which they were heavily out numbered and out gunned). It's next to impossible to break their command structure and conflicting or nonsensical orders that can unhinge most militaries don't effect them since unit commanders (and even common soldiers) are taught when to "disobey a direct order" so they'll just ignore weird orders and do their thing. During the Iran-Iraq war, units caught behind enemy lines, with no means of communication, were as effective as any other unit.

* This is {{Defied}} with the Republic Of Korea Army as they strictly adhere to discipline, conduct, and regulations. As such, exhibiting this kind of lax behavior is grounds for punishment, and expects their troops (including their commanders) to display rigid forms of discipline regardless of circumstance. This is one of the major reasons as to why the [=ROKA's=] Entertainment Unit (or also known as the Celebrity Soldier Unit) was [[https://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/23/world/asia/south-korean-celeb-soldiers/index.html permanently disbanded]] as they are able to do things that the regular grunts from other divisions can't (such as visiting massage parlors, bars and clubs, provide entertainment, etc.).

** The Doctor is officially "scientific advisor" but he has rank on almost everybody. Granted, this is a {{justified|Trope}} because, regardless of what his position is on paper, basically everyone at UNIT knows he's a centuries-old time-traveling alien after a while (and by New Who, young recruits worship the ground he walks on because of it) and know he knows what's he doing or that he will [[BavarianFireDrill just find some ridiculous protocol-breaching reason to take charge anyway]]. (From [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E12DeathInHeaven "Death in Heaven"]] onwards, he really ''does'' have rank on everyone since there's a protocol in times of planetary crisis to make him [[spoiler:officially ''President of Earth'', making him UNIT's Commander-in-Chief]], whether he likes it or not.)
* Fully {{inverted|Trope}} in ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie'', where UsefulNotes/{{NASA}}, a civilian scientific and exploratory organization is treated like a strict military organization. The astronaut characters are practically never seen out of uniform. While at the time of the series's debut in 1965, most NASA astronauts were drawn from either the Air Force, Navy or Marines (NASA picked its first civilian astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Elliot See, in 1962), NASA was not and is not run like a military or paramilitary organization in real life.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': {{Justified|Trope}} by the Night's Watch, a combination of a military monastic order and a gulag. Naturally, although fairly disciplined, it doesn't run quite the same as a normal army even at the best of times... and by the time the show takes place it's about as far from the best of times as possible, being drastically underfunded and undermanned, with so few willing volunteers they're conscripting the worst dregs of Westerosi society out of desperation.