Colonial Militia

The Colonial Militia is a branch of the UNSC Defense Force. They are tasked with safeguarding colonies when conventional UNSC forces are not present, and possibly to act as support and scout units. A colony's militia forces are trained by the UNSC under the Colonial Militia Training Program.

Role
Often trained and raised by non-commissioned officers in the UNSC, the Colonial Militia is comprised of citizens trained to provide defense, and emergency services and to serve as a potential paramilitary force. Often, militia members would later join the UNSC as enlisted soldiers, such was the case with Wallace A. Jenkins.

Operational history
The Colonial Militia troops of the planet Harvest were among the first humans to make contact with the Covenant, following a secret operation in orbit above the planet. They were trained and commanded by Captain Ponder and Staff Sergeants Avery Johnson and Nolan Byrne. Despite their attempts to defend Harvest, the planet was ultimately glassed and nearly half of the militia's seventy-two members were killed.

Several members of Reach's militia took part in the Fall of Reach. They were notably successful in their defense efforts, largely because they utilized heavy munitions which they had stolen from the UNSC. On the night of August 11, 2552, members of this militia were found by Jun-A266 and SPARTAN-B312 while defending a pump station in Ütközet. After fending off several waves of Covenant troops, the surviving militia led the two SPARTANs down a dried riverbed to a power plant that was occupied by the Covenant, who had placed a stealth pylon there. The militia helped the SPARTANs eliminate the Covenant troops around the pylon and defended Jun while he placed a charge on one of the pylon's legs. After the charge was placed, they followed the SPARTANs deeper into enemy territory and helped them discover a Covenant landing zone.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Contact Harvest
 * Halo: Reach