[mentioned in passing] Site of the first "emergency measure" that led to the founding of the Federation. War veterans formed a militia to control local crime, allowing only other veterans to join; after a generation or so the measure became official.
Recruit who took up Sergeant Zim's challenge to fight him; he had his wrist broken in the effort. He died during a survival test in the Canadian Rockies.
The islands suffered disturbances in The Terror, widespread disorders during the 20th century that preceded the breakup of the North American republic and culminated in a world war.
Acting sergeant in Silva's platoon. Juan Rico recommended his promotion to full sergeant while filling in for Silva. Brumby was killed during Operation Royalty.
Historians were unsure whether to call it the Third (or Fourth) Space War, or the First Interstellar War. (See Bugs, next item.)
Bugs
Aliens that waged war against the Terran Federation, probably because both factions wanted to expand into the same territory. There are intimations of border conflicts before war officially broke out, but the "beginning" of the war, for most of Earth, was the destruction of Buenos Aires in an unexpected attack. The aliens resembled giant spiders, but the social organization was more like that of intelligent ants or bees. Humans occasionally called them Arachnids.
Byrd (no first name)
Juan Rico's fellow Officer Candidate School cadet. Given an assignment to the Moskva the day Johnnie was assigned to the Tours. His nickname was "Birdie". He was killed in action.
An "artificially mutated symbiote derived from dog stock." Calebs had intelligence equivalent to low-normal human, and could talk. Their rapport with their human partners was so intense that if the human was killed, the caleb normally had to be euthanized, and if the caleb was killed it took months of therapy for the human to recover. [Hebrew, "dog"]
Juan Rico's boyhood best friend. He joined the Federal Service after graduating from high school (inspiring Johnnie to do the same), and was assigned to a Research and Development station on Pluto. He died in a Bug attack.
Route on Sanctuary from the Mobile Infantry base to the civilian city, lined with "enterprises intended to separate painlessly a man from money". The main customers were troopers on leave.
Collapse of the Golden Hegemony
[mentioned in passing] Classic book on military history that Juan Rico used for assigned research.
Mobile Infantry recruit who deserted service. He was hanged for murdering a baby girl after kidnapping her for ransom. The trial was handled by the Infantry rather than the civil judiciary.
Juan Rico's maternal aunt, who sent him a letter informing him of his mother's death. She managed to imply that it was Johnnie's fault for having joined the Mobile Infantry.
Barbara Anne Enthwaite
[mentioned in passing] Baby girl kidnapped and killed by N. L. Dillinger.
Espíritu Santo
City on Sanctuary, connected with the Mobile Infantry base and very hospitable to troopers on leave. [Spanish, "holy spirit"]
Faraway
Human colony planet invaded and occupied by the Bugs.
Farley (no first name)
Lieutenant, ship's weapons engineer aboard the Rodger Young.
Only those who serve their full stint are granted voting rights. When the Federation is not at war, most service is equivalent to nonmilitary Civil Service jobs, and anyone who applies must be found some sort of job.
Federation
World government, in which only Federal Service veterans have the franchise, the justification being that only they have learned to put group interests ahead of personal, and having served the government they have earned the right to participate in it.
Battle waged in reaction to the destruction of Buenos Aires; Juan Rico's first military action. The battle was disastrous for Earth, but was called a "strategic victory". (See Klendathu.)
flogging
Standard punishment in the Federal Service, also used for civil infractions such as drunk driving.
Dizzy Flores (no other first name)
Trooper on the Rodger Young who was wounded during a raid. He was rescued by Ace and Juan Rico, but died on the way back to the ship.
Mobile Infantry recruit who questioned the need to learn knife-throwing. Because of later offenses, he was court-martialed for disobeying orders and striking a superior, and was sentenced to ten lashes and a Bad Conduct Discharge.
Class required of all high school students, though no grade was given. It was always taught by Federal Service military veterans. In Officers Candidate School, a more advanced version is required that is a deciding factor in granting commissions.
Fleet Sergeant Ho (no first name)
Federal Service recruiting officer who swore in Juan Rico and Carl. He was "on display" with legs and right arm missing. Johnnie met him after hours and learned that he wore prosthetics except when on duty, the missing limbs being intended to impress prospective recruits with the seriousness of their decision.
Subject covered in Officers Candidate School. It is probably an hypnotic learning method.
hypnosis
Heinlein frequently makes mention of hypnosis either as a method of psychotherapy, of education, or of interrogation. Hypnotherapy was apparently common in the time of Starship Troopers; Emilio Rico used it.
Carmen (Carmencita) Ibañez
Member of Juan Rico's high-school graduating class. She joined the Federal Service to become a spaceship pilot. She was assigned as junior watch officer and pilot-under-instruction to the Corvette Transport Mannheim.
Career ship's sergeant, Juan Rico's platoon sergeant aboard the Rodger Young and de facto platoon leader after Lt. Rasczak's death. He eventually made captain, but lost his legs. Nicknamed "Jelly", and anyone who had made one combat drop could call him that to his face.
Jelly's Jaguars
Name proposed for Rasczak's Roughnecks after Lt. Rasczak was killed. It was vetoed by Sgt. Jelal, who insisted on keeping the original.
Al Jenkins
Member of Juan Rico's first platoon, barred from a drop because he had a cold. After most of the platoon was wiped out, he joined Willie's Wildcats with Johnnie. He survived the First Battle of Klendathu and was assigned to the Rodger Young; he was later killed during a drop.
Johnson (no first name)
Sergeant from Georgia, section leader in Juan Rico's platoon. He served as first cook on the Rodger Young and played trumpet in the platoon band.
[mentioned in passing] Scottish laird who donated four bagpipes and kilts to Camp Arthur Currie after his son was killed in training. [The traditional home of clan Cameron is Lochaber in the southwest Highlands. Their lands were joined with the barony of Lochiel in 1528.]
MacArthur Theater
[mentioned in passing] Site where a neodog was exhibited in Juan Rico's hometown.
[mentioned in passing] Filipino hero described by Juan Rico as "great man, great soldier-probably be chief of psychological warfare if he were alive today." Johnnie believed there should be a troopship named after him.
Deceased Interplanetary Patrol hero, whose Third Lieutenant's pips were preserved and passed on to new cadets. (The reason for his legendary status is not given.)
Juan Rico's platoon leader In the Rodger Young. His platoon always called him "the Lieutenant", in tones of awe. He died in a drop after rescuing two of his soldiers; he was the only one in that raid who didn't make the retrieval boat. His platoon, kept the name Rasczak's Roughnecks after his death.
Rasczak's Roughnecks
The platoon to which Juan Rico was assigned in the Rodger Young, it retained the name even after the death of its leader, Lt. Rasczak.
Juan Rico's History & Moral Philosophy teacher at Officer Candidate School.
Revolt of the Scientists
[mentioned in passing] Attempted coup d'état just before the signing of the Treaty of New Delhi.
Emilio Rico
Juan Rico's father, a wealthy Filipino businessman. He opposed Johnnie's plans to join the Mobile Infantry, but after the Bug War began and his wife died, he himself joined and eventually became a platoon sergeant.
Juan [Johnnie] Rico
Son of a wealthy family who joined the Mobile Infantry almost on impulse and over his parents' objections. After achieving a rank of corporal and surviving several battles, he entered Officer Candidate School at his commander's urging. He eventually became a captain, commanding a battalion on his original ship, with his father a sergeant under him.
Troop ship to which Juan Rico was assigned as a Mobile Infantry trooper. He returned to it years later as a Captain to take command of the platoon formerly commanded by Lt. Rasczak (deceased) and Lt. Jelal (disabled).
[mentioned in passing] Political alliance in the late 20th century that went to war against the Chinese Hegemony.
Salomon (no first name)
A member of Juan Rico's History and Moral Philosophy class in Officer Candidate School; during a session he was called upon to describe the evolution of the Federation.
a. Infantry colonel who gave Sergeant Zim his training in martial arts. b. His son, who went through basic training with Juan Rico under Sergeant Zim.
"Quick" Silva (no other first name)
First lieutenant, commander of the first platoon of D Company aboard the Tours. He was hospitalized with an illness and Juan Rico was put in charge of his platoon while assigned to the ship for officer training.
Skinnies
Natives of a planet hit by Rasczak's Roughnecks. Originally allies of the Bugs, after the attack they traded sides to fight for the Federation.
"Kitten" Smith (no other first name)
Juan Rico's fellow recruit at Camp Sergeant Spooky Smith. He joined Willie's Wildcats with Juan; he died in the collision between the Valley Forge and the Ypres.
[mentioned in passing] Widespread disorders that preceded the breakup of the North American republic in the 20th century. Disturbances also occurred in Russia and the British Isles though the effects were not as severe. The Terror culminated in a world war.
The treaty that ended the war between the Chinese Hegemony and the Russo-Anglo-American Alliance at the end of the 20th century. Its failure to deal with the exchange of POWs contributed to the worldwide collapse of organized governments.
Ejection capsule in which troopers are dropped from their ship to a planet's surface. It was designed with several layers, each of which protects the trooper against re-entry but also peels off in chunks to create radar "noise" to mask the drop. The inmost "egg" holds the trooper immobile through the drop and is discarded at the trooper's command.
Tsing (no other name)
[mentioned in passing] Author of Collapse of the Golden Hegemony.
Troop carrier at the First Battle of Klendathu, destroyed in a collision with the Valley Forge. A new ship was named after her.
Sgt. Charles Zim
Career ship's sergeant, Juan Rico's boot camp instructor and platoon leader at Camp Arthur Currie. He became the company commander at Camp Sergeant Spooky Smith. He was Johnnie's platoon sergeant during Operation Royalty, and was given a field commission of brevet captain with the permanent rank of first lieutenant.
