Fraternization

From Handbook for New Personnel
Imperial Navy, TE 321 Edition

In military terms, “fraternization” was defined as personal,
nonprofessional relationships between officers and enlisted
personnel, or within the chain of command. Fraternization was
typically prohibited in most military organizations of the past.

Reasons given for the taboo on fraternization included
maintenance of discipline and chain-of-command, prevention
of the diffusion of military secrets, and insurance of fair and
uniform treatment. These reasons were particularly
appropriate in military organizations composed largely of
adolescent and pre-adult human males.

In the modern Imperial Navy and Marine Force, participation
is limited to those who have passed adulthood qualifying
exams—thus the level of maturity in these services is much
higher than that of services in the past. Further, the historic
distinction between enlisted and officer personnel is
considerably eroded in today's forces; with most of the soi
disant “grunt work” performed by mechs and servs, allpersonnel are essentially the equivalent of officer-level.

While there remains no tolerance for favoritism, exploitation,
or allowing personal feelings to influence decisions, the taboo
on fraternization has fallen away. Since the Imperial Code of
Military Justice was revised and modernized in TE 36, the
word "fraternization" no longer appears anywhere in the Code.