The Imperial Inspector of Troops is a senior position in the Imperial Blades, manned exclusively by those officers with the rank of Captain. The current Inspector is Marron Seamel.
Origins
The position was created after the chaos of the Second Wildling War (611 ATA), where a largely unprepared military was caught completely unawares by the viscous assault of the Realm's traditional enemies, the Wildlings. During the widespread reforms of the Blades which followed the successful conclusion of the war, many traditional and unflexible structures of the Blades were abolished and new positions were created to make sure that stagnation did not once again set in.
One of these innovations was the Imperial General Staff, a collection of senior officers of Captain and Marshal grade who were initially assembled to study lessons learned of the War and apply them to the Blades organization. Some of these soldiers were called out of retirement to serve on the Staff, while many others were simply promoted to fill out positions. They were all veterans of the War. The Blademaster at the time, Felisin Mikin, was so impressed by the progress and utility of having a senior cadre on hand at all times that he made the Staff a permanent fixture of the Blades. Their role quickly expanded from simply studying the War to moving at the forefront of both intelligent reformation, the study of the Blades' institutional history, tactical as well as strategic procedure, and finally judging the progression of individual units within.
Duty & Role
The Imperial Inspector of Troops is a position on the General Staff which deals primarily with the day to day running of the military. His duties are to observe the performance of active units and advise their commanders, as well as the General Staff, to possible solutions to problems they might be experiencing, whether that be in the realm of training, operations, logistics or any other conceivable topic. Due to this, the Inspector is always a senior officer with a breadth of experience in command positions.
In addition to the above duties, the Inspector is also the "go-to" for current troublesome situations developing within the Realm, often acting as both the eyes and ears of the General Staff and ultimately the Blademaster. He is host to a wide range of authority and is authorized to take charge of developing situations should he see fit. Furthermore, the Inspector is used to liase with other authorities outside of the Blades, whether those be clergy or Scourges of the Church, Constables, House militia or bureaucrats of the Imperial service, among others.
The Inspector has a small staff to aide him in his duties, usually no more than a half-dozen to a dozen Bladesmen to help him perform his roles. They range from senior officers to non-commissioned officers and act as aides as well as bodyguards when necessary.