Star Trek Expanded Universe
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USS Enterprise Command Pin This article is a stub. Please help STEU by expanding it.

A surface action specialist is an enlisted person, non-commissioned officer, commissioned officer or warrant officer trained in planetary ground-based combat. These may include training and support personnel for these billets. (Ships of the Star Fleet, vol. 1 [revised])

Since there are many names for the ground forces associated with Starfleet "naval" forces, it is assumed that the writers of Ships of the Star Fleet came up with this term so as not to be tied down to Federation Marines, Starfleet Marines, Starfleet Mobile Ground Forces, Starfleet Rangers, Starfleet security, MACOs, etc.
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