Love Live Alive and the RDF/UEDF

[MikeM]

I'm watching Robotech: Love Live Alive and they constantly say Robotech Defense Force and Robotech Expeditionary Force.
I prefer it to United Earth Defense Force and United Earth Expeditionary Force.

So, my question is why do the Palladium books say UEDF and UEEF?

Is this something HG mandated but then didn't follow themselves?

[SRoss]

Likely a matter that a lot of the footage in Robotech: Live, Love, Live was older stuff from before they switched to UEDF and UEEF.

[Rabid Southern Cross Fan]

Nope, cause I remember the term RDF being used during the new footage for the Invid Invasion itself and REF being used by Lancer during the interview. Lancer even uses the term 'Robotech Defenders', something I'm pretty sure only the Narrator used during the Tv series.

[MikeM]

Rabid Southern Cross Fan is correct.
Personally I never stopped using RDF/REF anyway, just wished it used that term in the Palladium books too.

[MilkManX]

I prefer RDF/REF and feel that the UEFF was something to try and make the Macross and New Gen units seem more like they came from the same source.

[Sgt Anjay]

RDF and REF have never been disowned, and they're not "wrong". They've just been shifted to nicknames rather than official names, and they used another term from the dialog as the official names. It's stated such in Art of Shadow Chronicles

United Earth Defense Forces, specifically, is used in episodes 39, 41, 43, and 54, United Earth Forces is used in episodes 19, 26, 37, 45, 49, and 58, United Earth Government forces is used in 40, Earth forces is used in 42, 45, 49, and 53, United Defence Forces in 26, Forces of the United Earth Government in 54, and United Earth Government Defence Forces in 59.

[MikeM]

Thats awesome Sgt. Anjay. Thank you. I thought the term Robotech Defense Force etc was retconned out. Using it as nicknames/slang is fine with me.

[Rabid Southern Cross Fan]

Thats awesome Sgt. Anjay. Thank you. I thought the term Robotech Defense Force etc was retconned out. Using it as nicknames/slang is fine with me.

Actually, in the Tv series, its Robotech Defense Forces (plural).

[Sgt Anjay]

Well, United Earth Forces was used in episodes 19 and 26, both of which are pre-Rain of Death. So it seems to me that while the Defense in UEDF might have been a newer innovation, likely to differentiate from the Expeditionary Force, the dialog points to them being United Earth Forces at least by the time of the 1st Robotech War.

[Kagashi]

Meh, you usually only hear "Defense Force(s)". That still fits with RDF or UEDF, no matter what acronym you use. Never really thought it was much of an issue, but I still lean to RDF since that is what I remember seeing when I first started playing the RPG.

[taalismn]

I'm of a divided mind of it. Technically UEDF/UEEF is the correct form from a real world standpoint since we hardly call our own military forces the 'Internal Combustion Armed Services' or the 'Digitally Augmented Military Services', but the constant use of 'Robotech' in the originally aired cartoon was a none-too-subtle reminder of the brand, in case you came in mid-episode and DIDN'T know what you were watching.