Expeditions

As part of the Survey Corp's mission objectives, they regularly go on full expeditions beyond the walls, to gather information and to push humanity's expansion beyond the wall. Expeditions are different from other scouting activities that the Survey Corp undertake because expeditions include the majority of the Survey Corps' resources and troops. Thus, these expeditions are large events that require a lot of funding and planning in order to undertake. Before the fall of Wall Maria, these expeditions tended to be done at least once a year, though it was not uncommon for more than one expedition to be undertaken per year. The aim of the expedition would be to achieve a certain objective, be that the capture of a titan, or to push out to establish a foothold in the surrounding area. Thus, smaller scouting missions prior to the expedition aim to lay the groundwork and gain intelligence for the set expedition. It quickly became clear that the risks of the expeditions outweighed the gains, and many expeditions ended with heavy casualties, with 30% of recruits dying on the first expedition. However, due to political requirements to prevent the Survey Corps being disbanded, expeditions continue to be run, though the objectives of the expeditions have become easier to obtain in recent years. After the fall of Wall Maria, expeditions increased to roughly one every month, in order to lay the groundwork for an eventual retaking of Wall Maria. These continued expeditions led to huge shortfalls in the Survey Corps personnel. Expeditions are given a number to differentiate between expeditions, and each number is reset when there is a new Commander in charge of the Corps.