The CRM Explained: Origins, Experiments, Rise & Fall | The Walking Dead

The Civic Republic Military, or the CRM, is the biggest and most massive armed force there is in the apocalypse. If the old world were to be represented in the current apocalypse, it would be the CRM. They hold the last strings to the old world. Their main goal is to figure out a cure for the virus. They conduct scientific experiments on both the walkers and humans, all while maintaining an old-world-like society and continuing to expand. Their story is fascinating and must be told from the beginning, so be ready to dive deep into the CRM story.

Origins and Identity

The pre-apocalypse roots of the CRM originated from the Pennsylvania National Guard shortly after the virus outbreak in 2010. Under the leadership of Major General Johnathan Beale, they transitioned into a sovereign, ruthless military force. The group's iconic logo or flag features three interlocking rings that represent the "Alliance of the Three," a network connecting three massive, highly advanced survivor hubs, which are the Civic Republic (Philadelphia), Portland (Oregon), and Omaha (Nebraska). The CRM is the unified military arm tasked with protecting this entire alliance. However, the CRM's true loyalty lies with the Civic Republic because they share the same home and resources in Philadelphia. Because their infrastructure, their base of operations, and the families of the soldiers are all physically located within the hidden city of Philadelphia (the Civic Republic), they naturally view the Republic as their true home.

The Civic Republic is one of the rings in the logo and one of the Alliance of the Three. It is a hidden civilization primarily based in Philadelphia, housing a population of over 200,000 residents. The city operates with pre-apocalypse luxuries like electricity, modern apartments, schools, running water, courts, and a full economy. They even have internet!

The CRM is the largest and most well-equipped army in the franchise. They have fully functioning oil refineries, manufacturing pipelines, military-grade weapons, and a fleet of black helicopters with long-distance capabilities! I mean, they don't have an equal, to be honest. And to protect the world that they have built and prevent the civilian population from facing threats, the CRM enforces a strict "shoot-on-sight" policy for outsiders and operates entirely in secret, keeping even the Republic's own civilian council unaware of its field operations.

Scientific Research and Atrocities

Operating separately from the civilian government, the CRM conducted unethical experiments to find a countermeasure for the virus. They developed and tested lethal chlorine gas on living humans. They run mass-culling facilities that lure thousands of walkers into specific zones to clear out entire states using bright lights and explosives.

The "A" and "B" Classification System

The military utilizes human traffickers, such as Jadis (Anne) and the Scavengers, to kidnap outside survivors and classify them into two distinct categories:

"A" Survivors
They are individuals who are strong-willed, natural leaders, and independent thinkers. They are deemed too dangerous to integrate and are sent to a secret research facility in Ithaca, New York, to be used as human test subjects to find cure for the virus.

"B" Survivors
People who are compliant, ordinary, everyday survivors just trying to live. They are permitted entry into the Civic Republic's workforce or consignment layers to earn their citizenship over time.

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The Fractured Circle

(The CRM's genocide of the Campus Colony - The Walking Dead: World Beyond)

Because Omaha and Portland were growing so rapidly in population, they started to believe that these large communities (the 2 rings, their allies) would eventually deplete the continent’s remaining scarce resources. Major General Beale calculated that a massive famine was inevitable, and that the other two rings would ultimately drag the Civic Republic down with them. To prevent this endgame, the CRM enacted a plan for ultimate supremacy. In 2020, they executed their vision by eliminating their own allies, starting with Omaha. They used chemical weapons to massacre over 100,000 allies in Omaha and its satellite Campus Colony. They planned to do the same to Portland.

It appears that their vision is not just to unite the three rings into one, but also to expand and eventually take over the whole world! During the "Echelon Briefing" in The Ones Who Live, Major General Beale revealed to Rick Grimes that the CRM’s reach extended worldwide, maintaining embedded spy assets across North America and other continents around the world to monitor international survivor groups. He said to Rick, "We have embeds — spies — in selected communities throughout the continent and the world to monitor them, to potentially sabotage them, to influence their politics and approaches."

These embedded operatives serve as the CRM's eyes and ears. Their job is to track the resource consumption, population growth, and stability of external survivor groups. If a community grows too large or is deemed a future threat to the CRM’s resources, the spies help lay the groundwork for the CRM to systematically wipe them out.

Downfall and Reformation

In 2022, after being separated for years, Rick and Michonne Grimes reunited within the CRM. Together, they successfully assassinated Major General Beale and detonated the CRM’s supply of chlorine gas bombs. This explosion wiped out the entire elite "Frontliner" force and the high-ranking Force Command. In other words, they had erased the very people behind the CRM's expansion vision.

Following the successful strike, Rick and Michonne presented the full evidence of the CRM's genocidal crimes to the Civic Republic Council (CRC), exposing the truth behind the massacres of Omaha and Campus Colony. The CRC assumed direct command over the remaining armed forces. Because the average soldier was entirely unaware of the high command's atrocities, the military was successfully reformed. Under new democratic leadership, the CRM shifted from a secretive, genocidal regime into a benevolent peacekeeping force dedicated to aiding other surviving communities, including establishing an alliance with the Commonwealth.