Apilonia (Earth II)

The Kingdom of Apilonia
Flag
Anthem: God Save the King!
Capital	Royal District, Seattle
Largest	Los Angeles
Demonym(s)	Apilonian
Government	Constitutional Monarchy
• King of Apilonia	William V
• Prime Minister of Apilonia	The Right Honourable Sebastian T. Barnes
Area
•	12,686,790 km2 (4,898,400 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate	22,731,4235 (2020)
GDP (PPP)	estimate
• Total	$14,163,000,000,000
• Per capita	£62,547

The Kingdom of Apilonia is a sovereign nation-state in Earth II, largey based in North America, with some territorial holdings elsewhere in the world dating back several hundred years. The modern Kingdom is a democratic state, with a written constitution and organised as a Constitutional Monarchy. The Kingdom is bordered to the North by the Republic of Skrælland, to the East by the Empire of Layarteb, to the South by the Republic of Mexico, and to the West by the Pacific Ocean.

Military, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence

Royal Apilonian Military

Main articles: Royal Apilonian Navy, Apilonian Army, and Royal Apilonian Air Force

The Royal Apilonian Military (RAM) is the military forces of the Kingdom of Apilonia, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces and the the Armed Forces of the Crown, consisting of the Navy, Army, Air Force and Coast Guard. The King of Apilonia is the commander-in-chief of the RAM, with political direction being the concern of the Prime Minister, whilst military policy is the concern of the Ministry of Defence. The RAM draws its personnel from a large pool of paid volunteers, although conscription has been used in the past it has not been required in many years although legislation remains on the books to facilitate a draft in the event of a total war situation. The Royal Apilonian Military enjoys a substantial budget, $679 billion in 2019, with significant capabilities in both defence and power projection due to its large budget, resulting in advanced and powerful technoligies which enables a widespread deployment of forces around the world.

Joint Rapid Reaction Force

Spearhead Forces

The Spearhead Forces are assets of the Joint Rapid Reaction Force that are maintained at very high readiness, typically no more than seventy-two hours, in order to respond to a crisis on very short notice. The Spearhead Forces are responsible for providing an immediate response on short notice, and preparing a landing zone to receive additional forces. The Spearhead Land Element consists of a Special Forces unit, backed up by an airborne battalion, deployed from Apilonian territory, or a Marine Commando, deployed from an amphibious assault ship, and are designed to get Apilonian boots on the ground as quickly as possible. The Spearhead Naval Element is a far more ad hoc arrangement, typically consisting of two destroyers or frigates, an attack submarine, and a Royal Fleet Auxiliary support vessel, however these are drawn from ships already underway in a given theatre, rather than ships based in home waters, to ensure a rapid response.

First Echelon

The First Echelon is a larger collection of military assets maintained at high readiness, typically between seven and ten days, responsible for following up Spearhead Forces in the event that a larger intervention is required, and is capable of unsupported operations of up to thirty days (the timeframe at which military operations are capable without Parliamentary approval). The Maritime Task Force almost always consists of a Carrier Battle Group (CBG) assigned to the theatre, although in the absence of such an asset an ad hoc force can be put together from regional forces. The Joint Landing Force is larger deployment of troops, typically either a Commando Brigade, provided by the Royal Apilonian Marines, or an Airborne Brigade, provided by the Royal Army, designed to have as small a logistical footprint as possible to facilitate rapid deployment. The Composite Air Squadron consists of fighters, strike aircraft, and support assets designed to provide a degree of air power to the First Echelon deployment, typically drawn from regionally-based squadrons.

Second Echelon

Health, Education and Human Services

Healthcare

Within the Kingdom, the healthcare system is complex and is administered by the Ministry of Health, which determines overall healthcare policy as well as the provision of certain programmes. The Ministry aims to provide a baseline level of healthcare to all citizens, as well as providing medical insurance to the young, elderly, the unemployed, and any other individual without their own insurance. As a result, except in emergent cases, patients on MOH insurance will typically face longer waiting times, due to being limited in the service providers available to them, whilst those with insurance will typically have a far greater access to service providers, including both non-profit and for-profit hospitals. This allows Apilonian Doctors, particularly surgeons and those working in hospitals, to be very well-paid compared to their foreign counterparts, whilst still providing medical services to the poor and deprived. The most common means by which citizens hold medical insurance is through their employers, as its provision is a key component of most employment contracts. The Kingdom is a global leader in medical innovation, with many major hospitals also being key medical research facilities, with the Mayo Clinic, for example, being a world-renowned teaching hospital.

The Royal Community Healthcare Scheme is responsible for providing primary care and emergency medicine to all citizens, typically through Ministry of Health owned-and-operated non-profit community medical centres, particularly for primary care. The Scheme also subsidises the operating costs for ducal and privately-owned medical facilities with an Emergency Room or Trauma Centre, as well as the Emergency Medical Technician services provided by state and municipal fire departments. Due to the generally lower salaries paid to those Doctors, Nurses and Medical Technicians required to operate the Scheme, doing so is seen as a calling within the medical profession, with professional training for these individuals being heavily subsided by the Ministry of Health in return for a period of service within the Scheme before a transfer to a more profitable position. Unlike secondary and tertiary care, provided by private hospitals, service provided by the Scheme is free at the point of use. Although expensive in its own right, academic medical studies have shown that the provision of primary care, and most importantly preventative medicine, has meant that in overall terms the Scheme has saved the Ministry, and the Apilonian healthcare system as a whole, proportionally more than it cost.

The Royal Healthcare Insurance Scheme is responsible for providing baseline health insurance to those that do not private healthcare provided by their employer, or by some other means, which accounts for approximately sixteen percent of the population. Under the terms of the Apilonian Healthcare Act of 1988, which founded the Scheme, it’s insurance is only accepted by certain hospitals, including all Crown and Ducal Hospitals, Municipal medical centres and certain private facilities, resulting in higher waiting times compared to holders of private healthcare.

Education

Primary and Secondary Education

Within the Kingdom, the education system is administered, primarily, by the Ministry of Education, which determines overall policy and the provision of certain programmes. Primary Education is universal across the Kingdom, and is free-at-the-point of use; designed to allow all Apilonian children access to an education up until the age of fourteen, the National Curriculum being designed to give a broad and general knowledge base, both for day-to-day life and academically. At the age of fourteen, guided by both teachers and parents, a student will typically have two paths down which to proceed: Secondary (or High) Schools and Technical Schools. The Secondary School continues more traditionally academic subjects, typically with a view to preparing the student for application to a University, or a variety of non-technical roles as a non-graduate. The Technical School, focuses on more technical subjects, providing the less academically able student with a number of practical skills, which would provide the student with a means of making a living as a tradesman or artisan. Both schools cover the years fourteen to eighteen, and attendance remains compulsory, although both the parents and the student in question have the final say on which type of school they attend; no students are forcibly placed into either pipeline against their will.

Another option available, on a strictly voluntary basis, are the three Military Foundation Colleges; the Royal Naval College, Monterey, the Army Foundation College, Roswell, and the Air Force College, TBC. Although all differ in organisation and, to some extent, curriculum, all three colleges are designed to provide an alternative option to the conventional education system for youths, male and female, interested in a career in the Armed Forces. Although there is no service-commitment, successful completion of the MFC Syllabus results in automatic appointment to the service branch’s respective Officer Training College, although this may be declined. The MFC’s are one of the Kingdom’s greatest equalisers as, although very popular with the Nobility and Landed Gentry, whose school fees provide the bulk of the funding, admission is strictly as a result of passing an entrance exam, in which they were tested in languages, history, geography, arithmetic, algebra and geometry, all of which would be learned in universal Primary Education. This means that even prospective cadets from poorer households have the possibility of gaining admittance, and all three Colleges provided bursary schemes to support such cadets. Prospective cadets apply in their last year of Primary Education, and are appointed to their College in the Academic Year in which they would turn 14.

Although the Military Foundation Colleges all follow the National Curriculum, there is also a focus on developing leadership, navigation, and other useful military skills, in preparation for potential military service, with Physical Education and sports a key part of this. All Cadets at the Military Foundation Colleges wear the uniform of their respective service, and are taught military discipline and drill amongst other such topics. In addition, there are regular training camps, as well as opportunities during holidays to spend time with operational units, including ships at sea, under careful supervision. Great care is taken, particularly in modern times, to emphasise that there is no call-up liability for MFC Cadets, and they are not deployed operationally or to combat-zones (aside from short-durations spent with operational units on a voluntary basis), although they can be deployed in support of the local community. At the end of their four-years at their Military Foundation College, over seventy-five percent accept appointment to Officer Training.

Tertiary Education

Infrastructure

Transport

Personal and Public Transportation

Personal transportation in the Kingdom is dominated by the automobile, with over eighty per cent of Apilonian workers commuting to work via private vehicle over public transport, resulting in one of the largest automobile markets in the world and car ownership is near-universal, with the only major exceptions being the largest cities where there are extensive public transport options available, such as Los Angeles. The dominance of the automobile is enabled by an extensive highway system, linking together major population centres as well as more rural areas, as well as the National Road Network, which has existed far longer.

Although passenger trains were the dominant mode of transportation until the mid-twentieth century, the introduction of jet aircraft, and the completion of the Interstate Highway, resulted in a rapid decline in intercity rail passenger demand during the 1960s. This caused Parliament to authorise the creation of a state-owned National Railroad Corporation (NRC) to maintain limited intercity rail passenger service in most of the country, providing a vital link to more rural areas where the passenger train may be the only means by which poorer citizens can travel. Nevertheless, NRC services can be very limited outside of the Pacific Seaboard, and limited trans-continental routes.

Cargo Transportation

The vast majority of cargo transportation in the Kingdom is provided by the trucking industry and the freight railroad industry. Overall, trucks of various sizes are responsible for the majority of freight movement overland, due in no small part to the variety of sizes of commercial motor vehicles, with the remainder being transported by freight railroad, of which there is an extensive network of tracks, only a small proportion of which is used for passenger services. Typically, most supply chains will make use of both methods, depending on the distance involved. Less common, albeit increasingly so, is freight aircraft, particularly for next-day delivery, which naturally comes at a premium.

Civil Aviation

The Kingdom has a thriving civil airline industry, benefiting from the existence of aerospace giant Boeing, that connects the Kingdom to the rest of the world. Although the industry itself is entirely privately owned, most major airports in the Kingdom are publicly owned. In addition to smaller regional carriers, the Apilonian civil aviation industry is dominated by two competing airlines; Apilonian Airlines, based in Dallas, Duchy of Texas, and Royal Airways, based in Seattle, Duchy of Washington. Apilonian Airlines is the larger of the two, both in terms of fleet size and revenue, although Royal Airways is not far behind, all things considered. Both airlines principally operate aircraft produced by Boeing.

Apilonian Airlines largely focuses on transpacific and transcontinental flight, and is considered the ‘flag-carrier’ for the Kingdom, although it does operate some domestic flights to compete with Royal Airways. Apilonian Airlines was a major pioneer of the hub-and-spoke model, in which the majority of domestic flights are intended to bring passengers from further afield to the various hubs for long-haul, high-capacity flights overseas. In support of this, Apilonian Airlines operates a ‘bank’ system, in which numerous domestic flights arrive in a short span of time in any of a number of flight banks into the hub airport, allowing for far shorter connection times, a key draw when competing with direct, but typically more expensive, flights offered by Royal Airways. In terms of customer experience, Apilonian Airlines has a reputation for a solid, if unremarkable, offering for business and first-class passengers and a tolerable experience for economy. The Boeing 747 has been the backbone of Apilonian Airlines long-haul fleet for decades, and is in the process of being replaced by the latest generation, the 747-8, with the smaller Boeing 737 principally serving domestic routes. The airline has three major hubs; Dallas-Fort Worth, its primary transatlantic gateway, Los Angeles, its key transpacific gateway, and Phoenix, its primary gateway for flights into the Empire of Layarteb, particularly in South America.

By contrast, Royal Airways is a key innovator in the point-to-point business model, in which smaller, but more fuel efficient aircraft are used to operate lower-demand routes to smaller destinations. In many cases, Royal Airways is the only transpacific or transatlantic flights linking secondary airports in Europe and Asia to Apilonia, principally to Seattle or Minneapolis-St Paul, or linking secondary airports in Apilonia with major destinations such as Hong Kong, Nanfang or London. This has allowed Royal Airways to diversify its competition with Apilonian Airlines, particularly in the transpacific market, serving a number of destinations not served by Apilonian Airlines. The development of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with its relatively small size but impressive range and efficiency, has proven particularly profitable for Royal Airways, and makes up the bulk of its fleet.