Kolodorian People's Defense Forces

Jedorian People's Army
Jedorijas Tautas Armija
Founded	2 October 1954
Disbanded	14 July 2007
Service branches	JPA Ground Forces JPA Air Force JPA Navy
Headquarters	Lothas
Leadership
Minister of Defense	Edgars Zvinelis (last)
Chief of Staff	Arnotijs Mekšs (last)
Personnel
Conscription	Yes
Active personnel	650,000 (2003)
Industry
Foreign suppliers	Letnia} Polvokia
Related articles
History	Vinyan War Kolodiyan Border War Vyzhvan-Jedorian War Cherniyan War Jedorian Civil War

The Jedorian People's Army (Jedorian: Jedorijas Tautas Armija) was the military of the Jedorian Communist Party and the Socialist Republic of Jedoria from 1954 to 2007. The JPA saw extensive combat during it's existence, taking part in numerous conflicts including the Vinyan War, the Kolodiyan Border War, Vyzhvan-Jedorian War, and the Cherniyan War. It was dissolved following it's failed efforts to defend the Socialist Republic during the Jedorian Civil War.

History

In accordance with Directive No. 7, the Jedorian People's Army was officially established on 2 October 1954 with General Secretary Aleksis Kraulis as it's commander-in-chief, and Marshal Darius Gukauskas as the head of the Chief of the General Staff. Many of of the JPA's personnel were composed of former soldiers of the Royal Confederate Army, especially from Bessarabian units who were considered more loyal to the communist regime. Although many members of the Jedorian Communist Party wanted to completely purge the armed forces of any officers of the former RCA, Kraulis, himself a veteran of the Northern War, did not agree. Although a number of senior officers were forcibly removed or refused the opportunity to serve in the JPA, a large portion of the RCA's General Staff were retained, serving as a core nexus of leadership for the JPA in it's early years.

Although originally planned to be a territorial defense force not to exceed a quarter of a million men, by 1960 Kraulis's nationalist ambitions had ballooned the JPA to over 500,000 personnel and 25 divisions. In 1961 the JPA carried out the invasion of Andor, starting the Vinyan War. During this time the JPA was heavily supplied by Polvokia and Letnia, receiving thousands of tons of military hardware, equipment, and supplies. Jedoria's success (after a three year long conflict) convinced Kraulis of the viability of Jedoria as an independent power, leading him to challenge Letnia in a war against Kolodiya in 1973. The inconclusive conflict effectively severed Jedorian-Letnian ties, forcing the JPA to rely heavily on domestic manufacturing to meet it's needs. Jedorian arms industry proved a mixed bag, providing tens of thousands of armored vehicles and millions of tons of ammunition, but lagging behind in aviation and advanced technology.

In 1985 Jedorian embarked on another territorial conquest during the Vyzhvan-Jedorian War, which saw modest gains. A decade later the JPA would invade Cherniya, sparking the Cherniyan War and once again pitting the Socialist Republic against Letnia. The four year long bloodbath ended with a Jedorian defeat and the death of Kraulis, throwing Jedoria into political chaos. Economic decline and instability hampered the JPA's operational capability, leading to a decline in training standards and discipline. In 2004 the JPA was mobilized to stop the spread of protests during the Jedorian Uprising, but significant numbers of the JPA defected to join the Combine Rebels. The JPA would battle the rebels, and later their foreign allies, during the civil war, eventually surrendering after the dissolution of the Socialist Republic in 2007. The JPA was unofficially succeeded by the Jedorian Federal Forces in 2008.

Composition

The JPA's manpower varied during it's existence. Envisioned originally as maintaining 250,000 troops, the JPA had expanded to over 500,000 by 1960. Between 1963-1995 the JPA regulary numbered over 1.5 million men under arms, and at times would rise to over 2 million, making it the largest military in Vinya at the time. Following the Cherniyan War the JPA receded in size, numbered around 650,000 in 2003 according to external analysis. During the Jedorian Civil War it is believed the JPA exceeded 4 million personnel, but how much of that number was composed of active troops versus auxiliary support is unknown.

Organization

During it's existence, the JPA fell under the Ministry of Defense. It's commander-in-chief was nominally the General Secretary of the Jedorian Communist Party, which it's highest ranking officer was the Chief of the General Staff, almost always a Marshal. The JPA was divided into service branches, the Ground Forces, the Navy, and the Air Force. Prior to 1975 the Air Defense Branch existed as a separate entity before it was absorbed by the Air Force, and the Border Guards were placed under the control of the Ministry of Internal Security after 1967. The primary arm of the JPA was the Ground Forces, who commanded the largest elements of the JPA and received the most funding. The Ground Forces were organized into separate directorates, namely the Administration Directorate, the Training and Research Directorate, the Operations Directorate, the Intelligence Directorate, the Logistics Directorate, the Civil Coordination Directorate, and the Medicine and Health Directorate. All the other branches generally followed this guideline.

Jedorian soldiers were divided into "troops" based on their role, which was organized into three groups, combat troops, support troops, and services troops. Combat troops consisted of the tank troops, mechanized troops, and artillery troops. Support troops consisted of air defense, combat engineering, medical troops, signal troops, transportation troops, and maintenance troops. Services troops consisted of staff and administration troops, training and support troops, military police, and the military band.

Equipment

Originally the JPA was heavily dependent on foreign suppliers, namely from Polvokia and Letnia. Shortly after the Vinyan War General Secretary Kraulis began investing more effort and resources into Jedorian arms manufacturing to lessen the need for foreign suppliers. Beginning in 1964 Jedorin began mass production of it's own small arms, armored vehicles, rockets, artillery, and ammunition, though it's aviation, radar, and long range missile development lagged behind. Following the Kolodiyan Border War, relations with Letnia soured forcing Jedoria to rely largely on itself to produce arms. Primary families of equipment including the Kr- tank series, the BVM infantry fighting vehicles, VMK armored personnel carriers, and Gordak artillery systems. Jedorian aviation continued to lag behind and was an area of weakness for the JPA for the remainder of it's existence. Despite it's shortcoming in research and development, Jedorian armarments proved cheap and easy to mass produce, leading to production levels far exceeding most of it's neighbors. Between 1964-2004 Jedoria produced some 27,000 tanks, 45,000 armored fighting vehicles, 19,000 artillery pieces, and 10,000 aircraft. The JPA maintained significant stockpiles of storage and reserve equipment for the duration of it's existence, meaning that JPA troops fighting in the Jedorian Civil War often made use of decades old weaponry and equipment.

Military Conscription

Conscription was implemented in 1957 to meet demands of the expanding JPA and remained in place up until it's dissolution. Every Jedorian male upon reaching the age of 18 was placed into a registry. Call up was dependent on a number of factors and largely at random; during peacetime conscription was enforced less than 50% of the time, though at periods it was nearly 100%. Conscripts served a two year term of service if they were relegated to active duty; reservists were discharged after completed of six months of service and sent home with an assignment to a local reserve unit that would train three weeks during the summer. During peacetime it was common to see active duty JPA personnel helping in public works projects and in other economic endeavors including farming and factory work.