Royal Gristo-Serkonan Armed Forces

Royal Gristo-Serkonan Armed Forces
Founded	18xx
Current form	1938
Service branches	Army Navy Air Force Special Operations Strategic Arms Health Services Command
Headquarters	Government District, Pontiac-Bernadotte
Leadership
Monarchs of the United Kingdom	Queen Anna III Grand Duke Tehwehron
Minister of Defence	Stuart Loughton
Personnel
Military age	19-49
Conscription	Currently suspended
Active personnel	156,340
Reserve personnel	47,000
Expenditure
Budget	NS$55.6 billion
Percent of GDP	2.8
Industry
Domestic suppliers	List T-2 Communications Morgenroete Defense Industries Royal Armoury Textron Systems Fox Protective Systems Tychus Defence Laval Shipbuilding Inc. Henley Land Systems

The Royal Gristo-Serkonan Armed Forces are the professional military services responsible for the defence of Gristol-Serkonos.

The military consists of six primary commands: the Gristo-Serkonan Army, the land warfare branch, the Royal Gristo-Serkonan Air Force, a technologically sophisticated air force with a diverse operational fleet consisting of both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft, the Royal Gristo-Serkonan Navy, a green-water fleet consisting of 65 commissioned ships with the Royal Gristo-Serkonan Marines providing the amphibious warfare capability, the Strategic Arms Operations Group, handles the country's unconventional arsenal, and the Health Services Command, which is responsible for the military health system functions.

Its Commander-in-Chief are the monarchs of Gristol-Serkonos, currently Queen Anna III and Grand Duke Tehwehron, to whom the members of the armed forces swear allegiance. Long-standing constitutional convention however has vested executive authority, by prerogative, in the Chancellor and the Minister of Defence. The constitution also allows for the monarchs to remains the supreme authority of the military and can override the authority of the Chancellor and the Minister of Defence.

The armed forces are managed by the National Defence Council of the Office of National Defence, headed by the Minister of Defence.

History

Modern Developments

The modern day IGSDF military is styled after modern western military systems. Historically, it had a political warfare branch that tightly controls and monitors each level of the military, and reports directly to the High Command of the RGSAF, and if necessary, directly to the National Defence Council. This is a carryover from the post-1920 Red Revolution, when the Parliament and its army were penetrated by Communist agents repeatedly and led to front-line units defecting to Communist-held areas. To strengthen their control over the military and prevent massive defection, High Command and the NDC exercised tight control over the military, by installing political officers and commissioners down to the company level, in order to ensure political correctness in the military and loyalty toward United Kingdom's leadership. This gave the political officers a great deal of power, allowing them to overrule the unit commander and take over the unit.

Following the 2004 Defence and National Security reforms, the Military Inquisition were effectively removed from the military structure. The 2004 reform also saw the reduction of control of the civilian defense minister and much of the powers were distributed among the members of Imperial Defence Council. It also led to the inclusion of the Lord High Chancellor as part of the decision making process of the Council.

Personnel

Service Branch	Regular Personnel	Volunteer Reserve	Total
Army	51,592
Navy	26,577
Marines	14,070
Air Force	32,831
Special Forces	4,693
Strategic Arms	15,634
Health Services	10,943
Total	156,340

Doctrine

The primary goal of the RGSAF is to provide a credible deterrent against hostile action by establishing effective counterstrike and high-tech defence capabilities. Should hostilities occur, current RGSAF doctrine centres upon the principle of "distanced engagement" where the primary goal of the armed forces in any conflict with the hostile power would be to keep as much of the fighting away from mainland proper for as long as possible to minimize damage to infrastructure and civilian casualties. The principle of distanced engagement also puts an emphasis on the logistics side of the military. In times of war, the Office of Defence can call upon civilian companies to reinforce the existing supply lines.