Commonwealth Defense Force

The Commonwealth Defense Force
La Fuerza Defensiva de la Manucommunidad
File:NASCNewMartialFlag.png Commonwealth Defense Force Flag
Founded	15. April. 2031
Service branches	The Proletarian Guard The Commonealth Air Force The Commonwealth Navy
Headquarters	War Ministry Building, Veluna City
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief	Nataliya Valinova
War Minister	Pablo Coruna Pancha
Personnel
Military age	18-50
Conscription	None During Peacetime
Available for military service	8,898,951 males, age 18-50 (2062 est.), 6,139,564 females, age 18-50 (2062 est.)
Fit for military service	5,932,634 males, age 18-50 (2062 est.), 5,743,657 females, age 18-50 (2062 est.)
Reaching military age annually	(2062 est.)
Active personnel	2,123,250
Reserve personnel	1,673,635
Expenditure
Budget	$3,750,349,272,060
Percent of GDP	7.3%
Industry
Domestic suppliers	The Commonwealth Armory System Mars Defense Cooperative H3O Biotech Cooperative
Foreign suppliers	Halcyon Arms Anemonian Imperial State Armaments Export Authority Lyran Arms

The Commonwealth Defense Force (CODFOR) is the primary military arm of The North American Socialist Commonwealth. It can trace its roots to the Pre-Revolutionary United States Armed Forces, and was founded upon adoption of the Constitution by the Provisional Government in 2031. The Commonwealth Defense Force is often called the "Sword of the Commonwealth" as it is a precision tool used by the State of the Commonwealth to achieve its objectives, and due to its more aggressive role as compared to The Citizen's Defense Force.

Commonwealth Defense Force, manpower breakdown

Component	Personnel
The Proletarian Guard	1,251,567
The Commonwealth Navy	420,120
The Commonwealth Air Force	451,563
Total Active	2,123,250
The Proletarian Guard Reserve	1,223,434
The Commonwealth Navy Reserve	328,726
The Commonwealth Air Force Reserve	121,475
Total Reserve	1,673,635

Attitudes to The Commonwealth Defense Force

The Commonwealth Defense Force is generally well received in the Commonwealth, as are its soldiers. Members of CODFOR are viewed as, and expected to be the best that the Commonwealth has to offer. This view has largely been propagated by the state to ward off claims that a standing army is a force of tyranny, and that The Citizen's Defense Force is the only true means of defense that the Commonwealth should have.

The Commonwealth, since the opening has taken a much more protective stance in its own defense. The much higher ambient threat level that has been faced by The Commonwealth has been deemed by the state to be a far greater threat to its existence than any threat on "Prime Earth". As a result The Commonwealth Defense Force has received much more attention than previous in the name of defending The Commonwealth. The Commonwealth views its Professional troops as its first, and hopefully only necessary line of defense against invasion from a hostile foreign power. The Commonwealth, to this end has greatly pumped up the numeric strength of CODFOR, as well as its budget in recent years to ensure that it becomes a primer force in the Multiverse, at least in terms of serving the Commonwealth's aims of protecting itself and its allies abroad.

Training Regimen

The Commonwealth's training regimen is one of indoctrination and encouraging initiative. The ideal "CODFOR Man" is someone who is capable of dedication, loyalty, and honor, who is also capable of exercising considerable initiative and creativity in the accomplishment of their duties. The ideal soldier of CODFOR is also expected to be a highly motivated and professional engine of war, someone who is fundamentally better on a man for man basis by a significant margin. Training, as a result is highly focused around achieving this aim. The Commonwealth spends considerable amounts of times training each recruit, as much as three years for some highly technical fields, and each recruit is expected to become a subject matter expert in the field to which they have been assigned.

This time consuming process serves another purpose as well. It allows for proper indoctrination to the military lifestyle without the brutal, and sometimes destructive process of breaking down a recruits personality. Instead soldiers are made to get accustomed to the military lifestyle over time (in many respects), while more time critical aspects of military life can be drilled in quickly. The long process also serves to increase the loyalty of recruits to their other recruits, close bonds are expected, and perhaps even encouraged in between recruits, as the failure of one recruit is often prevented by the other recruits beforehand. At the end of training, soldiers have exhibited diehard loyalty to one another, and many decorated soldiers have received awards for rescuing comrades under dangerous conditions.

Commonwealth Nuclear Strategy

Main Article: Weapons of Mass Destruction in the North American Socialist Commonwealth

The Commonwealth maintains an extensive stockpile of Tactical and Strategic Nuclear arms to be used in different situations. The strategic arsenal of the Commonwealth is found in the hands of the Air Force and Navy of the Commonwealth. These forces are oriented around the principles of a nuclear first strike in the event that conventional defense of The Commonwealth proves to be impossible. This policy is often referred to as "Avenging The Commonwealth", as central defense policy planners believe that it is better to destroy both parties in atomic fire, than to capitulate, leaving the invader unharmed. In this respect, The Commonwealth believes the use of strategic nuclear arms to be a serious event, and will not employ the "Avenging" policy lightly.

In contrast the Navy and Army make use of the tactical nuclear arsenal. The Navy in this case, holds the lion's share of tactical weapons for use in the event that The Commonwealth is attacked by a hostile navy that makes use of "Super Heavy Surface Combatants", such as the Longsword Class or similarly sized vessels, or in the event that a large carrier fleet is sent to invade the Commonwealth. In either case, the Navy is expected to make a mass attack of nuclear AShMs against the hostiles in the hopes that at least one, preferably multiple warheads can strike any enemy fleet and decisively damage it. In this case, the Commonwealth will immediately go on high alert in preparation for a retaliatory strike against it. The army on the other hand has a small number of nuclear artillery shells for the destruction of large enemy field formations, and "fort busting" in case it is going on offensive operations.

Proletarian Guard

Main Article: The Proletarian Guard

The Proletarian Guard is the primary ground arm of the Socialist Commonwealth. The Guard numbers 1,200,000 full time members with an additional 1,200,000 reservists. It is technically the oldest branch of the Commonwealth's CODFOR, though the foundation gaps between CODFOR branches is negligible, all being founded on the same day, 15. April 2031. The Proletarian Guard has its roots and foundations in the United States Army. The Core of the Proletarian Guard was formed out of soldiers in the United States Army who opted to join with the revolutionary cause during the period of the Provisional Government.

The Proletarian Guard's Mission is "To protect and defend the lands of the North American Socialist Commonwealth from its enemies via dominance of the soil of the Commonwealth and its allies and to protect the rights of all peoples from egregious acts of tyranny as the Parliament of the Commonwealth defines". The Proletarian Guard is a uniformed service under the civilian government branch of the Army Department of the Ministry of War. The Guard is headed by the War Minister and its highest ranking officer is referred to as Field Marshal General of the Proletarian Guard. The Guard is broken down into Army Commands, and the 1st Corps Rapid Response Force. Additionally, the Army operates a fairly sizable special operations command called Special Operations Command (SOCOM), and is in fact the largest supporter of Special Forces of the Commonwealth.

The Proletarian Guard is responsible for the Symmetric Defense of the Homeland in the event of invasion using a Point Based defensive strategy. When acting as an aggressive force, the Guard uses similar tactics. The Guard is predominantly a symmetrical fighting force, but many of its units are well versed in asymmetrical tactics should the need arise.

Commonwealth Navy

Main Article: The Commonwealth Navy

The Commonwealth Navy is the primary aquatic combatant force of the North American Socialist Commonwealth. The Navy numbers 400,000 with a 300,000 man reserve. The Commonwealth Navy is nominally the second oldest branch of CODFOR formed officially fifteen minutes after the formation of the Proletarian Guard on 15. April. 2031. The Commonwealth Navy was formed largely out of the United States Navy, though most of its officership disappeared after the revolution to join the Alaska Enclave, however much of the equipment was left behind.

The Commonwealth Navy's Mission is to "Protect the shores of the North American Socialist Commonwealth and its allies from foreign invasion by sea and to decisively project the military power of the Socialist Commonwealth to foreign shores... to represent the interests of the Commonwealth. To use that military power as a constructive or destructive force." The Commonwealth Navy is a uniformed service under control of the War Ministry's Navy Department. The Governmental Head of the Navy is the War Minister and the highest ranking naval officer is The Fleet Admiral of the Navy. The Navy is subdivided into Commands which are the subdivided into fleets of carrier groups. The Reserve is a green and brown water force and also represents the coastal defense network.

The Commonwealth Navy is the force responsible for the seaborne defense of the Commonwealth making use of high speed (relative to seaborne travel) hit and run tactics avoiding remaining in a single place for an extended period of time to be destroyed by typically superior force. The Commonwealth Navy is a high speed fleet and applies this to all of its operations foreign and domestic.

Commonwealth Air Force

Main Article: The Commonwealth Air Force

The Commonwealth Air Force is the sole air arm of CODFOR, and indeed the Commonwealth's armed forces at large. The Air Force is the youngest of the CODFOR Branches by an hour, having been formed on 15. April. 2031. The Commonwealth Air Force was formed independent of the United States Air Force which was devastated by the Sino-American War, and had not managed to rebuild in time for the Revolution. The Commonwealth Air Force managed to find some officers willing to join after the Revolution but for the most part the Air Force was started from scratch in 2031. It is currently comprised of 400,000 active service members and 100,000 reservists.

The Commonwealth Air Force has the mission to "Guard the skies of the Socialist Commonwealth from aerial invasions and airborne terroristic attacks, and to aid in the defense of allies. To safeguard the skyways for which the Commonwealth is responsible and, to protect the citizens of the Commonwealth from harm". The Commonwealth Air Force is the military arm of the Air Force Department in the War Ministry, and its government head is the War Minister, the ranking officer of the Air Force is the Air Marshal of the Air Force. The Commonwealth Air Force is subdivided into commands of Air Divisions, the Air Force Reserve manages the interceptor squadrons, and Air Defenses of the Commonwealth. A relatively small contingent of the Air Force is the Strategic Weapons Command which controls the Strategic Nuclear Weapons of the Commonwealth, including those mounted on navy launches.

The Commonwealth Air Force is the sole air combatant of the North American Socialist Commonwealth. It operates under a principle of Total Air Superiority First, seeking control of the skies before attempting further operations. This may not be a particularly uncommon doctrine but it is one that works.