Armed Forces of Glanodel

Glanish Guard
Glanskavagt
File:Glanodel-Ensign.png Glanish standard
Founded	1523
Current form	1998
Service branches	Glanish Air Force (Military Intelligence) Glanish Army (Home Guard) Glanish Navy (Coast Guard · Naval Brigades)
Headquarters	Glanish Joint Headquarters
Leadership
President	Noah Mikkelsen
Secretary of Defense	Tosh Knudsen
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs	Admiral Fredrik Aanes
Personnel
Military age	19-44 (55 for officers) years of age for compulsory military service.
Conscription	19-month service obligation
Active personnel	63,974 in total
Reserve personnel	125,685
Expenditure
Budget	$11.4 billion (2016)
Percent of GDP	1.69% of GDP (2016 est.)
Industry
Foreign suppliers	Ajerrin Midrasia Navack Newrey

The Glanish Guard (Glanish: Glanskavagt) is the military organisation responsible for the defense of Glanodel and consists of three main branches: the Glanish Army, which includes the Home Guard, the Glanish Navy, which includes the Coast Guard and Naval Brigades (Marines), and the Glanish Air Force, which in peace times is includes the Military Intelligence Agency.

During peacetime, there are around 63,974 active duty personnel (military and civilian staff), and around 189,659 total personnel available for mobilization at any given time, including professional military, conscripts, and reservist Home Guard personnel.

The precursor to the modern Glanish military were allied forces of the early Glanish nobility which engaged in joint armed conflicts around the 9th century in response to outside threats to the region's sovereignty. Most of the early armed forces centered around the navy. The Glanish military as a single force was officially established in 1523 and was disbanded by the Lhedwinic government in 1842. Following the end of the Great War, it was decided that Glanodel was unable to sustain it's own military force. Combined with lingering fear of a revival of the Lhedwin Empire, Newrey formalized an agreement with the Provisional Government of Glanodel, which was upheld with the official government established in 1900, to protect the recovering nation. This agreement remains the longest standing defense pact in history and since 1901, Glanodel has been primarily dependent upon Newrey for national defense.

In recent years, however, Glanodel has made considerable strides in the expansion of its military, despite some international controversy. Since the 2000s, the military has transformed from a focus on defense from an invasion to a mobile force for international missions. Among Asuran nations, the military expenditure of $11.4 billion is one of the highest per capita, equal to 1.69% of the national GDP.

Organization

The Glanish Armed Forces are headed by its civilian leader, the Secretary of Defense, currently Tosh Knudsen. The President, however, is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and bears ultimate responsibility for the nation's military actions. Both the President and Defense Secretary are advised on military matters by the Joint Chiefs of Staff which, itself, is led by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. The current Chairman is Admiral Fredrik Aanes, appointed to his role in January of 2019 by President Mikkelsen following the retirement of Aanes' predecessor.

During times of peace, the Chiefs of Staff serve a mostly administrative role within their respective branches of service and are the country's highest ranking, military officers. When in this state, the Chiefs of Staff are mostly independent and separate, each reporting directly to the Defense Secretary, and consisting of the Chief of Naval Forces, Chief of the Army, and Chief of the Air Force. In times of crisis or war, the Joint Chiefs of Staff is officially formed as a single, advisory board to the President and Defense Secretary. In this state, the Joint Chiefs of Staff are primarily concerned with advising the administration on military strategy and carrying out the orders of the President. When formed, the Joint Chiefs of Staff consists of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs (its de facto head and generally the most senior officer), Chief Naval Officer, Chief Air Force Officer, Chief Army Officer, Commodore of the Naval Brigades, and the Director of Military Intelligence.

Chiefs of Staff are the only O-10 ranked officers within the Glanish military and only obtain the rank by being appointed by the President and confirmed by the Armed Forces Committee of the Council of States. When the President or Armed Forces Committee declares the end of a crisis or when a formal peace treaty is signed, the Joint Chiefs of Staff board is dissolved, all of members are obligated to resign, and new Chiefs of Staff are appointed.

In contrast to most other comparable armed forces, officer candidates are usually not career regulars: after seven weeks of basic training, selected recruits are offered the possibility of a cadre function. Officer candidate schools take place separately from non-commissioned officers (NCOs) training, but NCOs have the possibility of becoming officers later on. Those of higher rank serve for more time each year; an ordinary soldier may serve 365 days over 30 years, while a high-ranking officer may serve 2,000 before retiring. Each promotion requires more time, which is known as "paying your grade". Companies subsidize military training by continuing to pay their employees, who list their ranks and responsibilities on their resumes.

Ranks

Enslisted personnel
Branch of Service	E-9	E-8	E-7	E-6	E-5	E-4	E-3	E-2	E-1
Navy ranks	Chefsergent	Seniorsergent	Oversergent	Sergent	Korporal	Marine- specialist	Marineover- konstabel	Marine- konstabel	Marineelev
Naval Brigade, Home Guard, and Army ranks	Myndigheds- befalingsmand	Chefsergent	Senior- sergent	Oversergent	Sergent	Officerselev	Korporal	Overkonstabel	Konstabel
Air Force ranks	Chefsergent	Senior- sergent	Oversergent	Sergent	Korporal	Flyver- specialist	Flyver- overkonstabel	Flyver- konstabel	Flyver- konstabelelev

Non-combatant Organizations

Primarily tasked with the defense of the national, electronic communications network, the Cyber Warfare Division operates independently of the other branches while being financially supported by all three major branches along with the Bureau of Military Intelligence and the National Security Service. In addition to defensive missions, CYWAR also performs some offensive missions involving infiltration and sabotage of foreign, enemy networks.

Conscription

File:Glanodel-Conscription.jpg

Glanish women have been subject to Glanish conscription since 2003.

Glanodel has mandatory military service for all able-bodied male citizens, who are conscripted when they reach the age of majority since 1905, and for all women since 1992. People determined unfit for service, where fitness is defined as "satisfying physically, intellectually and psychological requirements for military service or civil protection service and being capable of accomplishing these services without harming oneself or others", are exempted from service but pay a 3% additional annual income tax until the age of 30, unless they are affected by a disability or agree to a non-combative position within a government agency. Almost 15% of all conscripts were found unfit for military or civilian service in 2008; the rate is generally higher in urban cantons than in the rural ones. Glanish citizens living abroad are generally exempted from conscription in time of peace while dual citizenship by itself does not grant such exemption. Permanent residents can be conscripted during times of war, but are not during peacetime. Voluntary military service is a common way for permanent citizens to obtain full citizenship.

In 2014, a referendum was held that aimed to abolish conscription in Glanodel. With a turnout of 74% on this particular question, over 83% voted against eliminating conscription. However, there was a 74% vote in favor of additional exemptions and alternative service options based on religious obligations.

Air Force

File:Glanodel-Air Force1.jpg

The F/A-18C over Norfeld.

The Glanish Air Force has been traditionally a militia-based service, including its pilots, with an inventory of approximately 456 aircraft whose lengthy service lives (many for more than 30 years) overlapped several eras. However, beginning with its integration into the Army in the 1970s and the expansion of naval aviation, the Air Force has been downsizing; it now has a strength of approximately 270 fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, and is moving towards a smaller, more professional force.

In peacetime the Air Force does not maintain 24/7 operational readiness status, due to the limited budget and staff available. The Air Force is now working on extending the operational times, aiming to be maintaining readiness for two armed jet fighters round-the-clock in 2020. The difficulty of defending Glanish airspace is illustrated by the mountainous character. Furthermore, Glanodel's policy of neutrality means that they are unlikely to be deployed elsewhere.

Navy

File:CVN-78-Gerald-Ford-nuclear-carrier-under-construction-in-Newport-News-19089-630x419.jpg

Construction of Glanodel's first aircraft carrier begin in 2017 at the urging of late-President Svendsen and is currently expected to be finished by mid-2020.

The Glanish Navy (Glanish: Flådestyrker, "naval forces") is the branch of the Glanish Armed Forces responsible for naval operations of the state of Glanodel. As of 2008, the Glanish Navy consists of approximately 60,724 personnel and 112 vessels, including 10 destroyers, 11 heavy frigates, 10 submarines, 26 patrol boats, 7 minesweepers, 8 minehunters, 3 mine detection vessel, 7 support vessels and 5 training vessels. The navy also includes the Coast Guard and the Naval Brigade. In Glanodel, Naval vessels have since 1943 been given the ship prefix "GFF", short for Glansk Flådes Fartøj (Glanish Fleet Vessel). In English, they are given the prefix "GNS", short for "Glanish Navy Ship".

The sum of all Glanish ships is generally referred to as the Glanish Fleet and is broken into two flotillas; the 2nd Flotilla (also referred to as the North Flotilla or Lhedwin Flotilla), commanded by the Commander of the 2nd Flotilla, and the 3rd Flotilla (also referred to as the South Flotilla or the Asuran Flortilla), commanded by the Commander of the 3rd Flotilla. Both flotillas are composed of a carrier strike group, a submarine group, and an amphibious ready group. The Glanish Navy constitutes the majority of its military spending and is the primary are of investments toward technological innovations.

Each strike group (SG) is composed of roughly 2,000 personnel, at least one cruiser, a destroyer squadron of at least two destroyers or frigates, and an air detachment of 20 aircraft. Each SG is generally referred to by their cruiser flagship (e.g. the Fredrick Aanes Strike Group). The two amphibious ready groups consist of an amphibious task force (ATF) and a landing force (LF) of Marines (and occasionally Army soldiers), in total about 1,500 people. The group generally includes one amphibious assault ship, one amphibious transport dock ship, one dock landing ship, a ground-attack aircraft, heavy-lift helicopters, attack helicopters, utility helicopters, and an expeditionary amphibious assault unit (comparable to Marines). The destroyer/frigate squadron usually consists of five to six destroyers and/or frigates with between 140 to 300 sailors aboard each vessel. These squadrons are not generally operational units, but are instead responsible for training, equipping and administering the other ships in the fleet. Each of the two submarine groups consist of 4-7 submarines, manned by 120-130 sailors aboard each submarine.

Naval Brigades

File:Bradley Cooper-American Sniper.jpg

A picture taken of then-Captain Knudsen while serving in the Naval Brigade during the Aramas Civil War.

Officially falling under the command of the Glanish Navy, the Naval Brigades of the Glanish Armed Forces is a branch of the military primarily employed in "frogman" operations, including swampland warfare, arctic warfare, special reconnaissance, recovery or protection of ships and oil installations, various counter-terrorism missions, hostage rescue and direct action using the mobility of the Glanish Navy.

To become a fully qualified Brigade operator takes a minimum of two years and is further augmented by specialized courses during the following contract period, such as combat medic training, sniper training and forward air control (FAC) training.

As with any modern special operations forces, the training to become an operator is long and arduous, both physically and mentally taxing.

For example, during the selection phase (one of the final phases of operator training), each of the candidates (which at this point of training consists of about 5-8 men out of an original 100-200) must carry a 60 kg (130 lb) rucksack while being hunted by an "enemy force" consisting of Home Guard soldiers, military and law enforcement K-9 units and police officers. At some point during the test, the candidates are captured and must endure 36 hours of tactical questioning.

Army

Related article: Main service rifle

Since 2004, the basic structure of the Glanish Army has been reorganized in the following units: infantry brigades (2 and 5), mountain infantry brigades (9 and 12), armored brigades (1 and 11), as well as two large reserve brigades (Infantry Brigade 7 and Mountain Brigade 10). Additionally, there are four territorial divisions collectively referred to as the Home Guard (Glanish: Hjemmeværnet) which link the Army with the cantons by coordinating territorial tasks inside of their sector and are immediately responsible for the security of their regions, depending only on the decisions of the Department of Defense. In peacetime or states of emergency, the Home Guard falls under its own command authority and answers directly to the Chief of Defense. During wartime, the Home Guard falls under the Army's chain of command.