Charnean Army

Charnean Army
ⵉⵖⵔⵓⴷⴰⵏ ⵞⴰⵔⵏⴰ ⴰⵊⵁⴰⵏⴰⵏ Iɤrudan Charna Ajhanan
Flag of the Charnean Army
Motto	Tachyata (Acronym for the phrase Tassɑɤen Charna Yalla Tarmat meaning "Charnean unity is not negotiable")
Founded	1 October 1921 (1921-10-01)
Current form	2023
Service branches	Central Army Army Air Service Border Guards Civil Defense Units
Headquarters	Agnannet
Leadership
Commander-in-chief	Khyar Aziouel
Chief-of-Staff	General Rezkou Goma
Personnel
Military age	18
Conscription	18 months
Active personnel	330,000
Reserve personnel	240,000
Expenditure
Budget	$30 billion (2023)
Percent of GDP	5% (2023)
Industry
Foreign suppliers	Mutul Elatia Onekawa-Nukanoa
Related articles
Ranks	See Ranks

The Charnean Army (Tamashek: ⵉⵖⵔⵓⴷⴰⵏ ⵞⴰⵔⵏⴰ ⴰⵊⵁⴰⵏⴰⵏ, Iɤrudan Charna Ajhanan, ICA) is the combined military force of the Charnean state comprising both ground-based and aerial armed forces. Chief of state Khyar Aziouel serves as the formal commander-in-chief of the ICA, while its day to day operations are overseen by Chief of the General Staff Rezkou Goma. The current structure of the ICA is the result of a series of sweeping military reforms that took place following the death of its former commander Martial Martuf Lamine in December 2022 and the ensuing political turmoil which took place within the Army and the broader state defense apparatus. Reforms included a reorganization of the ICA general staff and high command from the ground up, a significant reduction of the officer corps and a consolidation of several previously separate organs into more centralized command and logistics structures. The ICA is currently comprised of the Central Army, incorporating formerly independent bodies such as the Armored Corps and the Counterinsurgency Corps, the Army Air Service which functions as the ICA's aerial warfare and air defense force, and the military Border Guards which make up the lightly armed border patrol and customs enforcement forces. Reservist elements of the Civil Defense Units as well as Charnean military intelligence organs such as the ASA fall under the direct authority of the reformed ICA general staff.

History

Imperial Military System

Charnean cavalryman, 19th century

The military history of Charnea prior to the foundation of the modern Charnean Army functioned along the lines of member clans of a political confederation. Since the times of Ihemod in the 14th and 15th centuries, this was the Kel Kaharna governing body of the Charnean Empire. This was an evolution of the traditional means of waging war among the Tenerians, in which the confederation leader or Amenokal served as overall commander and each tribe or clan which formed part of the confederation contributed a contingent of troops most often with the clan's elder or an appointee of the elder serving as the commander of these troops subordinate to the Amenokal. This system of tribal levy was relatively effective thanks to the riding and archery skills the nomads developed from a young age in order to hunt and protect their herds of goats and camels. Upon uniting the Tenerian confederations into the Kel Kaharna, Ihemod reformed the military levy system by turning each tribe pledged to him into a permanent military unit with its tribal chief as its commander and its youth, women and associated camp and herds as logistical supports. The Tenerian confederation was effectively militarized under these reforms and transformed into a powerful nomadic army of the Ninva, which set about its campaign of conquest across the Scipian continent. This foundational system of the Charnean Empire remained in place more or less unchanged through the centuries, which the commander-clan heads of each unit eventually forming the advisory body of the Agraw Imgharan, the precursor to the modern Charnean legislature.

However, the pre-modern military system of the Charnean Empire suffered from a number of vulnerabilities. With all the nomads of a particular community grouped together in a military unit, severe battlefield losses could result in the male population of whole tribes being lost, effectively resulting in the death of that tribe and its absorption into other tribes. Additionally, the insulated nature of each tribal unit meant that over time the men of any given unit would become more loyal to their tribal leader than to the Amenokal and the Empire. This fostered a deep rooted factionalism in the Imperial Army which greatly hampered its military efficiency and effectiveness thanks to rivalries between commanders and insubordination, particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries. Hereditary commanders likewise impeded the effectiveness of the army, rejecting new military technology and blocking the promotion of talented strategic minds to higher levels of command to preserve their own authority. The strengths of the old Ihemodian army which once threatened the whole of Scipia, adaptability and meritocratic promotion, had become its weaknesses. This was exacerbated by the era of the mining barons in Charnea in the late 19th century, in which the army commanders used their men effectively as private militaries without direction from the central command to secure mineral rich patches of land as the mining boom spread across the Ninva desert, subsequently either selling the seized land for a premium or becoming mining tycoons themselves with the backing of their tribesmen armed at the Empire's expense. The disorder caused by these practices ultimately led to the radical reformation of the army and the Empire itself in the early 20th century.

Foundation of the ICA

ICA Camelry unit, 1936

Due to the tightly knit union of military and civil power in Charnea, it was inevitable that the much needed reform of the Empire would be coupled with a military reform. The modern Charnean Army, the Iɤrudan Charna Ajhanan, was formed out of the abolition of the tribal military system of the old Empire and the rationalization and modernization of military organization, tactics, technology and logistics. The ICA did away with the practices of hereditary commanders and the tribal division of the army altogether, with men from many tribes being sorted into units together and their commanders now being appointed from above on the basis of merit rather than heritage. The old tribal chieftains retained a degree of political power through their seats in the Agraw, and continued to play a role in the Charnean elective monarchy, but no longer held any real military authority. The new leadership of the ICA quickly and enthusiastically embraced a great deal of modern military technology, ranging from artillery to water cooled machine guns and motor vehicles, no longer encumbered by the conservative thinking of the old leadership.

The new Charnean Army was armed primarily with weapons purchased from Alanahr and Latium, but would begin to develop a native military industry thanks to the effects of the civilian reforms of the Empire, which saw the advent of developmentalism and the birth of Charnean industry. The ICA was closely married to these modernizing forces in Charnean society, both as the primary beneficiary and the main enforcement body of new reforms and the policies which developed from the industrialization process. In particular, peacekeeping in the desert communities and the growing conflicts over the water supply from Charnea's underground aquifers, needed badly for the new factory districts and growing urban population yet likewise needed by traditional agricultural communities in the south and east of the country became the ICA's principal areas of concern behind national defense from foreign powers.

Agala War

Main article: Agala War

The Agala War (1945-1947) was a seminal conflict for the Charnean Army, serving as its first true test on the field of battle. Planners in the preceding decades had largely organized and equipped the ICA to fight a defensive war in the desert, using mobility and many time tested battle tactics of the Tenerian nomads to interdict and frustrate any attempt to invade the desert country by an foreign power. The Agala conflict, which involved the secession of the Zarma people of southern Charnea from the country, forced this military body organized for an elastic defense against an outside invasion to redeploy the units at its disposal in improvises offensive strategies to defeat the forces of the Agala Republic and prevent the breakaway state from asserting its independence. The war allowed the ICA to field many of its modern weapon systems, including ground-attack aircraft, a rail-supported motorized logistics system and the then cutting edge A45 Torka armored car which would become the star of the Agala campaign. The Charnean Army acquitted itself well in conventional combat early on but soon proved vulnerable to the asymmetric warfare tactics of the Zarma partisans formed from the survivors of the Agala Republic's defeated military forces.

What appeared to be a quick victory for the better trained and equipped Charnean Army evolved into a protracted counterinsurgency in the Agala highlands in which the Zarma partisans often matched the ICA in mobility and tactical flexibility, moving with the support of Zarma tribesmen through the hills and valleys of the region and frequently outpacing their Charnean adversary attempting to pursue them. Humiliated by the victories of lightly armed tribesmen over the recently reformed and well equipped Charnean forces, the ICA leadership resorted to widespread depredations against the general Zarma populace of the Agala. In particular, the ICA culled the herds of livestock which served as the main livelihood for much of the Zarma people, creating a famine which gripped the Agala region. The military largely pulled out of the hills where they faced frequent insurgent attacks, returning to their bases in fortified towns, urban centers and army camps where they established refugee and famine relief centers, offering the Zarma people the choice between entering military custody voluntarily or facing the starvation which the ICA had engineered. Now stripped of their support network and facing food shortages themselves, the Zarma partisans were drawn out to fight in increasingly one sided engagements against the Charnean Army. The actions of the ICA aimed at defeating the partisans no matter the human cost are remembered today as the Zarma genocide, in which the culture and ancestral way of life of the Zarma people was systematically targeted and largely destroyed by Charnean soldiers throughout the course of the war.

The aftermath of the Agala War would prove highly consequential for the future of Charnea and its armed forces. Many soldiers and officers of the Charnean Army had ordered or themselves perpetrated serious offenses against the Army's own code of conduct, some of which were internationally recognized war crimes. While some individuals of the Charnean Army received international sanctions as a result of their actions, the overwhelming majority of Charnean war criminals received full pardons from the Charnean government. Extensive records of the wartime Charnean Army were classified or destroyed after the war, frustrating any subsequent efforts to uncover the true extent of Charnean war crimes in the Agala War. Following the end of the war, the Charnean government funded a resettlement program which relocated hundreds of thousands of Zarma refugees from their ancestral homeland to the major Charnea cities, especially Agnannet, where they would become a part of the industrial workforce of the nascent Charnean manufacturing and processing sectors. Alienated from their traditions and many important elements of their culture, the urbanized Zarma partially assimilated into the culture of these Tenerian cities, with less than 2,000 known speakers of the Zarma language remaining in modern Charnea. The wartime actions of the Charnean Army and the Charnean government's tacit endorsement of the measures deemed justified in the name of victory fundamentally changed the nature of the Charnean Army as an institution to a more insular, more opaque body with the unconditional support of the Charnean civilian government.

Ninvite War

Main article: Ninvite War

Manpower

The majority of the peacetime active forces are volunteer professional soldiers hailing from nomadic Tenerian populations indigenous to the Ninva desert. These demographics have historically joined the ICA in large numbers due to the general poverty and lack of work opportunities available to the nomadic communities of the Ninva, deeply influencing the way of life of the nomads as well as the ICA's military culture. The overwhelming majority of nomads in the army are career soldiers for whom service in the ICA is their primary means of income and a represents a lifelong career. Being accustomed to a hardy life in desert conditions with few modern comforts, the Tenerian nomads are thought to be well suited to life in the Charnean Army. However, the nomads in Charnea suffer from a general lack of good education and in particular a dearth the advanced degrees needed to operate sophisticated modern military hardware. This shortfall motivated the foundation of the Charnean Army Vocational School in Awakar City, an institute established to streamline the learning process for nomad recruits to achieve suitable levels of education and technical expertise needed to operate a modern military force. 275,000 of the 330,000 active personnel of the ICA are Tenerian nomads, with an additional 50,000 registered as reservists, accounting for roughly one in three adult male nomads. In the past, major conflicts such as the Ninvite War have seen the mobilization of the entire male population and even portions of the female contingent of the nomads. As a result, the history of modern warfare in Charnea is reflected in the demographic fluctuations of the nomad population.

Approximately one half of the ICA's current total manpower are conscripts called up for a period of compulsory national service between the ages of 18 and 35 and recalled for refresher training every five to eight years. The great majority of ICA reservist forces are made up of these conscripted forces. The nomads are legally except from conscription into the ICA due to their special status and close relationship with the military. Therefore, the conscript forces of the ICA are made up entirely of sedentary, city-dwelling Tenerian populations as well as Charnean minority demographics such as the Ashkans, Deshrians and the Charnean Gharib community. These forces are organized into the Civil Defense Units, an organization separate from the Central Army hierarchy made responsible for training and mobilizing reservist manpower into their own units in case of conflict.

Equipment

Main article: Equipment of the Charnean Army

Structure

Charnean Unit	International Equivalent	Troop Numbers	Commander Rank
Data ⴷⴰⵜⴰ	Army	100,000 - 200,000	OF-10
Tifekkawen ⵜⵉⴼⴻⴽⴽⴰⵡⴻⵏ	Corps	60,000	OF-9 OF-8
Tazunt ⵜⴰⵣⵓⵏⵜ	Division	15,000	OF-7
Tirezzag ⵜⵉⵔⴻⵣⴰⴳ	Brigade	2,000 - 5,000	OF-5
Afdan ⴰⴼⴷⴰⵏ	Regiment	1,000	OF-4
Akenasat ⴰⴽⴻⵏⴰⵙⴰⵜ	Battalion	500	OF-3
Taggayt ⵜⴰⴳⴳⴰⵢⵜ	Company	100 - 250	OF-2 OF-1
Abrek ⴰⴱⵔⴻⴽ	Platoon	24-50	OR-9 OR-8 OR-7
Tabedawt ⵜⴰⴱⴻⴷⴰⵡⵜ	Section	12-25	OR-6 OR-5
Hewwa ⵁⴻⵡⵡⴰ	Squad	12	OR-5

The main body of the ICA is the Central Army which represents the whole of the standing ground combat forces of Charnea. The Central Army is made up of 16 army Divisions, each at a nominal strength of 15,000 men, which are grouped into 4 Corps of 60,000 men each. As a whole, the Central Army has an active manpower of 240,000 troops. Each Corps of the central army, numbered I-IV, is responsible for one of the four military quarters of Charnea which are arranged east to west due to the great longitudinal expanse of the country. Each of the four divisions of a given Corps are equipped to promote independent operations in line with the Charnean doctrine of desert warfare, which emphasizes strategic and tactical mobility and flexibility, in particular large logistical support units integrated at the divisional level to enable the division and each of its subordinate units to maneuver with relative freedom in the hostile environment of the Ninva which makes up the overwhelming majority of the Charnean territory. Units of the Central Army have a high degree of integrated logistical and fire support from the divisional all the way down to the battalion and even company unit level in keeping with its doctrine of flexible operations. These units are equipped with a wide variety of combat vehicles and transports to enable their highly vehicular and mobile approach to military operations, ranging from modified civilian trucks, to armored cars and armored fighting vehicles of various types. The higher end of the Central Army's divisions may field a number of V-74 and Tizurdam main battle tanks, while the more lightly equipped divisions may field large numbers of the old A45 Torka armored cars and a variety of thin-skinned vehicles and unarmored trucks serving as weapon carriers. The versatile and ubiquitous A84 Inabarom is the workhorse of the Central Army, being found in every division in significant numbers.

The Central Army is supported by the forces of the Army Air Service, an equivalent to the independent Air Force branch of other militaries that is subordinated to the Army's command structure. The Air Service is staffed by 60,000 personnel, divided into five groups termed Air Divisions. Four of these are the Corps air wings, attached to each of the Central Army's Corps units with the purpose of supporting the logistical and air support requirements of that Corps and its divisions. These Air Divisions are primarily equipped with attack helicopters, ground-attack aircraft and logistical support craft including fixed and rotary wing transport aircraft and carry out a combination of close air support, tactical bombing and logistical support missions. The fifth Air Division is represents the Air Service Reserve made up of fighters and strategic air defense units which serve primarily to counter enemy air threats exceeding the scale and purview of any Central Army Corps, equipping the most modern multirole aircraft and long ranged ground-based air defense systems.

The smallest organ of the ICA is the Border Guard force, made up of 10 motorized brigades dispersed across the thousands of kilometers of Charnea's external border and organized with a devolved command structure. The equipment of the Border Guards is generally older and lighter grade than that which is issued to the Central Army, lacking almost entirely in heavy weapons and having no fully enclosed armored fighting vehicles. Some Border Guards units are equipped with armored cars and scout cars such as the A45 Torka, while the majority make use of unarmored trucks and patrol vehicles. Border Guard units also operate unarmed or lightly armed aircraft, particularly turboprop fixed wing aircraft which are able to operate from air bases with unpaved runways and little supporting infrastructure and can conduct a large number of sorties at a lower cost as a means to conduct aerial patrols of the border regions. Much of the Charnean border zone which the Border Guards patrol consists of remote, sparsely populated or unpopulated and often inhospitable areas. As a result, the Border Guards must often play the role of first responders and rescue forces in the event of an emergency in these areas. The Border Guards have been known to inadvertently rescue stranded travelers discovered in the course of regular anti-smuggling and border security operations, who may have likely died in the desert had they not been found and extracted from the area.

In place of a conventional reservist system, the Charnean Army operates a popular mobilization organization known as the Civil Defense Units. The Civil Defense Units are an umbrella organization coordinating the activity of different types of military and paramilitary groups active throughout the country. The largest contingents of the CDU are pro-government militias, commonly Deshrian Coptic Nazarist militant groups, which are given a state sanction to conduct operations in support of the Charnean Army and its military objectives. In exchange for funding, weapons and legal status, these militias are integrated into the CDU command structure and placed under the supervision of ICA officers and can be issued orders to carry out missions by these officers. Members of the CDU militias are required to register as military reservists, and can be called to muster by a mobilization order similarly to a conventional conscript. Conscripted units also make up part of the CDU, serving as a full time active corps of uniformed servicemembers for the force. The majority of conscripts completing the compulsory national service period do so as part of the CDU. The conscripted portion of the force are used to maintain auxiliary army bases, serve as maintenance personnel for ICA equipment stockpiles, and receive basic military training or refresher training in the process, making up roughly 35,000 active members of the CDU at any one time. An additional 5,000 full time members of the CDU paramilitary groups which maintaign their respective bases and administer their members form a total of 40,000 full time members of the CDU active in peacetime. Part-time CDU personnel, which includes paramilitary police units, represent an additional 60,000 peacetime personnel. In total, the Civil Defense Units are able to mobilize 240,000 personnel and organize them into fighting units in relatively short order, and would service as the primary recruitment and mobilization organ for the ICA in the case of a protracted war requiring the mobilization of the Charnean population into military service.

Ranks

Commissioned Ranks

	OF-10	OF-9	OF-8	OF-7	OF-6	OF-5	OF-4	OF-3	OF-2	OF-1	OA
Tifinagh Latin Equivalent	ⴰⵍⵖⴰⵍⵉⵎ Alɣalim Martial	ⵣⴻⴳⵔⴻⵜ ⴰⵎⵏⴻⵔ Zegret Amner Major General	ⵎⵏⴻⵔ Amner General	ⴰⵎⴰⴷⵀⴰⵍ ⴰⵎⵏⴻⵔ Amadhal Amner Lieutenant General	See OF-5	ⴰⵍⴽoⵍⵏⴻⵍ Alkolnel Colonel	ⴷⴰⵡⴰⵍⴽoⵍⵏⴻⵍ Dawalkolnel Sub-Colonel	ⵎⴰⵙⵙⵉ ⵏ'ⴰⵍⵍⴰⵖ Massi N'Allaɣ Major	ⴽⴰⵒⵉⵜⴰⵏ Kapitan Captain	ⴰⵎⴰⴷⵀⴰⵍ Amadhal Lieutenant	ⴰⵙⵓⵀⵓ Asuhu Aspirant

Enlisted Ranks

	OR-9	OR-8	OR-7	OR-6	OR-5	OR-4	OR-3	OR-2	OR-1
Tifinagh Latin Equivalent	ⵣⴻⴳⵔⴻⵜ ⴰⵊⵓⵜⴰⵏ Zegret Ajutan Adjutant-Major	ⴰⵊⵓⵜⴰⵏ Ajutan Adjutant	ⴷⴰⵡⴰⵊⵓⵜⴰⵏ Dawajutan Sub-Adjutant	ⵣⴻⴳⵔⴻⵜ ⴽⵓⵎⴰⵏⴷⵉ Zegret Kumandi Sergeant-Major	ⴽⵓⵎⴰⵏⴷⵉ Kumandi Sergeant	ⴻⵖⴰⴼ Eɤaf Corporal	See OR-1	See OR-1	ⵉⵙⴻⵔⴷⵓⵙⵙⴰ Iserdussa Soldier