Realm Defense Forces of Syara
In the Commonality of Syara, each Realm maintains its own separate military force that operates under the authority of the Realm Government. All four of Syara's Realms, Makedon, Galania, Scitaria, and Hayreniky, are responsible for the raising and maintaing of their own military force per the Commonality Constitution. The Realm Guards are a distinct legal entity from the Syaran Commonality Armed Forces, or its reserve components of the Realm Defense Forces or the Syaran Strategic Forces. The Realm Guards answer to their respective Viceroys (ilKhan in Hayreniky) as their highest authority.
While the Realm Guards are not members of the Syaran armed forces nor can the Government of Syara utilize their forces, the individual members of the Realm Guards are not exempt from military service in the form of national conscription into the SCAF. Service in the Realm Guards may be chosen as an excemption for conscription into the SCAF, and introductory training into both the SCAF and the Realm Guards is conducted via the same training program. Realm Guards forces may not be activated or employed by the national government without the explicit authorization of their Realm Governments.
In practice, the Realm Guards operate as a local militia or gendarmerie. While the Realm Guards are considered a military force under the Commonality Constitution, their practical application is more varied and often involves support for law enforcement, natural disaster response, and civil protection services. While the Realm Guards may police their own internal borders, the Realm Guards are not authorized to carry out border guard services for Syara's international boundaries, namely its land border with Ruvelka, jurisdiction of which falls under the Ministry of Security.
The size of the Realm Guards vary from Realm to Realm; Makedon posesses the largest Realm Guard with 32,000 personnel, followed by Scitaria with 27,000, Galania with 25,000, and Hayreniky with 18,000. Many formations and organizations within the Realm Guards codify themselves as successors to the national armies of the Syaran states prior to the Unification of Syara.