Thrashian Imperial Army
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| Imperial Army | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 359 YBCE ~ Present |
| Country | Thrashia |
| Allegiance | Imperial Throne |
| Branch | Army |
| Role | planetary assault, planetary occupation, protect vital national interests, and fulfill national military responsibilities |
| Size | 500,000,000+ (active), 1,200,000,000+ (reserve) |
| Motto(s) | 'Gloria Exercitus Et Imperii' |
| March | Imperial March |
| Equipment | Thrashian Imperial Army Equipment |
The Imperial Army is the terrestrial component of the Thrashian Imperial Military. The men and women that have served within the Imperial Army since it's inception have served with distinction and honor for centuries. There are three primary components that make up the Imperial Army: the Clone Legions, the Stormtrooper Corp, and the Imperial Army; although the latter most is also referred to as the 'General Army' or 'Regular Forces'.
Role
The operational goal and purpose of the Imperial Army is surface superiority during instances of ground warfare, and are equipped with the means of seizing and defending a planet. While the Imperial Navy controls space and the Stormtrooper Corps leads assaults and established bridgeheads, only the Imperial Army is capable of deploying the heavy equipment and of sustaining the long operations required to gain control of planets. As such, the Army encompasses various infantry, armored cavalry, special forces, artillery operators, engineers, scouts, and drivers that can number in the tens of trillions. This also means that while they are capable of decisive planetary operations and sustained surface superiority, it takes longer to deploy their specialized formations and heavy equipment than other branches of the Imperial Military. In particular this pertains to the Imperial Regulars.
Aside from this, the Army also has the role of eliminating military threats to the established Imperial political order on planetary surfaces or other inhabited complexes. If on an enemy planet, the Imperial Army is to engage and defeat any local military force that is capable of resistance, in order to ensure the transition of control of the planet towards the Empire. The Army when engaged in operations could expect support from the Imperial Navy during the initial drop phase, which included suppressing fire against particularly hard or well-armed targets, as well as "force reduction attacks" meant to destroy enemy assets capable of interfering with reorganization after the drop. The Army during later phases of an operation is also allowed to pre-plan for orbital bombardments on specific targets. If the operation proved vital enough, the Army will work together with naval units on the ground to provide fire support upon being called upon.
The Imperial Army's tactics had emphasized demoralizing the enemy, specifically through the use of overwhelming firepower to leave them shell-shocked and helpless in the face of a massive, numerically superior frontal assault. This has been changing to a more fluid, maneuver-based method of warfare. The Imperial Army had emphasized the frontal assault as the centerpiece of ground warfare, which drove the development of massive walkers like the AT-AT, which could use its immense height to deliver overwhelming firepower against targets from far outside the range of most artillery or ground vehicles. Repulsortanks and other such repulsorlift vehicles, which had supposedly been considered better suited for "mid-intensity" combat, such as urban warfare and fast-moving campaigns in grassy or forested terrain, were brought back into vogue. The age of ponderous, massed walker assaults is considered a thing of the past. Such tactics are only employed on technologically backward worlds where the native population may be easily cowed by a show of such force.
Organization
The highest organizational body of the Imperial military is the Imperial Army High Command, which is largely ceremonial and composed of courtiers from the Imperial Court. Below this is Army Sectorial Command, the organizing body of senior Generals that directed all operations of the Imperial Army, led by the Army Chief of Staff. Army Sectorial Command oversees all aspects of the Imperial Army and operates and commands the ground battles, and anything within the Imperial Army's jurisdiction, coordinating the war effort of the Thrashian Empire. Beneath the ASC is the Legion Command, Stormtrooper Command, and Army Command; each of which is charge with overseeing their particular slice of the Imperial Army's over all structural pie.
Imperial Army Regulars
Beneath the Army Command, the ranking organization that oversees the non-clone and non-Naval elements of the Imperial Army, are several branches and suborganizations that help to define and enable the Imperial Army to carry out it's duties. They are as follows: Acquisition Command, Air Defense Artillery Corps, Armor Command, Civilian Affairs, Information Operations Command, Strategic Intelligence Command, Chemical and Biological Warfare Command, Public Affairs Office, Finance Corps, Infantry, Logistics, Operations Research and Analysis Command, Inspector General, Army Intelligence Corps, Medical Corps, Military Police Corps, Psychological Operations Command, Infantry, Quartermaster Corps, Special Forces, Ordnance Corps, Transportation Corps, Signal Corps, and Simulation Operations Command.
Operational Unit Structure
Major Generals Everywhere
There are far more corps HQs than there are corps. This represents an abundance of more than pleasant jobs for officers, some of whom are perhaps less than brilliant officers but have requisite time in-service; the corps HQ is the basis for the Imperial Garrison. The Empire requires garrisons to be organizational focal points for rapid mobilization. Realizing that, in a crisis, units may have to be sent from many parts of a sector, or across sectorial lines, the Army wanted HQs in place which could take command of all these separate parts.
As Imperial doctrine currently holds that a corps is a sufficient force to retake any planet, corps HQ are set up as the basis of Imperial garrisons. As garrisons also have diplomatic, trade, and research functions, additional tech, medical, science, and diplomatic service personnel are assigned to them. These are nominally outside the major generals' command, but reality often puts the general in charge.
The typical military contingent that is at any garrison is at the regimental level, most often with four battalions mixed in a way which is optimum for the world on which the garrison is situated rather than following a rigid ORBAT. A battalion of stormtroopers, one of AT-STs, and two battalions of heavy armor is a popular configuration for the typical garrison. Garrisons do not always have access to the latest TIE fighter models, but must content themselves with whatever a wise commander can scrounge.
Most Imperial Army Regular units can be operationally divided into the following components from smallest to largest:
- Squad (8 troopers): A squad includes a sergeant and a corporal.
- Platoon (32 troopers): A platoon consists of four squads, commanded by a lieutenant and a sergeant-major.
- Company (128 troopers): A company consists of four platoons, led by a captain.
- Battalion (512 troopers): A battalion consists of four companies, led by a major. The battalion is the minimum deployment for an army group operation unless stormtroopers are included in the deployment.
- Regiment (2,048 troopers): A regiment consists of four battalions, led by a lieutenant colonel or colonel.
- Battlegroup (8,192 troopers): A battlegroup consists of four regiments, led by a high colonel or brigadier. The battlegroup is the standard deployment for major Imperial Army offensives. Battlegroup is an Imperial designation that replaced the old Republican designation of division.
- Corps (32,768 troopers): A corps consists of four battlegroups, commanded by a major general. A corps is deployed as a unit for major planetary operations.
- Army (131,072 troopers): An army consists of four corps, commanded by a general.
- System Army (as many as 383,216 troopers): A System Army consists of between one and three armies operating in the same system, and is largely a bookkeeping designation, not an operational unit.
- Sector Army (as many as 1,572,864 troopers): A Sector Army consists of between two and four systems armies, and is commanded by a marshal or grand general
The above represents the Imperial Army's basic requirements for those unit compositions, though conditions on the ground may vary -- as well as the fact there are a myriad number of organic units that are attached or detached at the behest of High Command at any particular point in time.
Sub Organizations
Acquisition Command
An organization which includes civilians, officers, and NCOs. The Acquisition Command is composed of army officers who serve in acquisition, a specialized form of product development, fielding, and support and Noncommissioned Officers who specialize in contracting, program management and purchasing. The entire command is involved within what is deemed the 'Acquisition Process':
Acquisition Life Cycle
- Materiel Solution Analysis
- Technology Maturation & Risk Reduction
- Engineering & Manufacturing Development
- Production & Deployment
- Operations & Support
Acquisition Command coordinate with the Imperial Research & Development Center when it comes to the early stages of product analysis and risk assessments. It is common for major industrial concerns to coordinate their production and engineering teams with the Acquisition Command members, helping them to try and get an idea of where the Imperial military is thinking of future weapon system development.
Air Defense Artillery Command
The Air Defense Artillery Command is a branch of the Imperial Army that specializes in anti-aircraft and anti-orbital defenses. They are intrinsically linked to Garrisons and the refinement of Air Defense operations and deployment. They are responsible for overseeing the operational use of such weapon systems as the v-150 Planet Defender Ion Cannon, XX-10 Turbolaser, and the w-165 Planetary Turbolaser Cannon.
Armor Command
Under the command of the Chief of Armored Forces, the Armor Command oversees the training and operational use of armored forces, including any mobile or mechanized infantry formations. While it does not execute any actual battlefield command of armored forces, it is charged with inspecting armored forces and analysis of battlefield reports involving them. Development of new doctrine and the study of battlefield techniques developed by armored soldiers in the field is of primary concern for the Armor Command staff.
Civilian Affairs
According to the Imperial Army High Command, "The force that the Army employs to compete and win within the population is Civil Affairs." With their knowledge of governance and diplomacy, Civil Affairs soldiers are the principal experts in assisting a commander on the conduct of civil-military operations, and the sole force trained and tasked to conduct Civil Affairs Operations. All Active Component Army Civil Affairs personnel are Special Operations Forces-qualified and as such undergo rigorous assessment and selection, followed by extensive training in foreign languages, advanced survivability skills, and negotiations techniques in order to operate autonomously as a small team, in any kind of environment, to achieve strategic end states. A Civil Affairs Team of 2 to 4 soldiers will often be the only Imperial military personnel in on an entire planet, working for the Imperial ambassador or local authority as well as their military chain of command.
The fundamental role of Civil Affairs forces is to build networks of formal and informal leaders to accomplish important missions in diplomatically or politically sensitive areas. Civil Affairs operate as reconnaissance elements within the population, performing their core task of Civil Reconnaissance. Civil Information Management, Helping to provide Foreign Humanitarian Assistance, and Nation Assistance. They achieve effects by conducting Civil Engagements, applying knowledge of governance, economics, and politics to affect human behavior in the context of military operations or in support of strategic objectives. This in-depth nature to their operations has meant that many Civilian Affairs soldiers often either transfer into CA from the ISB, or from CA to the ISB. They often coordinate with the Imperial Security Bureau on internal security matters
Information Operations Command
Information Operations (IO) is a category of direct and indirect support operations for the Imperial Military. By definition, "IO are described as the integrated employment of electronic warfare (EW), computer network operations (CNO), psychological operations (PSYOP), military deception (MILDEC), and operations security (OPSEC), in concert with specified supporting and related capabilities, to influence, disrupt, corrupt or usurp adversarial human and automated decision making while protecting our own." Information Operations (IO) are actions taken to affect adversary information and information systems while defending one's own information and information systems.
Strategic Intelligence Command
Provides decision makers (i.e. ground commanders) with strategic all source intelligence assessments and estimates at the theater, plans, coordinates and manages the tasking of intelligence collection assets, as well as the analysis, integration, processing, production, dissemination and utilization of strategic intelligence information.