Zamorodnian Combined Militia

Zamorodnian Combined Militia
Замородинська Зведена Міліція Zamorodyns'ka Zvedena Militsiya
Banner of Hetman Petrenko
Founded	1672
Current form	2022
Leadership
Hetman	Oleh Bohdanuk Petrenko
Manpower
Conscription	variable
Available for military service	6,923,316, age 18 to 55
Active personnel	55,000 to 62,000
Reserve personnel	approx. 2 million
Expenditures
Budget	$5.63 billion
Percent of GDP	3.15%
Related articles
History	Military history of Zamorodna

The Zamorodnian Combined Militia (Zamorodnian: Замородинська Зведена Міліція; Zamorodyns'ka Zvedena Militsiya), rarely known as the United Zamorodnian Host, is the unified military of the Zamorodnian Hetmanate. Commanded by the Hetman, the Combined Militia is composed of local militias raised in each of the fifteen stanytsy in Zamorodna. Training, equipment, numbers, and methods of recruitment vary drastically from one stanytsa to the next, but each one is obligated to muster a minimal force determined at the election of a new hetman.

The Combined Militia is rare among professional armed forces in that it has no distinct branches of service, with no specialized units even subordinated to a special role branch. Each militia is effectively treated as its own asset under a unified command structure. As a landlocked country, Zamorodna has a negligible force of riverine vessels placed at the Hetman's command. The country's air power is provided by the Kostyanopol Air Militia and the Barabanopol Air Force which are typically unified into a single division with airborne-capable troops.

The exact size of the Combined Militia is difficult to ascertain when forces are not actively mustered. Several stanytsy permit ineligible citizens to train with qualified reservists and in some cases even alongside standing service personnel. Ten of the fifteen stanytsy practice some form of conscription when the other five to now. In general, estimates of active personnel range between 55,000 and 62,000 while the number of reservists may approach two million.

The Zamorodnian Combined Militia sources equipment from a variety of sources. Traditionally, the Veliko Tsardom has been the source of much of the Hetmanate's equipment. Over the past decades, Zamorodna's own arms industry has grown to meet a portion of its domestic demand. Private purchases from global arms and equipment manufacturers have also supplemented domestic and Veliko production. As each stanytsy procures equipment for its respective militias, equipment between units often varies greatly and there are few standards.

History

The Kvor cultural was historically martial, with the expectation that every capable man trained as a warrior. The settlement of the Kvor in the region of modern-day Zamorodna gradually challenged the preservation of the roles of warriors in their hosts. However, for the period of Zamorodna's history as an autonomous region under the Veliko Tsardom, these customs were preserved with Kvor osavuls and warriors ruling over Staryzamian peasants and serfs who worked the land.

Zamorodnian ax-pistol from circa. the mid-17th century

In this era, Kvor warriors were trained to ride on horseback and fight with bows, spears, lances, and axes. Squadrons of Kvor riders were frequently recruited as mercenaries in foreign countries to act as raiders and scouts behind enemy lines, light cavalry in pitched battles, and dragoons in occupations. Many conservative Kvor warriors were reluctant to adopt gunpowder weapons, opting to continue to train with the bow. Other riders adopted pistols and blunderbusses with enthusiasm, even modifying some with ax heads to create dual-purpose weapons.

Major demographic changes, industrialization, and geopolitical concerns gradually brought about the end of the martial roles of many Kvor. The Staryzamian and Kvor settlers had also been largely assimilated or subsumed by a melting pot "Zamorodnian" culture. The end of the warrior culture necessitated the rise of a professional soldiering class that was more flexible and doctrinally normative than the traditional Kvor riders. The first levy of Zamorodnian militias placed directly under the command of the Hetman was in 1672. This date is viewed as the effective foundation of the Zamorodnian militia. Each subsequent tenure of a new hetman sees the demands and capabilities of the militia reevaluated, such that they are considered to take on a new form each time. The term "Combined Militia" came into use in the 1870s, noting distinctions between different militia units. Prior to this, the unified forces under the command were referred to as the "United Host", though this term is rarely used at present.

Structure and organization

While each stanytsa is responsible for raising a militia for the Hetman, in practice the stanytsy each raise at least two units: one active and one reserve militia. Other stanytsy raise three or four militias accounting for separate conscript forces or air or sea assets.

Zamorodnian militias are official under the unified command of the Hetman and the Hetman's staff who typically hold the rank of luk otaman. Each luk otaman commands a military district of three to five militias. Militias are legally subordinated to Zamorodna's judiciaries. In osavulships, the osavul appoints the judiciary and thus appoints a commander to lead the stanytsa's militia under orders from a luk otaman. In the sovyety, the judiciary is composed of the elected members of the sovyet's rada. In either case, the individual appointed or elected to command the militia holds the rank of vitse-osavul. Other officers beneath a vitse-osavul include the kurenyk, who commands a battalion of 400-800 soldiers, and the sotnyk who commands approximately 100. A platoon-equivalent unit is commanded by an okrugnyk or a hutyrnyk.

Training

The training regimens of Zamorodnian militias are not standardized beyond a set of minimum standards of fitness for military service. Most stanytsy maintain a more stringent standard of fitness than the minimum. In general, the minimum age for enrollment in a militia is 18 years old, though some stanytsy have youth or scouting programs that drill and train youths in military readiness. Active service members are required to train three days per week in peacetime, including general fitness, marksmanship, and survival training. Reservists are subjected to more irregular training with fewer formal requirements. Some reservists are only required to train as little as one weekend per year while others train weekly.

One iconic feature of Zamorodnian military training is the hopak, an acrobatic dance that is frequently taught and practiced as a form of exercise. More recently, the combat hopak has gained traction as a martial arts adaptation of the dance.

Ranks and insignia

Officer ranks

	Staff officers		Senior officers				Junior officers
Rank	Hetman	Luk Otaman	Vitse-Osavul	Kurenyk	Sotnyk	Vitse-Sotnyk	Okrugnyk	Hutyrnyk
Insignia

Other ranks

	Senior NCOs				Junior NCOs	Enlisted
Rank	Starshyy Horunzhyy	Horunzhyy	Starshyy Desyatnyk	Desyatnyk	Vistun	Starshyy Striletsʹ	Striletsʹ	Kursant
Insignia