Civil defence in Barrayar
The Civil Defence System is the whole of efforts to protect Barrayaran civilian subjects from every emergency situation, from natural disasters to military attacks. Civil Defence is one of the most important State’s functions, a component of defensive construction work and safety of civilian population. The general control of Civil Defence is provided by Government of the Empire. Control over local Civil Defence is provided by local top management.
The System uses the principles of emergency operations. The focus of civil defence is equally balanced within military attack and emergencies and disasters in general. The Civil Defence is a key part of "total defence". The Empire of Barrayar has paramilitary civil defence units (Civil Defence Troops under Ministry of Interior) and part of the Imperial Service dedicated to the support.
The threat of chemical, biological and other kinds of weapons has made the Civil Defence management pay attention to the available resources related to terrorist control, as well as to development of laboratory control and observation networks.
Civil defence: an articulated concept
The Civil Defence, along with military defense, constitutes one of the fundamental components of national defense. The concept of "civil defence" differs from the similar notion of "civil protection". Broadly speaking, there are at least two concepts of "civil defence": the civil defence as an operational component of the national defence, and the civil defence as a support to the national defence. The Government of Barrayar officially adopts the first concept.
Civil defence as a component of national defence
The civil defence can be primarily understood in the particular perspective of "civil mobilization" or as an organization of the entire nation (and not just its military component) for the war, when the war is not just a military problem but invests all spheres of national life, with a view to a joint effort in the conduct of military operations. The civil defence is an added value to the military defence, namely the provision, organization and execution of assets, non-military policies and measures for the support and the support of military operations.
In this context, the civil defence is actually a component of "operational" national defence and only indirectly a function of protection and within the scope of the State civil protection. From this setting, the idea of civil mobilization, independent, complementary and supplementary to military mobilization, is originated. In this sense, civil mobilization joins the military defense and integrates it. Civil mobilization is actually a series of obligations, restrictions, withdrawals coercive (requisitions) and due conduct that institutions, public authorities, private enterprises, individual citizens must be observed by virtue of the supreme military needs.
In this perspective, the State prepares regulatory and organizational tools since the time of peace, implementing the civil defense capability even with the formation and training of a previously identified organism and including the orientation and of the entire population information, regulating the agricultural and industrial production for military needs, harmonizing and co-ordinating the system of public services (transport, communications, etc.), providing a unified system of command and control to coordinate military defense operations with those of civil defense (the coordination, then, is a technical and administrative one). In this context, the civil protection has its own organizational and functional autonomy since the time of peace and contributes to the prediction, prevention, containment and rescue in case of damaging events for the civil community. The civil protection, therefore, is strictly connected to the national defence.
Civil defence as support to national defence
From another perspective, the civil defence means essentially the defence of the civilian population and of the fundamental economic, social and political structures, essential to the community from impacts and consequences of the war. Only indirectly this form of civil defence contributes to national defence: the protection of civilian resources, in the broad sense, defends the state's capacity to successfully deal with the military operations.
In this perspective, the system is based on the strict separation of military and civilian spheres, where coordination is essentially of political nature. The civil protection, therefore, is a distinct matter. In this context, the State would have no real organization of civil defence, nor a strong and centralized coordination to harmonize the military defence operations with those of civil defence. The responsibilities would be fragmented and interact exclusively in emergency and military defence objectives are not necessarily coincide with those of civil defence.
Ministry organisation
The Civil Defence System finds its top management within the Ministry of Interior. The Department of Public Rescue Services and Civil Defence provides coordination and administrative support for local units.
The Department of Public Rescue Services and Civil Defence is divided into ten Directorates:
- Directorate for Emergency and Technical Rescue;
- Directorate for the Prevention and Security Technology;
- Directorate for Public Rescue and Civil Defence: in charge for Fire Corps and Civil Defence Troops;
- Directorate for Education;
- Institute for Fire Defence and Scientific Research;
- Civil Defence Institute, Vorbarr Sultana: trains all officers and non-commissioned personnel of the Ministry in the duties of civil defense;
- Civil Protection Training and Methodology Centre;
- All-Barrayaran Scientific Research Institute;
- Centre for Scientific Analysis of Civil Defence Issues;
- Directorate for Human Resources;
- Directorate of Logistics Resources;
- Directorate of Financial Resources;
- Directorate for General Affairs;
- Central Inspection Office.
Imperial Fire Service
Imperial Fire Service is the fire service body of the Empire of Barrayar in charge for firefighting and local co-ordination of the Civil Defence efforts: its peripheral offices are the peripheral offices of the Department of Department of Public Rescue Services and Civil Defence. The IFS follows the tripartite pattern common to Civil Defence Troops and Internal Troops, further subdividing each Planetary Command into IFS Districts according the needs. The head of the Imperial Fire Service is a Fire Actual State Councillor, appointed by the Minister of the Interior, who belongs to the Service.
Due to the peculiar nature of IFS' tasks, Planetary Commands are quasi-independent corps, each with an autonomous sub-organization.
Barrayar Command
The Barrayar Command is in charge for all Imperial fire-fighting activities within the star system of Barrayar. In the Northern Districts, the Imperial Fire Service maintains only small detachments dependent directly on the Barrayar Command, and normally they do not perform operations outside the Vorbarra District because fire-fighting services are provided by the relevant Count.
From a general point of view, emergency teams work throughout the country. Detachments of Imperial Fire Service in each southern administrative subdivision are controlled by a coordinating command authority. In response to emergency calls, local operation joint rooms decide on the level of response and type of equipment needed, and liaise with local police and Civil Defence Troops. Operating personnel may be permanent or volunteer. Fire-fighters are also made up by conscripts: they are appointed to logistical and clerical services unless they apply for a longer tour of duty.
Each team consists of seven fire-fighters and is coordinated by a team leader or by the policeman with the longest field experience. The rest of the team consists of Professional or Volunteer Fire-fighter with several years of seniority.
Staff becomes operative after six months of physical and professional training. A special course entitles grants some fire-fighters to run emergency vehicles. Operational staff has functions of public safety and fire prevention.
The Barrayar Command is divided into six IFS Districts:
- Vorbarr Sultana District
- Barrayar Northern Continent - Eastern District
- Barrayar Northern Continent - Western District
- Barrayar Southern Continent
- Dendarii Mountains District
- Black Mountains District
Southern Continent and Black Mountains IFS Districts are grouped within the IFS Southern Command, while Northern Districts are directly under the Barrayar Command.
IFS Southern Command
The Southern Command is in charge for all Imperial Fire Service's activities in the Southern Continent, with a substantial degree of autonomy from the parent command. The peripheral structures of the Service are divided into the following local offices:
- District Commands, established within the District for the performance of official duties;
- Regional Command, established for the performance of official duties within the Regions. Regional Commands are the most important subdivisions within the Southern Command.
- Arrondissement Commands, Permanent Surveillance Posts and Permanent Detachments, set up in the employ of the Regional Command;
- Special Units and Teams for special operations that require the use of specially trained personnel, as well as the use of special equipment.
Regional Commands
Each of the 256 Regional Commands is in charge for general fire-fighting services and for management of the civil defence efforts. All Regional Commands follow a common organisational pattern:
- Regional Commander
- Deputy Commander
- Personnel Office
- Training and Education Office
- Technical plants and operational facilities Division
- Peripheral and subordinate facilities
- Financial Plan Division
- Financial Services Office
- IT Division
- Press Office
- Prevention Division
- Technical Secretary
- Emergency and Technical Aid and Rescue Division
- Logistic Office
- Operations Room
- Operational Procedures Division
- Urban Office
- N.B.C.R. Office
- Water, Mountain and Forest Office
- Airport and Spaceport Office
- Seaport Office
- Technical Security Division
- Fire Prevention Office
- Fire Prevention Peripheral Sections
- Fire Prevention Office
- Administrative and Judicial Police Support Division
- Fire Surveillance Office
- Deputy Commander
Airborne Fire-fighters Brigade
The Airborne Fire-fighters Brigade is an autonomous fire-fighting formation who carries out parachute jumps into remote areas to combat wildfires. The formation is established in order to combat and control wildfires in terraformed regions, but also into native-populated areas. The Brigade is in charge for all the 64 administrative Districts of the Southern Continent, which are grouped into the two IFS Districts; there are two Airborne Fire-fighting Battalions for each ISF District, alongside the dedicated Command Company and Air Support Squadron Group (battalion-level unit).
Airborne Fire-fighters are most often deployed to fires that are extremely remote. The risks associated with this method of personnel deployment are mitigated by a focused training program. Airborne Fire-fighters are capable of reaching a wildfire shortly after ignition when it is still relatively small and extinguishing the blaze before it becomes a problem. When there is no significant fire activity, Airborne Fire-fighters can also be used for outside fire suppression in work assignments such as forestry, disaster relief and emergency management.
Civil Defence Troops
Civil Defence Troops are an Imperial paramilitary organisation within the Civil Defence System. They are the basic Response Manpower of the Civil Defence System, and their staff is organized in order to solve specific problems of peace and war time. Their crucial challenges are disaster relief and disasters and catastrophes rescue in areas, as well as protection of fundamental plants and reactivation of basic public services. They also look for, find and mark areas of radiation, chemical and biological pollution, protect civilians and decontaminate polluted equipment, buildings and territories. Recently, Civil Defence Troops have been involved in both evacuation of civilians and solving urgent problems of their survival, recovery of damaged objects and communications, humanitarian cargo delivery, protection of very important objects, localizing and extinguishing forest and peat fires. Civil Defence Troops help medical personnel to evacuate patients during serious disease epidemics.
The Civil Defence Troops General Command depends on the Directorate for Public Rescue and Civil Defence. At the central level it provides general policy guidelines and deals with administrative work. Subordinate to the General Command there are the Planetary Commands, one for each inhabited planet of the Empire: Barrayar Planetary Command, Komarr Planetary Command and Sergyar Planetary Command. Each of these has a further subdivision, which follows internal boundaries.
Barrayar Command
The Civil Defence Troops Barrayar Command is subordinated to the Commandant General. Within the Staff, the Garrison Command has also a liaison office of the Imperial Police Force. The Command's role is to provide a series of coordinating centres and to logistically support administrative Districts civil defence apparatus. In the Northern Continent, the intervention of the Civil Defence Troops is strictly limited to Counts' requests, with the exception of large uprisings.
The main scientific institutes dependent on Barrayar Command are the Barrayaran Monitoring and Laboratory Control Centre, and Southern Monitoring and Control Centre, established in order to issue early warning in case of natural disasters.
There are six CDT Districts on Barrayar, corresponding to Internal Troops planetary subdivisions, each of them including a whole set of normally-self contained civil protection forces. Each CDT District includes 8 Battalions:
- 1 CDT Air-Mobile Rescue Battalion: these teams are equipped with aviation facilities that include helijets and cargo aircraft.
- 5 CDT Land Mobile Battalions: these teams are equipped with second-wave facilities in order to establish a complete rescue-relief-evacuation point.
- 2 CDT Engineer Battalions: these units are established to provide engineers delegations to emergency situations.
On Barrayar, CDT Districts are:
- Vorbarr Sultana District
- Barrayar Northern Continent - Eastern District
- Barrayar Northern Continent - Western District
- Barrayar Southern Continent
- Dendarii Mountains District
- Black Mountains District
Komarr Command
The Civil Defence Troops Komarr Command is subordinated to the Commandant Komarr. Within the Staff, the Garrison Command has also a liaison office of the Komarran Security Forces. The Command's role is to provide a series of coordinating centres and to logistically support administrative Sectors and Domed Cities civil defence apparatus. The main scientific institutes dependent on Komarr Command are the Solstice Monitoring and Laboratory Control Centre and Serifosa Laboratories, established in order to issue early warning in case of natural disasters.
There are 19 CDT Districts on Komarr, corresponding to the administrative Sectors, each of them including a whole set of normally-self contained civil protection forces. Each CDT District is considered a Brigade and includes 5 Battalions, for a total of 85 Battalions:
- 1 CDT Air-Mobile Rescue Battalion: these teams are equipped with aviation facilities that include helijets and cargo aircraft.
- 2 CDT Land Mobile Battalions: these teams are equipped with second-wave facilities in order to establish a complete rescue-relief-evacuation point.
- 2 CDT Engineer Battalions: these units are established to provide engineers delegations to emergency situations.
All of CDT assigned to Komarr have oxygen reserves, sealed vehicles and sealing tools.