Commonwealth Air Force (NASC)

The Commonwealth Air Force
The Commonwealth Air Force
La Fuerza Aérea de la Manucommunidad
	File:NASCNewMartialFlag.png Flag of the Commonwealth Air Force
Founded	15. April. 2031
Service branches	Commonwealth Air Force Commonwealth Air Force Reserve
Headquarters	War Ministry Building, Veluna City
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief	Nataliya Valinova
Air Force Secretary	Ivo Maxsim
Chief of Defense	AMAF Crawford Holmwood
Manpower
Military age	18-50
Conscription	None during Peacetime
Active personnel	451,563
Reserve personnel	121,475
Expenditures
Budget	$1,250,116,424,020

The Commonwealth Air Force is the air arm of The Commonwealth Defense Force, and the sole combat air arm of the Commonwealth. It is nominally the youngest of the CODFOR Branches, though dubiously as it was formed a mere hour after The Proletarian Guard. The Commonwealth is a replacement of The United States Air Force, though it was largely formed independent of existing manpower stocks. The Commonwealth Air Force as a result is the only branch of CODFOR that does not believe itself the inheritor of the military branch it had replaced.

The primary mission of The Commonwealth Air Force is to "Guard the skies of the Socialist Commonwealth from aerial invasions and airborne terroristic attacks, and to aid in the defense of allies. To safeguard the skyways for which the Commonwealth is responsible and, to protect the citizens of the Commonwealth from harm". The Commonwealth Air Force is headed, government side by the Air Force Department Secretary, and by extension The War Minister. The Chief of Staff is the Air Marshal of The Air Force (an ad honorarium promotion from Air Marshal). The AMAF's aide and in absentia representative (assuming the AMAF is still alive) is The Chief Sergeant of The Air Force. During the 2063 fiscal year, The Commonwealth Air Force was stated to have 400,000 active and 100,000 reserve personnel as well as 50,000 related government officials.

Mission

In accordance with the law that formed The Commonwealth Air Force, the purpose of The Commonwealth Air Force is to "Guard the skies of the Socialist Commonwealth from aerial invasions and airborne terroristic attacks, and to aid in the defense of allies. To safeguard the skyways for which the Commonwealth is responsible and, to protect the citizens of the Commonwealth from harm". This overall mission statement in turns form tenets which are the basis of Air Force operational doctrine.

Establish Local Air Superiority over the Commonwealth's territories.
Perform patrols to protect the Commonwealths Air Trade routes from terror attack or enemy action.
Maintain a ready force of craft in case an ally calls for aid.
Eliminate threats to The Commonwealth or its allies through the use of Air Power.

History

Origins

The origins of The Commonwealth Air Force come after the Revolution. During the revolution, Air Power was sometimes used to devastating effect against the Revolutionaries. While most pilots refused to bomb civilians and locked up many Airbases, a handful followed orders. The massacres still fresh in the minds of those drafting the Constitution wished to ensure that such horrors would not soon be again visited on the people. To that end, there was little argument over the creation of a standing Air Force, though question as to its nature did cause some argument.

Pre-Opening

Unlike the other two branches, The Commonwealth Air Force received a decent amount of funding during the 2030s. This was largely the result of essentially having to hire and train a new Air Force from scratch. The vast majority of Pre-Revolution Air Force personnel having refused to join into the new Post-Revolutionary force. Equipment especially Air Frames had to start being replaced, as a large number of F-35s slated to replace older craft were shot down during The Sino-American War, leaving air frames that were, in some cases 50 or 60 years old. As a result a large number of Fighter Development Programs were launched, or signed onto by the Commonwealth. By 2043, much of the Air Force had been revamped, and refitted for the third quarter of the century.

During The Northern War, The Commonwealth Air Force played a key role in defeating the Enclave forces, having secured Air Superiority in a matter of hours after hostilities had been officially declared. The liberated Air Force then reaped a devastating toll on hostile ground forces, compensating for the relative weakness of The Proletarian Guard. After The Northern War, the Air Force reoccupied previously abandoned bases and reincorporated them into the Commonwealth's Air Defense Network. With the opening, the Air Force continued to expand its basing potential with the annexations.

Phonencian War & Coup

Arguably the most controversial war of the Commonwealth Air Force's service life, in 2057, after a failed arms shipment, the Commonwealth formally backed the remnant of a prior Communist Revolution in Phonencia. The Commonwealth Air Force played a minimal role during the conflict, having only a small handful of Air Squadrons able to work in the area, sporadically clashing with Phonencian Imperial craft, and occassionally escorting Airborne Supply convoys. The only major Air Battle of the conflict occurred just prior to the issuing of the stand down order, and resulted in at least ten craft losses on each side.

Back in the Commonwealth, the Air Force was hamstrung to curb the growing power of The War Minister, who had used the conflict in Phonencia as a cover to stage a coup attempt. Very early on the War Minister recognized the threat of the Air Force, and proceeded to station his own troops on bases to prevent normal base activity. After the failure of the coup, many Air Force personnel, who had been brutalized by the War Minister's troops proceeded to summarily execute them, an act which was pardoned by the President.

Arthuristan War and After

The Commonwealth's friend Arthurista found itself in a Civil War. The Commonwealth intervened quickly on behalf of the legitimate government. The Commonwealth Air Force was again for the most part absent. The large travel distance between Isla Verde and Pardes ensured that little meaningful air power could be projected without the use of carriers. As a result Navy planes provided most air support, much to the chagrin of The Air Force. However, in the final phases of the war, the Commonwealth Air Force managed to bring in heavy Air Power to use against Mercenary Troops holding out late in the war.

The Arthuristan War was the last major "wartime" deployment of the Air Force to foreign soil. However, the Air Force has remained active in some respects involved in a number of incidents where potential breaches of Commonwealth Airspace could have occurred. Otherwise, like the rest of CODFOR, the Commonwealth Air Force licks its wounds and prepares for the next war.

Organization

The Commonwealth Air Force is an entirely professional, volunteer force, the bulk of which is in the active Air Force. The majority of reservists are in fact formerly active members who have transferred into the reserves instead of continuing to serve actively. All Air Force personnel are in fact considered "The Air Force" seen as there is essentially no other Air Force in The Commonwealth. Since the inception of the Commonwealth, the reserves have yet been mobilized, but have been placed on alert four times.

The Commonwealth Air Force's Air units are organized along the following lines, with support personnel acting as a "tail":

Unit	Commanded By
Flight	Captain/Flight Commander
Squadron	Major/Squadron Leader
Air Group	Group Commander
Air Wing	Wing Commander
Air Brigade	Air Brigade Commander
Air Division	Air Division Commander
Air Corps	Air Corps Commander
Sector Command	Commander
Air Command	Air Marshal

Components & Commands

The Commonwealth Air Force is broken down into two primary components, Service Components and Air Commands, both of which are collectively referred to as Commands. Commands are generally commanded by someone of the Air Brigade Commander or higher and are the largest organizations that are subordinate to the Commonwealth Air Force, and are functionally speaking governmental organizations in of themselves. The primary difference between Commands and Components is inherent flight or no flight nature... generally speaking. The list of Components and Commands is as follows:

Component Commands

Command	Current Commander	Headquarters
Staff Command (STCOM)	AMAF Crawford Holmwood	Veluna City, Columbia
Materiel & Transport Command (MATCOM)	MAR Frances Freud	Veluna City, Columbia
Training Command (TCOM)	COM Henry Laurence	Ellison Air Force Base, Vesper
Reserve Command (RESCOM)	ACC Juan Garcia San Diego	Veluna City, Columbia
Medical Command (MEDCOM)	ACC Felicia Griffin	Veluna City, Columbia
Strategic Weapons Command (STRATCOM)	MAR Emil Comminado	Fort Nocturne, Montañas

Air Commands

Air Command	Commander	Headquarters;Wartime Headquarters
Capital Air Command (CAC)	MAR Tamara Corona Cavalcante	Veluna City, Columbia; Hoffman Air Force Base, Columbia
Air Command East (ACE)	MAR Adrastos Thorirsson	Richmond, Columbia; Langley Air Force Base, Columbia
Air Command Central (ACC)	MAR Amanda O'Hannigan	Chicago, Lakeland; Whitepoint Air Force Base, Plains
Air Command West (ACW)	MAR Julian Perrault	Denver, Montañas; Fort Nocturne, Montañas
Sector Command Norland (SCN)	COM Maan Koffman	Juneau, Norland; Great Northern Air Force Base, Norland
Air Command Verde (ACM)	MAR Chimo Concha Alves	Castille, Isla Verde; Air Station Hetairoi, Hetairoi MD
Sector Command Veiled Isle (SCVI)	COM Mario Andalette	Fairhaven, Veiled Isle; Veilfall Air Force Base, Veiled Isle

High Level Structure

The Commonwealth Air Force Command structure is theoretically slaved in its entirety to Staff Command, given that the Air Force's chief of staff is the head of Staff Command. Each Command under Staff Command is generally speaking, equal and interoperable with one another. Underneath various Air Commands and Component Commands are Sector Commands, Air Corps, and Air Divisions. The lowest primarily bureaucratic organization in The Air Force is the Air Brigade, and its highest level operational unit is The Air Wing, which consequently is the most typical size of unit that an Air Force Base is equipped to handle.

The Commonwealth Air Force is the most heavily active branches in the peacetime Commonwealth Defense Force with the majority of its membership in active service. Even with off duty time, The Commonwealth Air Force maintains most of its force ready for intercept duty, and performing patrols of Commonwealth Airspace on a regular basis to safeguard against attack. In this respect, The Commonwealth Air Force is viewed as the first line of defense against hostile invasion.

Combat Search & Rescue

Air Force Combat Search & Rescue is the Commonwealth Air Force's special operations branch. It was established primarily as a "Branch pride" arm of the Air Force. The Combat Search & Rescue force is a small organization dedicated to finding and extracting downed pilots before they can be captured or killed by hostile forces, and as a result it is the only force in the Air Force dedicated to fighting in ground combat. Despite a high amount of unit pride, and a very high level standard of training Combat Search & Rescue is sometimes considered under-equipped for high intensity conflict, as Ground Combat is not the forte of The Air Force.

Personnel

The Commonwealth Air Force is a volunteer force, and conscription during peacetime has been ruled unconstitutional. During times of war, Class 1 Draftees (those with desirable physical and mental characteristics, or skillsets that the Air Force is in short supply of), may be drafted into the Air Force, though a draft has never occurred in the Commonwealth's history, and is unlikely to occur barring an invasion of the Commonwealth. The Air Force is almost entirely comprised of career soldiery with a small number of people joining for the minimum service term (4 years). Average length of service is 17.8 years for Enlisted, and 23.5 years for Commissioned personnel.

Enlisted candidates spend 6 months in Basic Indoctrination and Training Camp, being trained in the basic skills of soldiery, as well as being brought up to an appropriate level of physical and mental fitness for duty. This is then followed by a brief vetting and sorting process to place candidates into appropriate fields of advanced training, eventually graduating and moving on to active duty. Advanced training can take anywhere from a couple of additional months for some fields (such as maintenance, transport, and basic clerical) to a year or more (linguistic or high level mechanical work). After completing at least one tour of duty soldiers may apply for further specialized training, which will give them more technical skills, specialized training, or perhaps candidacy for entry into Combat Search & Rescue.

Officer Candidates must complete University with a degree appropriate to Air Force major requirements, and have completed University Officer Pre-Basic Training School while attending University. Candidates that pass this benchmark must then complete Basic Indoctrination and Training Camp, to similarly learn skills of soldiery, though they must only spend a period of three months in camp, as they are expected to already have met physical and mental standards through training at University. Officer Candidates will then be trained in Officer Candidate School, and finally go through advanced officer training programs before going to a post with a Commission.

Generally upon completion of a tour of service, soldiers have the option of signing on for another term in active service, joining a reserve unit, or leaving. Continuation of service for many is a viable option, and most do continue to serve. The Reserves are generally inactive barring monthly training sessions, and being called up in times of international crisis or in the event of a state of emergency. Some members (especially officers) opt to remain in active service due to higher chances of promotion. Leaving service after a single term is uncommon, with roughly 5% of service members leaving after 4 years.

Commissioned Officers

Commissioned Officers are the Leadership of the The Commonwealth Air Force. They begin their tenure before actually receiving commissioning, training while in university and during basic camp training. Those who are in such training are given the nominal rank of Cadet. While in university they are expected to study in a major that the Air Force needs, or one that otherwise fits into appropriate guidelines for a future in military service. Upon graduation they will go to BITC further acquiring basic leadership skills alongside soldiery skills by being placed as "bunk leads", and generally acting as trainee leadership. These skills are further honed in Officer Candidate School, at the end of which successful cadets will be awarded their commissions and promoted to the O-1 rank of Lieutenant (pilots are given an equivalent rank of Pilot Officer).

Lower Ranking Officers (referred to as Line Officers or "Bar Officers" due to the bars that appear on their rank insignia) are sometimes given pilot training, at which point they will become pilots of air craft, and perhaps command of an Air Crew. Pilots will ascend the ranks until leading a Squadron of craft. Rarely, an Officer will be made a ballistic missile operator. Other Commissioned Officers are given direct command of low level formations, starting at the "Platoon" size Level and working up to a "Battalion" size Level. If further promotion is desired they will be required to pass staff college, at which point they will be entrusted to greater levels of responsibility eventually ending up as defacto commander of the entire Army with the "Chain Independent" Ad Honorarium Rank of Air Marshal of the Air Force.

Low salaries for Commissioned Officers start at UTC40,000, and the current AMAF earned UTC125,000 in 2063. Typically promotions occur at 2 year intervals though this rate can be dramatically different depending on the particular focus of the Officer in question. Though it is rare, enlisted personnel may occasionally become officers as the result of performing well in the case of a brevetted promotion. Such individuals will then be put through OCS and graduate with commission. These "Mustangs" are among the most well respected of the officer class given their high levels of practical experience in addition to leadership capabilities.

Commissioned Officers are taught and expected to be leaders first and foremost. Though tactical ability and a fine mind are very much traits that are expected of an officer, a cool head and force of presence in a stressful situation is deemed more important than these in many fields. Officers are also expected to be honorable and to lead by example as well as through command and force of will. One who is needlessly wanton with the lives of those under them, or one who is a coward, a fool, or is otherwise incompetent will be very quickly removed from command, and in many cases from the Air Force entirely.

Overall, about 11% of the Air Force, or roughly 62,700 members of the Air Force are Commissioned Officers, making it the most "officer heavy" of the branches of The Commonwealth Defense Force.

File:Rank Insignia CommissionedComAirFors.png

Rank Insignia of Commonwealth Air Force Commissioned Officers

Enlisted Soldiers

Enlisted Soldiers are the bulk of the The Commonwealth, performing all of the little things that keep the Air Force going. There are no university requirements to join the Air Force as an Enlisted Soldier, one simply joins. Before officially becoming Airmen, one must go through BITC and advanced training to learn the skills of soldiery as skills relevant to their profession. At the end of this period, they will become Airman and full members of the Air Force.

Low ranking enlisted soldiers, oft referred to as Airmen (regardless of actual rank). If one wants to go past the rank of E-3, they must attend Non-Commissioned Officer School, learning tenants of leadership as they transition into a future as an NCO. NCOs, as part of the final part of NCO school must work as drill instructors with a class of BITC students, thus seeding a veteran's skills into the minds of raw recruits, and some remain in this position as permanent drill instructors. The one exception to this process are the few soldiers who perform well outside the requirements of their jobs to perform a deed of great heroism and earn the ad honorarium and actually chain independent rank of Color Sergeant and are, regardless of former status referred to as Non-Commissioned Officers, though many opt to train new recruits anyway. These soldiers are a rarity, holding colors, and leading color guards on parade or acting as the seniormost sergeant in a unit, oft the Wing Commander's adjutant in service. The highest rank achievable for Enlisted soldiers is Chief Sergeant of The Air Force, of which there is only one.

Freshly recruited Airmen earn a salary of UTC25,000 and the current CSAF earned a salary of UTC55,000 in 2063. Promotions typically occur at 3-4 year intervals dependent on the specific task an Enlisted soldier performs.

Enlisted Soldiers are expected to be candid yet dutiful "sometimes referred to as fighting smart not necessarily hard". In other words, a soldier is allowed, maybe even expected to give advice to the officer commanding them but are also supposed to follow these orders. Soldiers are to exercise a measure of initiative, performing actions to improve their efficiency or survivability while performing their duties. This is especially true of a Non-Commissioned Officer, who, as a veteran of many years has vastly more practical experience than a junior officer, and is therefore meant as a voice of experience for the officer.

Overall 89% or roughly 507,300 personnel in the Air Foce are Enlisted... making them the clear majority of military personnel in the Air Force.

File:Rank Insignia EnlistedComAirFors.png

Rank Insignia of Commonwealth Air Force Enlisted Soldiers

Reserves

The Reserves are a small organization within The Commonwealth Air Force. The Reserves are comprised of 100,000 soldiers, a mere 20% of the total manpower in The Air Force. Reservists are drawn from a pool of soldiers who have already completed at least one full enlistment period, and who have opted to move into the Reserves rather than continue in Active Service. Reservists are generally speaking, kept inactive to be pressed into service only in a true state of emergency, and are therefore free to pursue a civilian career. Reservists, in order to keep their skills up are required to attend monthly weekend training sessions and annual week long exercises.

The Commonwealth Air Force does not have set "Reserve units", and instead makes use of Reserve personnel as a manpower buffer, restaffing understrength units in the case of high casualties among active service units. The Commonwealth Air Force has not had to activate the Reserves as of the current day, but the reserves have been put on alert numerous times.

Operational Doctrine

As previously stated, the foundation of the Air Force's Operational Doctrine is its mission tenets. As the Commonwealth does not currently have aggressive objectives in mind the current doctrine is as follows:

1) Establish Local Air Superiority over the Commonwealth's territories.

The simplest of The Commonwealth's Air Force mission objectives. Quite simply the achievement of this mission objective is to control the skies over the Commonwealth, which the Commonwealth Air Force does by basing large amounts of fighter aircraft in strategically appropriate locations throughout The Commonwealth. From these bases, the Air Force is to patrol skyways over The Commonwealth's Territory.

In the event of a foreign invasion, the Commonwealth Air Force is to be the primary Aerial Combatant against hostile air attack. To maintain Air Superiority, the Air Force's main objective is to combat and destroy enemy fighter Aircraft, leaving bombers and transports to ground based Anti-Air systems. With hope, the enemy will run out of resolve before the Commonwealth runs out of Aircraft, and a treaty can be made to end the threat. If this is not the case, then the Air Force is to resist until it is no longer feasible.

2) Perform patrols to protect the Commonwealths Air Trade routes from terror attack or enemy action.

An extension of the first mission objective, the Commonwealth sends out longer ranger patrols into international territory. In this fashion, it is to protect Air Commerce from terrorist attack (and to deny terrorists the use of the air craft if necessary), or to intercept hostile aircraft attacking Commonwealth Air Commerce.

3) Maintain a ready force of craft in case an ally calls for aid.

To meet this objective, The Commonwealth has stored an inordinate number of craft ready for use, in the Verdean bases. These craft, if possible are to fly to allied bases and support their defenses. Otherwise, the Commonwealth may seek to establish Air Bases on foreign soil to meet the same objective, helping allies if they make a call for aid. Using similar manners as if the Commonwealth itself were invaded.

4) Eliminate threats to The Commonwealth or its allies through the use of Air Power.

This objective is used only when engaging in aggressive Air Action. Firstly, the Commonwealth Air Force's fighter wings are to establish local Air Superiority against a hostile force. Secondly, the Air Force is to seek and destroy any elements which could threaten its furthered operations. Finally, the Air Force is to engage in seek and destroy campaigns that target a hostiles military industry & transport networks, as well as its military installations, and field forces. The primary objective of such an Air Campaign is to destroy an enemy's will to fight and force a surrender, hopefully with Air Power alone, or more realistically by making ground operations easier.