Kouralian Military

Kouralian Armed Forces
File:Kour Military CoA.png Kouralian Joint Services Coat of Arms
Founded	703 BCE
Current form	2001 CE
Service branches	Royal Army Royal Navy National Air Force
Headquarters	Ministry of War (Kurton) Graia Valley Estate
Leadership
Commander in Chief	HM Alyxandra Campbell
Justiciar of State for War	Alessia Byraþemili
Count-Martial	Richard Croft
Manpower
Military age	18-63
Conscription	Not in Effect
Reaching military age annually	(3,500,000 2012 Figures)
Active personnel	2,500,000
Reserve personnel	1,000,000

The Kouralian Military is the combined armed service branches of the Royal Union of Kouralia. Consisting of the Royal Army, Royal Navy and National Air Force, they are supplemented by a tri-service military reserve force: the Shire Militia. As with most Kouralian institutions it has been in existence for a long period of time - over two millenia, with many formations tracing lineages (with varying degrees of verifiable descent versus mythical attribution) to ancient and classical-era Legions, Armies and other primitive formations.

History

The first professional military force was formed in the era of the earliest

Leadership

War Office

The Kouralian military is subordinate to the civilian government which is reflected through control of the military by the Justiciary for War, a cabinet-level government department overseen by Her Majesty's Principal Royal Justiciar of State for War. While the monarch is commander-in-chief of the military, the constitutional monarchy and primarily democratic nature of Kouralia's government mean that they have little role in the chain of command. For that reason the Crown Captain of Justiciars is the true head of the Kouralian military, with the Principal Royal Justiciar of State for the War Office responsible for managing this aspect of the government and translating government policy into military strategy.

Staffs

The Lords of War are the five highest ranking Kouralian Officers, and form a special committee known as the Joint Military Chiefs' Council to advise the War Office and head of government on military policy. All hold ranks graded O-10 and are ennobled with service peerages as Lords. The Lords of War are made up of the Lord Commander of the Army, Lord Admiral of the Navy, Air Lord Maryschal of the Air Force, the Prince-Martial and Chairman of the JMCC, and the Vys-Prince-Martial and Vice-Chair of the JMCC. The Prince Martial is the statutory senior military advisor to the Crown.

The JMCC is made up of the heads of service staffs, the chair and vice-chair, the Commandant-General of the Special Reserve, and the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman. The Role of the JMCC is to ensure the personnel readiness, policy, planning and training of their respective military services for the combatant commanders to utilise. The JMCC is supported by the Joint Military Staff which is headed by the Chief of Staff to the Prince Martial, an officer of grade O-8.

Each military service further has its own military staff board which is responsible for administration of that service alongside the relevant War Office Department. Each Staff Board has two civilian members (the Justiciar and Vice-Justiciar for that Department), seven commissioned members, one enlisted member, and a extra representative of the Fleet Auxiliary for the Naval Staff.

• Royal Justiciar of State for the Service
  • Vys-Justiciar of State for the Service
• Chief of Staff (OF-10)
  • Deputy Chief of Staff and Commander of the Reserves (OF-9)
  • Operational Forces Commander (OF-9)
  • Commander of Force Development and Training (OF-9)
  • Master of Supplies (OF-9)
  • Master of Ordinance (OF-9)
  • Master of Administration (OF-9)
• Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Service Chief (OR-9)

Some have accused the Kouralian military of being over particularised and top-heavy, with a surfeit of senior officers.

Joint Service Commands

There are nine Joint Service Commands in the Kouralian military. Established in 2002 as a means of unifying the command structure, they took over the roles that each individual service staff board had in overseeing operational command of the military. Each JSC Commander answers directly to the War Office, bypassing the Service-Chief for operational decisions. Each JSC's command is overseen by a GOC-in-C, AOC-in-C, or FOC-in-C JSC (an OF-9) and their deputy (an OF-8). Beneath that they host three Service Component Commands (e.g. Royal Army Northern Forces, Royal Navy Home Forces, National Air Force Expeditionary Forces) overseen by an OF-8.

Abbreviation	Name	Commander	Service	Responsibility
HOMECOM	Home Command	FAdm Sir Ean Astoræll	Royal Navy	Home Command is responsible for Home Defence of the Royal Union itself. Nominally its area of responsibility doesn't extend beyond the territorial waters of the Royal Union, however it also covers the Forynthry Defence Perimeters
WESTCOM	Western Command	CGen Sir Lyanyr Styrlæn	Royal Army	Western Command is responsible for managing all operations in the geographical region of Western Mystria which surrounds HOME Command.
EASTCOM	Eastern Command	AMM Sir Alessya Byraþƿynn	Air Force	Eastern Command is responsible for managing all operations undertaken in the geographical region of Eastern Mystria.
EXCOM	Expeditionary Command	FAdm Sir Kessya Falliæd	Royal Navy	Expeditionary Command is responsible for managing operations which take place outside of Mystria.
STRIKECOM	STRIKE Command	CGen Sir Melanæ Vyreyn	Royal Army	STRIKE Command (Special Tactical Reconnaissance and Intervention, Kinetic Expedition Command) is responsible for coordinating and managing the Kouralian Special Operations and Specialist Warfare capabilities.
SPACECOM	Space Command	AMM Sir Escanyr Franclynn	Air Force	Space Command is responsible for managing and operating Kouralia's satellites and defences against space-based incursions. It is also responsible for maintaining the warfighting capability against the Hundred Worlds of Lord Atum through Faeryn Command.
STRATCOM	Strategic Command	AMM Sir Ann aþe’Germeroð	Air Force	Strategic Command is responsible for the maintenance, management and, if necessary the delivery of Kouralia's nuclear arsenal, anti-ballistic missile defences, and cyber warfare capabilities.
TRANCOM	Transport Command	FAdm Sir Barasus Æðelynn	Royal Navy	Transport Command is responsible for managing serious logistics operations, movement of personnel and materiel, and the Fleet Auxiliary.

Service Branches

Royal Army

Kouralian Infanteers deployed in D'halbrisir

Under the Ministry of War are the three branches of service. The Royal Army is the most venerable and highest in precedence of them all. Referred to as the 'Senior Service' as it traces its roots to references in a treaty of 550 BCE, its officers are usually seen as First Among Equals when next to other service's officers of the same rank. Steeped in tradition, the million-strong Royal Army is organised along a 'regional' or 'Regimental System', which is believed to protect against government tyramny. It is supported by the predominantly combat support and combat service support Army Volunteer Reserve. The Reserve consists of part-time volunteers who can be called up to support overseas operations by either taking over taskings in the mainland and freeing up regular units, or through deployment overseas. Due to the similar nature of infanteering and special forces operations, the Army supplies the vast majority of forces for the Special Operations Command.

Kouralian Prefect-Class Frigate at port in Malgrave.

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is a fully-fledged blue-water navy. While most of its equipment is locally produced, recent foreign imports such as the Centaur Class Destroyer and Hæleð Class Aircraft Carrier have been the result of closer ties with strategic allies. It operates a vast number of craft though that number is dwarfed by the region's most powerful navy of the Greater Pony Herd, which is in turn is dwarfed by the Royal Freethinker Navy. A subordinate organisation, though separate to the Navy, is the Kouralian Fleet Auxiliary. This organisation of civilians who are subject to service discipline is responsible for manning a large number of specialist logistics vessels such as fast oilers, hospital ships and transports. The Naval equivalent of the AVR is the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, whose members can serve shoreside or at sea in support of regular sailors. While the Navy does not possess dedicated ground combatant forces, a large proportion of Kouralian Swimmer-Canoeists are from the Royal Navy.

File:KourGroundCrew.jpg

Kouralian Air- and groundcrew scramble their aircraft.

National Air Force

The National Air Force is the only one of the branches to not bear the 'Royal' title. This is because it was formed in 1965 by the President during the Tyrannic Era, and it is not believed to have 'earned' the Royal distinction yet. It is smaller than both the navy and air force, but arguably has one of the most important roles for strategic defence. The air force is also responsible for cyber defence and space defence. Unlike the other two commands, the hybrid nature of air warfare means that it usually operates in concert with, and subordinate to Army or Navy commanders. However, the ability of the air force to deliver overwhelming firepower in one fell swoop is uncontested, and its expertise in rocketry and aerospace defence is uncontested. The Air Force's equivalent to the AVR and RNVR is the Air Force Volunteer Reserve, whose members can serve in service support, ground crew, and aircrew positions. Compared to the Army and Navy's Grenadiers, Rangers, and Swimmer-Canoeists, there is no corresponding special forces dismount unit for the National Air Force. However, pilots and specialist ground crew of the Air Force have their own niche in the Special Operations Command.

Special Diocesan Reserve

The Special Diocesan Reserve is the second of Kouralia's two volunteer reserve forces, and is thus not technically a service branch. It is formed of four types of units: Yeomanry, Militia, Naval Militia, and Sky Yeomanry. Unlike the service-specific reserve forces, its members cannot be called up to serve overseas without special legal actions occurring. Due to the cultural fear of using soldiers to oppress the population, the SDR's soldiers are the only ones who can be used to enforce laws. They normally owe their allegiance to the Governor of their Diocese, and are organised into Regiments, Brigades or Divisions for the Home Defence of that Diocese. The soldiers can be called up to the regular army in the event of a major war, but are usually used for security at major public events which the police cannot handle, disaster relief, or public order. The Crown can also temporarily seize control of a province, or number of Dioceses' SDR detachments, and order it to muster under the command of the national government. This can be done either voluntarily with the permission of the Diocese's Governor (e.g. in the event of a major disaster requiring the Crown to coordinate a multi-Provincial response), or it can be done without consultation of the Governor if the Diocese is in a state of emergency. In this way the SDR can be used to help quell insurrection, secession, or rebellion by Governors or their citizens. There is no opportunity for SDR soldiers to serve with Special Operations Command.

Organisation

Major Formations

The Royal Army is divided permanently into Divisions, of which it has twenty five. These Divisions are designated as 'Armoured', 'Light Infantry', 'Airborne', or 'Expeditionary.' The Divisions are divided into five nominal Field Armies, three dedicated to conventional armoured warfare, one for expeditionary landing, and one as a repository for the Light Divisions. The Royal Navy is divided into XYZ. The National Air Force is divided instead into 'Commands' by their role in the service, for example 'Bomber Command' or 'Coastal Command.' Aside from 'Expeditionary Command', these Air Commands hold primarily one type of aircraft in their constituent groups and wings, and are divided up as needed for operational matters.

Unit Structure

Army	Army	Navy	Navy	Air Force	Air Force
Field Army (inactive) 1	2+ Corps ~100,000 men	Admiralty	The Navy	Air Force	The Air Force
Corps (inactive) 1	2+ Divisions ~50,000 men	Fleet (inactive) 1	5 Battle Fleets	Theatre Command (inactive) 1	2+ TAFs
Division	3 Fighting Legions ~25,000 men	Battle Fleet (inactive) 1	~5 Battle Groups	Tactical Air Force (inactive) 1	2+ Groups
Legion Regiment 2	3-4 Fighting Cohorts ~5,000 men	Battle Group	~4 Squadrons or Flotillas	Group	2+ Wings
Cohort	~5 Companies ~1,000 men			Wing	3-4 Squadrons
Company Squadron Battery	~4 Platoons ~150-200 men	Squadron	3-5 Ships	Squadron	2 Flights
Platoon Troop	~3 Sections ~30 men	Flotilla	3-4 Ships	Flight	3-6 Planes
Section Squad	8-10 men	Ship's Complement	12-~5,000	Crew	1 plane 1-20 men

• 1 = Certain formations are not used in day-to-day administration or operational planning as their scale is not required except for all-out war. These are indicated by (inactive).
• 2 = A Regiment is an administrative formation of Cohorts of the same type which is not organised the same way a combat force would be. A Legion is a combat formation designed for battle. Cohorts from the same Regiment will not be in the same Legion

Rank Structures

Grade	Army OF	Army OR	Navy OF	Navy OR	Air Force OF	Air Force OR
10	Lord High Commander		Lord High Admiral		Air Lord High Maryschal
9	Captain-General	Warrant Officer 1	Fleet Admiral	Warrant Officer 1	Air Master-Maryschal	Warrant Officer 1 Master Aircrew
8	General	Warrant Officer 2	Admiral	Warrant Officer 2	Air Maryschal	Warrant Officer 2
7	Vice-General	Master Serjeant	Vice-Admiral	Master Petty Officer	Air Vice-Maryschal	Master Serjeant (-Aircrew)
6	Legate	Serjeant	Legate-At-Sea	Petty Officer	Air Legate	Serjeant (-Aircrew)
5	Colonel-Captain		Post-Captain		Group-Captain
4	Colonel	Dycenær	Commander		Wing Commander	Dycenær
3	Vys-Colonel	Exon	Vys-Commander	Leading Rate	Squadron Leader	Leading Airman
2	Centenær	Chosen Man	Centenær	Able Rate	Centenær	Able Airman
1	Vyntenær Ensign	Private or Other	Vyntenær Ensign	Ordinary Rate	Vyntenær Ensign	Airman

Current Deployments

Overseas Basing Areas

There are a number of foreign nations which allow Kouralia to base its troops there for increased deployment speed and strategic flexibility.

• SF Almason in the Principality of the Great Shy Ones is located in close proximity to Kouralia, but on the far side of a large peninsula, six hundred miles from Kouralian soil. It is frequently used to top-off fuel for aircraft travelling from Mystria to Kouralia.
• JFB Ormerod is located on an island between Poneria and Mystria. While not strictly-speaking an overseas basing area as it is controlled by the Royal Union, it is in the process of being settled and thus does not currently have a permanent civilian population.
• JFB Progress Hill is located in Malgrave, and is the Royal Union's main stepping-point for operations in Mystria. It is also the headquarters for Naval Forces Mystria.
• JFB Fort Kataryah is located on an island reclaimed from magical contamination in the ocean between Mystria and Kouralia. It acts as a staging point and refuelling stop on the way to Mystria and is also the headquarters of Mystrian Command.

Combat-Intensive Deployment

The Kouralian military is currently only undertaking a single Combat Intensive deployment, totaling roughly 15,000 personnel.

• Operation SCARECROW is part of a multi-national undertaking in D'hɑlbrisir, focusing on the region around Rulkdjetaasha and Vierenspire and the Kranar Chancellery in general. Beginning in 2012, it is currently in SCARECROW 9 with the 10th rotation due to commence in early 2017. The main objective of the mission is to provide assistance to the Spirean military to effect the elimination of hostile megafauna following the damage suffered by the host nation in the Nefreedian-Spirean War. The deployed force consists of a reinforced Legion and Expeditionary Cohort from the Army led by its usual Legate, a rotating squadron of the Navy led by a Commodore, and a Group of the Air Force under an Air Commodore. The operation is further supported by an Operational Headquarters and a Theatre Logistics Contingent in Rulkdjetaasha, and is overseen by a General and Vice-General, reporting to the Mystrian JSC. The General commanding the Kouralian forces in-theatre is given the title of Castelyas Courynys aþe’Dalbrysyr (Castellan of the Kouralian [forts] of D'halbrisir). Since SCARECROW 1, 362 Kouralian servicepersons have died in D'hɑlbrisir with over 2,000 suffering serious injury on operations.

Non-Combat Deployment

As of January 2017 there is a solitary non-combat intensive deployment being undertaken by the Kouralian Military.

• Operation STARBURST is the deployment of soldiers from the 12th/19th Royal Hussars (Gentlemen of Kurton), 3rd Cohort of the Highland Peltastaseanas, and a number of other specialist training units such as the Royal School of Musketry and Physical Training Corps to Tillingham in the United Kingdom of Malgrave to train Territorial Defence Force members.

Former Deployments

The Kouralian Military acknowledges the following as former deployments undertaken, beginning at the turn of the century.

• Operation GREGORY was the mass deployment of Kouralian soldiers to Poldakia as part of the Poldakian War in 2015, following Poldakian state sponsorship for terrorist attacks on Kouralia.
• Operation CRESCENT was the immense deployment of the Kouralian military in order to counteract effects of the daemonic incursion following the 31st Annual Demon War in 2014.
• Operation FORTUNE was a non-combat deployment of Engineers to Fortuna to assist the Freethinker Royal Armed Forces in establishing their colony there in 2013.
• Operation SCARLET was the deployment of a Legion of soldiers to the nation of Banrodesia as part of the peace-keeping efforts there in 2013.
• Operation LION was the deployment of a force of Kouralian advisors to the Toshimian Islands to assist in training forced fighting for their independence in 2013.
• Operation COMMODORE 1-2 was the deployment of the 2nd Expeditionary Landing Force to Karolyland to assist in restoring order and governance following a catastrophic magical event in 2012.
• Operation FULCRUM was the deployment of the 4th Expeditionary Cohort to Slivary to assist in securing the capital city following a large-scale insurgency in 2011.
• The Millennial War