Armed Forces of Kelse
The Armed Forces of Kelse are collectively known as the Armée Kelçaise or Forces Armées Kelçaises, with three separate arms of service, the Armée de la Terre (Army), Armée de la Mer (Navy) and Armée de l'Air (Air Force).
Staff, Rank and Appointment
Each arm of service maintains its own general staff for planning, doctrine and high command decisions. The État-Major governs the Army, the État-Marine the Navy and the État-Aérien governs the Air Force. The chiefs of these staffs are considered the senior officers of each service.
Armée de la Terre (l'Air) | Equivalent | Armée de la Mer | Equivalent |
---|---|---|---|
Maréchal | Field Marshal (Marshal of the Air Force) | Grand-Amiral | Admiral of the Fleet |
Général d'Armée (Aérienne) | General | Amiral | Admiral |
Général de Corps (Aérien) | Lieutenant General | Vice-Amiral | Vice Admiral |
Général de Division (Aérienne) | Major General | Contre-Amiral | Rear Admiral |
Général de Brigade (Aérien) | Brigadier General | Commandeur | Commodore |
Colonel | Colonel | Capitaine de Navire | Captain |
Lieutenant-Colonel | Lieutnenant Colonel | Capitaine de Contre-Torpilleur | Commander |
Commandant | Major | Capitaine de Fregate | Lieutenant Commander |
Capitaine | Captain | Capitaine de Corvette | Lieutenant |
Lieutenant | Lieutenant | Lieutenant de Vaisseau | Sub-Lieutenant |
Sous Lieutenant | Second Lieutenant | Ensigne de Vaisseau | Ensign |
Adjutant-Chef | Warrant Officer I | Maître-Chef de 1iere Classe | Chief Petty Officer I |
Adjutant | Warrant Officer II | Maître-Chef de 2e Classe | Chief Petty Officer II |
Sergeant-Chef | Master Sergeant | Maître de 1ière Classe | Petty Officer I |
Sergeant | Sergeant | Maître de 2e Classe | Petty Officer II |
Caporal-Chef | Master Corporal | Matelot de 1ière Classe | Leading Sea(wo)man |
Caporal | Corporal | Matelot de 2e Classe | Able Sea(wo)man |
Soldat | Private | Matelot de 3e Classe | Ordinary Sea(wo)man |
Due to the politico-military nature of the office, generals and admirals sometimes enter the political arena as senior civilian appointments and very rarely as elected officials. Political activity by serving officers and enlisted personnel, however, is forbidden.
The service staffs each have a personnel branch which looks after promoting all enlisted personnel and officers below the rank of general. Promotion to and within the five general and marshal ranks is considered a political decision, so the staff personnel branches make recommendations which are approved or rejected by the civilian ministry of defence.
Each of the three services has more or less distinct ranks for its officers and enlisted personnel, but those of the army and air force are very similar. The navy is unusual among most real world and NationStates navies in that most of its officer ranks consist of the word "captain" qualified by the type of vessel the officer commands. For details and English language equivalents, consult the chart on the right.
Army
The main building block of the Kelse Army is the regiment, which preserves the history and martial traditions of a single body of troops. Most regiments and all of their constituent battalions bear an ordinal number in a particular series, e.g., 1er Regiment des Dragons, 1er Regiment a cheval, 1er Regiment des chasseurs alpins, 1er Regiment a pied. A small number of regiments -- those indicating guards designation or association with a municipality, plus Les Zouaves de la croix -- have an ordinal number for the battalion only and not for the regiment as well.
Category | Regiment | Equipment |
---|---|---|
Armoured | Les Gardes chevaliers | tanks, horses |
Régiment à cheval | armoured vehicles | |
Régiment des Cuirassiers | tanks | |
Régiment des Dragons | tanks | |
Régiment des Hussards | armoured vehicles | |
Les Dragons de Montréal | tanks | |
Régiment des moto-mitrailleuses | armoured cars | |
Régiment blindé | armoured vehicles | |
Régiment des chars | tanks | |
Régiment de reconnaissance blindée | armoured vehicles | |
Infantry | Les Gardes fusilers | motorised, mechanised |
Les Gardes grenadiers | APCs, MICVs | |
Régiment à pied | motorised | |
Régiment des chasseurs à pied | motorised | |
Les Voltigeurs de Sainte-Monica | motorised, mechanised | |
Les Fusiliers de Montréal | motorised, mechanised | |
Régiment des chasseurs à cheval | APCs, MICVs | |
Régiment des chasseurs alpins | animal transport | |
Les Zouaves de la croix | APCs, MICVs | |
Les Tirailleurs de Ajaccio | motorised, mechanised | |
Régiment du bouclier | APCs, MICVs | |
Les Fusiliers marins de Villeneuve | motorised, mechanised | |
Régiment de l'étoile | APCs, MICVs | |
Les Grenadiers de Montréal | MICVs, APCs | |
Régiment d'infanterie aeroporte | air transport | |
Other Combat Arms | Régiment gardier d'artillerie | any type of artillery |
Régiment d'artillerie légère | towed, packed guns | |
Régiment d'artillerie lourde | towed, fixed guns | |
Régiment d'artillerie à cheval | self-propelled guns | |
Régiment d'artillerie antiaérienne | antiaircraft guns and rockets | |
Régiment d'artillerie fusée | rocket artillery | |
Régiment d'aviation militaire | army helicopters | |
Support Arms | Régiment de génie | combat, construction engineering |
Régiment des transports | trucks | |
Régiment de police militaire | trucks, motorcycles | |
Régiment de logistique | trucks |
[described in text, integrate in table as you wish]
|Legion ethnique ||
Régiment anglais à pied Régiment anglais à cheval Régiment anglais à parachute Régiment anglais d'artillerie Régiment espagnol à pied Régiment espagnol à cheval
Many regiments' original roles have been superceded by military technology, but rather than being disbanded they are reroled. This is most obvious among the historical cavalry regiments, which are now armed with armoured vehicles like tanks, armoured cars and armoured personnel carriers. However, it extends to grenadiers (conventional infantry), Régiment d'artillerie a cheval (self-propelled armoured artillery) and other regiments.
There are three religious infantry regiments based upon the three Abrahamic religions active in Kelse. Les Zouaves de la croix recruits from among the majority Roman Catholics, and its regimental name is influenced by the Papal Zouaves and the Cross of Jesus symbolising Catholicism specifically and Christianity generally. The Régiment de l'etoile recruits Muslims, and its name is Star of Islam symbolising Islam. The Régiment du bouclier recruits Jews, and its name is the Magen David (the Shield or Star of David) symbolising Judaism.
Although the French colonial influence is by far the most dominant in Kelse and its armed forces, there is residual evidence of the previous English and Spanish overlords in army regiments. La Legion éthnique is recruited from among those identifying with the older colonial powers, and can be used overseas without parliamentary approval. The LE regiments in the combat arms are: the Régiment anglais a pied (infantry), Régiment anglais d'infanterie montée (armoured infantry), Régiment anglais à cheval (armour), Régiment anglais à parachute (airborne), Régiment anglais d'artillerie, Régiment espagnol à pied (infantry), Régiment espagnol d'infanterie montée (armoured infantry) and Régiment espagnol à cheval (armour).
Three to five battalions from the combat, combat support and service support arms are grouped together to form a brigade under the command of a général de brigade. Two or three field brigades (i.e., combat arms) and an equal number of support brigades make up a division under the command of a général de division.
Like most RL and RP armies, the smallest formation -- a group of soldiers expected to fight on their own in sustained combat without additional support -- in the Kelse Army is the division. The most common ones, in order of combat strength, are: Division blindée (armoured), Division d'infanterie blindée (armoured infantry), Division aéroporte (airborne infantry), Division alpine (mountain infantry) and Division d'infanterie (unarmoured infantry).
Two or more divisions are combined to create a corps, which also has some directly subordinated combat, combat support and service support troops. This formation may have many divisions cycle in and out of it, while still remaining under its permanent commander -- a general de corps -- and retaining its corps troops.
Similarly, two or more corps with supporting troops form a field army under a général d'armée. A truly gargantuan formation is a groupe des armees, consisting of two or more whole armies plus directly reporting troops. An army group may be commanded by a général d'armée or a full marechal.
The analagous role of regiment in the navy is to the actual boat or ship. They bear proud names from Kelse history, names which have typically been used and reused for decades or centuries. Unlike many other RL and RP navies, the Kelse Navy uses no prefixes for its ships.
The fleet air arm, called the Aviation marine, is the most important branch of the Kelse Navy. Aircraft carriers are used to project naval aviation power overseas, shore-based aircraft conduct maritime air patrols inside national waters and helicopters on board most warships provide defence against submarines.
Vessel | Displacement | Senior officer | Naval + air + marines |
---|---|---|---|
Fleet carrier | 100 000 tonnes | Contre-amiral | 3 100 + 2 800 + 500 |
Battleship | 40 000 tonnes | Commandeur | 1 100 + 100 + 100 |
Escort carrier | 35 000 tonnes | Commandeur | 1 100 + 800 + 100 |
Helicopter carrier | 20 000 tonnes | Commandeur | 500 + 600 + 2 000 |
Cruiser | 15 000 tonnes | Capitaine de navire | 425 + 50 + 25 |
Destroyer | 6 000 tonnes | Capitaine de contre-torpilleur | 225 + 50 + 25 |
Frigate | 3 000 tonnes | Capitaine de fregate | 175 + 25 |
Corvette | 1 250 tonnes | Capitaine de corvette | 75 + 25 |
Submarine | 1 100 t (dived) | Lieutenant de vaisseau | 40 |
The largest warship in the entire navy, and thus the air arm too, is the fleet aircraft carrier under a contre-amiral which has about a hundred aircraft (mostly airplanes). The escort carrier under a commodore has about forty aircraft, also mostly airplanes. The helicopter carrier-assault ship under a commodore has about forty helicopters and a brigade of soldiers (whether those of the navy or army).
Shore-based aviation involves long-endurance propeller-driven aircraft which fly maritime reconnaissance flights in territorial waters, and are capable of firing missiles at any surface and subsurface targets it identifies. The propeller-driven aircraft can also call upon their faster jet counterparts which are geared towards combat only rather than patrol as well. Within 10 km of shore, naval helicopters equipped for submarine detection and search-and-rescue are also active.
These very same naval helicopters are also used on the major surface combattants in numbers appropriate to the size of the vessel. Corvettes and frigates only need one, destroyers and cruisers need two, and battleships need four.
Surface combattants are those warships unable to dive and whose primary weapons (guns and rockets) are designed to engage enemy surface ships. Battleships, which are commanded by commodores, have missiles (both against air and surface threats) and 300 mm guns. Cruisers, which are also commanded by capitaines de navire, have missiles and 200 mm guns. Destroyers, which are commanded by capitanes de contre-torpilleur, have missiles and 100 mm dual purpose guns.
Anti-submarine warfare ships are those warships whose primary weapons (rockets, submarine mortars and torpedoes) are designed to engage submerged submarines. Frigates, which are commanded by capitaines de fregate, have missiles and 100 mm dual purpose guns. Corvettes, which are commanded by capitaines de corvette, have missiles and 40 mm anti-aircraft guns.
Diesel-powered hunter-killer submarines are submersible warships which can be used to attack merchant ships, fleet auxiliaries, surface combattants or other subsurface warships. Submarines, which displace 1 100 tonnes dived and are commanded by lieutenants de vasseau, are submersible vessels which have only a dozen torpedoes in individual tubes as their weapons.
Above the level of ship or boat are various naval formations analogous to the divisions, corps and armies of the Kelse Army. A group of several small boats or warships (usually no larger than a corvette) form an escadrille under a capitaine de fregate or capitaine de contre-torpilleur. A group of several escadrilles of small vessels form a flotille under a capitaine de navire or commandeur. Flotilles are common for coastal defence vessels like patrol craft, minesweepers and minelayers, but may also be attached to larger formations.
A group of several large warships (no smaller than a frigate) form an escadron under a commodore or contre-amiral. Aircraft carriers typically form their own escadron with their large and small escorts. A group of several escadrons, with or without attached escadrilles, form a numbered flotte under a vice-amiral or amiral. A truly gargantuan naval formation -- consisting of many fleet carrier, battleship and cruiser squadrons -- could form a named grande flotte under an amiral or grand-amiral.
The ground troops of the Armée de la mer are provided by the Régiment de la Marine. RM battalions and brigades provide security at naval bases, platoons and companies provide landing and boarding parties on surface combattants, and battalions and brigades provide amphibious assault troops on helicopter carrier-assault ships. Their training is similar to that of the army, but more intense and more focused on seaborne assault and naval cooperation.
Air Force
Like most RL and RP air forces, the main building block of the Kelse Air Force is the escadrille or squadron, roughly equivalent to a Kelse Army battalion. An escadrille is commanded by a lieutenant colonel or, in the case of nominal helicopter squadrons permanently embarked on ASW duty, a major. Depending on the type of aircraft and their role, a squadron consists of six to fifteen aircraft with their associated ground and flight crew.
Strategic bomber squadrons are capable of delivering about five tonnes of conventional bombs or missiles to the target. They may also be equipped to deliver nuclear weapons with a TNT equivalent in the several megaton range. Tactical bomber squadrons, or fighter-bomber squadrons, deliver substantially less payload but are able to manoeuvre and defend themselves much better than their strategic counterparts.
In the offensive role, fighter squadrons may be used to escort bombers when they fly missions against the enemy. In the defensive role, fighter squadrons may be used to intercept unauthorised or enemy aircraft which have entered the airspace of the nation or its declared combat theatres.
Finally, the Kelse Air Force is responsible for major air transport. For strategic transport of personnel, cargo and fuel, it uses militarised versions of civilian jumbo jet liners. For tactical transport, it uses both airplanes and helicopters. Smaller but more robust propeller-driven aircraft are capable of landing on rougher runways, and twin rotored helicopters are capable of landing in confined spaces.
Above the level of individual squadrons, air force formations closely resemble those of the army. Several escadrilles -- usually of the same type -- plus supporting troops make up a brigade aérien under a général de brigade aérienne. Two or three brigades aériens -- whether of the same or different types -- plus supporting troops make up a division aérienne under a général de division aérienne.
At higher levels, few of the formations consist entirely or even predominantly of the same type of aircraft. Two to four divisions aérienne plus supporting troops make up a corps aérien under a general de corps aérien. One to four corps aérien make up an armée aérienne -- which can be a field or functional command -- under a général d'armée aérienne.