CDF armour

The Armour Branch of the Community Defence Forces of Sober Thought. It operates tanks, tracked armoured vehicles and wheeled armoured vehicles for the CDF Land Service. The Staff Officer Commanding for the entire branch is a Chief Commander seconded by a Commander.

Armoured Reconnaissance

This sub-branch consists of small numbers of tanks, armoured reconnaissance vehicles and armoured infantry which are used to observe, test, assess and report on enemy strength and positions. Its staff, doctrinal and development team is headed by a Vice Commander and a Chief Lieutenant.

Armoured Reconnaissance Companies are attached to divisional security battalions for logistics and to coordinate their work with intelligence companies. About ten Armoured Reconnaissance Companies, each bearing an ordinal number in a single sequence, are raised every population wave of one hundred million, serving mostly with divisional security battalions in the Land Service and Civil Guard.

A Lieutenant is the commanding officer of the 150 all ranks, six tanks and twelve armoured reconnaissance vehicles in the company. The rest of the command staff is a Vice Lieutenant as executive officer, a Warrant Officer as Company Sergeant, one Leading Soldier, two Master Soldiers and four Soldiers travelling in two tanks.

Three identical Armoured Reconnaissance Platoons consist of four armoured reconnaissance vehicles and forty soldiers, viz.: one Vice Lieutenant, one Vice Warrant Officer, two Leading Soldiers, eight Master Soldiers and twenty-eight Soldiers. The Tank Platoon consists of four tanks and twenty tankers, viz.: one Vice Lieutenant, one Vice Warrant Officer, two Leading Soldiers, four Master Soldiers and twelve Soldiers.

Light Armour

Light armour is suitable for operating in urban areas, travelling on paved highways, providing aid to the civil power or arrayed against lightly armed opposition. Its staff, doctrinal and development team is headed by a Vice Commander and a Chief Lieutenant.

Light armour is normally encountered at the battalion level, the commanding officer of which is a Chief Lieutenant controlling 40 armoured cars or light tanks, 7 armoured reconnaissance vehicles, 4 armoured command vehicles and 400 all ranks. Both light and heavy armour battalions appear in a single ordinal sequence, e.g., 1st Armoured Car Battalion, 2nd Light Armour Battalion, 3rd Heavy Armour Battalion. There are about 15 light armour battalions per population wave.

The Support Company consists of 145 all ranks and seven armoured vehicles. The HQ Squad has two armored vehicles in which 15 all ranks travel: one Chief Lieutenant as CO, one Lieutenant as XO, one Chief Warrant Officer as Battalion Sergeant, one Lead, three Masters and eight Soldiers. The Reconnaissance Platoon consists of four armoured reconnaissance vehicles in which 40 all ranks travel. The remainder of the Support Company travels in softskinned trucks: the Medical Squad 15 all ranks under a Medical Officer Vice Lieutenant, the Administration Squad 15 all ranks under an Administration Officer Vice Lieutenant, the Supply Platoon 30 all ranks under a Vice Lieutenant and the Maintenance Platoon 30 all ranks under a Vice Lieutenant.

Each of the three Tank or Armoured Car Companies consist of 85 all ranks, thirteen light tanks or armoured cars, one armoured reconnaissance vehicle and one armoured command vehicle. The HQ Squad -- similar to its battalion counterparts -- travels together in a single ACV. The Reconnaissance Squad consists of ten all ranks (one Lead, two Masters and seven Soldiers) in one ARV. Each of the three Tank Platoons or Armoured Car Platoons consist of four armoured vehicles and twenty all ranks: Vice Lieutenant as CO, Vice Warrant Officer as 2/ic and Platoon Sergeant, two Leads, four Masters and 12 Soldiers.

Heavy armour

Conceptually, main battle tanks are used in much the same manner as light armour, but it is stronger due to the certainty of caterpillar tracks, increased gun caliber and thicker of defensive armour. They are used in open country more, and are not impeded by a lack of paved roads. The senior staff officers commanding are a Vice Commander and a Chief Lieutenant.

Organisationally, heavy armoured battalions are indentical to those of their smaller siblings. Heavy tank battalions are especially cumbersome and represent fewer than 10% of all armoured battalions. Their size, weight and lack of manoevrablility make them suited for specific tasks rather than a general role.