Community Defence Forces
The Community Defence Forces are the all-environment armed forces of Sober Thought. Service in peacetime is voluntary.
Contents
Integrated strategic command
The nominal Commander-in-Chief of the CDF is the Community Conscience of Sober Thought. In practice, control is exercised by the Combined Staff containing the five most senior marshals of the CDF. The five positions are Chief of the Combined Staff, Deputy Chief of the Combined Staff, Chief of the Land Service, Chief of the Naval Service and Chief of the Air Service, and only the latter three must have had their main military experience serving with the environment they represent.
The combined staff is tasked with recruiting, training and organizing troops. It also makes strategic plans, then assigns the operational plans to the command, formation or unit it has designated to execute it. The chief of each of the three environments have only a support role and do not interfere with operations directly.
Integrated operational command
It is a central principle of the CDF that those who make operational plans should execute them. Therefore, the subordinate commanders of the Combined Staff actually make the detailed plans and put them into practice so that staff errors are borne by themselves in combat.
As an integrated armed forces, operational commands may combine air, sea and land elements responsible to a single commander for all services. Furthermore, after the House of the Provinces has voted to make it so, the provincial Civil Guards may be directly integrated into the CDF for tactical or strategic purposes. Formations and task forces of all sizes are quickly created and all elements fall under the command of a single person.
One permanent example of this in action is the Coastal Defence Command, which combines Coastal Defence Air Groups of the Air Service, Coastal Artillery Divisions of the Land Service and Independent Coastal Task Forces of the Naval Service. A landing ship group's vice commander has three principal subordinates and groups of troops: the chief lieutenant of the ship with 100 sailors, the chief lieutenant of the Marine Assault Companies with 250 soldiers and the chief lieutenant of the Composite Helictoper Squadron with 100 fliers.
Land units
Combat units in the land forces are organized on the following basis, listing unit or formation, number of soldiers and commanding officer:
Platoon 20-40 Vice Lieutenant Company 50-250 Lieutenant or Chief Lieutenant Battalion 300-800 Chief Lieutenant or Vice Commander Brigade 1 000-4 000 Commander Brigade Group 2 000-6 000 Chief Commander Division 8 000-18 000 Vice Marshal or Chief Commander Corps 20 000-70 000 Marshal Army 120 000-300 000 Chief Marshal Army Group 400 000+ Chief Marshal or Grand Marshal
Units are usually permanent groupings of personnel, typically battalions or (less commonly) companies. Formations may be very transient groupings of several or many units.
For every 100 million of Sober Thought's population, there are the following number of Regular Force combat brigades: 12 armoured, 15 infantry brigades (including one each of marine armoured infantry, marine light infantry, airborne and mountain), 16 artillery (including three coastal). Additionally, the provinces' Civil Guards provide 9 infantry (including one mountain) and 1 artillery brigades.
Most of these LS and CG brigades are organized into nine divisions. Disregarding the divisional air wing, four divisions consist entirely of regular troops, one division of Central Province Civil Guards and four divisions of a combination of regulars and Guards. Three divisions plus one armoured or armoured infantry, one artillery and one support brigades are commanded by the corps' marshal. The three corps plus an airborne brigade group, an armoured brigade group, an engineering brigade and two support brigades are commanded by the army's chief marshal.
The marine division exists outside this organization and is operationally responsible to the Chief of the Naval Service. The one battalion of the 1st Marine Brigade (Light Infantry) is permanently embarked on the aircraft carrier (where it is directly responsible to the carrier group's chief commander) while two are ashore. The 1st Marine Assault Contingent of A through R Companies is permanently embarked on the nine landing ships. The contingent, especially after an amphibious assault, may be combined with 915 cadre troops ashore and reconstituted to form the 2nd Marine Brigade (Armoured) and 3rd Marine Brigade (Armoured Infantry). Divisional troops numbering about 5600--comprising the 1st Marine Artillery, Support and Engineering Brigades--remain ashore until the division or brigade groups of it are formed.
Nominally attached to the marine division, but in practice wholly responsibile to their respective ships' captains, are Marine Light Infantry boarding parties on major warships. Each frigate has a squad of 11 marines (totalling 264), each destroyer a platoon of 35 (420) and each cruiser a company of 115 (690).
Air units
(As conceived when the nation's population was still counted in hundreds of millions)
Air units are organized on the following basis:
Flight 2-4 aircraft under an Officer Squadron 6-12 aircraft under a Chief Officer Wing 20-40 aircraft under a Vice Commander Group 40-100 aircraft under a Commander Division 100-150 aircraft under a Vice Marshal Air Force 150+ aircraft under a Marshal
The following squadrons are organized:
1 airborne warning and control, 6 electronic warfare planes 3 maritime patrol, 27 reconnaissance-bomber planes 4 strategic transport, 24 jets carrying 7200 soldiers 10 tactical transport, 80 propellered aircraft carrying 8000 soldiers 10 helicopter transport, 100 transport helicopters carrying 50 soldiers 12 fighter, 120 jets for combat air patrol, ground attack, air defence 2 bomber, 18 jet bombers
In addition, the land formations directly incorporate the following air squadrons:
5 helicopter attack, 60 gunnery helicopters 15 utility helicopter, 180 attack-light transport helicopters 5 ground attack, 60 ground support planes
In addition, the naval units directly incorporate the following helicopter units:
3 composite squadrons of 36 on 3 assault ships under Chief Officers 1 squadron-equivalent of 12 on 6 supply ships under Officers 1 composite flight of 4 on the troop ship under an Officer 1 composite flight of 4 on the missile cruiser under an Officer 1 squadron-equivalent of 6 on three missile destroyers under Officers 1 squadron-equivalent of 15 on 15 frigates under Vice Officers
(As conceived when the nation's population was still counted in hundreds of millions)
Combat Ships
1 missile cruiser fleet flag ship, 11 000 tonnes, 550 crew under a Commander 3 missile destroyers squadron flag ship, 5 400 tonnes, 320 crew under a Vice Commander 15 anti-submarine frigates, 4 000 tonnes, 210 crew under a Chief Officer 12 minesweeping boats, 800 tonnes, 30 crew under an Officer 15 attack boats, 400 tonnes, 35 crew under an Officer
Combined Operations and Support Ships
1 troopship strategic transport of 4 000 soldiers, 540 crew under a Commander 3 assault ships amphibious landing, 250 soldiers, 100 sailors and 100 air crew under Vice Commander 6 supply ships strategic supply (food, fuel, ammunition, stores), 100 crew under a Chief Officer 3 boat tenders (modified frigates exchanging weapons for storage) tactical and boat flotillas supply, 110 crew under a Vice Commander
Civil Guard
Each province maintains its own Civil Guard, which may be directed by the provincial government in times of unrest or emergency. Additionally, the guards may be called upon for service with the CDF in times of war or tension.
Obviously, the size of the civil guard differs as widely as the population of each of the provinces. Listed below is the rank of the head of the Civil Guard and the approximate strength of the guard:
- Central Province, Marhsal, three operational divisions and assorted independent units totalling about 70 battalions
- Hochelaga, Marhshal, two operational divisions totalling about 40 battalions
- Thuvia, Vice Marshal, four operational brigades and a few independent units totalling 26 battalions
- Western Province, Vice Marshal, three operational brigades and a few independent units totally 20 battalions
- Lakes Province, Chief Commander, one operational brigade and two independent units totalling seven battalions
- Plains Province, Chief Commander, one operational brigade and one independent unit totalling six battalions
- South Island, Chief Commander, one operational brigade and one independent unit totalling six battalions
- Capital Province, Commander, four independent battalions with a central staff
- Braunekuste, Commander, four independent battalions with a central staff
- North Island, Commander, three independent battalions with a central staff
- Potato Island, Vice Commander, three independent companies with a central staff in a battalion equivalent
Rank, typical posting
Chief Marshal, serving only on the Combined Staff Marshal, commanding land corps, land armies, air forces, naval fleets Vice Marshal, commanding land divisions, air divisions, naval squadrons Chief Commander, deputy commander of above Commander, land brigades, air groups, the largest naval ships Vice Commander, land battalions, air wings, large naval ships Chief Officer, land companies, air squadrons, smaller naval ships Officer, deputy commander of above, air flights, naval ship divisions, naval boats Vice Officer, deputy commander of above, land platoons, naval boats Chief Warrant Officer (land): Brigade Sergeant Major, Battalion SM, Base SM Chief Warrant Officer (naval): Fleet Petty Officer, Squadron PO, Base PO Chief Warrant Officer (air): Group Sergeant, Wing Sergeant, Base Sergeant Warrant Officer (land): Company Sergeant Major Warrant Officer (naval): Ship Petty Officer Warrant Officer (air): Squadron Sergeant Vice Warrant Officer (land): Platoon Sergeant Major Vice Warrant Officer (naval): Boat Petty Officer, Division Petty Officer (ships) Vice Warrant Officer (air): Flight Sergeant Sergeant (land), Petty Officer (naval), Sergeant (air) Corporal (land), Leading Sailor (naval), Corporal (air) Private (land), Sailor (naval), Flier (air)