User talk:Sober Thought

Ramblings prior to 23 January 2006 sent to: User talk:Sober Thought/Archive

Created the concept of demi-cantons = Halbkantons, like the real Swiss pairs of Basel Land & Stadt, Ob- & Niunterwalden, and Innen- & Ausser-Rhoden. The demi-canton of Urban Miervatia = Miervatia Stadt is contimerous with Miervatia City, the demi-canton of Rural Miervatia = Miervertia Land is what's left over.

Made Hawkins, a totally un-RP'd province, unilingually English. Aslan turned unilingually German, and I'd consider doing the same for Miervatia Land as well -- not to many cosmopolitan anglophones in the boonies. 8^) This apes the situation in many Swiss cantons, where there are differing states of official languages at that level.

Liberties not taken:

I cut-and-pasted direct or indirect info already in your Factbook. I did not alter any fact you had already established in your RP, and I tried to elaborate on and extrapolate from your cues. My models were the germanophone countries of Europe and the anglophone countries of the Atlantic, especially Switzerland & the USA for obvious reasons.

I tweaked a few minor things (like the German names for the four corps and VTD), but even there I retained the originals as colloquialisms or regional variants.

Article title: Bundeswehr of Mikitivity, Mikitivity military, Defense Forces of Mikitivity and Mikitivity military forces are all candidates. My own preference is for the first one, since it's German but familiar enough to most anglophones and is more naturally modified by "of Mik" rather than worrying about your proper toponym or national adjective. What is it, if anything, by the way?

Bundeswehr of Mikitivity

Mikitivity relies on its armed forces to defend against external enemies, and has one of the largest standing armies in the entire International Democratic Union. The administration of its military, like most political affairs in the Confederated City States, is highly complicated.

German and English are the two official languages have equal status in all federal and most cantonal military units; official parallel titles are indicated in this article by an equals sign (=) and unofficial or abbreviated ones by a tilde (~). There are four corps = Korps in the Confederal Forces = Bundeswehr as a whole: the Army Corps, the Engineering Corps, the Air Corps and the Medical Corps. Each canton maintains its own units, so consult specific geographical articles for additional information about the forces, traditions and names peculiar to each canton or demi-canton.

Senior command

The political leaders and people of the nation firmly believe that government rests predominantly at the cantonal level. Any federal initiatives must be approved by the collective executive represented by the Council of Mayors, comprised of one member from each of the five cantons. Thus, cantons raise their own military forces which are seconded to the confederal government only by the consent of the council, and effectively only in times of war or crisis. Therefore, consult the separate articles on each canton for a fuller description of their defense forces.

The Confederal Forces are rather small compared to the cantonal forces individually let alone collectively. They are staffed by true professional soldiers plus conscripts who have volunteered for confederal service. The main policy and organizing body is the Confederal Defense Staff ~ CDS = Bundeswehrstab ~ BWS, headed in peacetime by a full general = General. It makes operational plans, oversees military exercises, devises mobilization schemes, sets standards for equipment and generally makes the forces run as smoothly as possible with a shared jurisdiction.

Terms of service

The confederal government enforces universal male and female conscription, with one year's service beginning at age 19. However, cantonal governments decide in which specific corps a conscript completes one's military service. Most cantonal draft boards consult with the professional army officers to assess current military needs and match them with draftee's abilities, which are often judged based on their primary education grades. During wartime they also reserve the right to recall any conscripts whose obligation has ended and draft anybody who managed to avoid service before.

The education, evaluation and promotion of officers and, to a much lesser extent, non-commissioned officers, is also a complicated by confederal-cantonal relations. Non-officers, except those seconded to peacetime service in the confederal forces, are promoted by each canton according to its own procedures. Non-commissioned conscripts all begin as privates but may be promoted up to the rank of sergeant if they demonstrate natural command ability.

Commissioned conscripts all begin as junior lieutenants but may be promoted up to the rank of captain. Officers in some cantons, however, can use political connections to secure patronage appointments. In order to ensure quality senior officers, the confederal forces reserve the right to appoint all general officers. Consequently, cantonal armies use a number of supposedly non-general officers whose responsibilities are much greater than their rank comparative to other real world and NationStates nations might suggest.

Besides the large number of young people compelled to serve, a smaller number of professional soldiers volunteer to serve. NCOs ranking above sergeant must be long service professional soldiers, and all but the most exceptional conscripts advance a single rank to lance corporal. One ploy to induce promising conscripts to enlist professionally is to promote good candidates to full corporal just before they are discharged.

The bleak, agriculturally unproductive and elevated terrain of Aslan Canton in the Thuvian Mountains encourages a large number of Aslaners enter the military to escape poverty and isolation. This often proves illusory, however, since large portions of the canton are military reserves where soldiers from across the country conduct military maneuvers away from the prying eyes of foreigners who are excluded from the area.

Army Corps

The vast bulk of conscripts and still a majority of professionals are found in the ground forces of the Army Corps = Heereskorps. This is true of most armed forces, but especially so since Mikitivity is landlocked and thus has no navy.

Unlike most armed forces, in wartime the country uses regiments = Regiments -- not brigades -- as its only building blocks for divisions and higher formations. Three or four permanent field battalions = Bataillons and supporting units makes one regiment. In peacetime, there are officially no divisions or higher formations; however, a pair of regiments on cantonal service is called a demi-brigade and three or four a brigade. Several divisions, each of three or four field regiments, plus supporting units makes one field corps = Feldkorps, not to be confused with the arms of service like the Engineering Corps and Medical Corps. Several corps plus supporting units makes one field army = Feldarmee, of which several make an army group = Armeegruppe.

The largely mountainous and poorly accessible terrain means that mechanized forces form a much smaller fraction of the whole army, even more so because investing six months of training on armored vehicles is wasteful if draftees are leaving at the end of a year. Nevertheless, the strongest striking force in the corps remains the Armored Branch = Panzertruppenabteilung ~ PzAbt which unlike most armies includes all mechanized troops. Depending on the need assessed by the Defense Staff, various numbered Armored Regiments = Panzerregiments ~ PzRegt and Armored Infantry Regiments = Panzergrenadierregiments ~ PzGrRegt, or their respective cantonal equivalents, are raised.

Infantry troops are far more numerous than mechanized troops because the former are easier and quicker to train than the latter. Therefore, most conscripts without special abilities wind up in one of the many infantry regiments. The most prestigious infanteers are Airborne Branch = Luftladnungabteilung ~ LlAbt, whose private soldiers are known as Paratroopers = Fallschirmjäger ~ Fj. These special forces are one of the few units made up entirely of professional soldiers and on service to the Confederal Forces at all times.

Among troops made up predominantly of conscripts are the Mountaineering Branch = Gebirgstruppenabteilung ~ GjAbt. These élite units are raised in the cantons of Aslan, Hawkins and Valitz, and their privates are called Mountaineers = Gebirgsjägers. Even Aslaner civilians are used to mountain climbing, shooting and risk taking; when they are conscripted they merely continue to experience these activities. Click here for a discussion of the Volkersthuviandivisionen.

The Light Infantry Branch = Jägerabteilung ~ JAbt performs much the same function as the mountain troops, only in the few urban areas of the country. Their soldiers are known in German mainly as Jaegers but by various names in English, depending on the canton.

In simpler days, the Artillery Corps = Artilleriekorps ~ ArtKo coexisted with the Infantry Corps. When all the terrestrial corps were rolled into the single Army Corps, the former troops became part of the Artillery Branch = Artillerieabteilung ~ ArtAbt. As a holdover from its earlier origins, it is further divided into types: Field Artillery = Feldkanone ~ FdK, Garrison Artillery = Burgkanone ~ BgK and Air Defense Artillery = Flugabwehrkanone ~ FlAK. Regardless of their type, artillery privates are known as Gunners = Kanoniers and their pseudo-captains as Master Gunners = Kanoniermeisters ~ KM.

Engineering Corps

There is a dearth of transportation and communications infrastructure in Mikitivity. Consequently, the confederal and cantonal governments have to try many methods to get improvements built, including relying on the Engineering Corps = Hochbaukorps ~ HBauKo. Theoretically, this is a military organization; however, like the real world United States Army Corps of Engineers and its work in the watershed of the Mississippi River and its many tributaries, civil engineering is its real purpose.

The corps' dual role was sufficiently distinct to persuade the Confederal Defense Staff to keep it separate from the Army Corps. Some engineers are trained in heavy weapons, demolition and battlefield construction in their role as combat engineers, and from time to time they are detached and put under Army Corps command. However, most engineers at all skill levels are engaged in paving roads, erecting bridges, laying telecommunications lines, rolling track, dam building and other public construction projects.

Every canton raises engineering units, most of whose private soldiers are known as Sappers (not Saps, as military engineers are quick to correct) = Techniker. One officer rank peculiar to the Engineering Corps is Master Builder = Baumeister, equivalent to captain in most other arms and branches of service.

Commissioned and non-commissioned conscripts alike consider a posting to the corps as a prestige appointment with practical application in civilian life. Would-be architects, structural engineers and construction managers fill the junior ranks of the officers; would-be laborers, masons, steelworkers, millwrights, carpenters and glaziers fill the junior non-commissioned ranks. Most of the senior officers and senior non-commissioned officers are professional soldiers, acting as site managers and site supervisors, respectively.

Air Corps

The Air Corps = Fliegerkorps distinguishes itself from all others in the country in three ways: it is not based on land (to state the obvious), an overwhelming majority of its commissioned and non-commissioned members are professionals, and all its units come from one canton. In fact, it is still colloquially known as the Miervatian Air Force = Luftwaffe der Miervatia.

Like the Engineering Corps above and the Medical Corps below, this organization has many non-military functions as well. A distinct lack of airports means that air travel is either undertaken by the Air Corps or by the Mikitivityluftbahn = Mikitivity Airlines, consisting largely of Air Corps veterans or prospective applicants. This is especially true of Mezoic, capital of Aslan Canton, which is reached by military airlift, the Mikitivitybahn or on foot.

In addition to its benign and peaceful functions, the Air Corps also provides combat aircraft and electronic equipment to identify, intercept and if necessary destroy foreign aircraft as they approach Miervatian airspace. It maintains forward bases in all cantons except Hawkins, so that in time of war it will be able to fight on the frontier as well as in the interior.

As can be adduced from the chart on the left, the air force tends to be a little top heavy because virtually all of the flight crew are officers. However, the ratio of commissioned to non-commissioned personnel in the ground crew is closer to that of either the Army Corps or the Engineering Corps.

To fulfill its transportation and aerial surveillance missions, the Air Corps relies on four airframes with numerous variants. The twin engined jet airplane has one variant capable of carrying only one hundred passengers (virtually identical to the civilian model), another airlifting cargo and a third transporting fuel.

The twin engined turbopropellered airplane is robust enough to land on a grass runway and can fly practically unimpeded on only one engine. It can carry 40 passengers and 5 crew, or half that number if the troops bring along their entire kit and squad weapons. The single engined light propeller airplane -- indistinguishable to all but the most informed observers from its civilian counterparts -- can serve as a spotter plane, bush plane or VIP transporter.

The utility helicopter airframe can be configured to move 10 fully armed troops, support two waist machine gunners, carry exterior rockets, monitor electronic signals, or perform aerial search-and-rescue.

To fulfill its combat missions, the Air Corps relies on just two airframes with four variants between them. The main aircraft is a two-seater jet fighter which can be configured as an interceptor = Jagdfleugzug ~ JdFz, fighter-bomber = Jagd- und Bombesfleugzug ~ JdBFz or electronic warfare airplane = Funkabwehrfleugzug ~ FkAbWFz. When providing close support to the Army Corps or dealing with especially difficult terrain and primitive runways, the Air Corps relies on its single variant vertical/short take off and landing (VSTOL) jet fighter.

Medical Corps

The final arm of service in the Bundeswehr is the Medical Corps which, despite its name, also provides surgical, dental and other allied health care. This is slightly clearer in the German parallel title of Sanitätskorps, although this faux ami is often mistranslated or misunderstood in English as the Sanitary Corps – suggesting it might be responsible for waste disposal on army bases or perhaps to help menstruating female soldiers.

Like the Engineering Corps, the Medical Corps was considered for amalgamation with the Army Corps. Just as many parts of Mikitivity lack physical infrastructure, so too they lack human infrastructure. The supposedly military Medical Corps spends much of its time tending to the care and restoration of the overall health of not only its soldiers and their families, but also to the civilian populace. Nevertheless, in times of war or crisis, the Medical Corps provides medics, aid stations and field hospitals to the Army Corps.

Although smaller than the other corps, personnel in this arm of service are most likely to see overseas service. The foreign policy goals of the Confederated City States are geared towards humanitarian aid within the International Democratic Union and in the broader NationStates community. Mikitivity is an active member of both the International Red Cross Organization (IRCO) and United Nations Association (UNA). Thus, physicians, surgeons, radiologists, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, dieticians and paramedics are in high demand.

The officer ranks are filled almost entirely with professional soldiers, since few 19 year old conscripts have medical careers like Doogie Howser, M.D.. Furthermore, since all medical professionals -- those with university degrees in the health field -- hold commissions, the command structure is more top heavy than any other corps, even the Air Corps.

The non-commissioned ranks are more likely to be filled with conscripts, some of whom complete training as paramedics, dental hygienists, pharmacy technicians and other paraprofessionals. Most conscripts, however, spend their military service as clerks, orderlies, launderers, cleaners and other unglamorous positions.

Notes

Ranks in the Engineering Corps are prefixed by "Engineer" = "Hochbau-" as appropriate, e.g., Engineer Corporal, Hochbauhauptfeldwebel, Engineer Lieutenant Colonel, Hochbaumajor; Air Corps by "Air" = "Flieger-" , e.g., Air Captain, Fliegeroberleutnant, Air Sergeant, Fliegerobergefreiter; and Medical Corps by "Medical" = "Sanitäts-", e.g., Sanitätsschuetz, Medical Sergeant, Sanitätsunterleutnant, Medical Colonel.¹². <super>1</super>. Appointed by the Council of Mayors upon the recommendation of the Confederal Defense Staff. <super>2</super>. Wartime only. <super>3</super>. Peacetime only. <super>4</super>. Most forces consider brigadiers general officers, but more populous cantons circumvent confederal approval for general officers by calling division-sized formations brigades and their leaders brigadiers. A demi-brigade consists of two normal regiments in the Confederal Forces or two brigades in the real world German or American armies. ⁵. Typically promoted one rank when mobilized. ⁶. The prefixes Conscript, Dienst-, Volunteer and Freiwillig- are commonly omitted in casual and even much official usage. They are not used for non-commissioned members. ⁷. Air Corps and hence Miervatia only. ⁸. Medical Corps only. ⁹. Engineering Corps only. ¹⁰. Armored units in the formerly separate Cavalry Corps which are now in the unified Army Corps only. ¹¹. Artillery units in the formerly separate Artillery Corps which are now in the unified Army Corps only. ¹². Not used in Solacewald.