The military forces of Altland are of modest size and intended purely for defensive purposes, in keeping with the religious and ethical beliefs of the vast majority of the inhabitants, which justify waging of war only as a collective exercise of the individual's right of self-defense in the protection of life and property. (That is to say: most Altlanders, including His Majesty and the Royal Government, adhere strictly to the classic "just war" theory.) Since, in fact, war has been a rare occurrence in our history, the members of our standing military forces are also highly trained and efficiently organized for carrying out disaster relief and civil engineering projects. They thus constitute a skilled work force constantly at the disposal of His Majesty for use in the national interest, and they also play an important part in providing the final stage of education to many young men who have little interest and aptitude for other careers, as well as to those relatively few young women who have opted to join the Women's Military Auxiliary, a service corps whose members, attached to all three branches of the Forces, perform various medical, clerical, and other non-combat functions.

The Altlandic Army

          The Army of Altland totals 1,510,000 persons under arms and is divided into a standing force, called the Royal Army, and a reserve force, called the National Defense Force. The standing army consists of a professional officer corps, a body of highly trained specialists in military and civil engineering, and several regiments of combat-ready troops trained and equipped as a rapid-deployment force. This standing Royal Army of approximately 262,000 men is organized into four divisions, one of which is headquartered in each Quadrant, at Karlsbyrg (Riks.), Ernestina (Alt.), Planaria (Ver.), and Kenigsmalten (Jer.). Each division is composed of four infantry brigades, two cavalry brigades, four detachments of engineers, and six detachments of artillery. Hence, the size and structure of the Royal Army are roughly equivalent to those of one of the reserve armies of the National Defense force. The Supreme Command is, of course, headquartered in the national capital, Midlburgh.

          The National Defense Force (also known as the Home Defense Force) numbers about 1,048500 members organized into trained bands of men (and women auxilliaries) locally based and under the immediate command of officers appointed by local authorities. These training bands are grouped into larger units for the annual training and for emergency mobilization. They train for two weeks each year in the late summer with contingents of the Royal Army, and can be called out, in whole or in part, through a royal decree addressed to the lords and other governing authorities of the various provinces, at very short (three days' to one week's) notice in the event of a national emergency in which their service is required. Most members of the Defense Force keep small arms at home under license of a special department of the Chancellery for the Forces; their larger armaments are stored under guard at local arsenals and regional armories built for the purpose and staffed by local governing authorities or by contingents of the Royal Guards. The National Defense Force is divided into four "armies," one for each administrative Quadrant, and each of these is divided into four "divisions" according to province (although supernumerary brigades or regiments from the more populous provinces are regularly attached to the divisions of those less populous in order to bring them up to strength). These armies are presently organized as follows:

          The Army of the North is composed of four divisions of men from the provinces of Norrik, Estgorth, Riksfildar, and Swonferd and Northern Montemar (Birgense). It is presently headquartered in Filipsbyrg (Riks.) and is commanded by His Lordship, the Marquess of Birgense. The Army of the West is made up of four divisions, one each from the provinces of Nijmork, Jergendol, Havnkyst, and Suthbirg, with contingents from Northern Belterra (Scenlond) integrated into the Havnkyst Division and others from Northern Verdania (Grynlig) into the Suthbirg Division. Currently headquartered in Garoldstal (Suth.), it has His Lordship, the Earl of Komdn in command. The soldiers of Army of the East are drawn from Southern Montemar, Altasilva, Anselmia, and Orlandia; command is presently held nominally by His Majesty, as hereditary Duke of Orlandia, but is exercised by Gen. Sir Willam Moltby, K.C.S.J., with headquarters in Valderey (Ans.) The Army of the South, finally, drawing its troops from the provinces of Sperança, Lucidia, and the southern partions of Verdania and Belterra, is headquartered in Belariva (Luc.).

          The command structure of the Army of Altland is as follows:

Commander-in-Chief is His Majesty the King, who normally exercises this function through his Chancellor for the Forces, who holds the rank of . . .

Grand Marshall of the Armies and has under him . . .

Marshalls (5) who each command one of the Armies; under each of them are four . . .

Generals (20) who each command one Division of an Army, and under each of these are four . . .

Brigadiers (80) who command one Brigade of a Division; beneath each Brigadier are four . . .

Colonels (320) who command one Regiment of a Brigade. In each Regiment there are four . . .

Majors (1,280) who each command one Battalion, which consists of four Companies under

Captains (5,120); one Company comprises four Platoons led by . . .

Lieutenants (20,480); each Platoon has four

Sargeants (81,920), each in charge of a Squadron with three , , ,

Corporals (2454,760) each heading a Patrol of three . . .

Common Soldiers (737,280), the lowest rank.

The Royal Altlandic Navy

   

          The Royal Altlandic Navy, presently under the general command of the Grand Admiral, His Lordship Hijnrik, Earl of Sigesburgh, consists of 576 vessels of various sizes and descriptions, as well as military harbors and costal naval bases, manned by approximately 40,000 officers and seamen. It is divided into four Fleets, one of which is berthed in a permanent naval base in each Quadrant: in the north at Niumarktshavn (Est.), in the west at Flotenburgh near Grethavn (Hav.), in the south at Marvilla (Luc.), and in the east at Port'Anselmo (Ans.). The Admiralty, seat of the Grand Admiral and the central administration of the naval forces, is at the capital of Midlburgh (Jer.). Each Fleet is divided into four Flotillas of 144 vessels; each Flotilla, into 6 Squadrons of twenty-four vessels; each Squardon, into four Battle Groups of six vessels. Although this is the organizational structure, actual operational groupings differ widely according to circumstances.

          There is also a Naval Defense Force made up of civilian vessels of various sizes and descriptions whose crews have received special military training and which can be fitted out for naval warfare at short notice. The present number of these vessels and their crews is a state secret, but it is public knowledge that, if deployed, they would roughly triple the size of the regular navy. Like the other, land-based members of the Natiional Defense Force, the officers and men of this naval branch keep small arms at home under license, while their larger armaments are stored under guard at various naval stations built all along the coasts for this purpose and staffed by the Coastal Defense Command, a specialized branch of the Royal Guards. In time of war, these naval reserve forces would be attached to the regular fleets headquartered in the Quadrant within which their home stations lay.

          The Fleet of the Northern Sea, under the command of His Lordship, the Earl of Niumarkt, is composed of four Flotillas called after the provinces from which their officers and men are maily recruited: Norrik, Estgorth, Riksfildar, and Swonferd. The Fleet of the Western Sea, under the nominal command of His Majesty the King, is for operational and aministrative purposes headed by Admiral Sir Aldhelm Jergessen and is made up of the Flotillas of Nijmork, Jergendol, Havnkyst, and Suthbirg. The Fleet of the Eastern Sea, whose officers and seamen are drawn from Montemar, Altasilva, Anselmia, and Orlandia, is commanded presently by His Grace, Antonio, Duke of Anselmia. The Fleet of the Southern Sea, finally, drawing its officers and crews from the provinces of Sperança, Lucidia, Verdania and Belterra, is commanded by His Grace Leopold, Duke of Verdania.

          The command structure of the Royal Altlandic Navy is as follows:

The Grand Admiral of the Navy, His Grace, the Earl of Sigesburgh, has under him four . . .

Admirals, each in charge of a Fleet, and each of these has under his command four . . .

Vice-Admirals, each commanding a Flotilla. Flotillas are made up of six Squadrons each under the charge of the . . .

Captain of a ship of the line. Each such Squadron has twenty-four vessels assigned to it, and is divided further into four Battle Groups led by

Commanders, who are the chief officers on ships of medium size. Each of the six vessels in a Battle Group are under the command of either a . . .

Lieutenant or, in the case of small boats, an

Ensign. Ships of the line also have on board officers of every rank under Captain; medium-sized ships have Lieutenants and Ensigns to assist the Commander. Enlisted ranks include . . .

Mates, who are in charge of a Watch, and . . .

Boatswains, who oversee a small number of . . .

Common Seamen, the lowest rank in the navy.

          Naval uniforms are of a very dark blue in the colder months, bleached white in the warmer. Officers' uniforms consist of a white collared shirt, black tie, and jacket and trousers fitting the season. The uniforms of the enlisted ranks, sewn of a durable dark blue or white canvas, according to season, have bell-bottomed trousers and pull-over jackets with open v-necks which show the colors of their fleet (blue, Northern; red, Western; green, Southern; gold, Eastern) in the horizontal stripes of crew-neck undershirts.

The Royal Guards

          The Royal Guards numbers about 70,000 officers and men, 64,000 land-based and 16,000 based on vessels of the Coast Guard. There are in addition an undisclosed number of Reserve Guards, veterans of the Guards who can be called out in an emergency. Under the general control of the Marshall of the Guards, with his headquarters in the Ministery for the Forces in Midlburgh, the Guards in each Quadrant are under the command of a Quadrant General; each Quadrant Command is further subdivided into four Provincial Brigades, which are in turn composed of one regiment of guards for each county or administrative district. Each regiment is divided into four detachments, each under its own Guards Major, which maintain a presence in each locality by stationing there a company, squadron, or patrol, depending upon the size and importance of the place.

          During peacetime, the Royal Guards constitute a kind of national police force, responsible for maintaining law and order throughout the kingdom. Though they directly enforce only royal (national) law, they can be called to the assistance of local authorities whenever needed. A detachment of Guards within the Western Command is always on duty as the personal and ceremonial body guard of the Sovereign and other members of the royal family, and as an honor guard for visiting dignitaries. During wartime, the Brigades of regularly serving Guards are attached as elite troops to the Army of the Quadrant in which they have been stationed, and the Reserve Guards, mostly Guards veterans, take up the usual peacetime duties of the regular Guards.

          The command structure of the Royal Guards is as follows:

The Marshall of the Guards commands the four . . .

Quadrant Generals, who each command four. . .

Brigadiers, each in charge of the Guards serving in a particular province; Province Brigades are divided into County Regiments commanded by . . .

Colonels, whose commands are divided into Detachments under the command of . . .

Majors. Local barracks of guards vary in size; those in cities house Companies, under the command of . . .

Captains; those in towns are manned by Squadrons under . . .

Lieutenants; those in villages or on manors are staffed by the smallest independent units of Guards, Patrols, headed by . . .

Sargeants. Each Patrol consists of two Watches, each with a . . .

Trooper in charge of three . . .

Common Guardsmen.

          The uniforms of those in the ranks are an unobtrusive black (tan in warmer months), with silver insignia, but the officers of the Guards stand out in their bright red tunics (replaced by unbleached white in warmer months).

          The Royal Coast Guard, a branch of the Royal Guards, consists of one Fleet of medium-sized naval vessels, with one Flotilla based in the harbors of each Quadrant. In peacetime, the Admiral of the Coast Guard is directly answerable to the Marshall of the Guards; in wartime, his command his transferred to the jurisdiction of the Grand Admiral, and the Royal Coast Guard Veterans Reserve takes up most of the duties of the regular Coast Guard under the Marshall. Officers and men of the Royal Coast Guard have their own distinctive uniforms, insiginia of rank, and titles, which are as follows:

The Admiral of the Coasts, who in peacetime is under the command of the Marshall of the Guards, is in over-all charge of the Coast Guards; under him are four

Quadrant Vice-Admirals, who in tern command one

Commodore for each major harbor located on the coast of their Quadrant. Serving under these are

Commanders in charge of the vessels and men at each Coast Guard Station on the nearby coast; these in turn have under their command a . . .

Captain for each larger vessel and

Lieutenants for minor vessels and land crews. Crews are divided into four Watches, each under the supervision of a . . .

Deck Officer, and consisting of a number of Sub-watches depending upon the size of the vessel, each made up of two . . .

Deck Mates and three . . .

Common Coastguardsmen.

          Coast Guard uniforms are similar in style to those of the navy, but of a lighter blue in the colder months. Officers wear distinctive light-blue epaulets, and the insignia and stripes on the shirts of the ranks, otherwise identical to those of the enlisted ranks of the navy, are red.

The Royal Altlandic Air Force

Until the year 300, the Kingdom of Altland is not maintain an air force. Although under the Neonesian usurpation a modest start was made toward developing one, these beginnings were cancelled at the time of the restoration, and it was not until Altland had been given trusteeship mandates by the UNVSC that the government acknoledge the need for such a branch of the Forces. Accordingly, the nation's leading civil aviators were invited to form a planning commission early the year 301, and within a year the Royal Altlandic Air Force was fully planned and began active recruitment and training of personnel, with technical advice from officers on loan from Westria and Whitlam. Since then, the transport and fighter commnds have developed rapidly and are presently (305) quite robust. Although two new light fighter-bombers are now on order (see pictures below), the bomber command is less developed, mainly due to His Altlandic Majesty's moral scruples about the uses to which bombers are normally put (for similar reasons, there is no missile command). Presently, the following command structure is in place, and is still in the process of being translated into a three-dimensional reality.

The Royal Altlandic Air Force is under the general command of . . .

The Air Marshall; under him are four . . .

Air Vice-Marshalls who each commands the air foces in one quadrant of the country and one overseas territory; under each of these are five .

Wing Commanders (20) who command one major air force installation and its satellites; beneath each Wing Commander are five . . .

Lieutenant Commanders (100) who command one satellite installation. Aircraft are organized into operational "groups," each of which is commanded by a . . .

Group Captain (circa 500)). Operational groups consist of five major aircraft, each piloted and commanded by a . . .

Captain (circa 2,500). Other officers on a major aircraft, administrative officers, and pilots and commanders of smaller aircraft normally hold the rank of . . .

Ensign (circa 3,500). The leaders of small groups of non-commissioned men at air force facilities and on major aircraft hold the rank of . . .

Crew Leader (circa 5,000). Other fully trained noncomissioned men hold the rank of , , ,

Airman (20,000); those still in training hold the rank of . . .

Air Apprentice (5,000), the lowest rank.