More than any other fighting force on the planet, the Kelownan Military has always been a man's army. Until the Invasion it was an almost exclusively masculine preserve, with ninety-seven percent of Kelownan military personnel being male. The few women in service are almost all low-ranking officers, serving in non-combat roles such as communications and coordination. The highest ranking female officer in service was a Lieutenant-Major in the Second Fleet Force, assigned to command and control.
As a result of this policy, Kelowna, more than any other nation, is desperately short of young men. The post-Invasion military is, of necessity, changing, promoting experienced female officers and transferring them to the field, while recruitment has been opened up to men and women equally. This change has met with some resistance, but has widely been acknowledged as a necessary step to preserve Kelowna's geopolitical status.
The funding and overall deployment of the military is the purview of the War Office. The High Minister acts as Commander Absolute of the military, but this role is traditionally devolved to the Minister of War, with the High Minister retaining only the discretionary power: to begin or end wars. The pursuit of war, once begun, is controlled by the Minister of War.
Like most Langaran military forces, the Kelownan Military does not share the terrestrial trait of an absolute separation of army, navy and air forces. Instead, the Military has a single hierarchy under the Commander Absolute, subdivided into four Supreme Commands along doctrinal and logistical lines. The four Supreme Commanders, together with their staff, form the Military Command Council, whose dual role is to advise the War Office and to translate War Office policy into strategy and action.
The largest of the four Supreme Commands is Ground Command, which includes all Kelownan ground forces - infantry, mechanized, armoured, scouts, commandos - and their administrative and logistical support structures. The second is Fleet Command, which controls all maritime forces, from battleships to coastal patrol boats.
For centuries, these were the only two supreme commands in the Kelownan Military and the two Supreme Commanders held incredible power. Fifty years ago, however, the advent of the age of flight led to the creation of Air Command, to control all airborne forces. At first this was only a minor command, but advances in aeronautics soon meant that air power was a key component of Kelownan strategy and it was advanced to a Supreme Command, headed by a lieutenant-general.
In 10,357AH, the Ground and Fleet Commanders attempted to oust the civilian government in a coup d'état. With complete control of the bulk of the troops, the attempt almost succeeded, being defeated only by a combination of popular passive resistance and the valiant efforts of Air Command. Following this, the post of Air Commander was assigned the rank of full general and a fourth Supreme Command was created, the Amphibious Command. By moving all airborne (meaning gyrolifted; the Kelownan army has no established paratroop corps) infantry to Air Command and marines to Amphibious, the strength and power of the four Supreme Commanders was spread more evenly.
Supreme commands are subdivided into forces, each of which contains a wide mixture of troop types. Any single force should be capable of pursuing a full-scale military engagement in its field of expertise without additional support (so that the troops within a Ground Command force could press any land engagement on any terrain, or a Fleet Command force deploy suitable units to engage in any naval clash).
Forces are subdivided into groups, smaller divisions which also include a broad - but not all-inclusive - mixture of troop types. Each force consists of three-to-seven groups.
Neither a force nor a group is an operational unit. Kelownan troops are deployed in armies. These are fluid divisions, formed and reformed towards particular goals, and which consist of a number of groups - usually three-to-seven - assembled from one or more forces and Supreme Commands.
Regiments are the specialised organisational units of the military. Within each force, troops of a particular type are gathered into one or more regiments. The troops of a regiment may be spread across multiple groups within the force, but they train together and enjoy a close camaraderie.
Ground Command Regiments are made up of one-to-three troop types, plus mechanical, logistical and medical support. Ground troops are designated general infantry, mobile infantry, mechanised infantry, artillery, cavalry, armoured cavalry or transport.
Fleet Command Regiments - sometimes called Flotillas - consist of one-to-three large ships and as many as two dozen support vessels. Fleet Command uses battleships, slightly antiquated heavy fighting ships; the faster, modern battlecruisers; cruisers, heavy and light; frigates, including destroyers, gunboats, corvettes, submarines, torpedo boats and the coastguard boats called clippers; and various freighters.
The Cormorant Project is Fleet Command's battle carrier programme, intended to create vessels of a similar type to the Andari AWS Alamut.
Air Command Regiments consist of one-or-two types of air troop and their support crews. Air troops include airborne infantry, torpedo bomber, torpedo lift (anti-ship gyrolift), fixed-wing fighter, gunlift (ground-attack gyrolift), fixed-wing interceptor, gyrolift interceptor, fixed-wing bomber, bomblift (gyrolift bomber).
Amphibious Command Regiments are all marine infantry regiments.
Minor Commands are highly specialised groups within the military, which operate outside of the Supreme Commands. Each is given a designation consisting of a name and number. They are similar in size and organisation to regiments, but their commanders answer to the General Staff as a whole.
The Minor Commands include the 1st-4th Commando Commands, 1st-3rd Reconnaissance Commands and the 1st-5th Counterinsurgency Commands.
The Yoman Guard is a strange and archaic body. They are responsible for the protection of the Ministry, and they take their name from the story of their founding. The original Guard were a group of Yoman Bushi left on Langara after the holocaust, who swore themselves into the service of the Kelownan government. For over six thousand years, membership of the guard was hereditary, before training and aptitude requirements were instituted in 6,398AH.
In the modern day, the principle role of the Yoman Guard is to provide ceremonial protection to members of the Ministry. They recruit directly instead of sharing basic training facilities with the rest of the military. Members of the Guard receive the same small arms training as regular troopers, but instead of battlefield tactics they are taught specifically protective, counter-surveillance and urban combat techniques to enable them to defend their charges. They also train with their outmoded signature weapon, the Yoman daito.
The Guard is headed by a Commander, but this is a purely political appointment; operational control of the Guard is undertaken by the deputy commander, a colonel who holds the honorary title of 'Daimyo'. The Commander is appointed by the High Minister and is usually a staff officer who acts as military adviser to the guard and is accorded certain privileges, including a seat on the General Staff.
All branches of the military use the same rank system. In Kelowna, commissioned ranks are awarded by posting; when an officer is deemed ready to occupy a post assigned to a particular rank, they are promoted to that rank. Ranks are never stripped, however, so it is possible for an officer to command a post that is sub-grade. This is seen as a sign that the officer has incurred the displeasure of his or her superiors.
The General Staff are responsible for overall strategy, led by the four Supreme Commanders and the Commanders-in-General. The Ground, Fleet and Air Commanders are the only full generals in the military; even the Amphibious Commander is only a lieutenant-general. The Commanders-in-General are the political segment of the staff: the High Minister, the Minister of War, Adviser General (senior military adviser to the Ministry) and the Commander of the Yoman Guard. Other flag officers seconded to the General Staff are given the rank of lieutenant-general, except for members of the Amphibious Command, who become adjutant-generals. Command officers seconded to the Staff as aides and advisers are given the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, unless they are full colonels already.
Force commanders are also given the rank of lieutenant-general. Forces are further subdivided into groups, each commanded by an adjutant-general. The Amphibious Command is, in effect, a single Force, hence its Supreme Commander is also a lieutenant-general and it contains no subsidiary forces, only groups.
Commanders occupy a strange never-never land between 'true' flag officers and command officers. They are given the command of large regiments, battle ships and minor commands, although occasionally they can be found in less prestigious roles, if they have fallen out of favour. In addition, any military adviser to the Ministry is given the rank of Commander, even if they were brought into the political appointment from a lieutenancy.
Command officers are also ranked by position, but each of the three primary ranks - captain, major and colonel - has an equivalent lieutenancy. A lieutenant is considered to be in training to take the next step up the ladder and when filling a vacant position, the General Staff will always select from the appropriate lieutenancy.
Kelownan Colonels typically command a regiment based out of a single fortress or airfield, although Fleet Colonels command either a dock or a capital ship. Majors and Lieutenant-Colonels command field battalions or cruisers, Captains and Lieutenant-Majors companies or frigates. Lieutenant-Captains are aides and platoon leaders.
Non-commissioned personnel are promoted according to time in service, time in grade and command recommendations, and their rank does not necessarily relate to their position so much as to their general level of responsibility and trust. A senior adjutant would be seen as one of the most reliable men - the highest ranked non-commissioned woman in the military is a leading trooper in the Fourth Army Force's Ninth Group catering corps - in the military.