WikiStates
Register
Advertisement
Armed Forces of the Syllvan Confederacy
Flag of the AFSC

Service branches Territorial Defense Forces
Confederate Naval Corps
Confederate Air Corps
Confederate Ground Corps
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief Confederacy Chair Cyro Valle
Minister for National Defence Minister Adria Kalan
Manpower
Military age 17 years of age
Conscription 18 years of age, 22- to 24-month period (compulsory)
Available for
military service
39,083,340, age 18–55 (2020 est)
Fit for
military service
26,890,201, age 18–55  (2020 est)
Reaching military
age annually
151,220 (2020 est)
Active personnel 872,000 (incl. average 146,800 conscripts annually)
Reserve personnel 5,186,000+ (2020 est.)
Expenditures
Budget SHD $255.185 billion
Percent of GDP 8.2%
Industry
Domestic suppliers M.E.C.H., Syllvan State Arms, Syllvan Fleet Systems, Intercorp, Future Solutions, Heavy Assault Systems, Dennel


The Armed Forces of the Syllvan Confederacy is the military component of the Department of National Defense of the Confederated Territories of Free Syllvin, which includes both the Active Guard & Reserve (AGR) militia of the individual territories of Free Syllvin as well as the federal Military Corps branches that fall under control of the Confederacy Chair.

The active service of the AFSC consists of the Ground Corps, Air Corps, and Naval Corps, with several uniformed non-combat services such as the Maritime Patrol Corps, Forestry Corps, and Police Corps. The AFSC serves as both a defense against external threats and an expeditionary force, and is tasked with protecting the interests, land, and sovereignty of the Confederacys’ constituent territories.

The AFSC is supplied by a large pool of paid conscripts in its active and reserve forces, though it has a significant paid volunteer and professional career soldiers in all branches. Conscription is viewed as a national service and all citizens are required to complete at least 22 months of service by the time they are 30. The AFSC retains an active strength of 872,000 with a consistent reserve strength of approximately 5 million. The various branches are capable of mobilizing nearly 15 million fully-equipped troops in times of full-scale war.

History[]

The AFSC was founded in 1650 as the Royal Regimentary of the Kingdom of the Islands and the Coast. Free Syllvin is a strategically significant location in eastern Gondwana due to the river systems that make shipping from the continental interior viable, as well as controlling the only littoral route between the Gulf of Kyrtanas and the Veridian Straits. Thus, when the coastal and island kingdoms decided to unify as a single polity, it was agreed that a strong professional military force was necessary to protect sovereignty and economic interests.

Originally consisting of the donated professional troops and sailors of each kingdom-now-territory, the Armed Forces of the Syllvan Confederacy was raised to division strength by 1673, with ten brigades of 720 infantry and 4 brigades of artillery, along with the naval and marine forces of two frigates, two brigantines, and eight sloops-of-war. The motto of the AFSC, “Mejor en tierra y mar,” dates to the original founding as the Royal Regimentary.

During the early 1900s, the Royal Regimentary was restructured into the Royal Special Armed Service under King Darius I after his coup against the House of Valandar and King Marcos IV. Responsible for enforcing Darius I’s brutal anti-Daccic policies and conquering much of the unorganized indiginous peoples in the Daccic heartlands, the Royal Special Armed Service benefitted from supplies of modern weapons, motor vehicles, and early aircraft from the nations factories, becoming one of the first mechanized military forces in northeastern Gondwana.

During the Avannia Uprising of 1919, the army and navy units stationed on Avannia took Darius I hostage during a state visit as part of a larger popular revolution, with the service members responsible for his protection blockading themselves along with the Royal Household in the central command complex of the Avannia Naval Yards. When the uprising was successful, in large part because the Avannian garrison was the largest in the nation and any Royalist forces would be slow in responding, the RSAS was subject to wide-sweeping purges before being reorganized into the modern AFSC under the Valandar Reformations and the transition of democracy.

Despite the change of leadership and a populist government in place, the actions of Darius I had influenced the disparate Daccic peoples not under Syllvan rule to unite into the Daccic Republic, and they received support from Equatiorial Kundu and Tsumibia that allowed them to declare war on Free Syllvin in 1927. The AFSC was engaged at a third of its pre-Reformation strength, and achieved a tactical victory against the Republic while setting up a strategic stalemate. Free Syllvin and the Daccic Republic signed a ceasefire in 1929, with small skirmishes lasting well into the 90s.

Free Syllvin, recognizing that a combined arms approach was effective but needing to maintain a training and technology edge over any rivals, invested heavily into military research and manufacturing over the 1930s and 40s. The AFSC gained a new branch in 1941 with the Air Corps, modelled after contemporary South Hills Air Force, with integration of Close Air Support, airlifting, and tactical bombing into Ground Corps units. Theater maneuvering and environmental adaptation were included into training regimens alongside standardized combined arms tactics to allow servicemembers to be able to fight effectively in any domestic or foreign environment.

The AFSC received its second force-multiplication addition in 1973, when the Strategic Artillery Division was created within the Ground Corps. Successful development of long-range ballistic missiles and effective payloads allowed Free Syllvin to strike defensively or offensively over much of the western hemisphere. Further developments in self-propelled artillery and self-propelled missile systems enable Ground Corps units to have significant strategic and tactical force projection. SAD cruise missiles utilize fuel-air warheads, and Free Syllvin retains the capability to manufacture nuclear weapons due to its developed reactor program.

Significant fleet elements of the Naval Corps were deployed during the 2017 Al Jaheed Crisis, which saw large portions of the Concorde continent descend into conflict due to the widespread terrorist actions of the Al Jaheed extremist group. Battle Group Jerikus was dispatched to support the Adumaran blockade of Chianski, due to evidence the Politboro of Chianski was funding attacks against Adumara by Al Jaheed. As a fellow South East Pacific Coalition member and close economic partner, Free Syllvin supported the Adumaran blockade of Chianski, but withdrew when Adumara began an invasion and bombardment campaign in order to force the Politboro surrender.

Uniformed Services Day is recognized as a national holiday, with parades held at Avannia Institute for Military Strategy each year on March 18th.

The AFSC transitioned from its 20th century equipment to the ‘Confederate Future-Proof Hardware Project’ on July 9th, 2008. Developed by Minister on National Defense Fye Vichi, the Project is a constant development cycle of military technology for use exclusively by the AFSC. The armed services equipment catalog was drastically consolidated by 2011 with many vehicle and weapons platforms deriving from a singular source. The Hardware Project also provisions for the continued modernization of military hardware across all service branches.

Defence policy[]

Deterrence, quality, and cooperation are the basic tenets of Free Syllvin’s military defensive policy. The armed services rely extensively on technologies that are more advanced than contemporary militaries to provide an edge in tactical engagements, while in-depth training systems provide commanders with seasoned and adaptable units at a strategic level. The competence of the Syllvan military is such that, despite being well prepared for conflict, the idea is that potential rivals will not want to engage the AFSC to begin with.

Exercises, peacekeeping duties, and hardware development. The Ground Corps has been extensively involved in training the military forces of fellow S.P.E.A.R. members Zukchiva and Ruseniya, and Free Syllvin has collaborated with Furnifold, Asendavia, and Adumara with developing weapons systems for use in those nations’ forces. 

The various branches have a combined total of 321,500 career soldiers, 400,500 rotational volunteers, and 150,000 conscripts on active duty. Due to the militia structure of the Territorial Defense Forces, they maintain a core group of 2 million trained volunteers on a permanent reserve footing to be activated in times of need. This grand total of 2,872,000 servicemembers are what are considered Standing Forces, those that can respond to humanitarian crises or combat situations within 24 hours. The full strength of the AFSC, all citizens signed up for reserve duty in case of emergency and those citizens who are within the conscription age bracket who have already served their mandatory service, is averaged to be about 9 million servicemembers. This pool of troops is termed Operationally Ready Confederate Units (ORCUs). The armories and motor pools of the AFSC have enough capacity to outfit 15 million troops within 72 hours, if a full-scale war situation is at hand. This emergency effective troop pool is termed the National Reactive Reserve Units (NRRUs.)

All citizens are eligible for mandatory service and signing up as a paid volunteer or career soldier, as long as they meet the age requirements. While positions in the military were only opened to women in the 1970s’, and transsexual and LGBT individuals in the 2000s’, the AFSC is reasonably diverse in terms of the dispersal of various gender groups within combat, clerical, and logistical roles. Due to high numbers of reports of harassment early after relaxing service gender restrictions, AFSC troops are required to attend a number of seminars annually to ensure unit cohesion and morale are not compromised by issues between servicemembers. 

National Service[]

Under the Enlistment Provisions of 1972, wartime conscription is applicable for “reasonable citizens between the ages of 17 and 55, regardless of religion, gender, or creed, pursuant to physical and mental fitness. All citizenry must undergo some military service, with the provisions specifying “all reasonable citizens upon reaching the age of 18 are required to report to the Armed Forces branch of their choosing for a period of service as a paid conscript...not lasting more than five years, but not less than 22 months, before reaching the age of 30.” Signing up is voluntary, though citizens who do not do so by the time they are 28 will be forcibly conscripted into the Ground Corps to serve their mandated time.

Citizens have the option of attending General Service Training (GSC), a ten-week boot camp for basic enlisted skills and procedure in their chosen branch of service, or one of three advanced academies. GSC consists of recruits learning basic military drill, fieldcraft, basic survival skills, weapon maintenance and field camping, medical aid, and small unit tactics, participate in live fire exercises and hand grenade throwing, go through a Standard Obstacle Course (SOC), and do daily physical training in preparation for the Combat Readiness Evaluation.

The Commissioned Service Academy, with subdivisions for each of the three primary branches, is an extended training programme for citizens wishing to become officers during their National Service deployment. The CSA typically runs for a year to a year-and-a-half covering necessary skills for leadership and tactical and strategic thinking as well as general military skills. The Enlisted Command Academy trains citizens in a six-to-nine month process on becoming noncommissioned officers, covering small unit tactics, aircraft operation, or seamanship depending on the branch. The Vocational Services Training is a twenty-week training addition to General Service Training and allows citizens to become proficient in clerical or logistical roles such as flight deck operations and communications. 

National Service is flexible in terms of assignments, with commissioned and non-commissioned officers serving largely at posts of their choosing. Rank-and-file servicemembers are able to request certain specialities or areas they wish to be assigned to, but such paperwork is not set in stone. Servicemembers, regardless of their rank, are issued evaluations based on their training performances. Those receiving Combat Readiness Blue rankings serve for the minimum required length of 22 months. Combat Readiness Green servicemembers serve for 26 months, Combat Readiness Yellow for 30 months, and Combat Readiness Orange and Red receive 4 and 6 weeks additional training, respectively. Combat Readiness Black evaluations are issued for servicemembers who through delinquency or incompetence require indefinite training until they are fit for duty, with time spent in training not counting towards their required service time upon being issued a passing CR eval. 

National Service troops are issued SHD$30,000 annual pay, 20 days of paid sick leave, and 50 days per year of general leave for holidays and family events. National Service officers and noncoms are issued pay of SHD$55,000 and SHD$45,000, respectively, 30 days paid sick leave, and 60 days per year of paid leave. 

Legislation[]

Under the Third Article of the Valandar Reformations of 1921, the Confederacy Chair has the authority to raise and maintain the AFSC federal branches (Ground, Air, and Naval Corps), while the Territorial Governors have the authority to raise and organize the Territorial Defense Forces, though they must have approval from the chair to call the TDF to active service. The TDF is funded and maintained by the Confederacy Chair using territorially-requisitioned funds and material. The Chair has the responsibility to form, reorganize, and disband units within the federal branches, and appoint flag officers and ministers to oversee the administration of the service in the form of the Minister on National Defense and the Armed Services Committee.

The Armed Services Committee administers matters relating to the AFSC under the Third Article. The ASC consists of:

  • the Chair-appointed Minister on National Defense (head of committee)
  • the Armed Service Chief Officer
  • the Secretariat of the Armed Services, which consists of;
  • the Marshal of the Ground Corps
  • the Marshal of the Air Corps
  • the Admiral of the Fleet
  • the Territorial Marshal, serving as a liaison between the various Territorial Defense Forces and the federal government. Assumes strategic control over the TDF during wartime. 
  • Five other individuals appointed by each Chair, typically military scientists and retired servicemembers, that provide alternative perspectives and counsel to the Committee and Chair. 

Organisation[]

The Armed Forces of the Syllvan Confederacy consists of the:

  • Confederate Ground Corps (eight Combined Arms Divisions: 1 Div through 8 Div, two Operational Reserve Divisions, 8 & 9 Div, two island defence divisions: 1 Izlandia Defence Command and 2 Izlandia Div, and four land defense divisions, 1 Syllvania Defense Command and 2, 3, and 4 Syllvania Div) totalling 410,000 standing troops
  • Confederate Air Corps (five wings of ten squadrons each: 1 Wing, 3 Wing, 4 Wing, 8 Wing, and 12 Wing, and eight airbases) totalling 240,000 standing troops
  • Confederate Naval Corps (twelve squadrons in two fleets, 1 Fleet with 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 9 Squadrons, 2 fleet with 5, 7, 10, 11, and 12 Squadrons, four squadrons under Coastal Patrol Services: 15, 20, 25, 30 Squadrons, two marine divisions: 1 and 2 Amphibious Div, and five naval bases) totalling 222,000 active troops
  • Territorial Defense Forces (each territory having varied unit compositions due to their populations and sizes but totaling to twenty three Combined Arms Divisions, nine Mechanized Infantry Divisions, twelve Infantry Brigades, sixteen Air squadrons, eighteen naval squadrons, six naval bases, and nine airbases) totaling 2 million combat-ready reservists. 

The AFSC is headed by the Armed Service Chief Officer, a five-star flag officer (Air Marshal, Field Marshal, or Fleet Admiral) from one of the three federal service branches. The ASCO is appointed from the ranks by the Confederacy Chair and is the sole AFSC officer that can promote or appoint five-star flag officers. The Chief Officer is directly superior to the Secretariat of the Armed Services, the active heads of the three federal services, which are four-star flag officers by convention and serve as the ASCOs’ strategic and administrative advisors. The current ASCO is Fleet Admiral Thaedeuz Darton, a career Naval Corps officer and veteran of field command. His Secretariat is currently made up of Marshal of the Ground Corps Harold Risske, Marshal of the Air Corps Maria Senteva, Admiral of the Fleet Justice Moreuax, and Territorial Marshal Jeaninne Benia. 

Supporting the combat role of the AFSC, are other governmental organisations of the Ministry on National Defence (MINATDEF), such as the Defence Policy Group, the Defence Management Group, the Defence Technology Group, and the Defence Science & Technology Agency. Within these groups are the Central Manpower Base (CMPB), Defence Cyber Organisation, and the Military Security Department (MSD). Domestic companies also play a role in building up Free Syllvins’ military capabilities, particularly the government-linked Syllvan State Arms and Syllvan Fleet Systems which designed and built some of the AFSCs’ more advanced weaponry and equipment based on specific local requirements and for non-export exclusive use by the AFSC. 

Ranks[]

There are three different rank structures in the AFSC. Below are the ranks in the AFSC in ascending order for the different schemes of service.

Enlistees[]

  • Recruit (REC)
  • Private (PTE) / Junior Airman (JAMN) / Junior Rating (JRT)
  • Private First Class (PFC) / Airman (AMN) / First Rating (FRT)
  • Lance Corporal (LCP) / Senior Airman (SAMN) / Junior Crewman (JCRN)
  • Corporal (CPL) / Airman First Class (AFC) / Crewman (CRN)
  • Corporal First Class (CFC) / Flight Corporal (FCPL) / Senior Crewman (SCRN)

Specialists & Warrant Officers (WOSPECs)[]

Specialist Ranks

  • Specialist Cadet (SCT)
  • Third Sergeant (3SG) / Junior Air Sergeant (JASG) / Petty Officer (PTO) 
  • Second Sergeant (2SG) / Air Sergeant (ASG) / Senior Petty Officer (SPTO)
  • First Sergeant (1SG) / Senior Air Sergeant (SASG) / Chief Petty Officer (CPTO)
  • Staff Sergeant (SSG) / Air Chief (ACF) / Ensign (ESN)
  • Master Sergeant (MSG) / Flight Officer (FOF) / Ensign First Class (EFC) 

Warrant Officer Ranks

  • Third Warrant Officer (3WO)
  • Second Warrant Officer (2WO)
  • First Warrant Officer (1WO)
  • Master Warrant Officer (MWO)
  • Senior Warrant Officer (SWO)
  • Chief Warrant Officer (CWO)

Commissioned Officers[]

Junior Officer Ranks

  • Officer Cadet (OCT) / Junior Flight Lieutenant (JFLTN) / Midshipman (MID)
  • Second Lieutenant (2LT) / Flight Lieutenant (FLTN) / Lieutenant (LTN)
  • Lieutenant (LTN) / Flight Commander (ACMD) / Fleet Lieutenant (FLT)
  • Captain (CPT)/ Flight Captain (ACPT) / Commander (CMD)

Field Officer Ranks

  • Major (MAJ) / Air Major (AMAJ) / Captain (CPT)
  • Lieutenant-Colonel (LTC) / Air Colonel (ACOL) / Vice Commodore (VCDR)
  • Senior Lieutenant-Colonel (SLTC) / Flight Colonel (FCOL) / Commodore (CDR)
  • Colonel (COL) / Squadron Colonel (SCOL) / Fleet Commodore (FCDR)

Flag Officer Ranks

  • Brigadier-General (BG) / Wing Colonel (WCOL) / Junior Admiral (JADM)
  • Major-General (MG) / Air Commodore (ACDR) / Rear Admiral (RADM
  • Lieutenant-General (LG) / Junior Air Marshal (AMRL) / Vice Admiral (VADM)
  • General (G)/ Air Marshal (AMRL) / Admrial (ADM)
  • Field Marshal (FMRL) / Chief Air Marshal (CAMRL) / Fleet Admiral (FADM)

Heads of Branches

  • Marshal of the Ground Corps (MGC) / Marshal of the Air Corps (MAC) / Admiral of the Fleet (ADMF)

Technology in the AFSC[]

The SAF utilises technology as force multipliers, especially in the field of combined arms integration, which will enables units to fight in an integrated manner using infantry, mechanized infantry, armored, motorized, artillery, and air assets. The Ground Corps, Air Corps, and Naval Corps are linked via advanced data-links and networks to enable coordinated attacks and support for various units and forces. Hardened fiber-optics, wireless, and satellite technology enables the AFSC to be connected domestically and abroad from the infantry to command and control levels. Technology is an important element in the SAF's transformation into a 3rd Generation Fighting Force.

The AFSC acknowledges that technology is crucial for forming an effective defense while overcoming the obstacles of the nations difficult terrain and disparate regions, many separated by mountains or water. Having consistently had one of the largest defense budgets in Gondwana and one of the largest in the world by % GDP, Free Syllvin focuses its spending on developing innovative and effective technologies and having as much of its fighting forces mechanized or combined arms units. Research and experimentation to develop a technological edge began as early as 1971, MINATDEF sponsoring domestic technology and arms companies to account for the structural changes and increased conscription pool during the military reforms in the ‘71. MINNATDEF is one of the largest employers of engineers and scientists in Free Syllvin and the AFSC continues to devote considerable resources to defence research and development (R&D) and experimentation – 5% and 3% of the defence budget, respectively. MINATDEF also ensures the AFSC training programs are constantly updated to reflect the changing technologies it employs. 

In January 2009, the AFSC officially opened the Aquitar Expeditionary Training Center and the Dacceron Urban Training Center to advance the services’ multi-environmental, hostile theater, and urban operations capacities. The Training Centers are hundreds of acres of carefully designed landscape and faux-town environments, allowing for realistic live fire and combat maneuver scenarios. In the same month, the Air Corps opened the Karaktan Simulation & Live Flight Training Center, an airbase entirely dedicated to improving the operations abilities of combat and non-combat pilots. 

The country also has an established military manufacturing industry that is responsible for the design and development of the following military hardware:

  • Military Equipment & Construction Hardware, LLC (MECH) – Self-propelled guns, multi-launch rocket systems, artillery, combat engineering vehicles, utility hauling vehicles
  • Syllvan State Arms – Artillery, firearms, grenade launchers, amphibious fighting vehicles, armored radar platforms, radar trailers, radar installations, anti-aircraft guns, attack helicopters, utility helicopters, 
  • Syllvan Fleet Systems – warship hulls, logistics ship hulls, radar platforms, command and control platforms, naval gun systems, anti-aircraft guns, artillery, amphibious assault vehicles, utility helicopters, guided missile systems, air defense systems
  • Intercorp – Firearms, battle tanks, armored personnel carriers, combat engineering vehicles, self-propelled guns, self-propelled anti-air, armored multi-launch rocket systems
  • Future Solutions – Firearms, man-portable air defense systems, anti-tank guided missiles, light strike vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles, fighter jets, close air support aircraft, VTOL troop carriers, warship hulls, warship weapons systems, radar systems
  • Heavy Assault Systems – Vehicle weapons systems, firearms, mortars, transport aircraft, AWACS aircraft, minesweeping vehicles, armored response vehicles, armored utility hull vehicles, infantry carrier vehicles, artillery, guided missile systems, battle tanks
  • Dennel - Firearms, scout helicopters, light scout vehicles, radar systems, sonar systems, armored vehicle electronic systems, armored vehicle active defense systems, armored troop transports, mobile artillery systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned ground vehicles


Uniforms
[]

Syllvanuniform

Arid/Tropic Fractal pattern uniform for Ground Corps soldiers.

The current uniform, "No.4, third generation" used by the armed services is based on fractal camouflage with base colors tan and olive, grey and white, blue and grey for the Ground Corps, Air Corps, and Naval Corps respectively. In June 2018, the AFSC introduced a new variant of the uniform for combat units which provides more effective cooling. Ground Corps combat units are issued battle-dress uniforms with camouflage colors reflecting the environment they are expected to deploy in. All standard uniforms are intended to be fast-cool, fast-dry, and lightweight for use in equatorial climates similar to Free Syllvin. Different materials and thicknesses of uniform are available for other climates.

Equipment[]

See Main Article: Equipment of the Armed Forces of the Syllvan Confederacy[]

The equipment of the Armed Forces of the Syllvan Confederacy is by-and-large manufactured domestically, with imports only for specialized vehicles or equipment intended for the reserves. The inventory is kept streamlined to ensure cross-service compatibility, ease of training, and an abundance of spare parts. While Free Syllvin maintains a lower amount of fighting vehicles than some nations, those it does operate are constantly upgraded to keep on an internationally competitive level.

Advertisement