Imperial Armed Forces (Shenewa)

History of the Armed Forces
The Imperial Army and Navy were created out of the army of the state of when the First Emperor united all of Shenewa in 1813. However, the Imperial Armed Forces in their modern form trace their roots back to the war of Imperial Restoration, from 1943-1951. During this conflict, elements of the Imperial Armed Forces, principally newly raised units and the Imperial Guard, loyal to the Emperor fought elements of the Imperial Armed Forces loyal to the warlords. The Air Force was created in 1959.

Mission
The missions of the Imperial Armed Forces are outlined in the Shenewan national security strategy. They are


 * Ensuring the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the borders of the Empire of Shenewa.
 * Contribute to the security and stability of the Ingonian and trade within it.
 * Defence and protection of all Imperial subjects.

Personnel
Since 1967, the Imperial Armed Forces have been an entirely volunteer force. As of 2023, the Imperial Armed Forces has 517,000 active personnel, 375,000 in the army, 90,000 in the air force and 52,000 in the navy (of whom 18,000 are marines).

The average age of new recruits to the Shenewan Armed Forces is 22. Upon joining, each recruit is given a sign-up bonus of ¥673,200 (equivalent to $1,800) and signs a contract for 25 years, with the option to leave after 7 years of active and 5 years of reserve service in the army or after 10 years of active service in the Air Force or Navy. After they have left the Armed Forces, veterans are given an annual stipend of ¥112,200 (equivalent to $300). As of 2022, 2,028,000 people in Shenewa were eligible to claim the veteran's stipend.

Rank Structure
The Shenewan Army has three classes of personnel that recruits can enter as, Enlisted (E), Warrant Officers (WO) and Officers (O). It has an additional class of rank, Technical Officers, however, it is not possible to enter the Armed Forces as a TO. TOs are drawn from Enlisted ranks and fill specialist roles within the Armed Forces, as well as Quartermasters.

Warrant Officers fill the roles that other armies will usually use long-service NCOs for, Platoon Sergeant and Sergeants Major. Warrant Officers are selected by a board of examination which tests their physical and mental fitness for the role. Typically, warrant officers are drawn from individuals who have the ability but lack the necessary education and connections to join the armed forces as an officer.

Officer Training in Shenewa
In Shenewa, officers are graduates of one of the six military academies (of which three are army academies, one air force, one naval and one guards). In order to attend one of these academies, it is necessary to have been educated until 18 and to have the ability to pay the fees which pay for the non-military classes given at the academy. Once accepted into the academy, cadets will undergo a three year training course for the Army or Imperial Guard or a four year training course for the Navy or Air Force. Upon completion, they are commissioned into their chosen branch as an officer. Whether students of the academies are commissioned into the regular force or the reserves is determined by their performance, with the top 50% joining the active force and the bottom 50% the reserves.

You can attend without the ability to pay these fees if you possess either a Military sponsorship or an Imperial sponsorship. The Military sponsorship is obtained by passing before a board, who decided whether or not the candidate is a good "investment". In practice, this type of sponsorship is only given out to relatives of serving officers or former officers. Imperial sponsorship is more difficult to obtain, being dependent on having passed a set of exams in the top third of those who sit it and being passed by an interview board. This practice began with the end of the War of Imperial Restoration in 1951, the goal being to ensure there was a sizeable proportion of the officer corps with reason to be grateful for their position to the Emperor personally. This was meant to ensure the officer corps did not grow to possess an institutional identity and esprit de corps separate from their role as soldiers of the Emperor, as they had done in the Warlord era. With the exception of the Imperial Guard, typically 1/5 of each class in the academies will be attending on an Imperial sponsorship. By 2030, the Imperial Armed Forces are planned to have shrink to 512,000 regulars. However, despite this the Air Force and Navy are both planned to expand, by 23,000 and 5,000 personnel respectively. Consequently, the Army is to be reduced from 396,000 active personnel to 364,000.

Army
The Imperial Army (Keumoine: Te Enepē Teupia, "the Imperial Warband") is the of the Imperial Armed Forces.

Organisation
For administrative purposes, the Imperial Army is divided into a number of branches. In the field, the Shenewan Army is organised into eight corps and 33 maneuver, 7 logistics, 6 artillery, 5 engineer and 3 aviation brigades as well as a number of independent regiments. In addition to this, there are numerous training and administrative units. The Reserve consists of 158,000 men, organised into 96 infantry battalions and 33 artillery battalions. Since divisions were phased out in the 1960s, following the abolition of conscription in 1967, the primary manoeuvre unit of the Imperial Army has been the Infantry Brigade.

70s brigade: When rifle divisions were broken up, their subordinate units which were deemed relevant to the direct "tactical" battle were reorganised into brigades. Their engineers were provided by the pioneer battalion of old engineer regiments, trained to integrate with assaulting infantry but possessing less engineering equipment for complex tasks. Likewise, the medical and signals in a brigade of the period was comparatively lacking, being focussed around local signals and casualty treatment on the battlefield, leaving evacuation to higher assets. However, brigades of this period had fighting power disproportionate to their supporting assets, being well supplied with infantry and artillery (of which they had half what had once been assigned to a division). Consequently, the brigades were intended to fight more as reinforced regiments, still being dependent on the corps echelon for most of their logistical support.

80s brigade: Having watched both the Sorland War and the Osorra-Tilenno War, the Imperial Army came to the conclusion its old brigades were too large and too dependent on higher echelons for support to survive for long on the modern battlefield. So, in the 80s the brigades were altered to be smaller but with more integral support, particularly anti-tank, air defence and counter-battery in the form of MLRS. A maintenance platoon was also introduced to allow the brigades more autonomy from their corps and account for the increased number of vehicles in the brigade. In addition, the regimental echelon was reintroduced in some cases in between the battalion and brigade. This change was meant to lessen the load on brigade staffs of commanding so many, more dispersed units. However, despite the new focus on dispersal and independence, the brigades remained comparatively lacking in medical and signals support, with it being thought this was better centralised to lessen the planning load and keep the ability to mass medical support behind units expected to be in heaviest combat.

2000s brigade: Many of the changes to the brigade by 2000 were continuations of the ideas that have circulated in the 80s. More battalions were transformed back into regiments, the infantry and cavalry became more mobile through mechanisation and increasing the size of the brigade's integral maintenance capability and its signals was improved, in both range and security. However, this mobility would, it was thought, reduce the need for organic engineering assets in the brigade and allow for manoeuvre to take the place of set-piece, casualty heavy assaults. Thus, the pioneer battalion remained relatively light on engineering equipment and the medical company remained focused on immediate care rather than evacuation, for which corps assets were thought more than adequate. Likewise, it was discovered on exercises that anti-tank weaponry worked best when coordinated at higher levels and so the individual brigade's anti-tank companies got consolidated into a single anti-tank regiment at corps level.

2010s brigade: Following combat experience in the SiWallqanqan civil war, several things were realised. Firstly, that despite the mobility of the modern battlefield, casualties and the requirement for engineers and engineering equipment was not reduced as had been expected. Secondly, Shenewan brigade staffs were still overburdened under modern, mobile combat conditions. Thirdly, the utility of autocannons and armoured vehicles able to accompany the infantry into an attack was realised. Consequently, the 2010 Brigade TOEs focussed on fixing these issues. One of the infantry regiments was converted into an armoured infantry battalion, mounted in wheeled IFVs able to provide intimate fire support all the way onto the enemy position. In addition, brigade engineer regiments received more equipment, making the brigade less dependent on higher engineering assets whilst pioneers were introduced into infantry regiments. Likewise, the medical company was reformed to focus more on both immediate care and evacuation, again making the brigade less dependent on corps assets. In order to reduce load on brigade staffs, the air defence, signals, medical and maintenance companies were formed into a separate Commander's Troops Regiment.

Brigades by 2030: The principal changes planned for brigades in the 2020s relate mostly to the artillery. The most basic of these acquisition of self-propelled artillery pieces to replace the current towed howitzers, improving the artillery's ability to move forward with the manoeuvre elements. The MLRS Battalion is slated for expansion to 24 systems, of which 6 will be capable of firing precision munitions in order to improve the brigade's ability to conduct "non-contact operations" and counter-battery missions. The other notable change is in the brigade's support with the create of a Rear Security Battalion and the downgrade the Commander's Troops unit from a regiment to a battalion. Commander's Troops Regiments were found to be sub-optimal, with a single officer needing to coordinate the actions of six elements with widely varying specialisms. The cognitive load of this task was deemed to be increased by the increase in importance of air defence and rear area security with the proliferation of UAVs on the modern battlefield. Consequently, the rear security battalion was formed from the brigade's air defence and military police to police its rear area. Meanwhile, the commander's troops battalion was reduced to just containing maintenance, signals and medical companies.

Navy
The Imperial Navy (Keumoine: Te Enepē Taua Noene, "the Imperial Sea Warriors") is the branch of the Imperial Armed Forces. Whilst the navy officially traces its lineage to 1813 and the first unification of Shenewa, in reality the navy in its modern form was created in the years after 1951, with the Imperial victory in the War of Imperial Restoration. During the warlord period (1908-1943), the navy had all but disappeared as an independent service and so needed building up again. To do so, the Shenewans hired many former officers of the Chezzetcook Marine Nationale to train its officers and men. Because of this, the traditions and organisation of the Imperial Navy and Marine Nationale have many similarities, although some traditions from before 1951 are retained.

The Shenewan Navy operates 6 submarines, 16 frigates, 36 corvettes, 10 minesweepers, 76 amphibious landing craft and 5 auxiliary ships. It also has a Fleet Air Arm that operates 72 aircraft and 48 helicopters and a Marine component consisting of two brigades and a number of supporting units.

Organisation
In addition to its ships, the Imperial Navy contains two marine brigades and a number of supporting units. Due to the the influence of the Marine Nationale on the Imperial Navy, the marines are known as fusiliers.

Air Force
The Imperial Air Force (Keumoine: Te Enepē Teuērenga, "the Imperial Sky Warriors") is the service branch of the Imperial Armed Forces. Whilst aircraft had been used by warlord armies, it was on a small scale and rarely more than a dozen. Consequently, when Shenewa was reunified in 1951, it had little in the way of an air force and less in terms of pilots used to flying as part of larger units. So, as it sought to build up its air force (initially the Army Air Corps), it hired former officers of the Imperial Zahavan Air Corps to help train its personnel and advise on doctrine. Because of this, the traditions and organisation of the Imperial Air Force and Imperial Zahavan Air Corps have many similarities.

Organisation
Like the Imperial Zahavan Air Corps, the Imperial Air Force identifies the branch personnel serve in with the colour of their collar tabs. In the field, the Imperial Air Force is divided into Air Corps, Groups, Wings and Squadrons.

Special Missions Command
The Special Missions Command (Keumoine: Shekeheu Nāhene Notuheke) is the joint headquarters for all Shenewan across all three services. It was created in 2015. Among its subordinate units is the First Special Missions Unit (Keumoine: Wēnge Nāhene Notuheke Tueteha), often simply being called "the Tueteha" or Ta Tueteha in Keumoine (translating to the "the First"). The Tueteha are Shenewa's premier special forces unit, selected from among personnel who have served a minimum of 3 years within another Special Missions Command unit.

Units of the Special Missions Command


 * First Special Missions Unit
 * Special Aviation Squadron
 * 1st Raider Brigade (2nd & 3rd Special Missions Units)
 * 2nd Raider Brigade (4th & 5th Special Missions Units)
 * 3rd Raider Brigade (6th & 7th Special Missions Units)
 * 4th Raider Brigade (8th & 9th Special Missions Units)

Budget
Whilst the Shenewan procurement budget is substantial, at 40% of the total budget, it has been estimated that between 10% and 15% of this amount (between $880m and $1.32bn) is lost through corruption. As with the other "Imperial" branches of the Shenewan government, the defence budget is decided on a 5 year basis, although this can be revised in exceptional circumstances.