Fleet Expeditionary (Tiperyn)

The Fleet Expeditionary, also known as the Tiperyn Marines, is a corps of the Realm Armada and the primary and  arm of the Tiperyn Realm Defence.

Although the Fleet Expeditionary is the junior and smaller of Tiperyn's two branches after the Realm Guard, it has been considered Tiperyn's principle expeditionary land force since the Great Kesh War. This has been due to its ability to deploy battalion- and brigade-size formations independently of the other branches, as an arm of the Realm Armada. In addition, the Fleet Expeditionary is considered to be a federal force under the command of the Admiralty Board, whose leader—Cardinal of the Fleet—is a cabinet-level position. Meanwhile, the Realm Guard's regiments are under the administration of Tiperyn's duchies and principalities, introducing political challenges and rivalries to the branch. Thus, the development of the Fleet Expeditionaries' doctrine and force structure has been faster than the Realm Guard, and its logistics and manning is more consistent throughout the branch.

The Fleet Expeditionary is a combined arms force, manning its own infantry, armor, artillery, cyber, and support units. The professional core of the Fleet Expeditionary is its Marine Strike Brigades, which are able to rapidly deploy a reinforced battalion within 18 hours amphibiously anywhere in the world and the remainder of the brigade within 2 weeks. It is the largest permanent land formation within the Realm Defence under the corps-level, as the next largest formation is the regiment, although ad-hoc division-sized elements are sometimes formed during war.

The lineage of the Fleet Expeditionary harkens back to the Realm Armada's use of dedicated sailors as, , and makeshift landing forces dating back to its 1345 formation. The branch was formally founded on 20 February 1882 as a subdivision of the Realm Armada, and given its own representative on the Admiralty Board during the Grand Campaigns. The Fleet Expeditionary has fought in every war Tiperyn has been engaged in since its formation, with the most recent being the Nasiri Civil War.

Role
The Fleet Expeditionary is the primary expeditionary ground warfare service of the Tiperyn Realm Defence and a sub-branch of the Realm Armada. It specializes in amphibious forced entry, maritime commando operations, and the full breadth of ground warfighting functions. It is a combined arms force, consisting of infantry, armor, air defense, artillery, cyber warfare, electronic warfare, and combat service units. The Fleet Expeditionary does not contain its own aviation units, for which it receives support from the Realm Armada Air Service, but does have two reserve regiments which furnish units with Fleet Expeditionaries trained in the operation of amphibious landing craft in place of Realm Armada personnel.

Traditionally, the Realm Armada has been Tiperyn's means of projecting its power and foreign policy abroad. Since their creation, the Fleet Expeditionaries have been the Realm Armada's means of extending that reach on land, and surpassed the Realm Guard's capability to do so during the Great Kesh War. The Fleet Expeditionaries makes up for most combat and non-combat regiments deployed overseas and provides combat support units to allies and other service branches. The Fleet Expeditionaries' Mechanicalized Strike Brigades are Tiperyn's quick reaction force, positioned to react to crises around the world. Fleet Expeditionaries also provide special services to the Realm Armada — its parent branch — such as its Ship Detachments which are tasked with guarding the nuclear magazines on large warships. They also support the Archsecretariat Directorate on Missions (Tiperyns' diplomatic office) by providing a cadre of military police to guard every Tiperyn embassy in the world. Perhaps its second largest regular commitment, after the deployment of Strike Brigades, are its Artificer Regiments with their engineering, logistics, and maintenance services. Fleet Expeditionary Artificers are Tiperyn's main construction, engineering, and materiel support personnel deployed overseas, providing base construction, engineering support, distribution and warehouse support, medical services, and technical advice to militaries within the North-South Concordant.

Compared to the Realm Guard
Although the Realm Guard — Tiperyn's senior ground warfare service — does deploy units overseas, these are the minority of its force structure. The vast majority of that services' personnel are in the active or inactive reserves and most its overseas forward deployments are to overseas territories allies in relatively peaceful environments. While the intention from the Secretariat on War and Crisis has been to mobilize the Realm Guard as a force of up to 126 division-equivalents in the case of total war, the Fleet Expeditionaries are deployed overseas to troubled areas far more often than the Realm Guard. This is largely due to the Fleet Expeditionaries' expeditionary nature. For example, of the 34 non-territorial regiment-sized units Tiperyn has deployed outside its home islands, including overseas territories like Nasiria and Eureka, 26 are Fleet Expeditionary regiments or brigades. Further, of the 17 non-Nasiri ground warfare regiments/brigades deployed to Nasiria, 15 are Fleet Expeditionary units while only 2 are part of the Realm Guard. This is largely due to the Fleet Expeditionaries' expeditionary nature, as well as the intersection of domestic politics and the Realm Guard specifically.

While the Realm Guard's regiments are the administrative responsibility of Tiperyn's duchies and principalities, who are responsible for raising said regiments, the Fleet Expeditionary is a federal force administered directly by the Admiralty Board. Realm Guard deployments typically require the temporary federalization of regiments, which is politically costly and unpopular among the lower nobles who control them. The Fleet Expeditionaries meanwhile have grown to be Tiperyn's fist abroad; a force directly under federal control that has been the main player in every armed conflict involving Tiperyn since the end of the Great Kesh War. As a result, the federal government has spent a significant amount of resources into developing the Fleet Expeditionaries into a more professional and well-equipped force the Realm Guard, whose regiments can still vary in quality from polity to polity. Further, with the Tiperyn expeditionary doctrine heavily emphasizing combined arms amphibious warfare, the Fleet Expeditionaries eclipsed the Realm Guard in perceived utility from the crown.

Leadership
The Fleet Expeditionary is completely subordinate to the Realm Armada in terms of organization. However, the Chief of Expeditionary Operations — colloquially referred to as the Captain General of the Fleet Expeditionary — is considered the senior officer of the Fleet Expeditionary. The role originated during the Grand Campaigns when the Chief of Expeditionary Operations first operated in a tactical and operational capacity. They were initially equivalent in rank to a Realm Guard corps commander, and were thus sometimes referred to as a Lieutenant General. However, they were increased in status to Captain General during the Great Kesh War when Marine officers began holding theatre-level commands. Since then, the role has become mostly administrative rather than a tactical command, but it retains its original namesake.

While holding the position, the Captain General is the only Fleet Expeditionary officer to hold the rank of Admiral. As such, they sit on the Admiralty Board which is chaired by the Cardinal of the Fleet (the Realm Armada's most senior admiral and a federal ministry). Captain Generals serve terms of three years and are chosen from a pool of Fleet Expeditionary Vice Admirals and Counter Admirals, usually serving in senior staff roles or as Expeditionary Corps Commanders. Although Fleet Expeditionary Vice Admirals are eligible to be appointed to serve as the Cardinal of the Fleet — the highest ranking officer in the Realm Armada — by the monarch, this has never occurred in the Realm Armada's history. In such a scenario, the Captain General would remain the ranking Marine officer, as Fleet Cardinals forfeit their original branch affiliation during their service as Cardinal.

The Captain General maintains their own command staff, which includes the Vice Chief of Expeditionary Operations (colloquially referred to as the Lieutenant General) and the Regimental Ensign of the Fleet Expeditionary (the branch's senior technical authority). This staff heads the remainder of the Fleet Expeditionary headquarters, which includes several dozen subordinate offices ranging in rank from Captain to Vice Admiral. Examples include the Offices of Logistics, Manpower, Intelligence, Operations, and Public Affairs.

The current Captain General is Admiral Jakob Rikter aided by Vice Admiral Gerit Dokum, acting as Lieutenant General, and Regimental Ensign Jesca Tresoar. The Captain General reports to Cardinal of the Fleet Admiral Katherine Rijnder.

Fleet Forces
The Fleet Forces are the service's active-duty forces. The Fleet Expeditionaries' operational maneuver units are typically under the command and control of one of the Realm Armada's Expeditionary Corps. Each of the High Seas Fleet's two sea and three oceanic divisions contains an Expeditionary Corps responsible for the employment of marine forces and the coordination between them and naval sea and air assets. Each Expeditionary Corps is under the command of a Counter Admiral who reports to the Vice Admiral in command of the sea or oceanic division. However, some Marine assets circumvent this structure, including one Strike Brigade, and are under the direct authority of the Captain General — an Admiral acting as the commandant of the Fleet Expeditionaries — and their headquarters.

The two largest tactical units in the Fleet Expeditionary are the brigade and regiment. Each of the branch's regiments fall under one of two types: combat arms or combat support. There is no distinction between active and reserve regiments in this regard, although reserve units are typically under the administration of the Fleet Expeditionary Headquarters rather than an Expeditionary Corps.

Mechanicalized Strike Brigades
The Mechanicalized Strike Brigades constitute the of the Fleet Expeditionary and Realm Armada. Unlike regular combat arms regiments, which are organized around a specific arm — infantry, armor, or artillery detachments for example — Strike Brigades are combined arms formations down to the battalion level. As a result, they are able to operate more independently than other Fleet Expeditionary units. Marine Strike Brigades are the only permanent brigade in the Fleet Expeditionary or Realm Guard and is the largest permanent tactical ground warfare unit in the Tiperyn Realm Defence.

The brigade consists of 1 Shock Detachment, 2 Mechanicalized Detachments, 1 Mechanicalized Cannon Detachment (152SP), 1 Towed Cannon Detachment (127), 1 Air Defense Detachment, 1 Scout Detachment, 1 Support Detachment and Brigade Troops.

As a service branch of the Realm Armada, commanders of Strike Brigades are Commodores. However, they receive the unique title of "Brigadier" which regimental commanders do not receive. Brigadiers are typically more senior Commodores, having had at least 4-5 years of experience commanding a Marine Regiment as a Captain or Commodore. In the context of an Amphibious Landing Squadron, which typically includes 5 amphibious assault ships, 4-6 escort warships, an attached naval aviation wing, and a portion of the brigade, the Strike Brigade commander will usually be co-equal with the commander of the warships, who is also usually a Commodore.

The subunit of the Strike Brigade that actually sails with Amphibious Landing Squadron crusies on a regular basis is the Shock Detachment, which is reformed out of the brigade's various units on a yearly basis. It contains the entire breadth of the brigade's combat power, service, and support, but in a battalion-sized element. At its core is the original Marine Detachment, which is a combined arms mechanized infantry and armoured unit. To create a Shock Detachment, a self-propelled artillery battery, two batteries worth of air defense units, a scout party (platoon-sized), drone party (unmanned reconnaissance aircraft), electronic warfare party, rescue & surgery party, and a reinforced support troop are added in support. This essentially creates a self-contained unit that can be deployed via a normal Amphibious Landing Squadron while still projecting the brigade's combat power. In addition to the Shock Battalion, a landing party will also usually include 2 additional support troops (company-sized), special action half-troop, an ABC (atomic, biological, chemical) decontamination platoon, and the Brigade Headquarters.

One shock battalion of a Marine Strike Brigade are able to be deployed anywhere in the world within 12 hours. The second marine battalion may be deployed within 24 hours. The third marine battalion and other brigade troops are generally deployable within 3-7 days depending on the location and size of the follow-on force. Typically, the shock battalion is at sea for 12 months before a new shock battalion is formed from one of the other two marine battalions. Typically only one artillery battery and a portion of the support group are at sea at any one time. The remainder stay in garrison on 48-hour notice in their Expeditionary Corps' garrison.

Six Strike Brigades are active within the Fleet Expeditionary — one per Expeditionary Corps and one under the direct authority of the Fleet Expeditionary headquarters. Each Strike Brigade acts as Tiperyn's rapid deployment force in each of the Realm Armada's distinct operational areas — the Eurybian Sea, Balearic Sea, West Tethys Ocean, East Tethys Ocean, and Iapetus Ocean. Strike Brigades are also the only Fleet Expeditionary unit to have the permanent attachment of rotary air support battalion subordinate to the brigade commander. Typically, such Fleet Air Service units are subordinate to the Sea Divisions or Fleet Carrier Squadron commander and cooperate with marine forces via the Expeditionary Corps command. This is to ensure that the Fleet Expeditionary can land a capable and self-sufficient force with aviation specifically dedicated to the marines' ground warfare mission. This capability is supplemental to the Realm Armada's fleet carrier capability. In the context of land warfare, the Strike Brigades act as forward detachments for corps-level operations, spearheading offensives as a more mobile and independent force ahead of the less mobile main force. During conventional conflict, assuming significant preparation time, the Strike Brigade can act as the vanguard for a division-sized Marine Force in conjunction with one or more Marine Regiments and attached support.

Mechanicalized Regiment
The Mechanicalized Regiment is a combined arms regiment consisting primarily of mechanized infantry cross-trained in air assault tactics and assault guns in support. The regiment consists of 3 Mechanicalized Detachments, 1 Mechanicalized Cannon Detachment (152SP), 1 Towed Cannon Detachment (127), 1 Scout Detachment, 1 Support Detachment and Regimental Troops.

The regiment's three marine battalions are its primary tactical maneuver elements. Doctrinally, each rifle troop operates in support or with the support of one tank platoon depending on the situation. Each battalion also have the support of an integral mechanized reconnaissance platoon that gives the commander a limited reconnaissance capability and provides the battalion with convoy security on the march. At the regiment level, supporting units - most often an artillery or air defense section or battery - are often attached to maneuver battalions during operations if not in support of the entire regiment.

Although Mechanicalized Regiments are capable of amphibious assaults, they have rarely done so in practice since the end of the Great Kesh War. This has largely been due to the institutionalization of the Mechanicalized Strike Brigades as dedicated quick-reaction amphibious forces, as well as prolonged ground conflict in Nasiria where the Tiperyn sealift and airlift have access to friendly ports and airfield respectively.

Marine Regiment
The Marine Regiment is the most common combat arms regiment in the Fleet Expeditionary, composed principally of motorized or optionally motorized infantry. The regiment consists of 4 Marine Detachments, 2 Towed Cannon Detachments (152/127), 1 Anti-Tank Detachment, 1 Scout Detachment, 1 Support Detachment, and Regimental Troops.

Armor Regiment
The Armor Regiment is the Fleet Expeditionaries' core single-arm armored unit. The regiment consists of 3 Armor Detachments, 1 Mechanicalized Detachment, 2 Mechanicalized Cannon Detachments (152SP), 1 Scout Detachment, 1 Support Detachment, and Regimental Troops.

Artillery Regiment
The Artillery Regiment is an operational artillery or air defense unit placed under the control of Expeditionary Corps. They consist of 2 to 6 Artillery Detachments of various capabilities and are meant to be attached to marine maneuver units during conventional or prolonged conflicts.

Artificer Regiment
Artificer Regiments are comprehensive combat support and service units acting in support of Expeditionary Corps and the Fleet Expeditionary as a whole. They are 2 or 3 regiments allocated to each Expeditionary Corps, with an additional 3 held in general reserve at the Fleet Expeditionary level. Each regiment consists of 4 to 5 main battalion-sized units: 1 to 2 Support Detachment (general supply and maintenance units), 1 Medical Detachment, 1 Motor Detachment, and 1 Engineering Detachment.

Fleet Expeditionary Reserve
The Fleet Expeditionary Reserve is the reserve force of the Fleet Expeditionary consisting of about 179,000 personnel. The reserve consists of part-time Marines that either augment Fleet Forces with individual reserve Marines, deploy entire combat support or service units for temporary full-time service, or man some Marine establishments in Tiperyn. The Fleet Expeditionary Reserve primarily consists of four elements: Reserve General Headquarters (including schooling commands), the Primary Reserve, Readiness Corps East, and Readiness Corps West.

The Primary Reserve is principally composed of combat units split into Force East, Force West, and Force Centre. These units typically do not deploy as complete units. Rather, they provide a pool of trained manpower that can reinforce or augment active-duty Fleet Force combat units during their work-up for deployment. Force East and Force West consist of 4 Marine Regiments each (detachment size), 1 Cannon Regiment, and 1 Cannon Regiment specializing specifically in air defense. Meanwhile, Force Centre consists of an Armor Regiment, 2 Marine Regiments (detachment size) and 1 Mechanicalized Cannon Regiment. Force Centre is the Fleet Expeditionaries' primary combined arms reserve and provides replacements and specialists to its mechanicalized and armored active-duty units. Generally, with the exception of Force Centre, detachment-sized maneuver units are geographically based with garrisons near major population centres that they draw from. Fires elements, meanwhile, are more centralized.

The Readiness Corps meanwhile provide a wide breadth of combat support and service. Each corps consists of 2 Reserve Support Commands and 1 Boat Support Regiment. The Reserve Support Commands each contain 1 Depot Regiment (charged with manning supply depots and distribution points), 2 Artificer Regiments (non-standard supply, maintenance, and transport units or dedicated combat engineers), 1 Garrison Regiment (heavy construction units), and a number of other support units. Depending on the command, electronic warfare, cyber warfare, and medical units are also included in the Readiness Corps. Detachment-sized units within this segment are usually deployed or placed on full-time service on the mainland once every 5-7 years. Their main mission is to provide support services to Fleet Force units, both in Tiperyn and abroad, as well as infrastructural support to other services of the Tiperyn Realm Defence. For example, about 70% of Realm Guard bases abroad were constructed by Fleet Expeditionary Reserve Garrison Detachments.