Astronean Armed Forces

The Astronean Armed Forces is the official name given to the military forces of the Parliamentary Republic of Astronea. It encompasses the ground, air and naval forces of the military and is tasked with maintaining the security of Astronea, its borders, sovereignty, waters, airspace, oversea territories and its interests. It is a modern military, with spending accounting for 3% of the nation's GDP. It is a fully professional force, with conscription being abolished in 2005. Its reserve force across all three branches comprises some 2,100,000 volunteer service members, including both previous service and active service reserve members. Reserve members retain their civilian jobs and take part in exercises, of which they are expected to dedicate two weekends every month.

The Astronean Armed Forces have been deployed abroad in peacekeeping missions and military interventions in recent years, and has fought in several wars over border disputes with its neighbours. Prior to the Astronean Civil War that led to the abolition of the empire, it was heavily involved in counter insurgency operations within its colonies.

The Astronean Armed Forces is responsible for Astronea's nuclear deterrent of over 400 tactical and 100 strategic nuclear weapons. It is known as the Nuclear Triskelion due to the weapons being deployed by air, sea and land.

Command organization
The Astronean Armed Forces are split into "Command Groups" serving each of the four administrative regions of the country. There is a Command Group in every region, each representing the joint command staff and headquarters responsible for organizing the forces under their command. The head of state is the head of the Armed Forces, they are the Commander-in-Chief, the president of Astronea, currently Nikolas Detrom. Together with the Defence Secretary, the President makes the majority of decisions regarding the use of the armed forces.

The Defence Directorate is the Government department and highest level of headquarters of the military, charged with formulating and executing defence policy. The department is controlled by the Defence Secretary.

The Joint Strategic Command Staff is the combined most senior leadership of each branch of the AAF, and is chaired by the Field Marshal of the Astronean Armed Forces, currently Atrus O'Hare. The JSCF are responsible for executing the orders of the Commander-in-Chief, directed by the Field Marshal. Collectively, they make up the highest level of command of the entire armed forces.

The Main Intelligence Directorate is the intelligence arm of the military, responsible for obtaining, handling and processing all military intelligence, coordinating surveillance, reconnaissance and advising the Joint Strategic Command Staff on developing situations. They are the direct handlers of the Asymmetric Warfare Detachment, although the AWD is subordinate to Special Operations Command.

Special Operations Command is the arm of the JSCS responsible for conducting and organizing Special Operations Forces of the AAF.

Order of Battle
In each administrative region of Astronean, the Joint Strategic Command Staff oversees a command group which fields divisions, fleets, ARAF groups and facilities within each region. This is to enable the rapid mobilization of any one command group relative to regional threats.

Army
ARA (Astronean Republican Army) forces are divided into Corps, made up of divisions and independent brigades and regiments. These smaller units operate separately from divisional commanders and often serve specialist roles separate from their division level counterparts. All divisions maintain attached logistics and fire support units to support divisional commanders in their missions. While Army headquarters may be regionally based and organized, deployments abroad are frequent for many elements of the ARA.

Navy
While Astronea only has one coastline, the ARN (Astronean Republican Navy) maintains four fleets with headquarters in each region. There are two Joint Strategic Command Fleets, distinguished by the carrier groups in their organization. Force projection is a key Astronean policy, and as such a single JSCF will always maintain a carrier group on rotational deployment, with sizable maritime patrol and surveillance missions year-round. Submarine hunter killer groups and Astronea's own nuclear equipped deterrants are shrouded in secrecy, with their locations and patrol routes kept secret even from the highest level government officials.

Air Force
Astronea has air bases located across the country and abroad. The ARAF (Astronean Republican Air Force) operates "ARAF Groups" numbered 1 and upwards. These groups are deployed on a regional basis for national defence and force projection.