Imperial Gristol-Serkonos Strategic Armed Forces

The Imperial Gristol-Serkonos Strategic Armed Forces are the national armed forces of the Sovereign Empire of Gristol-Serkonos. It consists of Homeland Defence, Global Expeditionary Forces, and the Overseas Presence Command. The Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Gristol-Serkonos Strategic Armed Forces rotates between the diarchs. Currently, the Commander-in-Chief is Emperor Lorei IV Esteria and it is required to all the members of the forces swear an oath of allegiance to both monarchs of Gristol and Serkonos. Under the Imperial Constitutional Law, the armed forces are subordinate to the Imperial Diarchy with the Imperial Office of National Defence, a national government ministry, being responsible for managing and deciding the military policy.

The Strategic Armed Forces was the result of a radical restructuring of the military, emphasizing flexibility and mobility over the traditional defensive warfare. The 2016 Defence and National Security Review, passed by the Rieshistagi in early 2016 was the basis for the country's current organization. Personnel from the former Army, Navy, Marines, Air Forces, and Strategic Arms Command are consolidated through four combined arms branches. The four combined arms branches are the Joint Expeditionary Forces, the Combined Enforcer Corps, the Cyber Warfare Corps, and the Directorate of Special Forces.

The military is directly controlled by the Imperial Defence Council of the Imperial Office of Defence. It consists of a Diarch, four civilian members, and four military officers. The Sovereign Empire tested its first nuclear weapon in 1952, starting with Operation Neptune. The country possesses 425 nuclear warheads, 390 of them are deployed and active.

History
When Gristol-Serkonos united in 1891, the two armed forces of Gristol and Serkonos were merged to form the Imperial Gristol-Serkonos Defence Forces. Between 1891 and 1954, IGSDF personnel played a prominent role in notable conflicts including the Red Revolution and the insurgencies in Vâlcea. In 2011, the Calroni government begun a series of reforms to make the IGSDF a more flexible military force. The government also made a decision to move away from the doctrine of defensive warfare. In 2015, following the largest technology-sharing agreement between Morgenroete Industries and Myrmidon Tactical Design, the military received a lot of technologically superior weaponry and equipment.

In 2016, the succeeding Valtorum government passed the 2016 Defence and National Security Review. After the lessons learned in the Jagite War, the government announced the military's new role in the Pendragon Pact. This radically transformed the Imperial Gristol-Serkonos Defence Forces into the Imperial Gristol-Serkonos Strategic Armed Forces.

Service Branches
The Imperial Gristol-Serkonos Strategic Armed Forces consists of three principal organs, Homeland Defence, Global Expeditionary Forces, and the Overseas Presence Command. In the event of mobilizing the military, commanders from these branches draws personnel from the Combined Arms Branches.

Homeland Defence
This command is responsible for the defence of the homeland as well as the overseas territories. It also manage the country’s ballistic missile capabilities, safeguarding national airspace, disaster response, and managing the cyberwarfare forces for defensive operations.

Global Expeditionary Forces
This command is responsible for power projection, nuclear deterrence and counterterrorism. It will also maintain the Sovereign Empire’s long-range bombers, strategic missile submarines, and special operations, and to manage the cyberwarfare forces for offensive operations.

Overseas Presence Command
This command is responsible for the management of the overseas personnel assigned in the region’s hotspots. It will also be coordinating with allies and partners as well as understanding the region’s cultures and languages to better the operational capacity of the military in the region. It will also manage the overseas bases in foreign countries.

Combined Arms Branches
The Combined Arms Branches are the amalgamation of the four primary services of the Defence Forces. These branches draws personnel based on their specialty. Instead of owning the personnel, the branches maintain them. These branches then assigns them to the operational commands. The Combined Enforcer Corps will be the largest CAB in the new Armed Forces. They are followed by the Joint Expeditionary Force, the Cyber Warfare Force, and the Directorate of Special Operations.

Combined Enforcer Corps
Comprised of the operators of the military's vehicles, ships, aircraft, and surface vessels and submarines. Also contains the regular and airborne infantry forces.

Active Personnel: 701,790

Reserve Personnel: 190,540

Joint Expeditionary Force
Comprised of Civil Affairs Specialists, Linguists, Cultural and Intelligence Experts. They are tasked with engaging with allies and partners abroad.

Active Personnel: 244,670

Reserve Personnel: 90,450

Cyber Warfare Force
Comprised of mathematicians, computer programmers, cryptographers, and electronic warfare specialists to defend the country's electronic infrastructure as well as conducting cyber-warfare operations against target nations.

Total personnel: 124,540

Reserve Personnel: 30,010

Directorate of Special Forces
Comprised of the country's elite special forces tasked of performing crisis response, securing loose weapons of mass destruction and counter-terrorism.

Total personnel: 69,000

Reserve Personnel: 9,000

Recruitment and Training
Service in the IGSSAF is not compulsory. Conscription is only enacted when certain provisions of the War Measures Act of 1982 is activated by the incumbent government. Officer cadets complete the Basic Military Officer Qualification course over 14 weeks, and non-commissioned members attend the Basic Military Qualification course over 12 weeks.

Flag officer / General officer
Flag and general officers wear Imperial Crown and a number of diamonds corresponding to their rank on shoulder straps or shoulder boards, along with a wide (1-3/4 inch) rank braid on each sleeve. Additionally, army general officers wear scarlet and gold gorget patches on their collars. Navy and air force flag/general officers wear additional rows of regular (1/2 inch) braid above the wide braid.

Officer Ranks
Navy and air force officer rank insignia consist of rows of regular (1/2 inch) and narrow (1/4 inch) braid worn on the lower sleeve. Army officers' rank insignia consist of stars (or "pips"), which are pinned to the shoulder straps. Army colonel officers wear scarlet, gold and crimson gorget patches on their collars.

IGSSAF Budget
In the 2016 fiscal year, the Imperial Office of Defence was granted a NS$ 729.81 billion mandatory spending that must be appropriated to maintain the effectiveness of the armed forces. The Imperial Gristol-Serkonos Strategic Armed Forces has an annual expenditure of NS$ 656.82 billion. The remaining expenditures are diverted towards acquisition of military assets, expenditures for the Directorate of Military Intelligence and funding for auxiliary and irregular units.

Warships
Total Surface Vessels: 533

Total Submarine Vessels: 138