Army of the Principality of Caledon

The Army of the Principality of Caledon has a very unique organization.

The army's actual fighting formations are tied to various lines of nobility, sometimes with histories dating back centuries. These units - via their association with the noble families that raised the units (and, at times, still raise them - raising an Army unit is considered an honor and duty among nobles in the Principality, and new nobles will frequently display their loyalty by recruiting and fitting out a new unit on their family's behalf).

There is a hierarchy of these units:

• Regiment - A Regiment is almost never an actual operational unit; it serves as a combination of an administrative unit, a training body, a repository of traditions accredted by the Regiments' constituent units, a social organization for the unit's officers, a career path for NCOs, and a basis for support organizations helping regiment's battalions' families when their units are deployed, caring for wounded soldiers and families of those killed in action, and administrators of the retirement pensions for the Regiment's retired members. Most Regiments were historically raised by mid-to-upper ranking nobles - Dukes, Earls and other nobles fairly high up in the feudal hierarchy - and still are today.

• Battalions - A Battalion is an operational unit affiliated with a Regiment. A Regiment will have at leasta one operational battalion - usually 3-4, and occasionall, especially in wartime, dozens. A battalion is raised, bankrolled and (when qualified) led by a noble affiliated with the branch of nobility that raised the parent regiment. Thus, the "13th(Baron Scott's) Battalion of the Earl of Ayrshire's Highlanders" will have likely been raised by Baron Scott, who is affiliated with and subordinate in lineage to the Earl of Ayrshire; the Battalion may be ancient or recently raised, but will share in the traditions of the Regiment, as well as get training, administrative and other support from the Regiment. Note that while every Regiment and Battalion will have unique traditions, honorifics, and even dress uniforms and rank systems, the General Command Staff's supervision ensures that all Battalions are operationally identical (see below). They are formed (according to plans worked out and constantly exercised by the General Command Staff) into brigades, divisions, corps and other larger forces as needed.

Committment to the Crown

Each noble house formally commits "his" regiments to the Crown every four years. Normally the commission ceremony - involving sending a formal Notice of Commitment to the crown (and a copy to the General Command Staff) is a pro-forma exercise, and an excuse for both regimental pageantry for the officers and an epic drinking binge for the enlisted troops. However, withdrawing Committment - pulling a noble's units out of the Principality's order of battle - hs for centuries been considered a noble's most aggressive form of civil disobedience to the Crown, of registering extreme disapaproval for the Crown's policies and behavior. While it's been exceedingly rare in centuries, a number of pro-Maxwell nobles, especially in the Rob Roy and Skye systems, have served notice of the withdrawal of their troops from the Principality's order of battle over the Maxwell succession incident. The process of negotiating their return is an issue fraught with much intrigue, invovling the court's diplomats and secret services in equal measure.

74.203.153.2 19:16, 11 August 2013 (EDT)