Military of the Principality of Caledon
The Principality of Caledon's military is organized according to the Principality's need to balance the power of the state's monarch, the influence of its large and powerful aristocracy, and its constitutional three-chamber parliament. The need for balance grew out of the struggles - civil, regal, political, military and all of the above - that led to the evolution of the Principality's current, stable, successful system.
To help maintain the balance of political power - and serve as checks and balances on the power of each of the legs of Caledonian government - each of the key parts of the service traces its key loyalty to one of the principality's main stakeholder.
The balance is summed up by a saying drilled into the heads of young Caledonian officer candidates at all of the Principality's service academies: "The Navy belongs to the Crown; the Army belongs to the Lords; the Staff belongs to the Parliament".
- The Royal Caledonian Navy - and its subordinate formations, the Royal Caledonian Marines, the Royal Caledonian Naval Academy and the Royal Caledonian Fleet Auxiliary - are raised, trained, maintained and kept ready for service by the Monarchy (hence the "Royal" honorific in the service's titles). The various Naval Services observe centuries-old traditions, including a rank structure that seems complex to outsiders, but serves as a key part of advancing the aristocratic meritocracy that drives Caledonian society.
- The defense forces of the various systems are run by the various constituents systems.
- The largest component of those forces, the Army of the Principality of Caledon is largely a function of the Principality's extended class of nobles. Raising, equipping and leading (if only by proxy) military units for ground combat is considered one of the duties, honors and prerogatives of the landed nobility. Noble families raise formations appropriate to the family's noble rank and place in the hierarchy - and, sometimes, serve as officers (subject to being qualified to lead, as determined by the General Command Staff), which is considered a matter of family pride among most Caledonian noble families. While the nobles have considerable latitude in recruiting and naming of their units, their tactical organization, training, equipment standards and doctrine are set by the Staff; thus, while (for example) "1st Battalion/Lord Sunderland's Regiment of Highlanders" and the "Baron of Kirkcaldy's Border Rangers" may have different uniforms, histories, traditions and honorifics, they are tactically and operationally interchangeable (after making allowances for their home world's tech level).
- The Intervention Force is an interservice force featuring Navy ships, Army and Marine ground units, designed to intervene in conflicted systems.
- The General Command Staff (Principality of Caledon) (Principality of Caledon, or "GCC", reports to the Parliament (especially the House of Deputies, which manages military appropriations), and serves three main purposes: planning the Principality's military operations (and the planning, logistics and other administration involved), administering the planning and funding of military procurement and Naval construction, and enforcing standards among the myriad units of the Army. While the GCC is primarily an administrative body, it controls a few operational formations, most notably the Caledonian Special Service.
In addition, the Monarchy has direct control of two ground units
- The Prince's Own Corps of Guards (POCG). The POCG is composed of an elite infantry battalion raised from each of the Principality's constituent systems, each named for the unit's home system. The PCOG's duties are partly ceremonial (the various Brigades of Guards rotate guard duty at the Caledonian palace complex on an annual basis, which is both a ceremonial and an operational job) and tactical duties. The PCOG are elite "Commando" formations, and highly selective in their recruitment; more than a few Guards have been honored for their service with titles in the nobility.
- The Royal Regiment - This unit is composed entirely of immigrants, led by Caledonian officers and senior NCOs. While Caledonian citizenship is difficult to achieve, service in the Royal Regiment confers citizenship on completing an eight year term. The Royal Regiment, based on Rob Roy, deploys six light infantry battalions, considered an elite force.
Finally, the Royal Caledonian Expeditionary Service is a paramilitary body with deep informal ties to the Navy, but is a separate "parammilitary" command. Similar to the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service, its wartime missions:
- In peacetime: exploration, astrographics, intelligence-gathering
- In wartime: Intelligence-gathering, surveillance, communications, convoy escort
Local system defense - at least in terms of holding off aggression until the Navy arrives - is the responsibility of individual systems.
See the attached sections for more details on each of the listed formations.