Stenzan Armed Forces

The Stenzan Armed Forces act as the official constitutional military for the Republic of Stenza. The force describes itself as mostly defensive, and is known for its rather timid ground forces compared to a strong naval force. The Stenzan Armed Forces are led by Stenza's National Defense Council, a nine seat council with three representatives from each service branch. The military is fully integrated with all positions open to both men and women given they meet internal standards, and has been since 1967.

=Army= Stenza's army is its oldest service branch, having existed as an unified force since 1811 when the Corummese Colonial government decided to raise a force made up of local conscripts with Corummese officers and NCO's. This force was effective enough in putting down any resistance during the colonial era, but eventually revolted against the Corummese government to start the Stenzan war of independence. The Stenzan Army was reformed upon gaining independence in 1921, and has existed in its current force since.

The Stenzan Army of today is a modern light mechanized force suited to Stenza's defense. The bulk of its forces are formed into (light) mechanized divisions, which are mobile enough to thrive in Stenza's somewhat difficult terrain. Three air mobile divisions, two airborne divisions and a single armored division finish up Stenza's offensive capabilities on land. One interesting thing to note about Stenza's light mechanized divisions is their secondary role as Gendarmerie divisions, with the bulk of these divisions being absorbed from the old Stenzan Internal Forces, a paramilitary agency under the previous government. Divisions and units that are marked as Gendarmerie divisions can perform constitutional law enforcement duties all over Stenza.

Stenza's Army is a full time voluntary force with a major reserve component. Most army divisions are only staffed to a third of their normal wartime strength, with the other two thirds being drawn from reservists. Reservists are obliged to train for two weekends a month and two large exercises per year, with the government offering free education to every member of Stenza's military reserve.

The army, much like the other services, has a professional officers corps open to both active duty officers and reservists.

The role of marine infantry is one filled by Stenza's Army, with a handful of light infantry divisions being earmarked as marine capable and trained to work with the Navy. One of Stenza's air mobile divisions are also capable of operating from Stenza's maritime assets, and regularly trains on board Navy ships. These divisions use normal Stenzan army equipment, although specialized marine vehicles are available as well.

=Air Force= Stenza's Air Force, founded in 1934, is a mostly defensive force consisting of a mix of both modern and somewhat older equipment. The air force has both active duty and reserve squadrons, with the reserve squadrons being permanently manned through a month-on five months off basis. Stenza's modern front line fighters are based off a navy design, with older 1980s vintage models augmenting it. The multirole aircraft perform multiple mission sets, such as combat air patrol (CAP), close air support (CAS), interdiction, interception and more. Stenza also has a specialized bomber fleet of 48 1970s vintage strategic bombers, divided into four operational squadrons.

Aside from its combat squadrons, the Stenzan Air Force also has squadrons for transportation (both tactical and strategic), aerial refueling, Airborne Early Warning (AEW) and other miscellaneous tasks. These squadrons not only operate aircraft though, with the Stenzan Air Force also being responsible for the country's static air defenses. Both early warning stations and static air defenses are manned by crews of full time personnel augmented by reservists on a rotational basis, and the country hosts an air integrated air defense system consisting of these assets, interceptor aircraft and naval vessels.

The Stenzan Air Force operates from both its own bases and reserve bases that exist at civilian airports. It is not uncommon for civilian airfields that only serve small regional aircraft to have large runways and the facilities needed to host large military aircraft.

=Navy= The Stenzan Navy is the strongest branch of the Stenzan military, having been considered the "Tip of the Spear" for Stenzan protection for decades. With Stenzan having been an isolated nation for a long time. Stenza has quite a modern naval force built around four Nuclear-powered Kapiti-class aircraft carriers and five 1940s vintage Ka'o-class Heavy Cruisers, three of which have been modernized to act as missile cruisers while two more have been refurbished as command ships. Stenza's other surface combatants include both modern and outdated Destroyers and Frigates. Under the waves, Stenza has both modern Nuclear powered attack and ballistic missile submarines, supplemented by more numerous diesel-electric submarines. A Maritime Aviation branch completes the Stenzan Navy's offensive capabilities, consisting of both the traditional carrier-borne aviation capabilities, maritime patrol aircraft and a plethora of other aviation forces. The Stenzan navy is considered a blue water force.

The traditional Coast Guard duties of coastal defense, search and rescue and maritime law enforcement are carried out by Stenza's navy, using a plethora of coastal small craft and aircraft split up in Coastal Defense Zones, these zones are usually assigned one or two outdated frigates as well. Reservists generally spend a cruise with Stenza's defensive forces once or twice a year to meet their service obligation.

The Stenzan Navy also operates the Stenzan Auxillary Navy, a command consisting of both civilian and naval crews that staff Stenza's various support vessels, such as supply ships and transports.

Stenza's navy consists of the following main seafaring forces (Auxillaries and smaller craft not included):

=Nuclear Armanents=

Although Stenza's government neither confirms or denies it, Stenza has been known to be a nuclear capable nation that has developed, tested and operationally fielded Nuclear weapons. Stenza's nuclear arsenal is not too large, with Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles reportedly being capable of delivering multiple-hundred kiloton warheads while nuclear tipped torpedoes and aerial missiles being reported to be in the sub-hundred kiloton range. Nuclear-tipped anti-ship missiles are also reportedly fielded, both on surface combatants and on land, although specifics are uncertain and their existence has been denied by the Stenzan government.