Defence of the Realms Act, 1734

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The legislative bill on the Defence of the Realms in Right of the Order was brought before the Senate of the Lakes by the Secretary of State for Peace in the year 1734 AN. The bill represented a further codification and expansion of defence regulations, previously promulgated by the State Secretariat of Peace in the name of the Senate, that were issued in 1720 AN, following the conclusion of the 1719–1720 Hurmu civil conflict.

The main subject matter of the bill concerned the organisation and duties of the Hurmu Fyrð and its auxiliary formations.

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Section 1: General Provisions

1. The Senate has power to declare war and make peace for such territories held in right by the Order of the Holy Lakes.
2. The Senate is invested with the supreme martial power within the realms held in right of the Order, unless otherwise delegated by its authority.
3. The Hurmu Fyrð, a combined arms territorial defence force, has exclusive responsibility for the defence of the realms held in the right of the Order, and for missions conducted at the direction of the Senate beyond the borders of those realms.
   1. Auxiliary forces operating in support of the Hurmu Fyrð shall include the Territorial Reserve Force and the Women's Auxiliary Service of Hurmu.
   2. These forces shall be uniformed and subject to the same discipline as the Hurmu Fyrð whilst under its authority.
4. The ranks of the Hurmu Fyrð shall be as outlined at Schedule A to this Regulation.
5. The government and command of Hurmu Fyrð and its auxiliary forces is vested in Senate, which has charged the Secretary of State for Peace with general responsibility for the defence of the Realm with the establishment of a Defence Secretariat having command and administration over the Hurmu Fyrð.

Section 2: Defence Secretariat

1. The Defence Secretariat shall comprise, in addition to the Secretary of State for Peace appointed by the Senate, the following appointments made by the First Secretary of State, on the advice of the Secretary of State for Peace:
   1. The Minister for the Commissariat and the Inspectorate of the Hurmu Fyrð.
   2. The Minister for the Air Department of the Hurmu Fyrð.
   3. The Minister for the Land Department of the Hurmu Fyrð.
   4. The Minister for the Sea Department of the Hurmu Fyrð.
2. The Defence Secretariat shall be responsible for the administration and provisioning of all departments of the Hurmu Fyrð by means of the funds voted to the same by the Senate on an annual basis.
3. The Defence Secretariat shall have command over the officers and soldiers of the Hurmu Fyrð.

Section 3: Organisation of the Hurmu Fyrð

1. The Hurmu Fyrð shall be subordinate to the Defence Secretariat set over it by the Secretary of State for Peace.
2. Unit types fielded by the Hurmu Fyrð shall conform, to the greatest extent possible, with the definitions provided at Schedule B to these regulations.
3. The Hurmu Fyrð shall comprise of a General Headquarters, hereafter referred to as the Headquarters, and the three subordinate departments pertaining to the three distinct domains of operations, these being the Air Department, Land Department, and Sea Department.
4. The Secretary of State for Peace has the power to issue regulations as to the powers and duties of the aforementioned Headquarters and Departments of the Hurmu Fyrð, for securing the public safety and the defence of the realm; and may, by such regulations authorise the conduct of such actions as are lawful in the event of a declaration of a war or emergency by the Senate of the Lakes, or such acts as may be anticipatory of such a declaration where necessity and prudence will dictate.
5. The Land Department is composed of officers and soldiers of various arms and services as follows:
   1. The Land Forces, whose composition shall be expounded at Schedule C.
   2. The Land Reserve Forces, comprising:
      1. The Land Forces Reserve of Officers.
      2. The Land Forces Reserve.
      3. The Long Term Reserve.
      4. Land Forces Pensioners.
6. The nominal establishment of the Hurmu Fyrð shall be capped at 250,000 contracted personnel with no cap upon those who shall be eligible for membership of the Reserve Forces by virtue of contracted service.

Section 4: Terms of Service in the Hurmu Fyrð

1. Enrolment in the Hurmu Fyrð shall be required of all men aged seventeen (17) to twenty-five (25), who meet any of the following criteria:
   1. Are subjects of a realm held in right of the Order;
   2. Are members of the Order of the Holy Lakes.
2. Enrollment on a voluntary basis shall be open to the above but also to the following:
   1. Are subjects of nations considered friendly to the Order of the Holy Lake, above all else these being:
      1. Member states of the Xaiville Convention;
      2. Member states of the Raspur Pact;
      3. Çakaristan;
      4. Mondosphere realms outside the Raspur Pact;
      5. Sanama.
3. The upper age for service in the Hurmu Fyrð, excepting commissioned officers, shall be sixty.
4. Applicants who are successfully enrolled as cadets shall sign on an initial period of eighteen months basic training at the Fyrð Recruitment Centre of the District or State in which they enlisted.
   1. Upon enrolment, cadets shall be obliged to swear an oath upon the Brida to uphold its precepts whilst in the service of the Order of the Holy Lakes. Upon the conclusion of basic training, the enlisted volunteer shall make a further affirmation of the previously given oath and a further oath of unconditional loyalty to the Order of the Holy Lakes. Thereafter the volunteer shall be deemed a formal subject of the Order, and bound in obedience to it ever after for the remainder of their days.
5. Upon completion of basic training and entry into the ranks of the Hurmu Fyrð as a volunteer, the volunteer shall contract with the Hurmu Fyrð for a mandatory minimum service for four years. The volunteer may then reenlist for further contracted periods of service, whether for four, six, or eight years, at their own discretion, until the mandatory discharge age of sixty has been reached.
6. Where the attainment of the age of mandatory discharge shall fall within the term of a volunteer's final service contract, care must be given by the appropriate department of the Hurmu Fyrð to ensuring that the shortest appropriate term of reenlistment has been agreed upon. This being done, the difference between the date of the volunteer's sixtieth birthday and the date of the conclusion of his final term of service shall be bestowed upon the volunteer in a single lump sum payment as part of his final salary payment, as a donative to mark the end of his service.

Section 5: Organisation of the Territorial Reserve Force

1. Each municipality of Hurmu shall be obliged to support the Defence Secretariat in the maintenance of a demi-regiment, comprised of volunteers and those undergoing a term of mandatory service, for the purpose of home and communal defence.
2. Realms may further sponsor the raising of public forces for the defence of the commonweal, which shall also be considered, for the purpose of administration, command and control, logistical support, and operational deployment, be considered a part of the Territorial Reserve Force.
3. The units and formations of the Territorial Reserve Force may not be deployed outside the realm of their raising except on the authority of the Senate, at the recommendation of the First Secretary on the advice of thr Secretary of State for Peace.

Schedule A

Rank Structure of the Hurmu Fyrð

Rank code	Name	Comment
OF-10	Chancellor of the Order of the Holy Lakes	Ceremonial commander in chief
	Fyrð's Master	Commander-in-Chief
OF-9	Corps' Master
OF-8	Divisional Master
OF-7	Brigade's Master
OF-6	Regimental Master	Requires a master's degree in peacekeeping or equivalent
OF-5	Commandant of the Fyrð
OF-4	Chief Superintendent of the Fyrð
OF-3	Superintendent Inspector of the Fyrð
OF-2	Inspector of the Fyrð
OF-1	Officer of the Fyrð	Upon graduation from the Academy of Peace with a bachelor's degree in peacekeeping, or equivalent
OF-D	Aspirant Officer	Requires passing OR-1, and then admitted to the Academy of Peace
OR-9	Warrant Officer
OR-8	Senior Ranger
OR-7	Junior Ranger
OR-6	Senior Warden
OR-5	Junior Warden
OR-4	Senior Specialist
OR-3	Junior Specialist
OR-2	Volunteer
OR-1	Cadet

Schedule B

Definition of units within the Hurmu Fyrð

Term	Definition
Theatre of Operations	A formation comprised of two or more fronts. Can be regional or continental in scope. Wartime establishment only.
Front	A formation comprised of two or more armies. Wartime establishment only.
Army	Unit of 129,600+ men, formed of 3 or more corps
Corps	Unit of 43,200+ men, formed of 3 or more divisions
Division	Unit of 14,400 men, formed of 2 brigades
Brigade	Unit of 7,200 men, formed of 6 regiments
Demi-Brigade	Unit of 3,600 men, formed of 3 regiments
Regiment	Unit of 1,200 men, formed of 10 squadrons
Demi-Regiment	Unit of 600 men, formed of 5 squadrons
Cohort	Unit of 360 men, formed of 3 squadrons (motorised inf. only)
Squadron	Unit of 120 men, formed of 3 troops
Troop	Unit of 40 men, formed of 5 sections
Section or Squad	Unit of 8 men, formed of 2 teams
Team	Sub-unit of 4 men

Schedule C

1. Regimental List of the Land Department of the Hurmu Fyrð