Nordhær
| Nordhær | |
| Country |
 Normark |
|---|---|
| Type | Armed Forces |
| Size | 321,614 |
| Garrison/HQ | Elijah's Rest |
| Commanders | |
| Överbefälhavaren | Ragnar Filip Tarjeisson |
| King of Normark | Fredrik Michael Tarjeisson |
The Nordhær is the armed forces of the King of Normark, established in 1703 AN following the country's independence from Elluenuueq.
Along with the Elian Militia, the Nordhær contributes its whole force to Banner Group North, a formation of the Raspur Pact that is subordinate to the Keltian Continental Theatre Command.
Leadership
| Office | Officeholder | Date Appointed |
|---|---|---|
| Överbefälhavaren | General Ragnar Filip Tarjeisson | 20.VI.1719 AN |
| Director General | Generallöjtnant Jørgen Dahle | 20.VI.1703 AN |
| Chief of the Defence Staff | Generalmajor Karl Munter | 20.VI.1703 AN |
| Commander Armed Forces Headquarters | Generalmajor Alf Einhorn | 20.VI.1703 AN |
| Chief Financial Officer | Brigadgeneral Georg Lysne | 20.VI.1703 AN |
| Chief of Armed Forces Training & Development Staff | Brigadgeneral Carl-Petter Carstensen | 20.VI.1703 AN |
| Director of Human Resources | Brigadgeneral Henrik Koldebolt | 20.VI.1703 AN |
| Director of Joint Operations | Brigadgeneral Jonas Dahling Einhorn | 20.VI.1703 AN |
| Director of Military Intelligence | Brigadgeneral Josue Askeland Carstensen | 20.VI.1703 AN |
Within the framework of government decisions and objectives on defence, the Överbefälhavaren, appointed by the King, manages the strategic and operational level activities of the Nordhær.
The Överbefälhavaren is assisted primarily by the Director General and Armed Forces Command, while Headquarters assists the Supreme Commander in matters of high-level command. At a local level, the Supreme Commander is assisted by the heads of local units, schools and training centres.
Armed Forces Headquarters comprises the Överbefälhavaren, the Director General, the Chief of Defence Staff and Commander Armed Forces Headquarters, the Chief Financial Officer, (CFO), the Chief of Armed Forces Training and Development Staff, the Director of Human Resources, the Chief of Joint Operations, and the Director of Military Intelligence.
Organisation
Order of Battle (overview)
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Armed Forces Headquarters
Land Forces Command
Maritime Forces Command
Aviation Command
Commissariat & Logistics Command
Establishment
Following on from the experiences of the Liberation of Dalen (1717–1720), the Nordhær re-categorised its equipment and manpower into three tiers according to their comparative excellence and efficiency. These being:
- 1st Line: The best personnel, at the peak of physical condition, and benefiting from the best available training. To be equipped with the most modern equipment (post 1700). Forming the first echelon in combat operations.
- 2nd Line: For those less able but still capable of acceptable performance. Liable to be utilised for the second echelon in combat operations and for combat support services. Generally to be equipped with equipment that is obsolescent but not yet obsolete (1671-1699).
- 3rd Line: Mediocre personnel, only suitable for rear area work and static defence duties. Would constitute the third echelon only in combat operations that required the application of sufficient mass for the momentum of the preceding two echelons to achieve a breakthrough. Primarily to be assigned to logistics and security operations. Usually to be equipped with whatever obsolete equipment (1651-1670) is available.
Equipment
1st Line equipment
2nd Line equipment
3rd Line equipment
Manpower
For reasons of economy it would not be feasible to maintain the full strength of the Nordhær on the active service list during peacetime. As such a cadre system is operated whereby two thirds of first line manpower are retained on full pay, a third of second line manpower on half-pay, and a quarter of third line manpower on quarter-pay. The remainder are instead placed on the active reserve list, and paid a monthly retainer in return for participating in weekly parade drills for their assigned squadrons, monthly regimental musters, and annual division exercises.
1st Line manpower
- Land Command: 36,000 (30 regiments)
- 24,000 on active service
- 12,000 in reserve
- Maritime Command: 3,700 (3 regiments)
- 2,442 on active service
- 1,258 in reserve
- Aviation Command: 3,650 (3 regiments)
- 2,409 on active service
- 1,241 in reserve
2nd Line manpower
- Land Command: 75,000 (62 regiments)
- 24,750 on active service
- 50,250 in reserve
- Maritime Command: 9,450 (7 regiments)
- 3,118 on active service
- 6,332 in reserve
- Aviation Command: 12,074 (10 regiments)
- 3,984 on active service
- 8,090 in reserve
3rd Line manpower
- Land Command: 117,000
- Maritime Command: 32,000
- Aviation Command: 32,740
History
The Nordhær was the locally given name for a formation that commenced its existence officially recorded as being the Garrison of the Elwynnese Volunteer Armed Forces in Normark (GEVAFN), an entity established in 1703 AN following the disbandment of the Union Defence Force in 1702 AN. Because of the constitutionally anomalous condition of Normark, outside the bounds of the Benacian Union but still subject to a member state, Elwynn in this instance, the conscripts of the UDF were not re-enlisted into the Benacian Union Defence Force but were rather notified at their last pay parade of 1702 AN that the choice before them was to either accept a transfer to a garrison on Leng or else to volunteer for a five year term of engagement with the GEVAFN. In view of the offered alternative, the rate of voluntary enlistments was reported as being "satisfactory".
The Nordhær was planned to have undergone a major reorganisation in 1706 AN in preparation for the campaigns that would need to be undertaken to establish land corridors connecting the Kingdom to the Hexarchy and New Alexandria. However, owing to fiscal constraints, particularly to the global impact of the Recession of 1709, this reorganisation subsequently failed to benefit from any substantial increase in funding or materiel prior to 1714 AN.
Air assets assigned to the Aviation Command of the Nordhær were evenly divided between the Army Co-operation Corps and the Maritime Patrol Corps, with the exception of the Training & Familiarisation Squadron, which operates a limited number of training aircraft assembled by Sårensby Arsenal, were directly subordinate to Aviation Command. For the GAV(P)-5 Nereid four numbered squadrons (I to IV) were established alongside two operational conversion flights, covering a total inventory of seventy-five gravimetric airframes inherited from Keltia Command upon the departure of the Union Defence Force in 1702 AN. Of the far more numerous R-1 Whirdlebird, the long serving workhorse rotorcraft of Shireroth and its successors, twenty-four army co-operation squadrons and twenty-four maritime patrol squadrons were established, along with two operational conversion squadrons with one attached to each corps, amounting to 1,200 airframes in varying states of repair and mechanical reliability. Attempts to restart aircraft manufacturing at Sårensby Arsenal had, beyond the assembly of a few abandoned airframes, faltered at the outset of Normark's second period of independence, leaving the Aviation Command heavily reliant upon the slow Nereid's as the sole aircraft capable of carrying its scant stock of S-2 Standard Missiles on air-defence and strike missions, in spite of the perilous limitations inherent on relying upon the overly mechanically complicated and temperamental gravimetric propulsion systems of such a craft.
By 1719 AN, in the aftermath of the disastrous attempt to effect the liberation of Dalen, the Nordhær had been forced into a headlong retreat towards Elijah's Rest by the Confederacy of the Dispossessed. In consequence, all formations were severely ill-equipped and undermanned, with only 63,349 men of all ranks available for duty on 24.XII.1719 AN.
