Church Militant Army

Generic patch for Church Militant Army personnel

**Church Militant Army** (*Ecclesia militante* in latin) or **Faith Militant** are the official armed forces of Divine Order of Christ's Blood. A backbone of the entire Order military force, the Church Militant Army is served and staffed by faithful Nicaenist Christian men and women determined to defend their faith from its perceived enemies and pursue holy war on those it deems necessary. It consists of land forces, air force and a limited navy component.

## History

At its inception and before the Anatolian war, Order's only military force was its monastic organization fighters who consisted of fully initiated Nicaenist Christian men. This system worked for a while until the Order started to grow in size and Nicaenist movement attracted more people than before. As Order joined the Anatolian war on ERR's side and announced globally its First Crusade, Order found itself beset by a problem of having thousands of willing men from all over the world to join the cause, but not willing enough to take holy vows and become monastic soldiers.

The problem was solved right after the capture of Constantinople, after which Order announced it opens its ranks to all volunteer fighters who are willing to commit to the holy cause, without forfeiting their current live hood to monasticism. Under guidance of Hochmeister Augustin Holub, the first land force component of 6 000 men was formed and trained in ERR for 9 months before being deployed to Bursa which was the the first action of war for the so-named Faith Militants. This first component performed well in combat and significantly raised the capabilities of Order while contributing a lot to the eventual victory at Bursa. Order further increased the funding of Faith Militants, promoted talented officers to commander ranks and continued training which quickly allowed to surpass the monastic organization in its size. At the end of the Anatolian war, Faith militants numbered ~ 30 000 full-time soldiers, more than half of them veterans of the conflict. The total size was further increased to ~ 70 000 soldiers (not counting the supporting civilian personnel) after the establishment of Crusader State of Attaleia and is the current maintained force to this day.

## Structure

The Church Militant Army is commanded by Hochmeister of the Order who leads the General Staff - a group of highest ranking senior military officers from both Church Militant Army and Order's monastic organization. Though by the general theocratic nature of Order the Grand Pontiff is the absolute commander of all staff and its subjects, the role of planning and leading of all the military affairs is delegated to Hochmeister and his General Staff.

Branches consists of three main components - land force, air force and navy.

### Land force

Land force is the largest and most well developed branch of Church Militant Army with total of about 50 000 active full-time soldiers under its command. It's main competencies include defense of theocratic regime of Attaleia and its subjects, support of allied Nicaenist state militaries and participation in religious military expeditions.

The land force is further supported by a ~ 10 000 large volunteer reserve force of part-time troops mainly drawn from the general civilian workforce of Attaleia and Auxiliary Order Corps, made up of local Turkish Muslim sympathizers wishing to receive benefits for majorly non-combat aid tasks or collaboration. This makes the current total size of Church Militant Army roughly 60 000.

Typical organizational structure is similar to what is practiced in most modern western militaries, with few special exceptions and according to the current operational size of the land force. From highest size to smallest they are:

* Chapter (*Capitulum*)- a special field structure division meant to represent Order's biggest official military deployment to its host states. Chapters are limited by state boundaries and generally work in tandem with the host state military force. The term is mutually inclusive with both chapters of Order's monastic organization and chapters of Inquisition. Currently two Faith Militant chapters are active: Anatolian Chapter (encompasses State of Attaleia, both ERR and its military commissariats in Anatolia and Cyprus) and Ruthenian Chapter (includes entirety of Volhynia and its puppet state of Moldova). This level of command is more administrative and less concerned with operational direction for actual combat operations. Typically led by a general or a Hochmeister (as it is in Anatolian Chapter's sense).
* Army - consists of up to 30 000 or more troops, or 3 corps. Led by a general.
* Corp - consists of up to 10 000 - 15 000 troops, or 3-5 divisions. Led by a lieutenant general.
* Division - consists of up to 4 000 - 6 000 troops, or 4 - 6 battalions. Led by a major general.
* Battalion - consists of up to 1 000 - 1 500 troops, or 5 - 7 companies. Led by a colonel.
* Company - consists of up to 200 - 300 troops, further divided into platoons and squads. Led by a captain, lieutenant and a sergeant respectively.

### Air force

Air force was the second branch to be officially established, shortly after the end of Anatolian war. It concerns with operation of Order's aerial equipment in support of its land and navy operations, protection of Attaleian airspace, recon operations, logistical support and transport of land troops. As Attaleian airspace is mainly protected by a magnitude bigger ERR's air force, and because of far lesser air capabilities that Order possesses, the branch is more focused on land or navy support with helicopters, close air support aircraft and drones.

The current total size of Order's air force personnel is roughly 7 000 (pilots and supporting ground personnel together).

### Navy

Church Militant Army's navy actually operates more like a coast guard whose main goal is to provide additional protection for Attaleian coast in addition to the plentiful coverage the ERR navy provides. Other miscellaneous roles include providing technical and logistical support for friendly vessels near Attaleian coast and transport and procurement around ERR's sea territory in Mediterranean.

Current size - 3 000 personnel (sailors, technicians and other personnel).

## Equipment

The Church Militant army is supplied by ATO member states. Militants are equiped according to what chapter they serve in to be as compatable with local forces as possible.

Full detailed equipment list can be found here

## Recruitment&Service

Order relies on volunteer service to fill its Militant ranks, drawing from a near constant influx of new pilgrims, refugees and ordinary volunteers. Seeing as Order's reach can be found all over Europe, Middle East, Northern and Central Africa as well as limited presence in South Americas, the ethnic and racial composition of the Army is very diverse, though the majority of Militants hail from Europe. Church Militant Army openly welcomes all Christians (with few well defined exceptions) to join, with only one condition - accept and convert to Nicaenist ideology.

Church Militant Army recruits soldiers for maximum of 5 year period, after which the service can be freely prolonged if the applicant desires and his health is suitable enough. ERR, Volhynian and Kergikstani citizens can only join if they have completed compulsory military service in their respective state armies - this ensures that soldiers do their duty to their country first before joining up to serve the Order. This in turn also provides Church Militant Army with trained and experienced personnel.

All soldiers, depending on their role, specialty and expertise receive wages, plus various incentives such as free housing and health services in Crusader State of Attaliea, military pension provided after the service (and only if the soldier remains to live and work in Attaliea). Those wishing can also receive priority in acquiring citizen status of ERR. Extra is paid if the soldier moves into Attaliea together with his family and/or he has prior military experience that can be applied to his service.