Occitanian Army

30,199 Regular Army

22,148 Territorial Army & Support Branch

The **Occitanian Army** is the land component of the Royal Occitanian Armed Forces. A well-equipped and modern army, the Occitanian Army as of 2017 is composed of 61,112 personnel.

## History

The roots of the Occitanian Army can be traced back to 1406, when the warlord Octavian the Great raised an army called the Octavian Legion to conquer large swaths of land in what was then Savoy, Provence, Genoa and France. In 1424, sixteen years after the Kingdom of Occitania was established, the Occitanian Army was formed from the remnants of the Octavian Legion.

The Occitanian Army was, at the time of its founding, one of the few professional armies in Europe. Throughout the remainder of the 15th and 16th centuries, the army's professionalism declined, and its dwindling professional ranks were supplemented by militias and reserve personnel.

At the beginning of the 17th century, some years before the onset of the ferocious Thirty Years' War, the Occitanian Army was in a very poor state. The brutal conflict sent shockwaves across Europe, and Occitania's rulers realized that the army needed to be whipped into shape. The young Prince Seymour, taking command of the Occitanian Army in 1619, began an extensive military reform which restored the army to its former standard of professionalism.

## The Modern Occitanian Army

### Uniforms

Much like the British Army, the Occitanian Army organizes its different uniforms into numbered categories known as **"Orders of Dress."**

* **No.1 Dress** (Full Dress) Service dress with full-dress headgear & embellishments.
* **No.2 Dress** (Service Dress/Dress Uniform)
* **No.3 Dress** (Service Undress/Barracks Dress) Worn on-base or in garrison. No. 3 replaces the dress uniform tunic with a pullover sweater. The sweater may be worn with dress uniform trousers, or over No.4 dress when on duty.
* **No.4 Dress** (Garrison Dress) The field uniform (or BDU) of the Occitanian Army. Consists of a gray-green olive drab field jacket, trousers and black leather combat boots. Headwear varies by regiment, and usually consists of the same headwear as found on the No.2 and 3 uniforms with the exception of several regiments authorized to wear berets. When the field uniform is worn as part of No.4 dress, colored shoulder boards denoting rank may be attached to the field jacket's epaulettes.
* **No.5 Dress** (Temperate Field Dress) Worn during combat, training and deployments, the No.5 uniform is essentially the combat-ready version of No.4. No.5 consists of the same general uniform of the No.4 dress order, but with protective gear or webbing. When in No.5 dress, soft headwear is replaced with the advanced Mle. 09/15 combat helmet.
* **No.6 Dress** (Arid Field Dress) Normally only assigned to the Gondom Fusiliers Regiment. This order of dress may be issued to any troops operating in desert environments.
* **No.7 Dress** (Protective Gear) Issued depending on role. For example, No. 7 consists of a hair net, sanitary gloves and apron for troops on cook duty, and overalls to mechanics.
* **No.8 Dress** (CRBN Gear)
* **No.9 Dress** (Cold Weather Dress) No.9 adds a cold-weather parka in lieu of a rain parka to be worn over the field uniform.
* **No.10 Dress** (Mess Dress)

### Ranks

In the Occitanian Army, the rank equivalent of a "private" varies in name depending on the type of regiment he or she is enlisted into. For example, a soldier, who has just completed basic training and has been formally inducted into the Gondom Fusiliers Regiment will hold the rank of "Fusilier." A similar soldier who has joined the Royal Avignon Dragoons Regiment would possess the rank of "Dragoon."

## Structure

See main article: List of Occitanian Army regiments

The basic unit - the regiment, makes up the core of the Occitanian Army. Regiments in the Occitanian Army, with a few exceptions, are normally a battalion-sized force. During peacetime, the bulk of most regiments are reduced to half-size or less, with only two or three companies serving as active duty troops. In times of conflict, the regiments draw strength from the second-line Territorial Army. Regiments are grouped into combined-arms brigades, which are in turn grouped into Home Divisions (administrative) and modular Field Divisions (combat.)

Listed below are the peacetime Field Divisions of the Occitanian Army.

1. Royal Guard Division
2. Prince of The Var's Royal Division
3. Royal Alpine Division
4. Prince of Grenoble's Royal Division
5. Royal Parachute Division