Iievian Defence Force
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The Iievian Defence Force is the organization under government control responsible for the protection and betterment of the Iievian people, land, and royal decree. The four branches consist of the Iievian Land Forces, the Iievian Royal Naval Force, the Iievian Astronomical Military Service or the Space Force, and the Iievian Royal Air Force.
Military control is always symbolically held in the hands of the King-Emperor, but in reality the Emperor only exercises this ability to declare war, or the ordering of a very major strategic move to take a location. Military policy is supervised by the Ministry of Defence, who act as the link between the strict hierarchy in the army and the harder to distinguish hierarchy in civilian government.
All branches of the military are observed as the one part of a whole, and must work together during operations under royal decree. All four services are also supplemented by the Special Forces units, including medics, ASCOU, the Royal Guard, the Knights of Arondight, and also the Space Marines. As a nation based around diplomacy, trade, and negotiation, the size and strength of the Iievian military comes as a surprise to some. However, the government maintains the 'prevention is better than cure' stance with the military, and thus far it has proved useful in all aspects.
The Iievian military is one of the smaller militaries in terms of number of personnel when compared to the region. Though obligatory military service is carried out for a year after schooling, the Iievian military focuses on overwhelming power through quality, not quantitative ability. Though the military remains menacing in size, it retains a much smaller force than the leading members as far as quantity is concerned. However, much of the skilled labor is directed into indirectly militaristic jobs that move towards offensive technology. As of 2070, the Iievian Empire spends about 15% of its government expenditure on the military services.
