Military of Folan Star Empire

The Folan Defense Force (FDF) is the military of Folan Star Empire and responsible for its defense. It consists of both the fleet and the ground forces. There is no conscription in the Folan Star Empire, but rather a volunteer service. The military is nevertheless a very popular choice for young Folans. The fleet is the most popular and largest part of the defense forces and also has a sizable non-military staff. Currently the Folan Defense Force does not have any kind of military cooperation or exercises with any other race.

History

The Folan Defense Force was founded shortly after the foundation of the Folan Star Empire. Before, in the time of Folan Empire, there was no one definite military or defense force among the Folans as all the Folan nations had still retained their own defenses. Once the Folans colonized their first world it became obvious that to defend from outside threats, or conquer other worlds, they needed a unified military as well. Thus the Folan Defense Force was founded. It was a combination of all the defense forces on their world and was lead by the most experienced military leaders. Although at that time the Folans have had only a little of actual combat experience. These renowned officers were named grand commanders and formed the military council.

Over the years the FDF has changed very little. After the political wars the Shen'Tlar established their own separate defense force that keeps an eye on the military and is always on top of the chain-of-command. This has caused some stir among the fleet commanders as they do not believe the Shen'Tlar commanders are as capable as they are.

FDF saw major battles during the Khi'lor war, Folan-Vemrer war and the Folan war. Ever since the Khi'lor war the Folan commanders have become increasingly experienced due to the high amount of battles. This has also improved future education as previous battles can be used as teaching grounds.

Organization

The Folan Defense Force is lead by the Folan Senate. Though the senate rarely gives orders to the military and these usually only involve commands to attack. Since the Folan war it is believed that the Folan Senate hasn't issued any orders to the military. There is no minister of defense, but there is a one non-commissioned officer that functions as a liaison between the Senate and the FDF. This liaison is called the Secretary of Defense. The military itself is lead by a group of Grand Commanders that sit on the military council. This council makes all decisions of the military that are not made by the senate. However, all operations that are situated outside the borders of Folan Star Empire need to be approved by the senate. The Shen'Tlar also keeps a close eye on the council to ensure their loyalty. The senate also makes all the decisions regarding distribution of available resources, i.e. how many ships can be built for the FDF.

The FDF doesn't have any specific service branches, but rather all of them are combined in the same defense force. That is the FDF handles the fleet, border patrol, ground forces and colonial defense. All of these also share the same ranks. The ground forces mainly consist of cloned troops and androids. Many of these can be remote controlled by Folan troopers residing elsewhere. The Folan Special Forces (FSF) mainly consists of experienced and loyal troopers of the FDF, but is lead completely by the Shen'Tlar.

Military Ranks

The entire military

• Cadet
  
• Non-commissioned officer
• Ensign
  
• Lieutenant
  
• Captain
  
• Sub-Commander
  
• Commander
  
• Commodore
  
• Vice-Admiral
  
• Admiral
  
• Fleet Admiral
  
• Grand Commander
  

Military Service

As there is no conscription those Folans interested in the Folan Defense Force usually apply to the military academy after they have completed the second stage of Folan education. The time to graduate depends on the area selected. Shortest last only two years while the longest can take as long as seven to nine years. Like many other races the FDF also has areas that can be considered as non-military oriented, like science, engineering and medicine. Folans usually enter academy at the age of 20.

During times of emergencies a conscription can be established and an education lasting only six months can be completed. This, however, has proven to provide much worse quality soldiers and has only been used during the Folan-Vemrer war and even then only for this six months.