ASC Department of Defense

The ASC Department of Defense (DoD or ASDOD), also known as the Defense Department, not to be confused with the defunct United States Department of Defense, is a castle department of the unitary government of the Antarctic State of Cyberia. It is the oldest of the nine departments, finding its roots in the bloody time before Cyberia as a country began to develop.

To this day, the DoD is most concerned with the security and prosperity of the nation as a whole. One major method it uses to reach for this purpetual goal is through the recruitment of its nation's civilians, molding them into soldiers, and assigning them jobs within the state military from a very large pool of government needs. A second, yet arguably just as important task, is the staunch protection of the nation's interior and its borders through military might, shown through its fueling and exercising of defensive resources and manpower.

Much of the DoD's full potential is considered to be dormant, as a significant portion of its contemporary manpower is comprised of reservist forces, who are maintained for the main purpose of potential deployment to overseas countries or other key points of like nature, should the need arise.

The Department of Defense is headed by the President of Defense, who answers only to the collective assembly comprised of himself and the eight other departmental presidents. Beneath the President of Defense is his office of senior staff, and lower still are the subordinate agencies, offices, and other units that make up the bulk of the whole. The best-known of these subordinate offices are Interior and Border Patrols, the Research & Development Division, the National Guard, and the Riot Control Corps.

History
The concept of a governmental department of defense was not new at the time of Cyberia's formation. The founding separatists in fact modeled themselves in much the same way as their mother countries organized their militaries. This army of disavowed troops did not formally structure their government until after the war between them and the countries they plotted against; Russia and the US. When the time came, the defense department was the first to come to fruition, given that nearly 100% of their population was well-trained servicemen, and that much of their experience as a new nation had been defending themselves from outside attack.

This newly created department initially handled all governmental affairs including international trade and internal security. Soon after its creation, more departments began to branch off from the center as more concerns about government structure and influence cropped up. These other departments held a hint of the DoD's original mission, still present in each one of them today, which is the security of the nation's future. Eventually, the Department of Defense, rather than being concerned with every single facet of the state's population, it settled upon its main concern, which was and still is national security through the maintenance of military might.

Major Responsibilities
As its name implies, the Department of Defense is largely concerned with the protection of the country, its government, its future, and its citizens. The Department of Defense operates as the main recruiter, trainer, and assigner of most if not all military personnel in the Antarctic State. It is the maintainer of the military and its culture as a whole, which makes up the vast majority of the government, and which protects itself from the inside out and the outside in.

Border Patrol
Protecting against forceful entrance into the country, the Defense Department maintains a large network of military bases dotted around the coast of its continent, where trained staff constantly monitor the horizon in a variety of ways, including but not limited to, tracking each and every airborne vehicle nearing the coasts, which are usually passenger jet airliners. Affectionately dubbed the "Coast Guard", these military coast bases employ unmanned aerial surveillance in addition to other tracking methods in their constant patrolling. For interception of spotted threats, there are a number of protocols ready and waiting depending on what kind of threat the one in question is perceived to be.

Interior Patrol
A very similar DoD component to the coast guard, the interior patrol constantly surveils and protects the land of the Antarctic State that is not claimed by cities. Unlike the border patrol however, the patrol of the interior also launch rescue missions in the event anyone is reported missing outside of city limits.

City Patrol
To an extent, the DoD's city patrol wing, Riot Control, is similar to the DoCA's Public Security, in that they interleave among civilians of the state as patrol and guardsmen usually for government buildings and other such potential targets for large-scale conflict. The DoD's city patrol is also a multi-purpose wing of troops utilized for various types of searches and seizures or "raids" that other departments may request be done in a swift and thorough manner, as opposed to relatively gently at the hands of Public Security.

Combat Wings
The coast guard military bases serve as the first line of defense in the event of attempted conflict on the country. The interior patrol is often immediately notified of an interception made by the border patrol, and is the second line of defense, if an outside intruder ties up the border patrol for longer than a relatively short amount of time. In the event of an impending large-scale conflict, the dormant bulk military power, the National Guard Reservist Forces are continually trained all year for this case.

Any government staff technically can be reassigned to a combat role if deemed necessary, and it is well-known in police circles that the Riot Control Corps will be among the first to be subjected to combat reassignment if ever needed.

Major Divisions
Like all other castle departments, there are many divisions underneath the Office of the President of Defense. Major, in this context, means well-known and/or well documented by the public sector. In other words, it means these divisions are familiar to the public in some way.

Military Entrance and Processing
The Department of Defense is solely responsible for the contracting of recruits and the basic training of said recruits. Recruiters' stations and military entrance and processing stations (MEPS) are dotted all around the country of Cyberia in places where population density is significant. Recruiters, processors, and basic trainers (think drill instructors) are enclosed within the MEP system. This includes medical and criminal examiners, and testmasters of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) who handle the checking of all incoming applicants.

All applicants go through roughly the same process of screening, which takes note of any relevant anatomical measurements including height, weight and the absence or presence of horns or wings. Recruits are then scheduled to take the ASVAB, a thorough test that will point them towards what field in the Cyberian Military Forces they would be best suited for. Field suggestions of the ASVAB do not need to be strictly adhered to, however the point values received from testing will play a major part in determining eligibility for jobs in departmental units, depending upon said units' standards.

Once an applicant is considered accepted by MEPS, they are given a contract to read carefully and then sign, or choose not to sign in which case they will be sent home. This contract expects the following out of the recruit: This contract may be renewed once every four years at the enlist's discretion, except in the case of those who have earned a commission, in which the officer must apply to be relieved of duty.
 * A minimum of four years service to the military, barring outstanding discharge. These four years include training which takes up the majority of the first year. (A contract of three years may be granted upon extraordinary circumstances.)
 * Another four years post-service 'reserve' period where the CMF may draft the applicant back into service before any other civilian, should the need arise.
 * Adherence to any and all rules and orders given by a member of higher rank, except in case(s) where such orders are believed to be illegal, unethical, immoral, or a break in the established chain of command.
 * In the case of refusal to act as ordered; present valid reason for the choice of refusal.

Basic Training
After acceptance from MEPS and subsequent contracting, recruits then are scheduled to quickly move on to an 8-10 week basic training program. Basic training is a program through which every contracted recruit is subjected. They are taught military culture as an enlisted member of the CMF, regulation, loyalty, camaraderie, and are physically exercised on the daily. Mid and later stages of basic include marksmanship and combat training. Basic training is meant to harden civilians into troops for when the time comes for them to serve the country and serve it well. A not-insignificant portion of the population believes that the military is only interested in blind followers, however that is not the case, as recruits are trained to obey only a lawful order; that is, an order must not be followed if it is illegal, immoral, or otherwise unethical.

After basic training, other departmental units are responsible for further training their new recruits on their own.

Officer Training School
OTS is essentially basic training for potential officer candidates, or cadets. A minimum requirement to join OTS is the previous earning of a baccalaureate level degree or higher. In lieu of physical training, cadets are trained in military leadership, military tradition, military history, and military culture. They will also attend multiple classes in an academic environment, being verbally and physically taught a wide range of topics including intelligence gathering and emergency conditioning.

To graduate, cadets must demonstrate acceptable or exceeding abilities to lead, read, write, brief, and perform many managerial duties for groups of enlisted troops. Depending on applicable past experience prior to OTS, a graduate of OTS can possibly be promoted up to the rank of Colonel (O-6) immediately, bypassing the lower commissioned ranks. While it is possible, it is considered highly competitive.

Upon graduation, cadets are given a commission, a formal document much like a college degree, which grants the newly made officer a number of benefits and responsibilities within the CMF. These officers are commonly placed in charge of large groups of enlisteds, and are generally given an office to execute that responsibility from. Subsequently, commissioned officers are less likely to be "out in the field", or otherwise are less expected to carry out the same physical work as their lower ranked brethren, as they are the ones assigning the work to be done.

National Guard Reservist Forces
A significant portion of the Defense Department's manpower is held within the reservist forces called the National Guard Reservist Forces (NGRF, NG, or RF), commonly shortened to National Guard. These men and women are contracted to surge the total volume of combat-ready personnel in the event of a national emergency or a reason to deploy to an external country. NG forces consist of military occupational specialties (MOS) that are focused on directly and indirectly battling opposing militaries. Its soldiers are considered "part-time" personnel, meaning they are regularly recalled for recurring bouts of three months of training in their respective combat roles, between six months of "rest". This rest period is paid, insofar that the RF member is given a basic allowance for housing (BAH), for living within the civilian sector whilst on rest; RF personnel live in barracks when training. However, since the soldier is not actively working a military job, they are not given the actual salary of their pay grade, except for the three to six total months a year spent training. RF are paid at the end of each month during training, just like all other personnel. They are effectively paid half as much as identical pay grades who take on full-time military roles, except in the event of a deployment, in which they would be paid fully.

Training schedules are stacked in four divisions of which personnel numbers are balanced between. By happenstance, personnel of one division are seamlessly transferred to the second succeeding division once their division's six months of training are up. This succeeding division is a count of two from the first. For example, Alpha Division transfers to Charlie Division and then back again, Delta Division personnel switch to Bravo Division due to scheduling and then back again, etc.

The disadvantage of this training schedule, and thus a disadvantage of joining the National Guard to begin with, is that it takes nearly three times as long to gain experience and just as extensive as a time gaining rank within the RF.

Interestingly, when training, the National Guard is often partially outfitted with experimental weapon and vehicle prototypes designed by the Research & Development Division of the Defense Department for extensive testing.

Riot Control Corps
Riot Control (RC) was the first police force formally established in Cyberia. Originally it dealt with solving problems throughout the whole of the relatively small military and prisoner mine worker population. In the modern age they have since split their duties with the agencies of Public Security, who deal primarily with the public, and the Security Forces who deal primarily with military personnel. Riot Control has its place in the middle of these two agencies, in that they handle civilians and military personnel, but in a much more aggressive and draconian manner. This applies mostly to responding to grave criminal action.

Interior and Border Patrol & Protection Agencies
Interior and Border Patrol agents hold complete jurisdiction on the patrol of controlled land and waters outside of city limits. This includes inter-city highways and railways. They use large-scale surveillance and fast response tactics to scan for and respond to potential threats, respectively. Unmanned, armed aircraft are used for the most part, however there are some larger, slower-moving craft and helicopters used by physical crewmen for surveillance and defense as well.

In contrast to the common city uniforms, Interior and Border Patrol agents wear the rarer white digital camouflage.

Missile Early Warning & Defense Initiative
The Missile Early Warning & Defense Initiative (MEWANDI) is a very large array of spotting and tracking radar sections used for the detection and subsequent interception of incoming hostile missiles of all kinds. It can also be used to track aircraft to an extent, however there are separate, dedicated arrays for that purpose. MEWANDI works to report the precise locations and rough trajectories of incoming missiles in realtime, sending any and all information and data gathered to relevant authorities such as anti-ballistic missile batteries. Detection of an incoming missile and/or unknown aircraft can and will result in the mobilization of combat wings of the Cyberian Military Forces, namely interceptor jets to zero in on the target and an investigation team to examine the wreckage.

Office of Military Post
Postal services that involve military wares or military recipients and senders are handled largely by the Office of Military Post in the Defense Department. This office has existed since the start of Cyberia, and has kept its responsibilities throughout the centuries. Today they have heavily integrated digital checking and routing systems and a mainframe that tracks items very accurately. This being said, it has not lost the use of physical personnel on the job; post hands inspect labels and contents, man imaging equipment, transport freight (including extremely large and/or heavy items like vehicles and vehicle parts), and much more.

Central Intelligence Agency
Not much is officially disclosed to the public about what the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) does or how it operates. From what little information is publicly available, it can be inferred that the CIA is the main hub of intelligence gathering operations in the country, both foreign and domestic.

Similar to Public Security sections other than Section 1, CIA personnel aren't restricted to wearing the rugged enlisted CMF uniform, nor are they required to wear commissioned officer uniforms in their operations. This allows them to blend in with the public, facilitating their gatherings.

The CIA also reaches out to other departments to take note of what they know and what they plan to do in the future. Data is kept indefinitely.

Research & Development Division
The youngest division, the R&D Division (of the DoD; there are others like it in other departments), does just what its title says. It is completely focused on the research and development of new and upgraded military technologies, and has many sections to see that purpetual goal through.

The R&D Division's methods are centered around the operation of a very powerful supercomputer built for the express purpose of running a very complex physics simulation engine. The building of this supercomputer was commissioned by the current chief of staff of the division, Colonel Rikharthu Tavash, and is maintained by him and a team of IT handlers.

The process of developing new or upgraded equipment starts with the precise making of virtual 3D models of weaponry, ammunition, or other gear, down to the number of propellant granules in a case or paths of electrical circuits in a radio. Then, these models are extensively tested in all kinds of virtual environments, especially ones modeled after landscapes outside of Cyberia itself. If found to be acceptable, the models are then put to small-scale manufacture, where they are physically made and sent off to testing teams, namely the National Guard, for real world result recording.

The research and development process does not always follow this track, in fact many times it loops between testing and revision. All sections within the R&D division operate in roughly this way. Ballistic performance and other features such as manufacturing cost and procedure are perfected in virtual space, before they are accepted for real world testing.

It has been said and humorously made fun of that other departments wish to use the DoD's supercomputer for their own benefits, however the DoD does not, or otherwise makes it hard to, "share their toys".