59 [Bonus chapter] Reorganizing the Imperial Ruthenian Armed Forces
January 5, 1923.
A car stopped in front of the bow-shaped facade and two people stepped out of the vehicle. They walked towards the main door of the building where another man greeted them by name.
“Your Majesty, good morning and welcome to the General Staff Building,” Minister of War, Alexei Lavrov, greeted Alexander with a bow.
“Good morning! Have they arrived yet?” Alexander asked, stepping inside the building followed by his Rolan.
“Yes, they should be waiting inside. Your Highness, may I have the honor to accompany you to the room?”
“Of course!” Alexander answered as he continued to walk into the building. “By the way, this is Rolan, Chief of Staff of the Imperial Guards,”
Alexei glanced at Rolan who was carrying two pieces of luggage and one drawing leather tube slung on his shoulder. Rolan gave a bow upon Alexander’s introduction, to which Alexei responded in kind before returning to Alexander.
After three minutes of walking through the long corridors, Alexei stopped in front of a pair of large double doors with two armed guards standing on either side of it. He nodded to the guards before opening the door and gesturing to Alexander to enter first.
Alexander saw four figures donned in a military uniform sitting around a long rectangular mahogany table; Alexander recognized one of them.
Chief of the General Staff of the Imperial Ruthenia Armed Forces, General Vladimir Sadoski stood up to greet Alexander. The rest followed suit.
“Your Majesty!”
The five high-ranking military officials intoned together as they stood up and performed a salute.
Alexander returned the gesture.
Not wanting to waste any more time. Alexander strode to his seat and sat on it. Rolan stood by his side while Alexei stood next to his seat.
“At ease,” Alexander said and the five military officials except Rolan sat back down. “Now that we are all present, let us start our meeting. As I know that some of you have questions regarding why you have been summoned here.”
He took a deep breath and glanced at Alexei. “Minister of War, Alexei, will debrief you. Minister, you may now proceed.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Alexei said before continuing. “As you are aware, His Majesty, Alexander, has summoned you here to be debriefed about the proposed reorganization of the Imperial Armed Forces of Ruthenia…”
As Alexei was speaking, Rolan began handing each of the military officials a file that contained the proposed restructuring plan.
They opened the file while listening to Alexei, perusing the contents until they reached the section on the restructuring. When they did so, they began discussing the plan with each other and discussed the details, but since it’s long, let me summarize it for you.
The new proposed military structure of the Ruthenia Empire will be similar to the United States except that there won’t be a Marine Corps. The reason he chose the United States as a reference is that it’s the only structure Alexander knows of.
The Ministry of War will be renamed into the Ministry of Defense to make it more friendly and peaceful.
The new Imperial Russian Armed Forces are composed of four coequal military service branches. The Imperial Ruthenian Army, The Imperial Ruthenian Navy, The Imperial Ruthenian Air Force, and The Imperial Ruthenian Coast Guard.
The Imperial Ruthenian Army is the land service branch of the Ruthenian Empire Armed Forces and part of the civilian-led Department of the Army, which is led by the Secretary of the Army. The military head of the Ruthenian Army is the chief of staff of the Army, who is assisted by the vice chief of staff of the Ruthenian Empire Army and sergeant major of the Army.
The Imperial Ruthenian Army is composed of the Regular Army, Ruthenian Army Reserve, and Ruthenian Army National Guard. The Ruthenian Army is organized into four army commands, which conduct the majority of the service’s organize, train, and equip functions. They are:
Ruthenian Army Forces Command – provides army forces to combatant commanders.
Ruthenian Army Training and Doctrine Command – for recruiting, training, and educating soldiers and developing army doctrine.
Ruthenian Army Materiel Command – for developing, maintaining, and acquiring systems and materiel.
Ruthenian Army Futures Command – for modernization and future systems development.
The five core competencies of the Army are to conduct:
Prompt and sustained land combat.
Combined arms operations.
Combined arms maneuver and wide area security.
Armored and mechanized operations.
Airborne and air assault operations.
Special operations.
Set and sustain the theater for the joint force.
Integrate national, multinational, and joint power on land.
The Ruthenian Empire Army’s field structure is broken into several subdivisions under its commands:
Army group: In an event of a major war, army group consisted of four to five field armies and 400,000 to 1 million soldiers. Usually responsible for directing campaigns in a certain geographical area and commanded by a general.
Field army: Consists of two or more corps or more than four divisions and consists of up to 90,000 soldiers commanded by a general or lieutenant general.
Corps: Consists of two to five divisions and 20,000 to 45,000 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant general.
Division: Consists of three to four brigades and 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers commanded by a major general and are subdivided into airborne, armored, infantry, and mountain divisions.
Brigade: Consists of two to three battalions and 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers commanded by a colonel.
Battalion: Consist of four to six companies and consists of up to 1,000 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel.
Company: Consist of three to four platoons and a few dozen to 200 soldiers commanded by a captain.
Platoon: Consists of two to three squads and up to 36 soldiers led by a first lieutenant or second lieutenant.
Squad: Consists of two teams and four to ten soldiers led by a staff sergeant.
Fireteam: Consists of four soldiers and is led by a sergeant or corporal.
The Imperial Ruthenian Navy is the maritime service branch of the Ruthenian Armed Forces and part of the civilian-led Department of the Navy, which is led by the Secretary of the Navy. The military head of the Ruthenian Navy is the chief of naval operations, who is assisted by the vice chief of naval operations and master chief petty officer of the Navy.
The functions of the navy are sea control, power projection, deterrence, maritime security, and sealift.
The Ruthenian Navy is composed of the Regular Navy and the Ruthenian Navy Reserve. The Ruthenian Navy is organized into four navy components.
Northern Military District – Ruthenian Naval Forces Northern Command – Northern Fleet – conducts naval operations in the Arctic and the Barents Sea and the North Sea. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
Western Military District – Ruthenian Naval Forces Western Strategic Command – Baltic Fleet – conducts naval operations in the Baltic Sea.
Southern Military District – Ruthenian Naval Forces Southern Strategic Command – Black Sea Fleet – conducts naval operations in the Black Sea.
Caspian Flotilla – conducts naval operations in the Caspian Sea.
Eastern Military District – Ruthenian Naval Forces Eastern Strategic Command – Pacific Fleet – conducts naval operations in the Pacific Sea.
The Ruthenian Empire Navy’s unit structure is broken into several subdivisions under the operating force
Numbered fleet: Elements of navy component commands led by vice admirals.
Task force: Scalable organization that is responsible to the fleet commander for assigned units and functions.
Task group: An individual carrier strike group, amphibious ready group, surface strike group within a given fleet.
Task unit: Units operating together for a specific task, such as air defense units within a carrier strike group.
Task element: Individual units within a task unit.
The Imperial Ruthenian Air Service will be renamed into Imperial Ruthenian Air Forces. It’ll be the air service branch of the Ruthenian Empire Armed Forces and part of the civilian-led Department of the Air Force, which is led by the Secretary of the Air Force. The military head of the Ruthenian Air Force is the chief of staff of the Air Force, who is assisted by the vice chief of staff of the Ruthenian Empire Air Force and chief master sergeant of the Air Force.
The five core missions of the Air Force are:
Air superiority.
Global integrated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
Rapid global mobility.
Global strike.
Command and control.
The Ruthenian Air Force is composed of the Regular Air Force, Ruthenian Air Force Reserve, and Ruthenian Air National Guard. The Ruthenian Air Force is organized into nine major commands, which conduct the majority of the service’s organize, train, and equip functions and command forces attached to the combatant commands:
The Air Force’s major commands are:
Air Combat Command: Provides fighter, attack, intelligence, combat rescue, and air force ground forces to combatant commanders.
Air Education and Training Command: Responsible for recruiting, educating, and training airmen and developing Air Force doctrine.
Air Force Global Strike Command: Operates the Air Force’s strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile forces as Ruthenia Empire Strategic Command’s joint force air component.
Air Force Materiel Command: Responsible for Developing, maintaining, and acquiring systems and materiel.
Air Force Reserve Command: Manages Air Force reserve forces.
Air Force Special Operations Command: Conducts special operations with aviation and Special Tactics Commandos as Ruthenian Empire Special Operations Command’s joint force air component.
Air Mobility Command: Conducts airlift and air refueling operations as Ruthenia Empire Transportation Command’s joint force air component.
The Imperial Ruthenian Coast Guard will be the new maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the Ruthenian Empire Armed Forces and part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is led by the Minister of Internal Affairs. It is the only military branch outside the Minister of Defense but can be transferred to the civilian-led Department of the Navy, which is led by the Secretary of the Navy, in the case that Imperial Council stipulates that when declaring war or the emperor directs. The military head of the Ruthenian Empire Coast Guard is the commandant of the Coast Guard, who is assisted by the vice commandant of the Coast Guard and master chief petty officer of the Coast Guard.
The eleven missions of the Coast Guard are:
Port and waterway security
Drug interdiction
Aids to navigation
Search and rescue
Living marine resources
Marine safety
Defense readiness
Migrant interdiction
Marine environmental protection
Ice operations
Law enforcement
The Ruthenian Empire Coast Guard is composed of the Regular Coast Guard and Ruthenian Coast Guard Reserve. The Ruthenian Empire Coast Guard is organized into three area commands.
Coast Guard North Sea Area, Coast Guard Baltic Fleet Area, Coast Guard, Black Sea Area, and Coast Guard.
“The newly established departments will be held by the most senior military officers,” Alexei said, glancing at the three senior officials of the Ruthenia Empire. “One of the reasons why you three were called is because His Majesty deemed you appropriate for leadership positions in these three divisions, due both to your expertise and experience and for your loyalty to the Empire.
General Zhukov will be the head of the Imperial Ruthenian Army, Admiral Kutnezov for the Imperial Ruthenian Navy, General Lavrinenko for the Imperial Ruthenian Air Force, and Admiral Chirkov for the Imperial Ruthenian Coast Guard. Congratulations and serve in the best interest of the Empire.”
Alexei clapped his hand and that’s the only sound that can be heard inside the room. Alexander, the Generals, and Admirals remained silent, reading the file.
The Minister of Defense, Alexei, felt awkward the moment no one joined him. So he stopped clapping and joined the rest in silence.
Eventually, one of them breaks the ice.
“Your Majesty,” Zhukov raised his hand.
“Yes, General Zhukov. Do you have any concerns?”
“I do…Your Majesty…Even though it was defined clearly in the paper, I still don’t get how these forces would function. Let’s say for example in the navy under Admiral Kuznetsov. What is a carrier strike group? There is also in the Air Force. Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, strategic bombers, rapid global mobility…I’m sorry if I sounded rude, Your Majesty, but I can’t seem to understand what you’re trying to implement here.”
Alexander has already expected that kind of question. After all, this reorganization of the Ruthenia Armed Forces has modern elements on it that are not introduced yet in this world. However, that is what he intended in the first place. Modernization of the Armed Forces. Once he introduces the war machine that carries out those specific goals, they’ll soon come to understand it.
Simply put, the reorganization of the Army is just a spoiler of what the Ruthenian Armed Forces would become in the future.
“I’ll answer each and one of your questions as I’m sure you are all confused,” Alexander said. “Let’s start.”
And thus hell began to fall upon Alexander, who answered their queries for another three hours clarifying and explaining the new elements introduced in the Armed Forces.