Niederung: The military reforms proposed by the KVP-DP coalition 4 months ago are, under the new Lalistu government, on their way to being fully implemented by the end of this year. The reforms were almost completely drafted by the military itself, according to government insiders, but some influence from the Ministry of Defense has been making its way through in the final draft. The objective of the reforms is to create a more efficient and well thought out command structure and set the stage for military expansion later down the line. But the reforms have also been carefully crafted to ensure that the top command, mainly talking about individuals, remains influential. This thus means that the reputation the military has for being corrupt and to influential in politics will likely persist.
The main changes in the reform is the high command structure. The new changes will create a new hierarchy of command which will see the new to be created Llaqtese High Command on top. This command will consist of 5 members, 1 of which is the Prime Minister, another the Minister of Defense and the highest ranking officers in the Army, Navy and Airforce. This structure thus ensures that the High Command has a majority of military members, giving the military majority voting rights within it. The JHC will be primarily used as a coordinating organization between the three combat branches, with it convening during times of war or other security situations and discussing the approach and coordination during those situations amongst eachother. Below the JHC will be Police Command, a seperate command specifically made for the Military gendarmerie which directs the activities of the Gendarmerie and is appointed by the Monarch. Then come the three individual commands namely Army Command, Naval Command and Aerial Command. Army Command is headed by a General appointed by the Monarch who automatically serves as one of the three members of the High Command. Army Command oversees all army activities and will also oversee the new "Military Regions" system implemented in this reform. The regions will see the creation of three distinct administrative regions named Region North, Region Central and Region South. All are administered by a Region Commander appointed by the General of the Army. These regions are allocated certain units and administer any army activity within their region during times of peace. In times of conflict the regions also direct the "immediate response", meaning that if the north is invaded the Region North commander can direct his forces to respond until higher orders are received. The Military regions get Armies which are attached to them, with the generals of the individual armies answering to the Region Commander until higher orders are received. The Naval Command is led by a High Admiral appointed by the monarch, who also serves on the JHC. The navy is divided into navy fleets and a patrol fleet. Every navy fleet is given a port from which it is stationed and serves a specific function or a multirole function depending on the composition of said fleet. The Patrol fleet consists of a variety of smaller vessels, meant to patrol the coast and remain in territorial waters. Every fleet is led by a fleet admiral who answers to the High Admiral. The Air Command will be led by a Brigadier general appointed by the monarch, also serving on the JHC. Air Command directs the activities of the newly created Air Identification Zones, which correspond mostly with the Military Regions in that there is a Northern Zone, Central Zone and Southern Zone. The airforce operates on a base by base basis, meaning that basis have their own command structure and are led by a base commander, directly answering to Air Command. Bases are assigned to every individual zone and tasked with responding to aerial incursions in their respective zone. During times of war, Air Command can issue the creation of new zones in conflict areas, assigning bases or individual squadrons to these zones. Air units can also be assigned to army units in case of conflict but only by Air Command.
Another change in these reforms is the creation of several "supporting offices", meant to help branches and commands to administer various aspects of government administration. These include the General Office, functioning in between the JHC and individual commands and helping them in properly administrating paperwork and orders. The Logistical Office, which helps all the branches in keeping up to date numbers on their stocks and helps with logistical planning on request. The Audit and Review Office which keeps a eye on military finances and ensures that general funding guidelines are followed (in allocating funding between branches, to keep the peace) and lastly the new Office for Strategic Planning which will consist of senior strategists and will draft war scenarios during both peace and war, giving the branches beforehand knowledge on certain scenarios and how they may play out.
Furthermore a new division of the navy has also been created named the Special Operations Naval Unit or SONU, a new special forces unit that is to be attached to Naval Command and will serve, at least thats what the military hopes, as a elite unit that is better trained and equipped then ordinary units in the Llaqtese military.
While the intend of the reforms is to diversify command structures, make command more effective and lay the groundwork for military expansion many analysts seem to agree that the fundamental problem of corruption and political involvement that has plagued the military since its inception will likely not be solved by these reforms. The Lalistu government has furthermore added provisions that will create a hybrid military-industrial complex, which was a compromise from the military. This change will see the creation of the state owned "Royal Shipbuilding Company" and the "Llaqtese Armaments" companies. The RSC will be a state owned and funded shipbuilding company that will in the coming years construct two large shipbuilding wharfs, likely meant to kickstart Llaqtese shipbuilding capabilities. Llaqtese Armaments will through this reform take over 4 large armaments factories in the country, also being state owned and funded, and will be primarily focussed on the production of ground warfare equipment. The design of equipment will be left to the private sector while production will thus be a joined private-state affair.
Prime Minister Lalistu has expressed her desire to fully implement and finalize the reforms by the end of the year, with both SP and VmF representatives vouching to vote in favour of the reforms.