CONFEDERATION DEFENSE FORCE

LAND FORCES OF THE CONFEDERATION OF PALESTINE

INTRODUCTION

A small, multi-cultural nation surrounded by reactionary and/or expansionist neighbors, the Confederation of Palestine has always relied on a strong military to ensure national sovereignty. Though the use of a large conscript military and the importation of modern military systems both have negative economic implications for the nation, the continued threat from hostile neighbors keeps military spending prominent in the national budget. As the 24^th century begins, the Confederation is debating whether the nation’s military has a role in the Kafer War.

INDEX

Order of Battle
Background
Recent Military History
Foreign Relations in 2300
Notable Units
Organization of Selected Units
Personnel
Rank Structure
Uniform

ORDER OF BATTLE

Confederation of Palestine Defense Force

Special Warfare Group

822^nd Reconnaissance Battalion

301^st Parachute Brigade

397^th Reconnaissance Brigade

398^th Commando Brigade

399^th Naval Commando Brigade

2^nd Air Defense Brigade

100^th Artillery Brigade (Strategic)

Northern Corps (Golan and Lebanon)

2^nd Infantry Division

22^nd Infantry Brigade

24^th Infantry Brigade

26^th Mechanized Brigade

3^rd Infantry Division

31^st Infantry Brigade

35^th Mechanized Brigade

37^th Infantry Brigade

4^th Armored Division

41^st ‘Nebarak’ Armored Brigade

43^rd Armored Brigade

44^th ‘Golani’ Mechanized Brigade

6^th Artillery Division

61^st Artillery Brigade

62^nd Artillery Brigade

Southern Corps (Jordan and Israel)

1^st “Omar ibn al-Khattaab” Armored Division

11^th ‘Jerusalem’ Armored Brigade

12^th ‘Tariq’Armored Brigade

14^th ‘Mechanized Brigade

5^th “King Abdullah I” Light Armored Division

25^th ‘Al-Basra’ Armored Brigade

40^th Armored Brigade

60^th Armored Brigade

7^th Armored Division

71^st ‘Barak’ Armored Brigade

77^th ‘Kahalani’ Armored Brigade

79^th ‘Givati’ Mechanized Brigade

10^th ‘El Beqaa’ Artillery Division

101^st Artillery Brigade

102^nd Artillery Brigade

Reserve Corps

8^th Reserve Infantry Division (southern Lebanon)

11^th Reserve Infantry Division (northern Lebanon)

12^th Reserve Infantry Division (Israel)

324^th Reserve Infantry Division (Israel)

325^th Reserve Infantry Division (Jordan)

201^st Reserve Armored Brigade (Lebanon/Israel)

202^nd Reserve Armored Brigade (Jordan/Israel)

Notes:

(1) The 822nd Reconnaissance Battalion is technically subordinate to the 8th Reserve Infantry Division for security reasons, but it is actually under the control of the Special Warfare Group.  Also note that the ORBAT does not include the National Police Forces; in wartime the NPFs have an internal security mission and come under control of the CDF.

(2) Recruiting areas for reserve units shown in parentheses. These areas reflect general territorial zones and do not reflect ethnic composition of units.

INDEX

BACKGROUND

The Confederation of Palestine (CP), originally referred to as the Levantine Confederation (the current name was adopted by popular referendum in 2204 when a new constitution was framed), was created in 2051 from an amalgamation of the states of Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon, after increasingly close ties between all three nations as they each grappled with guerilla war against ethnic Palestinians. The federal unification of these three nations was part of a broader peace agreement, brokered with French assistance to end the fighting in the region. In exchange for laying down their arms, ethnic Palestinians were granted a blanket amnesty for acts committed during the war, as well as a more broadly significant Declaration of Equality. This declaration granted Palestinians Confederation citizenship and re-established free travel within all three nations (a right initially provided in Israel and Jordan by the pre-Twilight US brokered Camp David III accords).

The settlement also abolished various discriminatory laws and internal security measures all three nations had enacted against ethnic Palestinians, as well as establishing autonomous control of various areas then occupied predominantly by ethnic Palestinians (Gaza and the West Bank, to include East Jerusalem, were the main areas, but numerous municipalities in Lebanon and Jordan were also effected). For their part, Palestinian leadership officially renounced violence and armed insurrection against any of the three nations (besides resistance to Israel, Palestinian uprisings had nearly toppled the Jordanian government three times in the last hundred years, and had contributed to the destabilization of Lebanon from which the nation was only now emerging after a century of on-again, off-again civil war).

The formation of the Confederation was generally a victory for political moderates in all three nations and among the Palestinians, and it would be another generation before lingering activity by extremists finally ceased in the late 2070s (only to flare up again, briefly, in the first decade of the 22^nd century during an economic downturn).

The unification was, in many ways, the nadir of Israeli and Jordanian fortunes, after emerging from the Twilight War as close allies and extremely influential power brokers in the Middle East. Israel and Jordan had fought alongside American and NATO forces in the region, and largely wrecked the Syrian military in 1996, before deploying forces to help secure southern Iraqi oilfields as well. At sea, Israeli intervention had been decisive in the USN and Royal Navy’s campaign to eliminate the Greek and Italian navies shortly before the war went nuclear. When Tel Aviv was destroyed by a Soviet nuclear strike, Israel joined the NATO nuclear effort and launched retaliatory strikes against Soviet troop concentrations in Iran and the Balkans, as well as participating in the destruction of Greece and Italy as organized belligerents.

By the end of the war, the two nations were participating in the occupation of southern Iraq, ensuring a steady flow of oil, and were very safe behind Israel’s remaining nuclear arsenal (which included intact facilities to produce additional weapons). Israel and Jordan did agree to withdraw from the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq at the same time the Americans withdrew in exchange for European and Japanese assurances of a continued supply of petroleum and recovery assistance, and so managed to escape direct participation in the Saudi War.

The Saudi War, however, did touch off a general Palestinian rising in both Jordan and Israel, in one of the last credible gasps of Pan-Islamic unity (a concept generally considered moribund by the end of the Twilight War). The two nations managed to suppress the risings, as they had before during the 20^th century, but only with the most draconian measures. In Lebanon, a Palestinian government declared itself, only to fall back down into the nation’s ongoing multi-sided civil war seven months later. The conflict then settled down into the grinding, decades long guerilla struggle that finally ended with the formation of the Confederation.

On its initial formation, the Confederation had no formal army of its own, instead possessing a General Staff, which exercised command and control over the individual national forces of each member state. This organization worked relatively well in peacetime, but it failed in many ways during its first test in combat, during Confederation participation in the suppression of the Ramadan Revolt in Syria in 2071, alongside the Syrian government and French garrison. The performance of Confederation forces was very uneven, and there was widespread criticism about effectiveness and casualties stemming from differing training levels, command and control practices, and the like during the war. Both the Israelis and Jordanians claimed, with varying degrees of justification, to have borne an inordinate share of the fighting, while Lebanese and the few ethnic Palestinian within the IDF force structure put in very poor performances when they were placed in front-line service.

As a result of the war, an increasingly unified Confederation Defense Force was formed, which performed better during the Second Syrian War (2097) and during the Border Confrontation with Iraq in 2108. For most of the period of 2070-2170, each member nation was expected to meet conscription quotas based directly on census data, with force structure tailored to produce ethnically homogenous units. By the late 22^nd century, however, this practice seemed archaic and distasteful to most citizens of the Confederacy, and was replaced by an earlier permutation of the current system, where each division and brigade in the force structure are given designated recruiting districts from which they draw their conscripts. In practice this still produces some generally homogenous units (the 7^th “Israeli” Armored Division being the most commonly cited example), but most CDF units reflect the Confederation’s ethnic and religious diversity.

Below: 7th Armoured Division patch

Women in the CDF

At the time of unification, the role of women in the military was a divisive issue. Israel was internationally known for applying conscription policies to women, as well as men, though this process was not as egalitarian in practice as in theory, while the Arab member states were less supportive of the notion. Jordan had some tradition of voluntary female military service and a vociferous proponent of military service for Arab women in the form of HRH Lt. Colonel Aisha Bint al-Hussein, a member of the royal family and a graduate of Sandhurst. Palestinian guerilla groups had relied extensively on female combatants during the war, though in the post-war era Palestinian writers and historians were quietly sweeping their participation under the rug in the historical narrative. Lebanon, unified for the first time in decades under a conservative multi-ethnic coalition government found the idea extremely divisive and best avoided.

The original result was that all member states were allowed to initially set their own policies. The IDF Women's Army Corps (CHEN) was retained in its pre-unification form, while Jordan and Palestine both experimented with professional and volunteer-conscript systems, both organized into similar Women's Army Corps. Lebanon remained exclusionary until 2083, when it established its own Women's Army Corps with relatively restrictive entry requirements. As the CDF became increasingly unified, a blanket policy on this issue was sought. The end result was a system of voluntary conscription for women, based on local laws (most notably a long-standing requirement for parental permission prior to conscription in Arab regions, in effect until 2204). Initially, and for most of the next century and a half, women in the Confederation military were assigned to the Confederation Women's Army Corps (modeled on IDF institutions), and generally restricted to administrative jobs and training cadres (again generally following IDF practices, though also in line with Arab member state's traditions). Originally, Women's Corps units were segregated both by religion and ethnicity, as most of the various polities within the Confederation were extremely sensitive on the issue.

Sensitivity faded to a degree over time, and the Women's Army Corps itself was eliminated in 2204. Women remain ineligible for potentially front-line combat roles and are also less officially shunted away from physically demanding, 'masculine' jobs without direct combat potential (i.e. mechanics). Beyond that, there is a sense in many quarters that predominantly Arab units are less receptive to female soldiers, however, and it is not uncommon for young Arab women contemplating National Service to establish actual or fictional residences in predominantly Jewish areas to secure postings to 'better' units. The CDF is currently experimenting with allowing women to serve in artillery units (in fire direction centers, specifically), and this is seen by many as a potential beginning to improved status and opportunity within the military.

The CDF circa 2300

Comparisons are often drawn between the Confederation and the CDF and Israel and its defense establishment during the Cold War era. In some very broad ways this may be accurate – the Confederation is a relatively progressive, democratic government in a region where such are not entirely common. Relations with its neighbors are sometimes contentious, if not openly hostile.

However, one should take care not to draw the analogy too far. While the Confederation military has a good reputation (owing in no small part to its deliberate programs to nurture and maintain a solid, professional NCO corps), the quality differential between the CDF and its opponents is much smaller than that seen during the height of the Arab-Israeli confrontations in the 20^th century. During the Age of Recovery, much ink was spilled and bureaucratic battles fought to create an even level of quality among CDF units, and the process not only elevated the sub par, but it also leveled off the top end formations as well. The current exception to this is the Special Warfare Group, whose component units receive funding and training adequate to allow them to stand alongside their international counterparts in more affluent nations (although they are often held to do so based more on the determination, ingenuity and sheer determination of their soldiers rather than 2^nd Tier quality training or equipment).

Likewise, the strategic situation of the Confederation is rather different from that of Israel. The nation is not infinite in size, but it has some operational depth such that every inch of territory need not be contested. The Confederation has the luxury of not regarding every war as a war of survival, in point of fact it has lost wars, most notably to Arabia in 2209 and 2215, losing both Aqaba and Eilat in the process. Still, some lingering echoes of this “all or nothing” sentiment can be heard in Confederation politics and felt in CDF doctrine, particularly some of the more “radically asymmetric” operational and strategic thinking within the Special Warfare Group.

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Recent Military History

The Confederation Defense Force has participated in five regional conflicts within the last fifty years.

The Kurdish-Iraqi War (2260): After war erupted between Iraq and Kurdistan, the CDF joined with Turkey in launching offensive action against Iraq to force a return to status-quo antebellum. Most of the fighting took place in northern Iraq and Kurdistan, but the presence of a reinforced division of Confederation armor driving across the western desert towards Baghdad forced Iraq to strip forces away from the main front and contributed to their ultimate collapse in the north. Primary units involved in this action were the 7^th Armored Division and the 397^th Reconnaissance Brigade (then designated the 97^th Commando Brigade).

The Kurdish-Armenian War (2267-2270): Armenian cross-border pursuit of Turkish separatist guerillas into Kurdish territory erupted into a limited border war in 2267, again prompting the Confederation to intervene alongside Turkey. In this instance, the 301^st Parachute Brigade and various units of the Special Warfare Group deployed to the country, where they joined Kurdish forces and Turkish mountain and airborne units in clearing Armenian troops from within Kurdistan’s borders. When incursions continued, the Confederation forces in country initiated several cross-border artillery bombardments and punitive raids, which seemed to send the region lurching towards a more general conflict. Faced with this prospect, France, Russia and the Ukraine quickly brokered a cease-fire, with the deployment of a peacekeeping force from Australia and Mozambique to monitor the border for a period of seven years (augmenting forces from those nations already enforcing a buffer zone between Turkey and Armenia). Hostilities were ended by early 2269, though a CDF force remained in country through 2270, when they turned the border region over to the peacekeepers.

Eritrean-Ethiopian War (2273): Despite French and UAR pressures to resolve differences non-violently, war broke out between Eritrea and Ethiopia concerning existing border disputes exacerbated by mineral finds in the disputed area (which, ultimately turned out to be largely overstated). The war, which quickly began to spill armed groups over into Djibouti and the southern UAR, was quickly terminated by joint (and unexpected) combined French and UAR action. The Confederation had long had a close relationship with Eritrea, and many were further surprised when the UAR sought Confederation participation in a peacekeeping effort (along with Italian and Dutch forces). The CDF deployed the 301^st Parachute Brigade bolstered by a battalion battle group from the 5^th Light Armored Division for most of 2273, and fought a number of small unit actions against insurgents while enforcing the integrity of the Eritrean-Ethiopian border.

3^rd Aegean War (2274): Official Palestinian participation in the latest Greco-Turkish conflict was limited to the deployment of the 301^st and 398^th Brigades to Turkey, where they took part in limited combat operations, along with Palestinian naval and air forces. Unofficially, the 822^nd Reconnaissance Brigade is often blamed for a series of bombing attacks against various Greek military installations and the assassination of the Greek Navy’s Chief of Staff during the conflict, but this has never been substantiated.

3^rd Arabian War (2280-1): Wahhabi Arabia and the multi-ethnic Confederation have repeatedly come to blows either directly or indirectly since the end of Arabia's occupation by foreign powers. War erupted again in 2280 after the murder of a number of Palestinians on pilgrimage to Mecca by Arabian paramilitaries. An Arabian drive on Amman from Aqaba (in Arabian hands since the 2215 war) was stopped cold (aided in part by the deployment of strike aircraft sorties from Turkey), but a Confederation attempt to flank the Arabian forces and move on Aqaba floundered and ran out of steam as Arabian reserves were rushed into the theater from the Persian Gulf coastal regions. Syria joined the war in late 2280 with a limited expeditionary force, but its movement into the Bekaa Valley was quickly halted by mobilized Confederation reserve units. With international intervention, the war was eventually resolved with a return to pre-war borders, compensation paid by Arabia for the dead pilgrims, and Arabia, the Confederation, and Syria required to jointly fund an international peacekeeping force of Azanian, Brazilian, American, and Czech troops (the "A2BCFOR") deployed along the border for the next five years. With the withdrawal of the A2BCFOR the situation along the border has deteriorated, particularly in the region near Aqaba and Eilat, spawning a steady stream of shooting incidents and exchanges of artillery fire by both sides, increasing in both frequency and intensity in the 2290s and since the turn of the century.

INDEX

Foreign Relations in 2300

The Middle East remains a volatile region, and the Confederation counts as enemies a number of its immediate neighbors. Offsetting this is the Confederation’s long-standing alliance with France and Turkey, both of which have been considered close allies for most of the last century, despite sometimes rocky relations during the Age of Recovery.

The Confederation and Space: The Confederation has no presence in space of its own beyond Earth orbit, where they maintain a number of civil and military satellites. A number of Confederation business firms do operate within the solar system, however, primarily as subcontractors or secondary service industry roles related to Turkish and various European asteroid mining projects. Beyond the solar system, there is a minimal Confederation presence, with consulates on some colony worlds (primarily in the American and French Arms). There are, however, a great many Confederation nationals who have immigrated to various colonies, especially, in the last twenty years, to Australian and American destinations.

American and Australia: These two nations are not much involved with the Confederation or the Middle East in general, outside of enforcing peace in the region on occasion. Diplomatic relations with the two have become increasingly important in the last twenty years, however, as America and Australia have become the primary destination of emigrating citizens of the Confederation, both on Earth and to the two nation’s colonies. This has little direct bearing militarily, though the CDF has sent observers with both nation’s militaries, as well as the British and French, since the outbreak of the Kafer War.

Arabia: Considered the most threatening of the Confederation's neighbors, Arabia has fought limited wars against the Confederation repeatedly in the last two centuries since gaining its independence from foreign occupation in 2112, particularly as French influence in the region diminished within the last century. Arabia's successful transition from a struggling post-petroleum economy to profitable exploitation of its colonial holdings on Daikoku, and successful utilization of Japanese advisors and equipment, have made it more of a threat in the eyes of the CDF, and its occupation of Aqaba/Eilat and other traditionally Jordanian and Israeli territory remains a point of cold and hot conflict between the two nations.

Britain: The Confederation has close diplomatic ties to Britain dating back to the pre-unification era, and maintained since then (Britain was one of the major forces behind the actual unification-based peace plan which resulted in the Confederation). Military contact is generally limited to exchange of staff officers and the attendance by Confederation officers of British military colleges and courses, but Britain has been a traditional source of weapons systems for the Confederation.

Eritrea: The Confederation has a long-standing, close relationship with Eritrea stemming from joint cooperation in arranging for the resettlement of the remnants of the Felash Mora (the so called "Ethiopian Jewry") within the Confederation in the late 21st century. Contact has often been as much about economic aid and humanitarian projects as military cooperation, though the relationship has become more one of equals in the last several decades as Eritrea’s economic situation has improved.

France: The relationship between France and the Confederation has varied wildly over the course of the last three centuries, depending on the goals and priorities of both nations. French attempts to maintain peace in the Middle East have sometimes been to the benefit of the Confederation, but when they have not appeared as such, the Confederation has not shied away from opposing and undermining French initiatives. Relationships have been generally good for the last several decades, however, excepting tensions during the Kurdish-Iraqi War. Exchanges and joint training exercises are currently common, though less frequent than those conducted with Turkey, and Confederation ports are common ports of call for French naval vessels.

Greece and the Balkans: Relations have been strained between the Confederation and Greece dating back to Israeli nuclear strikes against southern Greece during the Twilight War, and exacerbated since then by the Confederation’s alliance with Turkey. Relations have always been proper, at best, when not strained to the breaking point by the perpetually bad Greco-Turkish relations or the actions of some of Greece’s less stable allies in the region.

Iran: The relationship between the Confederation and Iran is a complicated one. Both nations are generally opposed to Arabia, for their own, and often unrelated reasons, but Iran has occasional difficulties with the Confederation’s allies Turkey and France. Palestine’s close relationship with Kurdistan has sometimes soured things between Teheran and Jerusalem, though the current situation is not a point of strain. Consequently, the two nations often times find themselves moving in similar directions, diplomatically, particularly concerning Arabia, and otherwise maintain a generally neutral attitude towards one another.

Iraq: French influence in Iraq, like Syria, has served to moderate the nation’s relationship with the Confederation, but has also ensured that the Iraqi military is a more capable force than it might be if left to its own devices. War with Iraq is considered a realistic concern by the CDF, particularly with French involvement in the Middle East becoming increasingly vestigial as commitments elsewhere on Earth and in the French Arm siphon off more and more attention.

Italy: Traditionally neutral for much of the post-Twilight era, Italy and the Confederation developed some low-level ties during peacekeeping operations in Eritrea and have maintained them since. Joint exercises between the two nations’ naval and special forces are common, and in 2295 the two nations undertook a more involved joint training exercise when the Confederation 301^st Parachute Brigade jumped into Sicily alongside the Folgore Airborne Division for a month-long training exercise focusing on low-intensity conflict and peacekeeping operations.

Kurdistan: Relations between the Confederation and Kurdistan have developed into a strong diplomatic and military relationship within the last forty years, initially based on Kurdish purchase of military systems and developing from there. Joint training exercises in Kurdistan are quite common, and Palestinian forces have deployed to Kurdistan on a number of occasions for show of force missions after the Armenian-Kurdish War.

Syria: Syria, like Iraq, has been stabilized for some time by French influences and, like Iraq, is still considered a potential adversary. Syria is actually considered a more likely opponent than Iraq, owing to continued Syrian claims to Confederation territory, ranging at times from calls for the return of the Golan to outright annexation of Lebanon.

Turkey: Turkey is a traditional ally of the Confederation, dating all the way back to joint Turkish-Israeli air and naval operations during the Twilight War. During the Age of Recovery, Israel and Jordan did much to aid recovery in Turkey, but as Confederation prominence in international affairs has faded from the post-Twilight War highpoint, Turkey has increasingly become the senior partner in the alliance. Joint training exercises with Turkish forces, particularly both nation’s special forces and rapid deployment units, are very common, and the two nations have fought together in a number of regional conflicts.

United Arab Republic: Long considered the most pressing security threat to the Confederation owing to its proximity and expansionist policies, the Confederation and the UAR never openly came to blows owing largely to French influence on both nations. The loss of territory by both nations to Arabia at the beginning of the 23^rd century not only gave them common cause, but created a buffer zone between the two which collectively reduced tensions greatly. While relations have never been extremely close, they are proper and occasionally lend themselves to common action, such as the peacekeeping effort in Eritrea in 2273.

INDEX

NOTABLE UNITS

2nd Air Defense Brigade:  This brigade (HQ in Jerusalem) is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the nation's strategic air defenses, built around the Gaza anti-ballistic missile system.  Service in the unit is prestigious and competitive, as the high-tech nature of the Gaza system translates into valuable job skills in the civilian sector. The unit recruits from across the nation, having first pick of conscripts with requisite test scores and aptitudes, regardless of recruiting district. The unit is notable for the very high percentage of female soldiers, especially Muslim female soldiers, in its ranks.

5^th Light Armored Division: This division headquartered in Amman and mostly drawing its recruits from Jordan, is unique in the CDF as the organization's only hover-mobile major formation. Equipped with British Cavalier hover tanks and French AVCI-3 personnel carriers, the division's three subordinate armored brigades are the main delaying force (along with the air force) for any opponent approaching the Confederation's population centers from across the southern or eastern deserts. The three brigades undertake rotating six-month peacetime deployments to installations along the border, which remains a hardship posting. The division has frequently exchanged fire with their Arabian counterparts in the southern desert since the withdrawal of stabilizing forces in 2286, and a bloody rivalry has grown up between the 5th Light Armored Division and the Arabian 10th (Baluchi) Division, the elite of the Arabian border security forces.

Below: 5th Light Armored Division patch

301st Parachute Brigade:  Tracing its existence, and much of its esprit de corps, back to the Israeli airborne forces of the 20^th century, the 301^st Parachute Brigade is the Confederation’s primary expeditionary force. Though subordinate to the Special Warfare Group, the Brigade is configured as a conventional light infantry formation and is capable of deploying by airborne or airmobile means, as necessary. Limited airlift and the regional air defense environment are such that the CDF generally considers the wartime role of the brigade in defense of the Confederation to be generating company and battalion-sized strike forces for raids against high priority targets in the enemy rear, alongside the 398^th Commando Brigade. The more general use of the 301^st, however, is in international deployments, where the brigade has distinguished itself in conflicts and peacekeeping missions throughout the Middle East and elsewhere.

Below: 301st Parachute Brigade patch

397^th Reconnaissance Brigade: Tracing its history back to the first joint Israeli-Jordanian military unit, the 55th Reconnaissance Battalion, a light motorized unit tasked with maintaining surveillance along pipelines and road from south-eastern Iraq to Israel and Jordan during the post-Twilight era, the 397th Brigade maintains that tradition to this day. It is primarily a long-range reconnaissance unit, trained to function as both an airmobile and motorized force, as necessary. Their wartime mission would be to slip across national frontiers (either by self-deploying or by covert aerial insertion) and disrupt enemy supply and communications by identifying targets for Air Force attacks, as well as direct action against high value targets in the enemy rear area. The brigade consists of three small, subordinate battalions, two equipped with light unarmored hovercraft for mobility, the third a light-infantry formation, plus supporting assets. Combat missions into Arabia are rumored to be occasional taskings, designating targets for CDF artillery raids.

398^th Commando Brigade: A Middle-Eastern style commando organization, the 398th is organized as a conventional motorized infantry brigade, but trained to extremely high standards and intended mainly to serve as the CDF's elite fire brigade in restricted or built up terrain, both on the offense and defense. The brigade trains for airmobile deployment of assets, though primary mobility is via its own vehicles, and there is a great deal of rivalry between the 301st and 398th Brigades. Though intended primarily for built up areas, in the last decade the brigade has also detached company sized elements for cross-border raids into Arabia to eliminate point targets like Border Guard posts and artillery observation posts.

Below: 398th Commando Brigade patch

399^th Naval Commando Brigade:  This unit is technically a part of the Confederation Navy, and is tailored for littoral special operations, though it also has a secondary wartime mission of land operations, especially in the Lebanese and Anti-Lebanese Mountains or other rough terrain areas. The brigade, unusual for such organizations, includes a heavy mechanized element in the form of two companies of Cavalier hovertanks and a company of AVCI-3 hover infantry carriers, which function in an amphibious fast-attack role and for certain maritime missions. Other assets include the 1^st and 2^nd Commando Battalions. The former is configured as conventional light infantry and serving as marines for the Navy, providing boarding parties and the like. The 2^nd Battalion includes combat dive teams, including deep submersible teams using French-manufactured combat swimmers, which function in the SBS/SEAL role. The brigade trains extensively with their Turkish, British, and French counterparts, and more recently with the Italian San Marco Marine Regiment.  Brigade headquarters is at Sidon, with most elements based there.

822nd Reconnaissance Battalion: Technically a part of the 8th Reserve Infantry Division, the 822nd Battalion is actually the elite of the CDF's special operations forces, being tasked with peacetime "black ops" in support of the Confederation Intelligence Service, counter-terrorism missions, and discrete punitive operations against "point targets" in Arabia, Syria, and elsewhere. The unit is also rumored to be active supporting dissident Jordanian and Jewish groups in occupied Aqaba and Eilat. The unit trains closely with the Confederation Intelligence Service for the infiltration of operatives into hostile nations for various operations. Planned wartime missions, beyond strategic reconnaissance and assassination of key enemy leaders, are rumored to include "Jericho Falls" missions (the term is unofficial, taken from a popular work of fiction of the same name about the 3rd Arabian War, first published in 2294), involving the infiltration of small, man-portable nuclear weapons into enemy territory, as well as aiding the CIS in identifying and eliminating similar enemy special operations units. The 822nd is small (estimated strength of 250 or less, with perhaps two-thirds of that being operational personnel), and draws its members from both the Special Warfare Group and the CIS. The unit has no distinctive insignia (members wear the 8th Division's "Cedars of Lebanon" shoulder patch) and are prohibited from wearing decorations and qualification badges when in uniform (rarely worn in any case) to avoid calling attention to themselves. Operations are a state secret, though rumors abound of actions nominally attributed to various separatist and guerilla throughout the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean being the handiwork of the Palestinian special forces.

Below: 8th Reserve Infantry Division patch, also worn by the 822nd Reconnaissance Battalion

INDEX

ORGANIZATION OF SELECTED UNITS

The following outlines typical CDF organization, though it should be mentioned that operationally task-organizing units for specific missions is quite likely. Combat service support assets are omitted from the descriptions below for brevity’s sake.

Armored Division

The CDF has three armored divisions, each made up of two armored brigades, a mechanized infantry brigade, plus supporting divisional troops including a heavy rocket artillery battalion (eighteen Brazilian MD-32 long range MLRs mounted on Type 119 IFV hulls), an engineer battalion, an air defense battalion and a reconnaissance battalion. There are no divisional aviation assets (besides reconnaissance UAVs), as all aircraft and attack UCAVs are under the control of the Confederation Air Force.

Armored divisions are built around the modern and capable Mk.6 tracked multi-purpose armored fighting vehicle, a Turkish design capable of various modular configurations, including a main battle tank, infantry combat vehicle, etc. The divisions are optimized to operate in the rough and/or urbanized terrain that characterizes most of the Confederation.

Armored Brigade: Each armored brigade consists of two armored battalions, an artillery battalion equipped with eighteen Manchurian Type 200 110mm self-propelled electromagnetic howitzers, and a brigade reconnaissance company equipped with eight Mk.6 Reconnaissance and Surveillance Vehicles and eight Mk.6 Infantry Combat Vehicles. Each armor battalion has a headquarters company, to include a platoon of six self-propelled 105mm mortars, and three tank companies, each of sixteen tanks.

The tank company includes the commander’s Mk. 6 command vehicle and three tank platoons, each of five Mk.6s split between three MBTs (armed with vertical launch Type 93 missiles) and two Infantry Combat Vehicles, each carrying six infantrymen, for a total of twelve infantrymen per platoon. These troops are generally employed as close-security for the platoon’s vehicles during operations in restricted terrain, though they may also be massed into a 36 man rifle platoon as needed. Typically, one or more of the company’s platoon leaders has attended CDF’s Armored Infantry Leaders Course (AILC), qualifying him to serve as an infantry platoon leader when massed dismounted operations are employed.

Each twelve man squad consists of a squad leader (usually a sergeant, though sometimes a corporal), commanding one four man fire team, with two assistant squad leaders (usually corporals), each leading two more four man teams. Each four man team is equipped with a Bekaa-LMG light machinegun, a Golan 30mm grenade launcher, and two Bekaa-AR assault rifles. The squad also has access to a single Luce-5 laser rifle, for sharp-shooting and Cobra light ATGWs, for missions requiring either capability.

Typically each squad will have at least one soldier per fire team who has received special advanced training on the Cobra missile above the basic familiarization all soldiers receive. Another soldier per fire team will have some advanced training on demolitions, especially hasty breaching of simple minefields and use of explosives in urban combat. Additionally, each squad typically contains at least one soldier who has received advanced training in communications systems to serve as a signaler, another with training to serve as a first line medic, and at least one who has been trained to use the Luce-5 laser rifle as a designated marksman.

Below: 71st 'Barak' Armoured Brigade patch

Mechanized Brigade: The mechanized brigade is larger than the armored brigade, and is intended for more deliberate, less maneuver oriented operations, most especially in urban areas. Like the armored brigade it includes a battalion of 18 EM howitzers and a reconnaissance company of eight Mk.6 RSVs and eight Mk.6 ICVs. ‘Teeth’ elements, however, consist of three Mechanized Battalions.

Each Mechanized Battalion consists of a headquarters company (again including a six tube mortar platoon), a tank company of ten Mk.6 MBTs, and three rifle companies equipped with lighter Manchurian designed Type 119 ‘Targan’ infantry fighting vehicles.