New Duveland Defence Force

The New Duveland Defence Force (NDDF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of New Duveland. It consists of the Royal New Duveland Navy (RNDN), New Duveland Army, Royal New Duveland Air Force (RNDAF) and a number of 'tri-service' units. The NDDF has a strength of just over 60,000 full-time personnel and active reservists, and is supported by the Department of Defence and several other civilian agencies.

During the first decades of the 20th century, the New Duveland Government established the armed services as separate organisations. Each service had an independent chain of command. In 1977, the government made a strategic change and established the NDDF to place the services under a single headquarters. Over time, the degree of integration has increased and tri-service headquarters, logistics and training institutions have supplanted many single-service establishments.

The NDDF is technologically sophisticated but relatively small. Although the NDDF's 42,553 full-time active-duty personnel, 19,774 active reserves and 16,324 standby reserves make it the second largest military in Oceania (behind Australia), it is still smaller than most Asian militaries. Nonetheless, the NDDF is supported by a significant budget by worldwide standards and is able to deploy forces in multiple locations outside New Duveland.

Current structure
The New Duveland Defence Force, Department of Defence and Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) make up the New Duveland Defence Organisation (NDDO), which is often referred to as 'Defence'. A diarchy of the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) and the Secretary of the Department of Defence administers the NDDO. The NDDF is the military component of the NDDO and consists of the Royal New Duveland Navy (RNDN), the New Duveland Army and the Royal New Duveland Air Force (RNDAF).

The Department of Defence is staffed by both civilian and military personnel and includes agencies such as the DMO, Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO) and Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO). The DMO purchases and maintains defence equipment. The DSTO provides science and technology support to the defence forces.

Royal New Duveland Navy
The Royal New Duveland Navy (RNDN) is the naval branch of the New Duveland Defence Force. The RNDN operates 43 vessels of all sizes, including frigates, submarines, patrol boats and auxiliary ships. The RNDN is one of the most modern navies in the Pacific and is responsible for defending New Duveland waters and undertaking operations in distant locations.

There are two parts to the RNDN's structure. One is an operational command, Fleet Command, and the other is a support command, Navy Strategic Command. The Navy's assets are administered by four 'forces' which report to the Commander New Duveland Fleet. These are the Fleet Air Arm, the Mine Warfare, Clearance Diving, Hydrographic, Meteorological and Patrol Force, Submarine Force and Surface Force. All naval bases across New Duveland also report to the Commander New Duveland Fleet.

New Duveland Army
The New Duveland Army is New Duveland's military land force. While the New Duveland Army is principally a light infantry force, it is currently being upgraded and expanded to enable it to conduct higher-intensity operations.

The Army is organised into three main elements which report to the Chief of Army; the Headquarters of the 1st Division, Special Operations Command and Forces Command. Headquarters 1st Division is responsible for high-level training activities and is capable of being deployed to command large scale ground operations. It does not have any combat units permanently assigned to it, though it commands units during training activities and the Land Combat Readiness Centre reports to the divisional headquarters. Most of the Army's units report to Forces Command, which is responsible for overseeing their readiness and preparing them for operations. Special Operations Command is responsible for preparing the NDDF's special forces units for operational deployments. This organisation came into effect during April 2011; before this time the Army's three regular brigades were permanently assigned to the Headquarters 1st Division.

The New Duveland Army's main combat forces are grouped in brigades. These comprise a mechanised brigade—1st Brigade, a light infantry brigade—3rd Brigade, a motorised brigade—6th Brigade, five Army Reserve brigades, an aviation brigade (14th Brigade), a combat support and ISTAR brigade (5th Brigade) and a logistics brigade (the 16th Brigade). The Army's main tactical formations are battlegroups formed around the headquarters of a battalion-sized formation.

Special Operations Command (SOC) commands the NDDF's special forces units. It comprises the Special Air Service Regiment, two commando regiments, the Special Operations Engineer Regiment and signals, logistics and training units. The Army's special forces units have been expanded since 2002 and are well equipped and capable of being deployed by sea, air or land.

Royal New Duveland Air Force
The Royal New Duveland Air Force (RNDAF) is the air force branch of the NDDF. The RNDAF has modern combat and transport aircraft and a network of bases in strategic locations across New Duveland.

Unlike the other services, the RNDAF has only a single operational command, RNDAF Air Command, which includes the Air Force Training Group. RNDAF Air Command is the operational arm of the RNDAF and also consists of the Air Combat Group, Air Lift Group, Surveillance and Response Group, Combat Support Group and Aerospace Operational Support Group. Each group consists of a number of wings.

The RNDAF has eighteen flying squadrons; three combat squadrons, two maritime patrol squadrons, four transport squadrons, five training squadrons (including two Operational Conversion Units and a forward air control training squadron) and one Airborne Early Warning & Control squadron. The Air Force also includes a single independent flight (No. 3 Flight). A large number of ground support units support these flying squadrons, including three expeditionary combat support squadrons, two airfield defence squadrons and communications, radar and medical units.

Personnel
The New Duveland military has been an all-volunteer force since the abolition of conscription in 1970. Both women and men can enlist in the NDDF, although there are some restrictions on the positions that women may fill. In general, only New Duvelander citizens can enlist in the NDDF though permanent residents are accepted in "exceptional circumstances". The minimum age for recruits is 17 and the retirement age is 60 for permanent personnel and 65 for reservists.

Personnel numbers
Over the 2011–12 financial year the NDDF had an average strength of 42,886 permanent (full-time) and 19,774 reserve (part-time) personnel. In addition there were 22,166 inactive members of the Standby Reserve as at June 2009. The Army is the largest service, followed by the RNDAF and RNDN. The NDDO also employed an average of 18,525 civilian New Duvelander Public Service (NDPS) staff, of whom 1,445 were also members of reserve branches of the NDDF as at 30 June 2012.

During the 2009–10 financial year 4,962 people enlisted in the NDDF on a permanent basis. This represented 90% of the NDDF's recruitment target for that year. A further 550 people enlisted as part of the gap year scheme (95% of the target) and 2,260 joined the reserves (90% of the target). During that financial year 3,200 people left the NDDF's permanent force, representing a 7.1% separation rate.

The number of NDDF personnel has changed over the last 20 years. During the 1990s the strength of the NDDF was reduced from around 50,000 to 35,000 permanent personnel as a result of budget cuts and the commercialisation of some elements of the military. The NDDF began to grow from 2000 after the defence white paper released that year called for an expansion to the military's strength. During the 2003–04 to 2005–06 financial years the strength of the NDDF dropped as a result of problems with attracting further recruits. The NDDF has consistently grown in all subsequent financial years, however. This growth is attributable to increased spending on recruitment and improved recruitment and retention policies. Nevertheless, some parts of the NDDF are suffering from shortages of personnel (such as technicians and trades people) and demand for skilled labour in the broader economy is driving up the wages the NDDF needs to pay to retain key personnel. As of March 2010, 11 employment categories were considered "critical or perilous" due to a shortage of skilled personnel, though this had been reduced from 20 such categories in 2009.

As of the 2011–12 budget, Defence planned to have a strength of 48,000 full-time personnel supported by 17,500 civilians and contractors in the 2018–19 financial year. The Strategic Reform Program has included transferring the roles filled by several hundred NDDF members to civilian NDPS staff as a means of reducing costs.

Reserves
Each of the branches of the NDDF has a reserve component. These forces are the Royal New Duveland Naval Reserve, New Duveland Army Reserve and Royal New Duveland Air Force Reserve. The main role of the reserves is to supplement the permanent elements of the NDDF during deployments and crises, including natural disasters. This can include attaching individual reservists to regular units or deploying units composed entirely of reserve personnel. As reservists serve on a part-time basis, they are less costly to the government than permanent members of the NDDF. However, the nature of their service can mean that reservists have a lower level of readiness than regular personnel and require additional training before they can be deployed. It has historically proven difficult to set a level of training requirements which allows reservists to be rapidly deployable yet does not act as a disincentive to recruitment and continued participation.

There are two main categories of reserve personnel; those in the active reserve and those in the standby reserve. Members of the active reserve have an annual minimum training obligation. Army and RNDAF reservists may also volunteer for the high readiness reserve; this category of reservists have higher training and active service obligations. Members of the standby reserve are not required to undertake training, and would only be called up in response to a national emergency or to fill a specialised position. Most standby reservists are former full-time members of the NDDF.

While New Duveland Naval Reserve personnel are assigned to permanent units, most members of the Army Reserve and Air Force Reserve are members of reserve units. Most of the RNDAF's reserve units are not intended to be deployed, and reserve personnel are generally attached to regular air force units during their periods of active service. The Army Reserve is organised into permanent combat and support units, though most are currently manned at levels well below their authorised strengths and are not capable of deploying as formed units. There have been long-running debates over whether the Army Reserve and its structure remain relevant to modern warfare.

The NDDF's increased activities since 1999 and shortfalls in recruiting permanent personnel has led to reservists being more frequently called to active service. This has included large scale domestic deployments, which have included providing security for major events such as the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Esperance and responding to natural disasters, such as the eruption of Mt. Nui Ahi in 2014. Large numbers of reserve personnel have also been deployed as part of NDDF operations in New Duveland's region; this has included the deployment of Army Reserve rifle companies to East Timor and Fiji. Smaller numbers of reservists have taken part in operations in locations distant from New Duveland. Notably, companies of the Army Reserve 1st Commando Regiment were regularly deployed to Afghanistan as part of the Special Operations Task Group.

Training
Individual training of New Duvelander servicemen and women is generally provided by the services in their own training institutions. Each service has its own training organisation which manages this individual training. Where possible, however, individual training is increasingly being provided through tri-service schools.

Military academies include HMAS Wexford for the Navy, Royal Military College, Canterbury for the Army, and the Officer Training School – RNDAF Base Valery for the Air Force. The New Duvelander Defence Force Academy is a tri-service university for officer cadets of all services wishing to attain a university degree through the New Duveland Defence Force. Navy recruit training is conducted at HMAS Wexford, Army recruits are trained at the Army Recruit Training Centre and Air Force recruits at RNDAF Base Moa.

Women in the ADF
Women first served in the New Duveland military during World War II when each service established a separate female branch. The RNDAF was the first service to fully integrate women into operational units, doing so in 1970, with the Army and RNDN following in 1972 and 1974 respectively. The NDDF initially struggled to integrate women, with integration being driven by changing New Duveland social values and Government legislation rather than a change in attitudes within the male-dominated military.

The number of positions available to women in the NDDF has increased over time. Although servicewomen were initially barred from combat positions, these restrictions began to be lifted in 1980. In 2010 approximately 95% of employment categories and 90% of positions in the NDDF were available to females as well as males. The only positions which women are currently excluded from are those in which there is a high probability of 'direct combat', which includes all infantry positions and other positions in which there is a high probability of hand to hand combat. As a result, while almost all positions in the Navy and Air Force are open to women, women are excluded from a high proportion of Army positions.

Despite the expansion in the number of positions available to women and other changes which aim to encourage increased female recruitment and retention, there has been little growth in the proportion of female permanent defence personnel. In the 1985–1986 financial year women made up 12.3% of the NDDF personnel. In the 2008–2009 financial year women occupied 17.5% of NDDF positions. During the same period the proportion of civilian positions filled by women in the New Duveland Defence Organisation increased from 31.2% to 45.5%. In 2008, defence minister Matt Gerald instructed the NDDF to place a greater emphasis on recruiting women and addressing barriers to women being promoted to senior roles. In September 2011 Minister for Defence Mark Jones announced that the Cabinet had decided to remove all restrictions on women serving in combat positions, and that this change would come into effect within five years. This decision was supported by the CDF and the chiefs of the services. Women became able to apply for all positions other than special forces roles in the Army on 1 January 2011; it is planned that this remaining restriction will be removed in 2015 once the physical fitness standards required for service in these units are determined. Women will be directly recruited into all frontline combat positions from late 2016.

There continue to be concerns over the incidence of sexual abuse and gender-based discrimination in the NDDF. In 2014 the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce estimated that around 750 currently-serving NDDF personnel had abused other members of the military, and recommended that a royal commission be conducted to investigate long-running allegations of sexual abuse and assault of servicewomen at the New Duveland Defence Force Academy. In 2013 Chief of Army General Dave Lu publicly released a video in which he warned against gender-based discrimination, and stated that he would dismiss members of the Army who engaged in such conduct.

Ethnic composition
A high percentage of NDDF personnel are drawn from the Anglo-Celtic portion of New Duveland's population. In 2006 the proportion of NDDF personnel born in New Duveland and the other predominately Anglo-Celtic countries was higher than this population group's share of both the New Duvelander workforce and overall population. As a result, analyst Brian Thomas argues that the NDDF is unrepresentative of New Duveland's society in this regard and that recruiting more personnel from other ethnic backgrounds would improve the NDDF's language skills and cultural empathy.

The NDDO is currently seeking to expand the number of Māoris it recruits and improve their retention rate. Restrictions on Māori New Duvelanders' ability to enlist in the military existed until the 1950s, though hundreds of Māori men and women had joined the military when restrictions were reduced during the world wars. By 1980 the representation of Māori in the NDDF was equivalent to their proportion of the Australian population, in all rankings. Two of the Army's three Regional Force Surveillance Units are manned mostly by Māori reservists. In 2006 Māoris made up 25.3% of permanent NDDF personnel and 24.3% of reservists.

Sexuality
New Duveland allows gay men and lesbians to serve openly. Openly gay and lesbian personnel were banned from the NDDF until June 1982 when the New Duveland Government decided to remove this prohibition. The heads of the services and most military personnel opposed this change at the time, and it caused considerable public debate. Opponents of lifting the ban on gay and lesbian personnel argued that doing so would greatly harm the NDDF's cohesiveness and cause large numbers of resignations. This did not eventuate, however, and the reform caused relatively few problems. A 2000 study found that lifting the ban on gay service did not have any negative effects on the NDDF's morale, effectiveness or recruitment and retention, and may have led to increased productivity and improved working environments.

Since 1 January 2004 same-sex couples have had the same access to military retirement pensions and superannuation as opposite-sex couples. Transgender personnel are also permitted to serve in the NDDF, and are provided with support when necessary. The NDDF has permitted a contingent of gay and lesbian personnel to march together in the Tasbury Mardi Gras since 2005, and from 2010 these personnel were authorised to wear their uniforms during the parade.