Neu Westfalen Army

The Neu Westfalen Army (German: Heer Neu Westfalen) is the military land force of the Federal Republic of Neu Westfalen. It is part of the Bundeswehr Neu Westfalen along with the Marine and the Luftwaffe. Due to Neu Westfalen's long-standing neutrality, Heer soldiers have only been involved in a small number of conflicts throughout its history. Neu Westfalen territory has come under direct attack on two occasions, first in World War I during the Invasion of Neu Westfalen and secondly during the Spiran Conflict in 1989.

World War I
Prior to 1914 the Imperial German Army maintained control of Neu Westfalen, with many of it's soldiers eventually settling in the colony after their service ended. However with the outbreak of World War I the German colonial authorities allowed the creation of an independent volunteer corps to bolster Neu Westfalen's security. The initial roles of the volunteer corps were to help construct coastal fortifications and boost the number of local police forces, however they were soon turned into light infantry brigades when the country was invaded in 1916. These volunteer brigades fought amongst more experienced Imperial German battalions, and were often given the unenviable task of leading Human wave attacks on enemy positions. This led to a degree of resentment against their Imperial Commanders, whom regarded the volunteers as expendable.

Creation of the Federal Army
When Neu Westfalen was occupied by New Duveland after the war, the remaining Imperial Army was repatriated to Germany, leaving the volunteer corps as the only native authorities in the country. In 1925 Neu Westfalen gained it's independence, and soon transformed the volunteer corps into the modern Federal Army. The Heer would play no role in World War II, although 877 soldiers did join the Wehrmacht or Waffen-SS without permission.

Cold War Era
Due to Neu Westfalen's extreme geographic isolation, the chance of any invasion of the mainland was considered remote. However due to the nation's ideological neutrality, post-WWII defence planners called for a relatively significant defence force whose aim was to convince an opponent they weren't worth the effort. Being an island nation, this strategy primarily focused on building up the nation's "outer defences" in the form of the air force and navy, but paid less attention to the role of conventional ground forces. As such, the Heer stagnated until 1966 when Indonesia's Suharto regime began disputing Neu Westfalen's claim to the remote Spira Islands, causing an increase in defence spending for all three branches of the Bundeswehr.

From 1970 onwards the threat of terrorism from Indonesian paramilitaries or lone-wolves became of significant concern to the government, prompting the creation of the Spezielle Aufklärungseinheit (Special Reconnaissance Unit) to perform counter-terrorism operations. During the 1989 Spiran Conflict Heer forces successfully stalled and helped break the momentum of invading Indonesian military and paramilitary forces, whom were attempting to annex the islands.

Modern Era
Today, the Heer is primarily a mechanized-infantry force and specializes in amphibious operations, peacekeeping missions and disaster relief. In recent years it's capabilities have expanded to include a small missile-defense force, in the form of 16 Pantsir-S2E and 8 S-400 Triumf SAM batteries; most of which are positioned on the Spira Islands.

Strength
In 2018 the Army had an average strength of 14,500 regular and 4,200 reservists. It is defense-oriented and primarily equipped with European and American made weaponry.