Cardassian Guard

The Cardassian Guards is the Military Arm of the Cardassian State is run by Central Command and is split into two Primary Elements, the "Orders" and the Militia and it is organised under the Command of the Cardassian Central Command, which is answerable to the Detapa Council however in the past this fact has not been so and the Central Command has often run the Government.

Central Command

The Central Command serves as the primary Command and Control element for the entire Cardassian Military. As such, it not only controls a vast sensor and communications network with a number of Command Centres and thousands of staff manning them, it also maintains a vast network of Military supply, shipyards and even resource extraction networks, as well as its own small Intelligence Service.

The Central Command is lead by the Senior Legate, who is the Legate selected by his peers as the most capable, it is the highest position in the Cardassian Military. The Senior Legate is the immediate superior of the 12 Legates of the Orders and the Militia Command Staff. In theory the entire Central Command staff serve as the Senior Legates staff, however in practice a large amount of operational control is devoted to specially trained Guls in their own Command Centres, focused around Cardassia Prime's Military District.

The Central Command also operates the Supply arm of the Military and is responsible not only for logistics but for Starship Construction within the Union. As a result it has massive Industrial capacity and is one of the largest employers in the Union, even after the Dominion War.

The Orders

The Cardassian Orders consist of 12 combined arms Corps sized elements combining both Space and Ground based forces for a holistic approach to warfare, each of which is commanded by a Legate. Each order is around 500,000 personnel strong, with a varying number of combat vessels depending on role and location. The Orders are a Volunteer only force, which accepts all Cardassian citizens regardless of Gender and advancement is solely on merit, aptitude tests determine those best suited for Officer, NCO and enlisted candidacy and they are then trained in those roles. The Orders give the Cardassian Union a standing peacetime military force of six Million personnel with traditionally around one thousand vessels per order.]

Each Order contains three elements to provide a holistic combined arms formation:

• Ground Combat: The largest element of an Order, this is usually a force of around 300,000 personnel tasked in peacetime with securing potential attack targets and enforcing the Union's will and in wartime it serves as the offensive arm of the Union, whilst the Militia constitute a defence force.

• Naval Combat: The Naval combat element of a Order is responsible for the Orders starships, which usually measure around 1,000 excluding fighters and support craft. A Naval combat element will usually be based out of one or more Nor class starbases which are owned and operated by the Order to secure their zone of operations and will be supported by extensive shipyard and drydock facilities. The Naval Combat Element normally features around 190,000 personnel.

• Special Operations: The Special Operations element of an Order combines traditional Special Forces roles, with some less traditional ones. It is within the Special Operations element that one will find an Orders science section, which is responsible for Research and Development for the Order as well as any scientific investigation within the Union. At its normal strength of around 8000 personnel, about 2000 will be Special Forces Operators and their support staff and the remaining 6000 will man the Science section, which has its own ships and bases and acts largely apart from the rest of the order.

The 12 Orders are numbered in order of precedence, with the earliest founded being the First Order and the last the Twelfth Order. The First Order is based on Cardassia Prime and is responsible for its defence and for any ceremonial duties which may befall it. The remainder of the Order divide up the Unions territory between them 8 ways, assigning a defence zone to each which is entrusted to their command. In years gone by, this would have been the area the Order ruled, however these days it is merely the area for whose defence it is responsible. Within each area, the Militia elements are assigned to their local Order as a reserve force and during war, will come under their command. The remaining Orders, the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Orders serve in a role as a strategic reserve force, based in the First Orders sector and can be rapidly redeployed to wherever they require.

The Militia

The second element of the Cardassian Guard is the Militia, which serve as both a reservist force for the Guard and as a planetary defence force. Every Cardassian planet or station has its own Militia contingent, which is formed from any citizen deemed fit for service. Membership is compulsory for all Cardassians aged 18 to 40, who are not employed in a duty considered vital to the national security or who are not members of the Orders or Cardassian Government, some full time personnel to serve as a rapid reaction and maintenance force but most as reservists, called up in times of war or emergency to either replace casualties within the Orders or to defend their homes, it is composed of Cardassians of both genders and refusal to serve in the Militia carries the Death Penalty, a sentence which is carried out in accordance with Military law.

The Militia is a highly trained and disciplined force and is highly competent at combat, proving itself in Cardassia's regular wars. The Militia, like the Orders operates a holistic approach to Combined Arms with each planetary defence force maintaining both a Naval and a Ground element and usually a planetary defence capability and a small shipyard. The exact strength of the Militia is unknown but based on population estimates, the manpower pool runs into the hundreds of millions, making each Cardassian world a potential death trap for any invader, however in reality only a small proportion of the Militia receive sufficient training or arms on all but the border worlds, meaning that despite their massive potential strength, the Militia can infact field a comparatively minuscule proportion of the population.