Military: Gabal

This page is a section of Gabal.

The Republic of Gabal’s military serves more as a symbol of the country’s independence from its neighbors than it serves as any true fighting force. Due to its small size, the Gabal military possesses little offensive capabilities and is no threat to any of its neighboring countries. The Gabal military also lacks the ability to defend itself against any major external threat. The military’s main purpose is the prevention of illegal fishing activities in the country’s territorial waters.

Military Forces

All of the Gabal military belongs to the same command whether it is part of the ground, air, or sea forces. Due to their small size, both the aviation and naval elements find themselves subordinate to the army. Many of the army infantry battalions are cadre units and would only be filled from the reserves in times of a national emergency. The aviation elements consist primarily of transportation helicopters for the military and political VIPs. The navy, in reality, is only a coast guard tasked with the mission to stop illegal fishing within Gabal’s territorial waters.

Military Strategy

National Command Authority

Gabal National Command Authority

While the Republic of Gabal elects a president, most of the government’s power resides in the hand of the prime minister and his cabinet. In the diagram above, certain cabinet ministers are part of the National Command Authority (NCA).  The Gabal NCA exercises overall control of the application of all instruments of national power to plan and carry out the country’s national security strategy. The NCA includes the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Communication, Economic Affairs, Interior, and Defense, along with other members selected by “Republic of Gabal’s” Prime Minister, who chairs the NCA.

The Prime Minister exercises responsibility for the NCA’s planning and the NCA serves as the overarching agency responsible to integrate all the instruments of national power under one cohesive national security strategy. The NCA coordinates the plans and actions of all “Republic of Gabal’s” ministries, but particularly those associated with the instruments of national power. (See TC 7-100.2: Opposing Force Tactics, Chapter 1, Strategic and Operational Framework.)

Strategic Operational Framework

The NCA exercises command and control (C2) of their Army via the Ministry of Defense (MOD) and a General Staff drawn from all the service components. In peacetime, the MOD and General Staff operate closely but separately. The MOD assumes the responsibility for policy, acquisitions, and financing the Armed Forces. The General Staff promulgates policy and supervises the service components, while its functional directorates assume responsibility for key aspects of defense planning. In wartime, the MOD and General Staff merge to function as a unified headquarters.

The Gabalian General Staff operates an administrative force structure (AFS) that manages its military forces in peacetime. This AFS contains the aggregate of various military headquarters, facilities, and installations designed to man, train, and equip the forces. In peacetime, the various militaries group their forces separate units for administrative purposes. The Gabal military arranges their forces administratively under geographical commands designated as military districts. If the SHC elects to create more than one theater headquarters, it may allocate parts of the AFS to each of the theaters, normally along geographic lines. Typically, these administrative groupings differ from the country’s go-to-war (fighting) force structure. Other parts of the AFS consist of assets centrally controlled at the national level. (See FM 7-100.4 Opposing Force Organization Guide: Chapter 3, Task Organizing.)

National Strategic Goals

Gabal Strategic Goals (Placeholder)

The Republic of Gabal forms its strategic goals from its long and fierce history of independence dating back to before contact with Western civilization. While Gabal became reluctantly involved in World War II due to its strategic position and mineral wealth, it quickly reasserted its independence after the ouster of its occupiers. The maintenance of Gabal’s sovereignty and the suppression of any small insurgent groups that may pop up forms their strategic vision.  Examples of specific strategic goals include:

• Symbolic defense of Gabal’s sovereignty.
• Work with friendly countries to protect Gabal from external threats.
• Prevention of illegal fishing within the country’s territorial waters.
• Limited economic expansion, primarily through the tourist trade, to improve the people’s lives.
• Attempt to provide sufficient food to feed its people.

Gabal Strategic Operations in Peace and War

Implementing National Security Goals

Most countries share similar strategies to achieve their national goals, but due to Gabal’s small size it cannot exercise all these strategies. For most countries, strategic operations remain a continuous process not limited to wartime or preparation for war. Once war begins, strategic operations continue during regional, transition, and adaptive operations and complement those operations. Each of the latter three types of operations occurs only during war and only under certain conditions. Transition operations can overlap regional and adaptive operations.

In pursuit of its national security strategy, Gabal must modify the operations that larger and more prosperous countries can conduct. The four types of operations that other countries can conduct include:

• Strategic operations use all instruments of power in peace and war to achieve a country’s national security strategy goals through attacks against the enemy’s strategic centers of gravity.
• Regional operations include conventional, force-on-force military operations against overmatched opponents, such as regional adversaries and internal threats.
• Transition operations bridge the gap between regional and adaptive operations and contain some elements of both. The country continues to pursue its regional goals while dealing with developing outside intervention that has the potential to overmatch its military.
• Adaptive operations preserve the country’s power and apply it in adaptive ways against opponents that overmatch the country’s military.

For Gabal, the country will work with other countries that will help them obtain their national goals. Gabal does not have the capacity to conduct strategic or regional operations on their own. Only if necessary, will Gabal conduct transition operations as other countries would in pursuing its goals. If invaded, Gabal’s terrain would likely make it possible for its military and people to pursue adaptive operations to harass the invaders.

ROG Army Force Structure

National Security Strategy

Although most countries may refer to them as “operations,” each of these courses of action is actually a subcategory of strategy. Each type of operation aggregates the effects of tactical, operational, and strategic actions in conjunction with instruments of national power to achieve a country’s strategic goals. The types of operations employed at a given time will depend on the types of threats, opportunities, and other conditions present.

A country’s normal strategy typically starts with actions directed at a regional opponent that the government overmatches in conventional military power, as well as other instruments of power. As the smallest country in the region and no offensive capability, Gabal could never achieve military superiority against any opponent. Gabal will attempt to achieve its ends without armed conflict by working with other countries that would help them obtain their strategic goals. Gabal will attempt to achieve their desired goal through pressure applied by nonmilitary instruments of power through economic and defense treaties with other countries. These actions fall under the general framework of “strategic operations.”

It is highly unlikely that Gabal will resort to armed conflict to achieve its desired end state as their military possesses no offensive capability. Strategic operations, however, continue even if a particular regional threat or opportunity causes Gabal to undertake “regional operations,” the country could only respond with outside military assistance.

Military Forces Overview

Military Strategy

Republic of Gabal's ground forces. Units not shown are co-located with their higher unit headquarters.

Gabal military strategy revolves around the prevention of illegal fishing in their territorial waters and the positive economic relationship the country has with many nations including the US, Olvana, and Donovia. Based on the country’s history with the Western powers liberating their islands during the mid-20th century and their status of a member of the United Nations (UN), Gabal expects that other countries will come to their defense if invaded.  Due to the country’s small size and an active military of 5,600 personnel, all of Gabal’s military plans are defensive in nature.

Army Overview

The Gabal military fields approximately 5,000 soldiers for their ground forces and all are volunteers. Gabalian ground forces consists primarily of an infantry brigade with four battalions, most of them are only cadre units. Soldiers that leave active duty must serve in the reserves until age 45. There are about 2,500 total reservists. Many of the active duty support units are not manned at 100% and would need reservists to bring them up to full strength.

ROG Army Ground Forces Structure

Army Size and Structure

The Gabal ground forces are so small that is primary maneuver unit is an infantry battalion. There is also an artillery battery that is composed primarily of a ceremonial gun platoon. There is an engineer company that the government often uses for reconstruction after natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons. The Special Operations Company focuses on anti-terrorist operations, but still needs significant training to meet international standards. (See diagram above and the Order of Battle (OB) at the end of this country’s variable.)

 The Gabal army is so small that it cannot form brigade tactical groups (BTG) or division tactical groups (DTG) like other armies. The country’s military in certain circumstances could become part of a BTG or DTG of some other country.  (See TC 7-100.2: Opposing Force Tactics, Chapter 2, Command and Control.)

Army Doctrine and Tactics

Due to the proximity to the People’s Republic of Olvana, the Republic of Torbia, and their relationship with the Western powers, Gabalian tactics are a mixture of what works best in their island jungles. For the most part, Gabalian tactics are those found in TC 7-100.2. Gabal has sent small elements, company size or smaller, on UN missions to Africa or other places. In addition to the exposure to other professional armies that continue to increase the military’s proficiency, this provides a source of income for the Republic of Gabal. The Gabalian governm

Army Training and Readiness

Gabal relies on a strictly volunteer military force. Soldiers can join at 18 years of age, but must retire from active duty by age 55. Senior officers may be extended with a waiver. Due to the limited jobs available on the island, the army carries a high level of prestige. Once accepted into the military, an “Islander” can expect to make it his career if they do nothing wrong and desire to remain on active duty. Those that decide to honorably leave active duty service are still tied to the military as reservists until the age of 45. Many regular army soldiers do not take their work seriously and are not motivated because they see little prospect of entering combat in the near future. Due to corruption in the government, the soldiers have been known to miss a paycheck. If this occurs for any length of time, desertion increases. Still, the military is able to find replacements for the deserters.

Each year, the reservists must serve for three weeks of duty in their assigned unit. Except for the infantry, this training is scattered throughout the year so the other units (combat support and combat service support) have additional personnel at all times. Only two of the four infantry battalions in the infantry brigade are fully manned with the other two in cadre status. The active duty infantry battalions are only trained to a very high standard in individual and squad level jungle operations. Every six months, one of the cadre infantry battalions comes together for three weeks of intense training. Active duty infantry officers and non-commissioned officers rotate on a regular basis between the single complete active duty battalion and the cadre reserve battalions.

The Gabalian Special Operations Company is a small special purpose force (SPF) that attempts to specialize in anti-terrorism operations. They respond to any terrorist related situation, bomb threat, or potential threat against VIPs. The Gabalian SPF can directly receive their missions from the MOD in peacetime emergencies. The Gabal military has sent its SPF personnel to observe US SOF training in the states and Western SOF advisors have visited the island to help with SPF training. All SPF teams are general purpose and do not specialize in one technique such as bomb disposal, hostage rescue, and anti-terrorist operations. While the Gabalian SPF are the best soldiers in the country, their level of training does not meet the SPF found in the US, Olvana, or Donovia.   

Army Equipment and Weapons

The Gabal army operates primarily tier 4 equipment and any equipment of a higher tier level has been donated by some other country. The equipment operational readiness rate for the army is only 40-50% because of limited funds for spare parts, lack of trained personnel, and apathy. There has been discussion between the Gabal and other countries to obtain newer equipment. These include newer rotary-winged aircraft, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and faster patrol boats to help stop illegal fishing; MANPADS (man-portable air-defense system); night vision equipment, and communication gear such as cellular phones, computers, and radios. The Gabal military force cannot operate at night or in periods of low visibility due to a lack of night vision equipment. (For further information see Section 4: Appendix C or the Worldwide Equipment Guide (WEG), Vol. 1, Chapter 1, OPFOR Tier Tables.)

Maritime Overview

ROG Army Naval Forces Structure

Gabal’s Maritime Command is actually composed of naval units that operate subordinate to the army. The purpose of the Maritime Command is to deter, stop, or capture fisherman from other countries that violate the territorial waters conducive to large numbers of fish to live. Due to the small number of boats and personnel as well issues of ship maintenance, the Maritime Command does not field significant forces to defend all of Gabal’s territorial waters.

Navy Size and Structure

The Maritime Commands operate out of a few ports on their main island. The navy operates out of two district commands with four patrol boats and two landing craft operated by about 150 sailors. Only about half of these ships are operational at any time as the sailors sometimes cannibalize the other ships to keep a few of them running. (See the OB at the end of this country’s variable.)

ROG primary naval forces locations. The ROG naval forces will use smaller ports if needed for operations.

Navy Doctrine and Tactics

The Maritime Command is a brown-water force that attempts to stop the illegal fishermen in their territorial waters. These countries include the Democratic People’s Republic of Torbia (DPRT), the Republic of Torbia (RoT), the Federated States of Belesia (FSB), and even sometimes the People’s Republic of Olvana (PRO). With only a few operational patrol boats at a time, the fishing industries from other countries penetrate the lucrative fishing grounds within Gabal’s territorial waters without fear:

• Prevention of illegal fishing activities.
• Maritime search and rescue.

Navy Training and Readiness

After a short basic training, the Gabalian sailors go straight to an operational boat for on-the-job training. As with the army, the naval units are seen in a positive manner for the steady job for a lifetime. The only drawback is when the sailors miss receiving their pay due to corruption within the government. Those sailors that decide to leave active duty, must remain in the reserves until the age of 45 spending three weeks each year training. The reserve naval personnel reserve as a militia force and sometimes even use their own boats for military operations. The 150 active duty sailors with their reserve brethren find it difficult to keep more than half of the boats operational at any one time. The most elite jobs for enlisted personnel in the navy forces is service on the prime minister’s yacht. Once assigned to the yacht, the sailor usually serves on the yacht until retirement. The Prime Minister, the President, and other VIPs regularly use the yacht for business and leisure trips.

Naval Forces Equipment and Weapons

The Maritime Commands operates weapons and equipment with primarily tier 4 capabilities. Due to their age and lack of maintenance, naval equipment is only about 50% operational. There are discussions ongoing to obtain some newer and faster patrol boats from other western leaning countries in order to match the speed of the fishing boats. The Maritime Command operates six ships based in the two naval districts, but none have the capacity to go more than twenty miles from the shore. Some of the patrol boats may operate mounted machine guns, less than .50 caliber. The naval personnel on these patrol boats carry small arms to protect themselves against any aggressive fishermen who decide to fight back. Sometimes due to the lack of their own boats, the coast guard will commandeer civilian boats in an emergency.

ROG Army Aviation Structure

Air Force Overview

The Gabalian air force is actually an Aviation Command in support of the army and the government. The Aviation Command flies both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. Due to maintenance issues, it is rare that all the planes and helicopters are operational at the same time. Approximately 300 active duty personnel support the aviation units with the assistance of reservists rotating on and off of duty.

Gabal's aviation forces primary location.

Air Force Size and Structure

The Aviation Command consists of a fixed wing section, a rotary wing section, and support elements. Aircraft can conduct reconnaissance in search of illegal fishing activities within Gabal’s territorial waters, assist in maritime search and rescue operations, or to ferry military and governmental VIPs around the country. The military contains no air defense capabilities.

Air Force Doctrine and Tactics

Gabal’s Aviation Command has little doctrine or tactics. Pilots, when their helicopters are operational, fly around the islands’ territorial waters trying to spot nefarious naval activity and then radio a patrol boat to intercept potential illegal fishermen. The transportation platoon flies VIPs from point to point.

Air Force Training and Readiness

After a short basic training, those Gabal recruits with the highest aptitude for maintenance are sent to the aviation units for on-the-job training. Pilot selection is extremely competitive as those selected and graduate from flight school can make the military a career or find lucrative employment in the tourist trade if they decide to leave active duty service. Aviation reservists perform three weeks of duty each year, but the training does need be continuous. Reservists, especially pilots, may perform their duties one or two days a month filling in for active duty members on leave or due to an increase in mission requirements. Due to the lack of repair parts, the aviation units operate at an approximately a 50% operational readiness rate.

Air Force Equipment and Weapons

Gabal’s Aviation Command operates weapons and equipment with primarily tier 3 or 4 capabilities. There are discussions ongoing to obtain some newer aircraft in order to improve the capabilities of the force to stop illegal fishing vessels.

Government Paramilitary Forces

National Police Force

The Gabalian Ministry of the Interior (MOI) controls a national police force about 1,000 personnel who carry small arms. Due to the country’s small physical size and population, there are few police forces other than in the largest city. The MOI can use the national police force for riot control during civil disturbances. In a national emergency, the MOD would take operational control of the national police force and likely use it for rear-area defense, riot control, and anti-looting missions. Many western countries’ police forces often send their personnel to Gabal to assist in the training of the Gabalian police officers and increasing their professionalism. The western police officers enjoy visiting Gabal due to its climate and the hospitable reception they receive.

Internal Security Force

Other than the National Police, there is no other internal security forces in the Republic of Gabal.

Reserves and Militia

There are about 2,500 reservists in the Gabalian ground forces, maritime command, and aviation command elements. Any soldier, sailor, or airman leaving active duty honorably must serve in the reserves until the age of 45. A reservist can continue to serve until 55 if they want as long as they meet the required medical standards. The reservists must serve three weeks of active duty training each year. For the soldiers and sailors, this takes place usually in one stretch of time augmenting the active duty personnel in their jobs. For the airmen, they can do this in one or two-day stints throughout the year. This is particularly helpful for pilots who need to maintain their proficiency if their civilian occupation is not related to flying. The maritime militia has been known to use private boats they commandeer from civilians to conduct routine inspections.

The Gabalian reserve force does not possess actual units except for those soldiers assigned to the reserve infantry battalions. Once assigned to one of the two reserve infantry battalions that operate under a cadre of active duty leaders, the soldier will normally remain in that battalion for continuity purposes. Every six months, one of the battalions meets for their three weeks of annual training and that unit becomes the “ready battalion” or the first infantry unit available after the two active duty battalions until the next battalion completes its annual training cycle. This “ready battalion” is sometimes activated for natural disasters to supplement the active duty engineer units. For those not in the infantry, the reservists normally return to their previous active duty unit to augment the active duty personnel. The training for the non-infantry personnel is staggered throughout the year so some of the reservists are often on duty at almost all times.

Non-State Paramilitary Forces

Insurgent/Guerrilla Forces

There are few insurgent or guerrilla forces that operate in Gabal on an active basis. There is one group that calls themselves the “Gabal Forever.” These are a very small group (less than 100) of boisterous people who do not like the way the government and business leaders are catering to foreigners in attempt to chase the tourist dollar. Many of these are 85%-95% ethnically native to the local islands and trace their ancestry back beyond written history through the oral history tradition of their ancestors. These people are upset about the change in their island’s life and would like it to return to what it was 200 years ago before Westerners arrived. Gabal Forever would like to eliminate the tourist trade and have the country rediscover its roots by concentrating on fishing and subsistence farming while shunning trade with the outside world. In the past, Gabal Forever members have conducted attacks using arson, random shootings, or homemade explosives such as pipe bombs against Gabal’s prominent tourist destinations.  Some of the other citizens are sympathetic to the cause, but their livelihoods likely depend on the tourist trade so they do not publicly support the group. No single leader appears to be leading the group as it is a grassroots movement based on what they see as the end of traditional island culture.

Criminal Organizations

The major criminal organization is Kumpulan. Headed by Myint Khine, who owns a local import/export business. Khine is 45 years old and began working for Kumpulan when he was a teenager with few prospects in life. Over two decades ago, Kumpulan provided the funds for his business, Kumpulan Import and Export, that he uses as a cover for their illegal operations. With warehouses in several cities and towns in Gabal, Khine can hide illegal goods among his legitimate imports. The police are aware of Khine, but he always seems to be one step ahead of the authorities when they raid one of his warehouses. It is highly likely that he has agents scattered throughout the National Police as well as any local governmental officials. These agents let Khine know about the raids well enough in advance for the group to move out the illegal goods hidden among the legitimate imports. Weapons confiscated by the Gabal military or police sometimes make it into Kumpulan’s hands instead of the weapons destruction facility—most likely due to corrupt military and/or police officers. Kumpulan is usually non-violent, but at times some independent black marketers have been found shot to death as a warning to others.

The desperate financial situation by many islanders force the poor, however, into illegal activities in order to survive.  This is especially true for the disenfranchised male youth from the ages of 15 to 25. Many of these struggling youth males turn to petty crime to survive such as purse snatching, pickpocketing, and simple robbery. The victims are often tourists, who often are the only ones with any money to actually steal. If a young male does not go out on their own, they often find work with the Kumpulan. 

There are other criminal groups, primarily family units, which conduct racketeering operations to provide a means of support to their large extended families. The families most involved in these local racketeering operations include Finau, Teaupa, Otolose, Malapo, Tei, Katalalaine, and Angina.

Private Security Organizations

There are few private security organizations in Gabal because gun ownership is restricted with all civilian gun owners needing a license from the government. There are some “body guard” businesses that may have guns to protect their employer, usually either a wealthy businessman, politician, or former politician.

Foreign Military Presence

Other than at the embassies, there are few permanently stationed foreign military personnel in Gabal. The one exception is the Defense Cooperation Program (DCP) where Australia provides advisors to the Gabalian military that operates out of their embassy.  Western and Pacific countries have conducted small joint military training exercises within the country. The US has provided trainers to the Gabal at times, often involving their SPF with anti-terrorism training in hopes of improving their competency to fight the Global War on Terrorism.med Combatants

Nonmilitary Armed Combatants

Most Gabalian people are supportive of foreigners as they provide the most money to the people through the tourist industry. The only exception is Gabal Forever that desire all foreign presence to leave their islands. If attacked by an outside force, most of the Gabal would welcome Western military assistance to preserve their country’s sovereignty. They would help by providing translators and intelligence, most likely in the form of Human Intelligence (HUMIT).

Military Functions

Joint Capabilities

The Gabalian military is near incapable of conducting joint operations. Even though all military resources fall under army control, the wide variety of equipment especially in the communication field makes it difficult for the army to talk with the navy, the navy with the aviation units, and even the aviation units with the ground units.

Command and Control

The Gabal military uses the command control methodology found in TC 7-100.2 focusing on mission tactics and battle drills. The active duty infantry is well-trained in jungle warfare, but sometimes lacks motivation. The use of the reserves, usually in the unit they previous served in on active duty, allows some continuity of command and control to continue throughout the reservist’s career. Despite the small size of the force, the chain of command is slow to react.

Maneuver

The infantry (two active duty battalions and two reserve battalions) are the primary maneuver force for the Gabalian army. These infantry units are trained to operate in the jungles found on the islands that compose the country. The infantry usually operates dismounted, but could become motorized by the use of trucks. While individual soldiers are proficient with basic skills in staying alive in the jungle, the larger the size unit the less it is trained to a high standard.

Air Defense

The Gabal military has no short-range, medium-range, or long-range air defense weapons, but are seeking them. Currently the emphasis on short-range man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) such as older Stingers. The issue is that the country has a lot of higher priority equipment on its list ahead of air defense assets.

Without the dedicated air defense units, the Gabalian army considers every soldier with a machine gun as part of the all-arms air defense. Soldiers may employ their machine guns to set ambushes for enemy helicopters, especially those on routine logistics missions. (For more information, see TC 7-100.2: Opposing Force Tactics, Chapter 11, Air Defense.)

INFOWAR

The Gabal military conducts little Information Warfare (INFOWAR) other than trying to control the message from the local radio and television stations. Gabal Forever group members distribute leaflets railing against the tourism industry and sometimes the tourists receive rude treatment from some of the most extreme members of the group.

RISTA

The Gabal military possesses very limited reconnaissance, intelligence, surveillance, and target acquisition (RISTA) capabilities, with equipment limited to the elements organic to its infantry brigade from equipment given to them by another country. This equipment is tier 4 or tier 3 at best and is another country’s discards. The table below summarizes the effective ranges for reconnaissance assets that can support most tactical commanders of any country. Most intelligence conducted by the Gabal military is Human Intelligence (HUMINT). If foreign militaries deployed to any of the islands that compose Gabal, the locals would be the best source of intelligence during any operation.

Effective Ranges of Arianian Reconnaissance Assets

Fire Support

The Gabal military has limited indirect fire ability. The artillery battery is more for ceremonial occasions than for actual military activities. Only in the extreme circumstances would the artillery battery be used in combat operations and there may not be enough ammunition to last more than a single day of combat. The soldiers spend most of their time, however, training for their next public performance rather than in firing in support of soldiers.

Protection

The Gabalian army offers little in protection for its soldiers. The infantry usually fights dismounted so they are susceptible to any type of fire from small arms and up. While there is an engineer company, its primary focus is on civilian support helping the country recover from natural disasters. The engineer company receives little training on missions to provide protection to the ground forces. Chemical defense is limited to individual protective masks that are never issued to the soldiers. The soldiers do not train with their protective masks, so the soldiers would not be very functional if they needed to don them. Other than the civilian radar station at the airport, there is no radar capability in Gabal for the military.  (See TC 7-100.2: Opposing Force Tactics, Chapter 12, Engineer Support and Chapter 7, Information Warfare.)

Logistics

Like many non-Western armies, the Gabal military concentrates on its combat units and often neglects the logistics infrastructure necessary to support modern warfare. With two active duty infantry battalions, the army attempts to get by with limited combat service support units. Without the reservists coming in for their three week active duty periods, it would be difficult for these units to support the normal active duty force. If the entire reserve was mobilized, there would likely be some logistical shortages because of the need to support four not two infantry battalions.

Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear

The Gabal military possesses no offensive chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) capabilities. The Republic of Gabal has denounced all CBRN and proposes an elimination of CBRN from every other country’s weapon arsenal. The Gabalian army possesses protective masks donated by other countries, but they are maintained in a warehouse. Military personnel do not train for operations in a chemical environment.

Research and Development Goals

Due to limited industrial capacity, Gabal will likely continue to purchase its military equipment and arms from outsiders. The criminals on Gabal will obtain weapons wherever they can found—whether it is a foreign country, black marketers, or confiscated weapons stolen from the police/military before they can be destroyed. The country has been known to purchase equipment or receive donated military equipment from the US or other western countries, Olvana, and even Donovia.

Summary

The Gabalian military is strictly oriented on the defense. As such, the naval and aviation assets focus on illegal fishing operations. Due to the military’s small size and without access to many transportation aircraft and only two amphibious ships, it would be impossible for the Gabal military to leave the island without assistance from another country with such assets. The Gabalian active duty military is not well trained, but is improving slowly due to its exposure to US and other Western armies through UN missions, training missions to Gabal, and a few officers traveling to the US to attend training courses. The reserves support the active duty force throughout the year, but Gabal’s military may find it difficult to support its entire force logistically if the country activated 100% of its reservists.