Over the centuries there have been various command models for the military forces of the Hapes Consortium, each with their own benefits and disadvantages. Today the Royal Hapan Armed Forces prides itself having one of the most effective centralized commands in the galaxy in the Hapan Military High Command and its subordinate defence coordination bodies. Where the Royal Council is the governing body of the Government, High Command has historically been the equivalent of that for the Military and its grand service branches.

The High Command oversees all military operations, from combat missions to logistics, from training standards to military base and depot placements.

High Command Ribbon

The High Command members are identified with this ribbon, carried on the left chest of their uniform.

High Command is run by the Military Chief of Staff, who also typically holds a position in the Royal Council as Minister of Defence. It is the job of Chief of Staff to act as a liaison between the Military and the Government. The Chief of Staff is highest commanding officer of the Armed Forces, whose authority is superseded only by the Crown.

The total number of seats on the High Command changes according to the organization of the military forces under the jurisdiction of the Hapan High Command. Seats are typically awarded to the Commanding Officers of the main battlefleets, including their Executive Officer, the Commanding and Executive Officers of the Marines and Army, as well as to any appointed Military Advisors, in addition to the Commandant of the Star Home Academy and various other Joint Forces Commanding Officers at the discretion of the Chief of Staff.

High Command has allocated meeting space and command posts available to itself and through its service arms across the Cluster, with the largest being a chamber deep underground beneath the Palace of Defence on Hapes Prime. While this chamber is state of the art and has decades of history behind it, it is rarely used with all High Command members present physically at the same time.

Rather, as most if not all representatives to the High Command have commands of their own to attend to, with the operative branches each sporting their own massive headquarters and central command posts on major armed forces bases or select warships of the armed forces, many meetings are held with the majority of attendants participating remotely through a secure uplink, oftentimes while travelling from one portion of the Cluster to the other.

Between the junior command positions and the High Command, there exists an additional level of seniority in command within the Royal Hapan Armed Forces, a collection of all senior officers in charge of the most important military units and offices. These officers are often future commanders in the making and have demonstrated extraordinary skills within their regular duties. Senior officer status is issued to various officers serving under the service branches.

Senior Officers Ribbon

Senior officers are identified with this ribbon, which is carried on the left chest of their uniform.