Confederate Minutemen

"We're not called the "Volunteers" because we chose to be here."

- An anonymous militiaman.

While the Confederacy maintains a large, professional army, it is a purely volunteer force and thus only represents a small fraction of the population of the Confederacy. The Army itself pales in size to that of the 'Confederate Volunteers, a civilian militia force meant to serve as a reserve force to the Army, meant to assist with disaster relief and bolster the forces of the regular Army in times of crisis. Despite its name, the Confederate Volunteers is a wholly compulsory force, with both men and women required to join at the age of eighteen and serve a full two year tour of duty, after which they will be called up once a week every month.

The Volunteers can trace their history back to the days of the original COG Army, in which many of the cities of the COG maintained their own militia units, such as the famous Ephyran Light Infantry, which could be requisitioned by the COG in times of need. Many of these militia units fought with valor and distinction on Emergence Day and the months afterwards, often being used as cannon fodder by regular COG officers. In the aftermath of the Locust War and the reformation of the COG, then-Captain Colin Davis began organizing small groups of armed civilians to protect settlements against wildlife and violent Stranded attacks. As time went on and the human population continued to grow, Davis maintained the importance of well trained auxiliary groups, citing the bravery and devotion of similar units during the Locust War.

After the Clayvale Rebellion, now-Colonel Davis continued to develop civilian militias to assist the Army in the event of military reprisals by the Coalition, taking those units already in service in Clayvale and reorganizing them into the first units of the new Confederate Volunteers. The Volunteers would continue to grow as the Confederacy expanded its territory, absorbing Outsider villages and even COG settlements, and would see an absolutely massive expansion following Martizieu's entrance into the Confederacy at the start of the Swarm crisis.

Equipment
Like the rest of the Army, the Confederate Volunteers utilizes the standard issue armor of the old COG. Unlike the Army, the Volunteers don't make use of the Mark 2 Lancer assault rifle, instead using either the Pendulum Wars-era Mark 1 Lancer or the Locust-made Hammerburst II, of which thousands were recovered during and after the war and ammo is readily available. In addition to this, the Volunteers have access to their own aircraft and vehicle inventories, maintaining both air wings and mechanized units, separate from the regular Army.

Known Units

 * 1st Confederate Volunteers
 * 12th Confederate Volunteers
 * 17th Confederate Volunteer Rotary Air Wing
 * 45th Confederate Volunteer Mechanized