2017 Acadian Rearmament Program

The 2017 Acadian Rearmament Program was a military program by the Acadian government following the Antarctic War on Terrorism. Both President Esser and the Acadian Parliament realized that the Acadian Defense Forces needed improvement, since though they had improved since their founding, they were using equipment from twenty years ago. Threats of war with the United States of Antarctica early in the year highlighted fears of the Acadian people, while new tactics used in the Antarctic War on Terror motivated the Acadian government to keep their military up to date.

History
Although a small country, Acadia had a formidable military that was considered to be skilled on the battlefield by both its allies and enemies, earning multiple victories particularly during the War of 2002, which was Acadia's largest war by the number of soldiers fighting in it. This was in part due to the expertise of Acadia's first president, Greg Cleanington, a highly decorated general, having seen much combat with an Acadian regiment in the Puffish army, who was one of the main leaders of the Revolutionists during the Antarctic Revolution.

Acadia remained neutral in many of Antarctica's wars after the War of 2002, until 2012, when Acadia joined the Ed-Snowinn War on the side of the Snowinians, after the Acadians believed that Ed Island attempted to plot with the United States of Antarctica to annex Acadia. The country began sending thousands of troops to Ed Island to help its ally Snowiny against the Ed Islandians, but both countries were ultimately defeated, with Acadia being blockaded for the rest of the war after the Ed Islandian and Magyarian navies won several battles against the Acadian navy.

When the Antarctic War on Terrorism broke out, Acadia was one of the first countries to aid Snowiny in crushing the terrorists, and deployed 15,000 soldiers to the Penland region to reinforce the Snowinian soldiers. Though Acadian soldiers fought in most of the war, and had initial victories, setbacks later in the war led to a months long stalemate in Penland. Acadia also joined in the Snowinian invasion of Macradonia, which succeeded at first, but both countries were soon forced to leave Macradonia under threat of invasion from the Free Republic Union.

Additionally, following the Bow Tie War, a minor engagement during the Antarctic War on Terrorism, Acadia's relations with the Dorkugese Empire soured, as Acadia blamed Dorkugal for its defeat during the war. Because of this, the United States of Antarctica stepped to Dorkugal's defense. The election of Megg to the office of President of the United States of Antarctica only worsened matters, because her Vice President, Happyface141, who was notably anti-Acadian, threatened war with Acadia in a speech to the South Pole Council in early 2017.

These events brought concern to both Acadian politicians and military commanders, as a weaker military would've meant that the sovereignty of the country was in danger, and a bill was soon introduced in the Acadian Parliament to make plans toward rearmament and to allocate more funding towards said rearmament. The bill, called the Military Expansion and Improvement Act, passed with the support of most of Parliament, although the Liberals and Socialists were dissatisfied with the increasing militarism, and it was signed into law by President Brant Esser.

For months while the bill was being drafted and after it became law, military experts began drafting plans for the rearmament, focusing on strengthening and preserving the aspects of the military that were the strongest, while paying added attention to and improving the aspects of the military that needed it. The country's military budget was also increased from about 7% of Acadia's GDP to about 10% of Acadia's GDP to finance the rearmament, with funding for other programs deemed less important being allocated towards the military budget.

Program
The report issued by the commission that was created to create a plan for the rearmament showed that the Acadian Army was the strongest branch of the military, while the air force and navy were both lacking in adequate equipment. Overall, the report showed that the Acadian Defense Forces was still largely using equipment inherited from the Puffish forces in Acadia, although the Acadian entrance into the Western Union two years earlier meant that Acadia was now purchasing more modern equipment from the WU member states. Based this report, a plan for the rearmament for drafted and revised.


 * Self reliance of Acadia in creating new military equipment, including the expansion of the arms industry
 * Improvement of the navy, including the building of more high tech ships
 * Improvement of the air force, including the building of more high tech planes and other flying equipment
 * Building of more and better artillery for the army
 * Increase military funding
 * Build a major stockpile of missiles and other WMDs
 * Expand the civilian militia to increase defense of the country
 * Create an Acadian Space Command to defend future space colonies

Phase I
The rearmament program would obviously need extra funding, so funding from programs that were deemed less important, such as welfare and related programs, were diverted towards the military, with taxes and tariffs seeing an increase in order to pay for the rearmament program. A commission that was created to plan the rearmament program reported on which aspects and branches of the military needed the most improvement, and as such, in Phase I, more funding was diverted towards the branches that needed more attention, although every branch of the military received an increase in funding.

Phase II
Acadia was somewhat of a major arms producer on the Antarctic stage, with the arms industry making up a large part of the Acadian economy, in part due to policies first enacted under the Cleanington administration. Phase II of the rearmament program planned to expand the Acadian arms industry further, through the construction of additional weapons factories in the Acadian colonies. These high tech weapons would replace the older equipment that the Acadian military was using, while surplus weapons produced would be sold to Acadia's allies, most notably the Western Union member states.

The air force and navy, branches that were deemed to have needed improvement, began to be equipped with the new equipment after they were finished, and the air force and navy both saw an increase in equipment. While production was moving at a fast rate, it wouldn't move fast enough to see a major change in the military, so Acadia also purchased many weapons from the Western Union member states during this time. The largest purchase occurred in February 2019, when Acadia purchased used equipment from the United Provinces that were no longer needed after the downsizing of the UP military.

Phase III
Acadia originally had a small missile stockpile, although President Greg Cleanington began to make plans to expand the stockpile towards the end of his second term, plans that were never carried out during his term, instead being carried out by his successor, Dominic Smith. Despite the expansion, Acadia's missile stockpile was still small compared to many of the other powerful countries. Phase III involved the construction and purchase of additional missiles to add to Acadia's stockpile, with Acadia buying 50 Surface to Surface Missiles and 15 Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles.

Phase IV
Despite having a somewhat powerful military, Acadia also had a civilian militia, or home guard, to serve as the final line of defense in case of an invasion, something that had existed from the days of Puffish colonial rule. Although the home guard was deployed only once, and never saw combat, the Acadian government has stressed the importance of the militia in defending the country. Under Acadian law, every citizen that was deemed eligible was required to keep a standard issue military rifle in their home in case of an invasion, a cost provided for partly by the government.

In Phase IV of the rearmament program, home guard armories were properly stocked with adequate weapons and equipment to equip the home guardsmen living in the area around the armory. Previously, the armories were often lacking in weapons, with the home guardsmen being expected to bring their own weapons and equipment when called into action. Additionally, proper standard training was devised for the home guard as well, with the guardsmen being trained in basic military tactics to make them a more effective force in case of an invasion of the country.

Phase V
The final phase of the rearmament was not carried out until early 2018, shortly after the founding of Acadia's first extraterrestrial colony, the Acadian Lunar Colony. Phase V involved the creation of the Space Command, a branch of the air force that would serve as a defense force for Acadia in space. As the creation of a space command was unprecedented in Acadia's history, and there was no example to follow from, Acadia borrowed many ideas from countries that had already developed a space command, including the fellow WU member state of Margate and Shops Island.

Acadia had plans to launch five spacecraft, two space stations, and three satellites into space by the end of 2018, with two of the spacecraft and one of the space stations being military related. The military related spacecraft and space stations were only launched after the training of the space command astronauts had been completed. To this day, Acadia's military operations in space remain on a small scale so as to not provoke larger countries such as Ed Island and Shops Island, and Acadia has not begun any military operations on the Moon either due to this.

Public Support
Overall, most of the public supported the Military Improvement and Expansion Act and the Rearmament Program, and were more satisfied that their country was strengthening. However, a small number of the Liberals and Socialists in Parliament, along with a small percentage of the population, opposed it, claiming Acadia was trying to subdue smaller countries. A few anti-war protests broke out in Delphi, Acadia, but were quickly quelled by riot police, and the anti-war protesters were denounced as traitors by the Acadian government for not supporting the strengthening of the country.

Trivia

 * The Acadian Rearmament Program itself was inspired by the Margatian Rearmament Program three years earlier, but the Acadians created their own plans for rearmament instead of being inspired by the Margatians' plans.