National Defense Force

The National Defense Force (NDF) refers to the Friedonian military after it reorganization from its previous structure. It was previously known as the Elfrieden Defense Force (EDF) but was changed to the National Defense Force following the annexation of Amidonia. The technical head of the NDF is Kazuya Souma, though the acting top official is Excel Walter.

Structure
The NDF is loosely based on the structure of the Japanese Self-Defense Force.

After the events of the One Week War, Kazuya would name Excel Walter as the Supreme Commander of the NDF with Ludwin Arcs as the second in command. Excel was hesitant to accept the position, but Kazuya promised it would only be until Ludwin gained the experience to command himself.

History
The NDF started shortly before the start of the One Week War. It was formed because Kazuya identified that the way the Elfrieden military was fractured between the Army, Air Force, Navy, Forbidden Army, and Royal Guard created an unstable command structure. He also wanted to specifically address what he saw as the unsuitable distribution of mages to the various branches.

The first two branches of the Elfrieden military to be incorporated into the NDF were the Royal Guard and the Navy. This is due to the fact that Excel Walter, the then Admiral of the Navy, was the only one of the three dukes to side with Kazuya's Royal Guard during the One Week War. Upon the defeat of both Castor Vargas and Georg Carmine, the Air Force and Army were respectively incorporated into the NDF. Due to the fact that the Forbidden Army was built up in part from the forces of the nobles, it was not fully incorporated until after the One Week War.