Planetary Armed Forces

   In a recent note, Robert S. Dean asked whether high-tech worlds would
bother having ground forces, since such worlds are not likely to see
large ground battles, and whether low-tech worlds would bother having forces
at all, since they would not be of much use against attack from higher-tech
neighbors.
   Dealing with the high-tech case first, remember that in the world today
most national armies exist with the primary function of either protecting
the government from its own citizens or for controlling the government.  Very
few nations have the ability to conduct protracted military operations beyond
their own borders.  Thus ground forces for internal security could be very
sizeable, and not just in a balkanized situation.  Governments in which the
military is the final judge of political conflict (a la Chile, Argentina,
Brazil), governments where the military is split along political lines and
thereby maintains some sort of balance of power (China, perhaps), governments
where different military branches are an important part of the federal system
(USA), all of these would necesitate sizeable ground forces even if there was
no threat from outside.  This ignore governments of planets in rebellion and
pure military government, as well as feudal government.
   I myself wondered about the utility of low-tech armed forces for a while,
but now think I have a justification for them.  They are there to protect
the planet from casual interference, not from determined attack.  Think about
the walls that midieval towns had, and the town levies.  Not particularly
useful against military attack, but useful against bandits, pirates, and
roving vagabonds (i.e. most traveller players).  They also perform(ed) an
important psychological role when dealing with higher authority, giving the
people a certain sense of independence.