Admiral

Admirals form the backbone of the Sparnell Armed Forces' long-term strategic planning, their rank also granting membership into Sparnell Fleet Command. This is the pinnacle of influence within the Sparnell Confederation, limited only by the Fleet Admiral.

Appointment

An admiral is promoted from Vice Admiral once an opening is available in Sparnell Fleet Command. Typically this is due to the loss of an existing admiral due to retirement, incapacitation, or even outright removal, although certain occasions throughout history have also inspired an increase in the number of positions within the coveted leadership organization. Fleet Command will most often choose the new admiral with a series of nomination speeches, followed by a vote. In cases of a tie, the favored candidates are often invited to speak on their own behalf prior to a final vote. The Fleet Admiral has full authority to select the new candidate without any input should they so choose, but rarely becomes involved in the debates or even votes, aside from naming their own candidate during the initial nomination round. In cases of a deadlock the Fleet Admiral is also officially the deciding vote, although in past cases a simple recess to think things through overnight before returning the next day has been sufficient to resolve these as well, a process the Fleet Admiral often chooses to encourage through private meetings and public acknowledgements of gratitude for their thoughtful deliberations.

Benefits

Promotion to admiral also includes a position within Sparnell Fleet Command, further increasing an individual's prestige and political prowess, and subsequently, that of their Family. This allows them a greater say in the military and even often daily decisions of the Confederation, including access to the Margold Family's assigned Advisors for factional, fleet, and even personal decisions, although the Fleet Admiral carried the authority to override these choices at any time should they fail to align with her own plans. As with vice admirals, full admirals are also permitted to Claim new recruits to join their fleets, including retaining the services of a TAG. Additionally, while an admiral may have one or even several additional TAGs in training, they are still only permitted one fully trained TAG. Some admirals also choose to expand their fleets beyond the traditional two of a vice admiral, although others will instead continue to grow the size of the fleets they have already.

Grounds for Removal/Dismissal

An admiral may be removed if they lose the support of the majority of Sparnell Fleet Command. While not as common as cutthroat Sparnelli politics would suggest, this has happened often enough to set precedents on when Fleet Command will begin to consider removal. Most common occurrences include:

an admiral managing to alienate the majority of Fleet Command, due to open handed attacks against others or other inept politicking,
an admiral's Family losing favor due to the unforgivable actions of one or several Family members, particularly if Fleet Command feels no suitable sanctions have been imposed upon the Family members in question, and
treasonous behavior, from either the admiral or their Family.

The Fleet Admiral can also remove an admiral from their role at any time for any reason, although this power is rarely exercised due to the political implications. The removal of Admiral Margold Talenthic and subsequent elevation of Commodore Kydell to Vice Admiral remains the most notorious example in recent memory, although some would argue this example does not count due to Admiral Margold's desertion and disappearance prior to Kydell's discovery of proof of his treason. Upon removal of an admiral, several events are set in motion to restabilize the fleet. If their Commodore is not implicated in the reasons for dismissal, they will be promoted to vice admiral and take command of their former admiral's fleet. In cases such as Admiral Margold's, where the commodore is also implicated, they will also be removed from command and a commodore of Fleet Command's choosing will instead be promoted and awarded the fleet. Meanwhile, the admiral's position at Fleet Command will be filled by promoting an existing vice admiral of Fleet Command's choosing into the role of admiral. Similar measures are taken in the case of an admiral's retirement or incapacitation, with the exception that the admiral's Family is often permitted a single vote alongside Fleet Command when their replacement is selected. In this way, the ranks of Fleet Command remain full, and the path of promotion to an admiralty remains open to all those with the drive to earn the necessary prestige and glory.