British Armed Forces Commander-in-chief is the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II, to whom members of the forces swear allegiance. The UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the British Army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, as required by the Bill of Rights 1689. The Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and Royal Marines among with all other forces do not require this act. The armed forces are managed by the Defence Council of the Ministry of Defence, headed by the Secretary of State for Defence. The United Kingdom is one of five recognised nuclear powers, is
Royal Lao Armed Forces the predecessor of the Royal Lao Army – really began to take shape. By July 1959, it was known as the Laotian Armed Forces (French: "Forces Armées Laotiènnes" – FAL), and in September 1961, was renamed Royal Armed Forces (French: "Forces Armées du Royaume" – FAR). Throughout its existence, the Laotian Armed Forces were plagued by an ineffective leadership, particularly at senior levels, which often led to chain-of-command problems. The earlier colonial ANL units in the French Protectorate of Laos consisted mostly of uneducated Laotian peasant recruits led by French officers and senior NCOs; those few Laotians promoted from the