Alliance Army

The Alliance Army, also known as the rebel army, was a military branch containing the ground forces of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Ranking members of the Rebel army could be identified by a pips with green markings. Eventually, it was replaced by the New Republic army.

Description

Organization

The rebel army was composed of a variety of different soldiers and mercenaries. The Imperial occupations of many species' homeworlds resulted in an abundance of warriors native to those worlds to enlist in the rebel army. Such warriors included Drabatan Saboteurs, Iakaru Warriors, Wookiee warriors, and Gigoran Fighters.^[13] The rebel trooper was one of the standard types of trooper used by the army.^[7]

The rebel army maintained several elite troopers for their operations. Such troopers included the Ithorian Infiltrator, the Bufopel Protector, the Rebel pathfinder, the Rebel Commando^[13] the Rebel Honor Guard^[7] and the marines from the Marine Corps.^[14] The rebel army maintained several troopers that specialized in a specific environment, such as the Cold-weather Soldier and the Desert Soldier.^[13] Members of "Fisheye Company" were specialized to fight in aquatic environments.^[15]

The army of the Alliance was composed of a wide array of specialized soldiers that specialized in certain weapons, missions, or tactics. For heavy ordinances, the Alliance's army employed the Heavy Soldier, the Cold-weather Heavy Soldier, the Heavy Desert Soldier, the Rebel Vanguard,^[13] the Quarren Heavy Gunner, the Sullustan Demolition,^[16] and the Special-weapons flamethrower.^[2] The army also utilized jetpack-equipped soldiers such as the Jetpack Trooper, the Arctic Jetpack Trooper, the Desert Jetpack Trooper, the Forest Jetpack Trooper,^[13] the Ishi Tib Jetpack Trooper,^[16] and the rocket-jumper.^[17]

The army also made use of several types of sniper-equipped troopers, including the Rebel Marksman,^[7] the Rodian Sniper,^[16] and the Sullustan Recon Sharpshooter. The rebel army also had mounted troopers, which consisted of the Bantha Rider and the Tauntaun Rider.^[13] Alliance gunners maintained and used heavy weaponry.^[9] To bolster their forces, the army's mercenaries consisted of Dowutin Hunters, Fathier Riders, Gamorrean Warriors, Luggabeast Munitioneers, Tognath Marksmen, and Twi'lek Incinerators.^[13] Combat engineers were also used by the rebel army, and specialized in engineering operations on the battlefield.^[2]

Divisions

The Rebel Alliance Special Forces branch was organized under the Alliance Army,^[4] and so units such as the Marine Corps, the Yavin 4 Special Forces division and 4th SpecForce Regiment were placed under it.^[3] Battalions were also within the Alliance Army, an example being a rebel battalion dispatched to Vrogas Vas.^[18] The Alliance Army consisted of hundreds of battle groups that could be organized as companies. Examples of Alliance companies were the 61st Mobile Infantry "Twilight Company", the Sixty-Eighth Infantry "Fisheye Company", "Bitter Pill Company,"^[15] and a company that defended Vrogas Vas.^[18]

Strike teams such as the Endor strike team were also deployed.^[2] Other units included the Twenty-First, the Thirty-Second Infantry "Bleeding Roughnecks",^[15] the 32nd Commando Unit, the Special Forces Trackers Unit, the Stardust unit, the Vapetailers unit, and the Shrikes recon unit.^[2] The Tatooine rebel cell was a large Alliance Army group as well.^[13]

Smaller units were also active, such as Red Platoon,^[19] second platoon,^[20] Ette Shi'lou's marine platoon,^[21] Taidu Sefla's SpecForces platoon,^[22] as well as squads like Delta Squad,^[20] Extraction Team Bravo,^[3] M.A.R. Corps,^[23] and squads led by Ajax, Carver, Charmer's, Fektrin, Namir, Twitch, and Zab.^[15]

Training

Theoretically, all Rebel soldiers were trained the same way, using a field guide known as the White Book. According to the White Book, training was to be divided into three to four phases; the first two were identical for every soldier, while the third had two types, one for ground forces and another for space forces. The fourth phase was used to train special forces.^[15]

In reality, only base troops actually underwent a formal training as suggested by the White Book. In Twilight Company, for example, training consisted of little more than being shown how to use a blaster. Alliance Special Forces training taught a number of skills, including using antique slugthrowers, disarming proximity mines, and rappelling off of ray shields. According to Kryndal, about a third of the personnel at Echo Base had undergone Special Forces training.^[15]

Equipment

Vehicles

The vehicles of the rebel army originated from varied sources. In addition to their own vehicles, the rebel army obtained several that dated back to the Clone Wars to both the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and the army also supplemented its forces with stolen Imperial vehicles such as the All Terrain Anti Aircraft, All Terrain Armored Transport, the All Terrain Scout Transport, the All Terrain Defense Turret, and the TX-225 GAVw "Occupier" combat assault tank. Clone Wars-era vehicles included the Republic's All Terrain Tactical Enforcer, the All Terrain Reconnaissance Transport, the All Terrain Attack Pod, TX-130 Saber-class fighter tank,^[24] and the Confederacy's Armored Assault Tank, IG-227 Hailfire-class droid tank, the Multi-Troop Transport and the Umbaran mobile heavy cannon.^[13]

In addition, the Clone Wars-era and Imperial vehicles were supplemented by the army's Arrow-23, Heavy Tracker, Freerunner, Ultra-Light Assault Vehicle,^[2] Juggernaut, Keelkana-class attack submersible,^[25] A-A5 Speeder Truck, T2-B Repulsor Tank, Enhanced T2-B Repulsor Tank,^[13] MLC-3 light tank, the Endor Forest Ranger, the 74-Z speeder bike,^[7] X-34 landspeeder,^[17] T-47 airspeeder,^[9] and the V-4X-D ski speeder.^[13]

In addition, the rebel army also heavily modified vehicles to better suit their purposes. Several of these modified vehicles included the Elite AT-TE, the Anti-Vehicle Skiff, the Cold-weather Hailfire Droid, and the Enhanced AT-AP Walker.^[13] Also in its arsenal, the army utilized stationary artillery pieces. Such weapons included the 1.4 FD P-Tower, the DF.9 turret placement,^[26] the V-232 artillery emplacement, the V-120 artillery emplacement,^[27] and the v-150 Planet Defender.^[26] Rumor held that almost the entire production run of the Versatile-Athletic Walker was donated to the Alliance by Baktoid Industrial Systems engineers, who wanted to show their appreciation to the Alliance for being granted asylum from the Empire.^[28]

Weapons and utilities

The rebel army was well equipped with a variety of infantry weapons such as blaster rifles, which included the A280 blaster rifle,^[29] the A280C blaster rifle,^[9] the A-300 blaster rifle, the A280-CFE blaster, the A310 rifle, the DH-17 blaster rifle^[14] the E-5C, and at times the stolen E-11 medium blaster rifle.^[17] Members of the rebel army also used the DH-17 blaster pistol,^[9] the A180 pistol,^[14] the DLT-20A blaster rifle,^[20] the "Roba" M-45 repeating ion blaster,^[3] the Vulk TAU-6-23 "Blastmill" rotary blaster cannon, the Z-6 rotary blaster cannon,^[13] and the Mark II EWHB-10.^[9]

For heavy ordnance, the rebel army was equipped with the PLX-1,^[15] the RPS-6 rocket launcher,^[30] the HH-12 rocket launcher,^[14] and the Smart Rocket.^[16] The Alliance had rank insignia, though they were rarely seen in smaller cells or units such as mobile infantry companies.^[15]

History

Background

Around 19 BBY,^[32] at the first meeting between Senator Mon Mothma, Senator Bail Prestor Organa, and the Partisan leader Saw Gerrera as a triumvirate, the three informally established the beginnings of their revolutionary alliance. Gerrera promised to bring together the roots of a rebel army that would oppose the reigning Galactic Empire, marking himself as their blooming alliance's military heart, whereas Organa and Mothma would establish themselves as its ideological and political centers, respectively.^[31]

Formation

The Alliance Army^[2] was the ground forces^[1] of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, which had been founded by Mothma in 2 BBY to organize the various rebel cells and factions scattered across the galaxy.^[10] Ahead of the Alliance's official formation, as the group became increasingly formalized, the makings of the Alliance Army could be found on the moon Yavin 4,^[33] where Mothma and fellow rebel organizer Bail Prestor Organa intended to base their organized revolution. Mothma's cousin Vel Sartha helped organize the new recruits^[34] of the growing army.^[33] With the official formation of the Alliance,^[10] the formalized Alliance Army came into being, with rebel troopers as its identified infantry soldiers.^[35] As the years had passed, however, Gerrera's extreme tactics had created friction with Mothma.^[14]

All the same, however, the Battle of Atollon would prove to the Alliance that it was not yet ready for open war,^[36] leading to an era of surgical strikes instead of focusing on wide scale conflict.^[37] In 1 BBY,^[38] General Davits Draven assigned various rebel ground units, including a platoon of Special Forces marines led by Lieutenant Taidu Sefla and the Pathfinders, to support Operation Fracture depending on what happened on Jedha.^[5] Members of the Special Forces' Extraction Team Bravo also rescued Jyn Erso from the Imperial prison on Wobani.^[3] Shortly later, rebel ground forces raced to the planet Scarif under Erso as the "Rogue One" unit to steal the Death Star plans. In the ensuing Battle of Scarif, the Alliance marshalled the rest of its forces, reinforcing Rogue One on the ground and with air support,^[14] in what became its first major victory against the Empire. Shortly after that, rebel pilot Luke Skywalker destroyed the Death Star in the Battle of Yavin.^[8]

In action

Forces of the Alliance Army rallied to the planet Vrogas Vas in an attempt to capture or kill the Imperial enforcer and Sith Lord Darth Vader, who crashed onto the surface after a collision with Skywalker. Vader took on members of the Vrogas Vas company. Vrogas Vas-based rebel forces were reinforced by another battalion during the battle.^[18] The second platoon and Delta Squad engaged Vader.^[20] With rebel forces pushed into a retreat in the end,^[39] the battle resulted in an Imperial victory.^[40]

At some point, the uprising on Molos was waged by the newly formed Molos army, who would fight as rebel forces in the ensuing Battle of Molopolis.^[21] A rebel platoon, whose number included a rebel trooper who felt a tension in the air, waited for weeks before launching an ambush on an Imperial supply convoy. The battle was on the verge of ending with a victory for the Alliance until Vader revealed himself, much to the horror of the rebels.^[41]

Rebel ground forces including the 61st Mobile Infantry or "Twilight Company"^[15] saw action against General Maximilian Veers' elite Blizzard Force during the Battle of Hoth in 3 ABY. Rebel infantry, artillery, and snowspeeders fought in the defense of Echo Base but were overwhelmed by Blizzard Force's AT-AT walkers.^[9] Twilight Company also saw action during several campaigns of the Galactic Civil War including the Mid Rim Retreat, Operation Ringbreaker, and the Siege of Inyusu Tor. During the Mid Rim Retreat, the Bitter Pill Company, Twenty-First company, and the aquatic Sixty-Eighth Infantry were deployed in various diversionary actions against the Imperial Army.^[15]

Battle of Endor

During the Battle of Endor, General Han Solo led a strike team to Endor to disable the second Death Star's shield generator. Solo's strike team forged an alliance with local Ewok tribes and succeeded in storming the Imperial base and destroying the shield generator. This turned the tide of the battle against the Empire, leading to the death of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader.^[29] The morning after the Battle of Endor, General Solo led the Pathfinders on an attack against an Imperial outpost on the far side of Endor. Though the Pathfinders and their Ewok allies eliminated the Imperial holdout, Solo warned that the war was far from over.^[6]

Wretch of Tayron

Solo later led the Pathfinders on a raid against an Imperial Security Bureau black site at the Wretch of Tayron. As a result of the raid, the Alliance obtained intelligence about the Emperor's posthumous Operation: Cinder.^[42]

Legacy

In the months following the Battle of Endor, the Rebel army transitioned into the New Republic's army as the Alliance took steps to restore the Republic.^[11]

Appearances

Sources

• Star Wars: Card Trader Set: Base Series 1, Card: Rebel Fleet Trooper - Rebel Alliance
• Star Wars: Complete Locations
• Poe Dameron: Flight Log
• Star Wars: Rogue One: Rebel Dossier
• Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide
• Star Wars: On the Front Lines
• Star Wars: The Rebel Files (First identified as Alliance army)
• Star Wars Bust Collection: Darth Vader Character: Darth Vader (Picture only)
• Star Wars Bust Collection: Stormtrooper Character: Stormtroopers (Appears as a corpse)
• Cyphers and Masks (First identified as Alliance Army)
• Star Wars: Build Your Own X-Wing 62 Starfighter Aces: R2-D2 — Going Solo (Indirect mention only)
• Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian — "Directing"
• Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian — "Cast"
• "Imperial Troops" — Star Wars Encyclopedia (Picture only)
• "The Battle of Hoth and the Second Death Star" — Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Star Wars: The Mandalorian: Guide to Season One
• Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian — "Making of the Season 2 Finale"

Non-canon sources

• LEGO Star Wars: Build Your Own Adventure

Notes and references