Chief gunnery officer/Legends

"There goes another one.''" "''Hold your fire."

- Hija and Bolvan

Chief gunnery officer was an assignment given on Star Destroyers of the Imperial Navy. Under the gunnery captain's command, the chief gunnery officer managed the main weaponry of the Star Destroyer. In 7 BBY, Lieutenant Hija served as the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Devastator chief gunnery officer during the bombardment of the planet Falleen, and, by 0 BBY, Hija was still in service during the Devastator capture of the Rebel Alliance CR90 corvette Tantive IV. Reagal Eron served as the Star Destroyer Eradicator chief gunnery officer during the New Republic era. During Eron's service, the individual recounted a prior incident when, serving as the adjutant of Imperial Governor Isis, Eron witnessed bounty hunter Boba Fett collect his reward for the capture of the pirate Feldrall Okor.

Description
Chief gunnery officer was an assignment on the Star Destroyers of the Galactic Empire's Navy, which could be given to a naval lieutenant. Only one member of this officer rank could serve on the same starship. The chief gunnery officer managed the main weaponry of the vessel under the command of the gunnery captain.

History
The Human male Lieutenant Hija served the Imperial Navy as the chief gunnery officer aboard the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Devastator, where he managed the Star Destroyer's main weaponry. In 7 BBY, he was in charge when the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader ordered the bombardment of the planet Falleen in order to stop a bacterial plague that was spreading from a laboratory on the planet.

Seven years later, during the battle of Tatooine in the Galactic Civil War, Hija, still serving aboard the Devastator, spotted an escape pod jettisoned from the captured Tantive IV, one of the Rebel Alliance's CR90 corvettes. However, his superior, Gunnery Captain Bolvan, ordered him not to fire because the Star Destroyer's gunnery sensors indicated that no lifeforms were aboard. The escape pod, in truth, contained the Rebel droids C-3PO and R2-D2, in possession of the stolen plans for the Empire's DS-1 Orbital Battle Station superweapon.

At some point during the New Republic era, Reagal Eron served as the chief gunnery officer of the Star Destroyer Eradicator. During that service, Eron recounted a prior incident, during which the individual had served as the adjutant of Imperial Governor Isis, of witnessing bounty hunter Boba Fett collect his reward for the capture of pirate Feldrall Okor.

Behind the scenes
The rank of chief gunnery officer first appeared in the December 1976 novelization of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster. In the novel, Hija was referred to as one of Bolvan's chief gunnery officers, but later sources suggest that there was only one of this officer on the Devastator. Hija was addressed as "Chief Pilot" in the Revised Fourth Draft of A New Hope. In 1994, Galaxy Guide 10: Bounty Hunters released the story This Guy Just Doesn't Care, which featured a narrative told from the perspective of Reagal Eron, the chief gunnery officer of the Star Destroyer Eradicator.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope novelization
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope junior novelization
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars: A New Hope - The Special Edition 1
 * Star Wars Manga: A New Hope 1
 * Star Wars: A New Hope - The Special Edition 1
 * Star Wars Manga: A New Hope 1

Non-canon appearances

 * William Shakespeare's Star Wars