Clone trooper commander

"The generals command. We implement."

- Clone Commander Bly

Clone trooper commanders were clone troopers bred on Kamino for leadership roles in the Grand Army of the Republic. They fought in the galaxy-wide conflict known as the Clone Wars.

They led regiments of 2,304 clone troopers into battle. Each legion of clone troopers only had one senior clone commander. Sometimes, however, smaller regiments and battalions were led by clone commanders, like Commander Cody, who led the 212th Attack Battalion. When Jedi needed a group of clone troopers, no matter what size, a clone commander would usually join the group to assist the Jedi Generals.

Commander training
Clone commanders received flash-training to fulfill their advanced roles and were also bred with extra capacity for autonomy, tactical thinking and coordination. In combat, they were often assigned to field command centers, but participated with their fellow clone troopers in combat if the situation required it. Their equipment training included the standard clone trooper armor as well as blasters such as the heavy blaster rifle.

ARC training
After success with Advanced Recon Commandos, some ARCs, like Alpha-17, returned to Kamino to retrain clone commanders with ARC skills, making the commanders more independent than they once were. After the commanders were trained, they earned the title "ARC commander", then returned to their legion to train their best clones and assistants in their new skills. Their new, independent training led to distinct personalities among the commanders.

Personalization
In the beginning of the Clone Wars, the clone officers were distinguished by yellow markings on their armor and helmets. The retrained ARC commanders often added more items to their armor, like ARC trooper kamas and pauldrons. Commanders would also don other peripherals like macrobinoculars or Commander Bacara's cheek plating. Some commanders allowed their best troops to also wear ARC armor.

Behind the scenes
In Star Wars: Battlefront II, clone commanders are shown as Galactic Marines with a shoulder-mounted chaingun and a probe droid.

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
 * Kowakian Monkey-Lizard
 * Giant spiders are awesome