Advanced Recon Commando

This article is about the elite soldiers of the Grand Army of the Republic. You may be looking for the ARC-170 starfighter or the episode of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series.

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"Both of you showed valor out there. Real courage. You remind me of me, actually."
"Echo, Fives. You're both officially being made ARC troopers."

―CT-7567 and CC-2224, promoting CT-1409 and CT-5555 to ARC troopers^[src]

Advanced Recon Commandos, also known as ARC troopers, were an elite variant of the clone troopers that served the Galactic Republic. Chosen from the ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic, the status of ARC trooper was bestowed on clones who served with distinction on the battlefield, such as CT-1409 "Echo" and CT-5555 "Fives." The training of clone cadets also served as a means for identifying particular cadets who demonstrated the potential to become future ARC troopers.

ARC troopers such as Commander CT-7567 "Rex" were trained to serve in positions of command in the Grand Army, and could also be sent on challenging assignments less suitable for standard clones. They were given their own unique armor set, which differed greatly from the standard issue kit given to the rank-and-file clone soldiers, being equipped with more components. During the early days of the Clone Wars, ARC trooper armor served as an experimental version of the Phase II clone trooper armor.

History

"Gentlemen, who wants to be an ARC trooper?"
"I do, sir."

―Bounty hunter Bric, to a group of clone cadets^[src]

ARCTrooper-CotR — Advanced Recon Commandos were elite clone troopers in the Grand Army of the Republic.

An elite variant of the standard clone trooper, Advanced Recon Commandos^[2]—also known as ARC troopers—were widely regarded as the best soldiers in the Grand Army of the Republic.^[3] During the Clone Wars, the ARC troopers trained the first wave of Clone Commanders, such as CC-5052 "Bly."^[4] The Rancor Battalion had several ARC troopers, including Clone ARC Commanders "Colt," "Havoc," "Blitz," and another ARC trooper. These ARC troopers were stationed at Tipoca City on Kamino. There they looked for clone cadets that could become ARC troopers, such as the members of Bravo Squad.^[5]

Colt and the other ARC troopers supported the defense of Tipoca City against a Separatist invasion led by General Grievous and the Force-sensitive assassin Asajj Ventress. However, Colt was killed by Ventress while Havoc died fighting a group of aqua droids. Blitz, the last of the ARC troopers during the attack, ordered two ARF troopers to destroy a Trident-class assault ship. In the aftermath of the battle, CT-1409 "Echo" and CT-5555 "Fives" of the 501st Legion were promoted to the status of ARC trooper in recognition of their contribution to the Galactic Republic's victory on Kamino.^[1]

ARCTroopers-SWL70 — ARC troopers Echo and Fives

Echo and Fives were later sent on a mission to rescue Jedi Master Even Piell from the Citadel on Lola Sayu.^[6] The two fought their way through the Citadel. However, Echo was presumed to have died in an explosion while attempting to secure a shuttle.^[7] He survived the blast, but was captured and subjected to experimentation on by the Separatist-aligned Techno Union.^[8] Fives, on the other hand, escaped with the surviving members of his team.^[9]

Fives continued serving in the 501st, from Umbara^[10] to Ringo Vinda,^[11] until his death on Coruscant, where he tried to reveal Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine's role in the bio-chip conspiracy to Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and Clone Captain CT-7567 "Rex."^[12] After the death of Fives, CT-5597 "Jesse"—also of the 501st—was promoted to ARC trooper.^[13] He continued serving as a Lieutenant^[14] in the 501st during the Battle of Anaxes^[13] and through the Siege of Mandalore as part of the 332nd Division.^[15] Following his brief capture by Maul,^[16] Jesse took part in guarding the former Sith while en route to Coruscant.^[17] When the Sith Lord Darth Sidious issued Order 66,^[17] Jesse took command of the 332nd and other troopers from Commander Rex on the Venator-class Star Destroyer^[14] Tribunal.^[18] However, the Star Destroyer crashed on a moon and Jesse was killed along with the rest of the company.^[14]

Equipment

SWBF2 ARC Troopers — ARC troopers in phase I armor

ARC troopers were equipped with ARC trooper armor, a variant of the clone trooper armor.^[5] ARC trooper armor included Phase I ARC Trooper Armor^[19] and Phase II ARC Trooper Armor.^[20] The armor could be outfitted with a double-sided pauldron,^[1] a kama,^[5] and breathmask survival gear.^[11] Each ARC trooper utilized a pair of DC-17 hand blasters,^[5] a DC-15A blaster rifle, a DC-15x sniper rifle and a DC-15A blaster.^[1]

Behind the scenes

According to Genndy Tartakovsky on the DVD commentary for Star Wars: Clone Wars Volume Two, whose story is now considered part of the continuity of Star Wars Legends and not canon, the design of the ARC troopers came from Hasbro.^[source?] They first appeared as Advanced Recon Commandos in the Legends story Republic 50: The Defense of Kamino, a comic from the Star Wars: Republic series by Dark Horse Comics.^[21] In canon, they appeared in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, first seen in "Clone Cadets."^[5]