Green Squadron (Rebel Alliance)

This article is about the Rebel Alliance unit. You may be looking for other uses of the name.

Green Squadron, alternatively known as Green Group or Green Wing, was the name of a number of starfighter squadrons that served the Rebel Alliance throughout the Galactic Civil War.

History[]

Battle of Yavin[]

The squadron provided cover for Blue Squadron during the Battle of Yavin^[5] in an attack run on the superlaser of the Galactic Empire's Death Star superweapon, aiming to disable the weapon and distract Imperial forces from a simultaneous attack on the station's exhaust port.^[4]

Endor[]

In 1 ABY,^[6] a group of Green Squadron's BTL-S3 Y-wing starfighters conducted raids on elements of the Imperial Navy in the Endor system. After a successful mission, Havoc Squadron was dispatched to cover the retreat of Green Squadron.^[3]

Battle of Hoth[]

During the Battle of Hoth, members from the Rebellion's Green and Blue Squadrons and Rogue Flight were cobbled together and pressed into service as a unified "Rogue Squadron," doubling up as pilots and gunners aboard the Rebels' snowspeeders.^[4] The remaining Blues and Greens either piloted evacuating transports or their fighter escorts during the battle.^[2]^[7]

T-65 X-wing starfighter pilots designated with the call signs "Green Leader" and "Green Two" escorted the Otana, the YT-2000 light freighter of the Azzameen family of Rebel-allied traders, as it fled from Imperial forces on Hoth. While a pair of orbiting Imperial II-class Star Destroyers were disabled by a Rebel ion cannon, the squadron leader and wing fought off TIE/LN starfighter pursuit, allowing the Azzameens to escape into hyperspace.^[2]

Green Leader - Unknown pilot^[2]
Green Two - Unknown pilot^[2]
Green Three - Adam Swiftgale^[7]
Green Four - Nichos Panib^[7]
Green Five - Habeer Zignean^[7]

Aboard Defiance[]

After the Battle of Hoth, a Green Group of Rebel pilots was stationed aboard the MC80 Home One type Star Cruiser Defiance, including Green Five Lieutenant Olin Garn, an X-wing pilot who worked with the Azzameen family to procure healing bacta for a secret Rebel hospital, and Green Seven Jorgis, a rookie pilot who was killed in action.^[2]

Green Group employed the use of BTL Y-wing starfighters in a raid on the Imperial convoy Veltnor,^[2] which successfully destroyed the force at the cost of one^[8] of four Y-wings. Later, a nine–Y-wing element of the group was tasked with disabling VTR-LX, a Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser carrying Rebels taken prisoner at Hoth.^[2]

Green Group adopted A/SF-01 B-wing starfighters for a four–ship strike at the Imperial repair team borne by the EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate Monitor, during which it was joined by Azzameen family member Ace Azzameen as Green Two. Six Green Group B-wings would subsequently be deployed to destroy Imperial Sensor array IOS 24 and its Sensor Control station, allowing the Defiance task force to evade Imperial pursuit.^[2]

Green Two - Ace Azzameen^[2]
Green Five - Olin Garn^[2]
Green Seven - Jorgis^[2]

Aboard Liberty[]

After the Defiance's escape, its flight crew were transferred to another Mon Calamari Star Cruiser, the Liberty, during its investigation of the Empire's TIE Experimental Project. A flight group of twelve Green Group B-wings were scrambled in the Calamari Cruiser's defense from the prototype TIEs, and the group's B-wings, rejoined by Azzameen, retaliated with an assault on Obsidian, the project's main research and production facility. The six–ship group^[2] suffered two losses, but destroyed the facility platform and its Imperial Research Ship Sardis, ending the experimental TIE threat.^[8]

A Green Squadron, flying Y-wing and later B-wing starfighters was stationed aboard the Liberty during operations in the Airam sector as well as in the months leading up to the Battle of Endor.

Green Two - Ace Azzameen^[2]

Battle of Endor[]

By 4 ABY,^[9] Green Squadron, also known as Green Group^[1] or Green Wing, consisted of top X-wing pilots assigned to fly RZ-1 A-wing interceptors^[10] as one of the Alliance's four main starfighter battle groups at the Battle of Endor.^[11]

In that engagement, Green Squadron was assigned to defend Rebel capital ships from enemy fighters and bombers,^[12] and upon discovery of the Imperial trap at Endor, was ordered by Admiral Gial Ackbar to stick close to holding sector MV-7 as the fleet took evasive action.^[1] Squadron second-in-command^[11] "Green Wing" was shot down and collided with the Imperial main communications ship,^[13] while Green Two Gemmer Sojan was credited with its destruction.^[4]

Later in the battle, Green Squadron pilots including Tycho Celchu and Jake Farrell^[14] followed Gold Leader Lando Calrissian and Red Leader Wedge Antilles into the superstructure of the Death Star, with Celchu flying top cover for General Calrissian's Millennium Falcon.^[15] As the Rebels approached the reactor core, the A-wing pilots broke off on a run to the surface, hoping to draw the pursuing TIE fighters away from Calrissian and Antilles.^[1] Outside the Death Star, Farrell and Green Leader Arvel Crynyd disabled the shields of the Super Star Destroyer Executor.^[4] Crynyd rammed his A-wing into the Executor's unshielded bridge, resulting in the ship's destruction in a plunge towards the Death Star's surface.^[1]

Green Leader - Arvel Crynyd
Green Wing - Unknown pilot
Green Two - Gemmer Sojan
Green Three - Tycho Celchu^[15]
Green Four - Jake Farrell^[4]

Behind the scenes[]

The Star Wars: A New Hope novelization mentions a Green Squadron covering the squadron that would become the film's Red Squadron. Since only the novelization mentions Green and every other squadron's name changed from novel to film, it was uncertain for many years if that extra squadron was named Green. The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia finally referenced the Battle of Yavin's Green Squadron in 2008.