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- "I enlisted to fly TIE fighters so I could get off Corellia. Ended up discharged all the way down to the infantry."
- ―Han Solo reflects on being a soldier
Imperial Army troopers, also known as Imperial Army soldiers, were soldiers that deployed during the reign of the Galactic Empire by the Imperial Army, as its main infantry throughout the galaxy. Formed from eager and often young conscripts, Army troopers served as expeditionary units of the Empire's ground forces, tasked with the subjugation of worlds that dared to resist the Emperor's rule. They were often members of local planetary defense forces who fought during the Clone Wars and were conscripted into the Imperial Military. Though they were separate from the more elite stormtroopers, army infantry fought alongside the notoriously zealous shock troops in order to bolster Imperial effectiveness during battle. The Imperial Army gradually upgraded and replaced the soldiers with stormtroopers as more planets fell under the control of the Galactic Empire, though army soldiers remained a core component of the galaxy-spanning regime.[3]
Contents
History[edit | edit source]
- "This is where I sign up to be a pilot, right?"
"If you apply for the Imperial Navy, but most recruits go into the infantry." - ―Han Solo and Recruitment officer Drawd Munbrin
Imperial Army soldiers served as the main ground infantry of the Galactic Empire throughout the galaxy.
In 14 BBY,[3] Imperial Army troopers[5] fought under Moff Delian Mors against the Free Ryloth movement, a coalition of freedom fighters founded by Cham Syndulla.[3] During the Mimban campaign in 10 BBY, Army soldiers fought alongside wet-weather gear stormtroopers against the Mimbanese Liberation Army in an effort to secure the world of Mimban and its abundance of natural resources.[1] Among the swamp troopers was the young Han Solo, a former attendee of the Naval Academy on Carida who had been transferred to infantry duty on Mimban due to multiple counts of insubordination. Solo served as a corporal within the 224th Imperial Armored Division, an army strike force commissioned to pacify the Mimbanese guerillas.[1]
Equipment[edit | edit source]
Armor[edit | edit source]
- "How do they breathe in these suits? It's so stuffy! No wonder they're such lousy pilots. You can't turn your head, you can't breathe, you can't hear each other!"
- ―Rio Durant criticizes the uncomfortable nature of Imperial gear
An Imperial Army soldier in full swamp gear wielding an E-10 blaster rifle.
Imperial Army troopers[5] utilized a set of armor similar to that of the Imperial officer battle armor, with the addition of polarized goggles and respirator masks to filter out toxic substances. The set also featured shin guards and colored bicep bands that denoted the trooper's rank, with red indicating a soldier and white indicating a medic. Swamp troopers of the 224th Imperial Armored Division possessed waterproof capes in order to keep mud from gathering within the gaps of their armor.[1]
Weaponry[edit | edit source]
As the grunts of the Imperial Military,[1] Army troopers[5] had access to the extensive arsenal deployed by the Galactic Empire. This included the E-10, E-11, and E-22 blaster rifles, SX-21 pump-action scatter blasters, DLT-19 heavy blaster rifles, and sidearms such as the EC-17 hold-out blaster.[1]
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Lords of the Sith (First appearance)
- Solo: A Star Wars Story
- Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition
- Solo: A Star Wars Story: Meet the Crew
- Solo: A Star Wars Story Adaptation 1
- Solo: A Star Wars Story Adaptation 2
- Star Wars 58 (Indirect mention only)
- Target Vader 5 (Appears in flashback(s))
- "In Service to the Empire"—Empire Ascendant 1 (Appears in flashback(s))
- Bounty Hunters 6 (Appears in flashback(s))
- Aftermath: Empire's End (Indirect mention only)
Sources[edit | edit source]
- Forged in Battle (First identified as Imperial Army soldier)
- Solo: A Star Wars Story The Official Guide
- Starships and Speeders (First identified as Imperial Army trooper)
