The Rebel Alliance was small enough that trying to capture a Super Star Destroyer would have tied up the rebellion - they did not have enough resources to keep one running - that’s why Home One was the largest vessel in their inventory during the Galactic Civil War.Ĭommander Bob Hudsol? Isn't he called a General in the Star Wars Holiday Special? And shouldn't he be an admiral instead of general since he is wearing blue?Ĭommander Hudsol may in fact be a General - however, he may hold the position of Commander. It has collections of ships, and officers who can crew them whenever possible, and relies heavily on small craft and starfighters. While there is an Alliance Council or an Rebel High Command, the Rebel Alliance is not as well funded, nor as vast, as the Galactic Empire. Īlderaan is one planet, and the Rebel Alliance is a collection of various rebellions working together to achieve a single goal. Also, in the Middle Ages, warships were typically merchant vessels that were hired by the crown - the person in charge of the ship was the Ship's Master, and the ship carried a company of embarked soldiers commanded by an Army Captain. One Service, multiple branches, working together as a unified force. The Rebellion has to have complex joint operations between the Navy, Army, Starfighters, Special Operations, and so forth - and so they are set up in a similar to the Canadian Armed Forces. One of the short-falls of the Galactic Empire was inter-service rivalries - Ben Adams explains how this was an issue for the Empire - but the Rebellion cannot afford this problem. “Well,” some may also ask, “why the mix of naval and ground-forces ranks?” Because, unlike the Galactic Empire, the Rebel Alliance is a Combined Service. The Royal Navy didn’t get Sub-lieutenants 1861, and the US Navy didn’t get Ensigns until 1862. And some may ask “why not Ensign or Sub-lieutenant” (depending on which variation of English you may be accustomed to) - well, Ensign was the lowest officer grade until the 19th Century. And the early United States Navy did not have the rank of Admiral until 1862 - up until then, the highest rank was Captain, with an appointment of Flag Officer. Consider the United States Revenue Cutter Service, the precursor to the United States Coast Guard: it had a simple officer rank structure of Captain, First Lieutenant, Second Lieutenant, and Third Lieutenant. However, with the forces available to the Rebel Alliance, it is conceivable that it is not necessary to have more than these five officer ranks. However, now that Disney has acquired Star Wars, all of this is now Legends, and we have a new expanded universe to play in.Īccording to Saxton, “ any realistic military force there must be at least ten levels of officer seniority” - which I would agree with under normal circumstances. ![]() His work holds up for the most part, although I think that he over-inflated the Rebel Alliance’s ranks slightly. He created marvelous explanations for the insignia that we see in A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, using the on-screen characters, the given ranks, what real-world ranks are, and using math to give us what insignia must correspond to what officer grade based off all available information. I believe that there is a simple solution for this that covers all of the bases, save for one inconsistent badge.īefore I describe this, I must mention the beautiful work that Curtis Saxton put in on the STAR WARS Technical Commentaries website. ![]() However, Captain Cassian Andor and Captain Kado Oquoné wear green rank plaques, which throws a wrench into both systems. I believe that the Resistance took its rank structure directly from the Rebel Alliance.Īccording to the canon reference book, Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide, the Alliance’s rank structure is Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Commander, Colonel, General, which is taken from the Alderaanian standard - this is similar to the description in the Legends roleplaying book Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, except that the roleplaying book indicates that red is designated for the army designation while blue is designated for the navy. The Resistance is inspired by the Alliance to Restore the Republic (aka the Rebel Alliance), as the New Republic was unwilling to stand up to the threat of the First Order. In my review of The Last Jedi, I mentioned that the officer rank structure for the Resistance is canonically Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Commander, Colonel, General/Admiral (although Amilyn Holdo is a Vice Admiral and Nien Nunb is a Lieutenant Commander, but that’s not germane to this post).
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