Imperial Army troopers, also known as Imperial Army soldiers, were the standard infantry soldiers deployed by the Imperial Army of the Galactic Empire throughout the galaxy. These troopers, who were separate from the elite white-armored stormtroopers and the fleet troopers of the Imperial Navy, were formed from young, eager conscripts and served as expeditionary units tasked with subjugating worlds that dared resist the Emperor's rule.
Army troopers were originally comprised of members drawn from local planetary defense forces who fought during the Clone Wars and were conscripted into the Imperial Military. These troopers often fought alongside the notoriously zealous stormtroopers in order to bolster military effectiveness on the battlefield. Although the Stormtrooper Corps would be greatly expanded as more planets fell under Imperial control, conscripted army troopers remained a core component of the galaxy-spanning regime, serving as an unyielding reminder of the Empire's omnipresence.
Imperial Army troopers helped maintain the Emperor's rule as the regime's main on-the-ground grunts.
In 14 BBY, Imperial Army troopers fought under Moff Delian Mors against the Free Ryloth Movement, a coalition of freedom fighters founded by Cham Syndulla.
During the Mimban Campaign in 10 BBY, Army swamp troopers 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. 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.
Also involved in the battle for Mimban was Beilert Valance, who had trained alongside Solo at the Carida Academy. Due to the injuries he sustained during the mission on Qhulosk, Valance had been unable to complete his training to serve as an Imperial Starfighter Pilot, but one of his fellow cadets, Tamu Dree, deduced he would re-enlist to serve in the infantry. Over his ensuing career in the Imperial Army, Valance served as both a stormtrooper and an Imperial Army trooper. As an army trooper, Valance was deployed as a swamp trooper into the Mimban Campaign and, at the cost of sustaining even more injuries, worked to lead his men to safety. In response to his injuries, Valance was discharged from the Imperial Military.
Imperial Army troopers open fire at a team of rebel infiltrators
Despite the Empire's efforts to replace Army troopers with stormtroopers, Army troopers were still part of the military in 5 BBY as the fires of rebellion began to spread. Army troopers could be found on worlds like the planet Aldhani, which was host to an Imperial garrison of Imperial Army troopers stationed within the Aldhani dam under Commandant Jayhold Beehaz. The Alkenzi Air Base, meanwhile, was staffed not only by Army troopers, but also by stormtroopers.
Imperial Army troopers respond to the local uprisings on Rix Road.
An elite detachment of Imperial Army troopers known as Imperial security troopers made up the bulk of the Ferrix garrison, supporting the stormtroopers also deployed to Ferrix. In the face of the Ferrix community's funeral procession for the recently deceased Maarva Carassi Andor, security troopers were marshalled to block off the civilians' approach. The crowd grew violent after Andor's pre-recorded speech to fight against Imperial oppression and Captain Vanis Tigo's angered response—flipping over Andor's droid B2EMO. Security troopers managed to hold a shield wall against the rioting civilians until Wilmon Paak threw a home-made explosive into the Imperial position. Backed by the shooting of stormtroopers, the army troopers directly engaged the protesters in the final stages of the uprising on Ferrix.
An Imperial mudtrooper helmet was collected by the collector Dok-Ondar at some point and placed on the wall in his Batuuan store, Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities in Black Spire Outpost.
An Imperial Army Trooper in their green utility fatigues without armor
Imperial Army troopers were outfitted with a set of armor similar to Imperial officer battle armor, which covered the torso, shoulders, and upper arm. Polarized goggles and respirator masks could be issued to filter out toxic substances in hostile environments as seen on Mimban. The set also featured optional helmets, shin guards, and colored bicep bands that denoted the trooper's position, with red indicating a soldier and white indicating a medic. As seen within the Aldhani Garrison, troopers could forego the combat helmet in favor of an Imperial kepi. Troopers wore olive green colored utility fatigues and gray armor. Elite security troopers, such those in the Ferrix garrison, were issued black utility fatigues and matching black armor.
As front line combatants of the Imperial Military, Army troopers had access to the extensive arsenal deployed by the Galactic Empire. Their weaponry included the E-10, E-10.5, and E-11 blaster rifles. Other blasters seen amongst the infantry included E-22 reciprocating double-barreled blaster rifles, SX-21 pump-action scatter blasters, DLT-19 heavy blaster rifles, and blaster pistols such as the EC-17 hold-out blaster. Troopers stationed in urban garrisons, such as the deployment on Ferrix, would also be fielded with non-lethal riot gear such as ballistic shields and batons to suppress citizen uprisings and protests. These units were specially trained to form multi-layered walls with their shields and occasionally allow snatch squads to emerge, grab protesters close to the wall and pull them back behind it where they would be arrested.
Imperial Army troopers in swamp gear and wielding E-10 blaster rifles.
- — Deadly special forces personnel, these troopers were deployed on high-risk black-ops missions for Special Forces Command and operated as snipers, saboteurs, commandos, assassins, and slicers. They were fully aware that they were disposable assets.
- — Elite Army troopers who were deployed into urban environments to maintain Imperial order. Security troopers wielded riot shields and batons when putting down civilian demonstrations.
- — Informally known as , Swamp troopers were Army soldiers who were fielded into begrimed, mud-caked environments. Swamp troopers possessed waterproof capes in order to keep mud from gathering within the gaps of their armor. They also possessed breathing masks and could wear their googles over their eyes to keep hazardous materials out of their eyes.
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