An engineer, designated as a crew chief, lent his skills to the Alliance to Restore the Republic's Great Temple outpost on Yavin 4 during the Galactic Civil War. Initially, this individual was employed by the Incom Corporation, a company headquartered on Fresia; however, after the Galactic Empire enacted the nationalization of Incom, the chief, along with his colleagues, chose to support the Rebellion. Within the Alliance, the chief dedicated numerous hours to maintaining both T-65 X-wing starfighters and T-47 airspeeders.
The chief began his career as an engineer at the Incom Corporation, a starship manufacturer located on the planet of Fresia. As the Galactic Empire took control during the Imperial Period and nationalized Incom, many employees, including the engineer, defected to the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Mirroring his former colleagues, he devoted countless hours to servicing T-65 X-wing starfighters and T-47 airspeeders for the Alliance, both of which were originally Incom designs. Eventually, the engineer was promoted to crew chief, transitioned into a technician role, and was stationed at the Alliance's Great Temple base situated on the moon of Yavin 4.
In the year 0 BBY, Princess Leia Organa delivered the technical readouts for the Empire's newly constructed Death Star battle station to the Yavin base, prompting General Jan Dodonna to formulate an attack strategy. Given that the T-65s were integral to the plan, the chief performed maintenance on at least one of the fighters prior to the engagement. Luke Skywalker, the pilot of the T-65, intended to utilize the droid R2-D2 as his astromech during the impending battle, but the chief observed that the droid appeared to be in less than optimal condition. He then inquired whether Skywalker wanted a replacement, but the pilot declined the offer, stating that he and R2-D2 had "been through a lot together." After completing his work, the chief authorized Skywalker's launch. Skywalker would ultimately destroy the Death Star.
The chief was seen wearing a tan-colored suit.
Shane Rimmer played the crew chief in the 1977 original trilogy movie, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, although the character first appeared in Alan Dean Foster's 1976 novelization of the film. There are some discrepancies between the crew chief's appearance in the film and various adaptations. The crew chief's dialogue differs slightly in the film's novelization, as well as in the November 5, 1977 fifth issue of Marvel Comics' Star Wars comic-book series, Brian Daley's 1981 radio adaptation, the 1994 Star Wars: The National Public Radio Dramatization, which includes the radio drama's script, and the March 5, 1997 third issue of Bruce Jones' comic adaptation. In Star Wars 5, he delivers an earlier line to Skywalker before a different version of his film line is spoken, while both the radio drama and its script contain extra dialogue where he responds to Skywalker's lines from the film.