Dev functioned as a pilot of starfighters for the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the era of the Galactic Civil War. In one of his initial training missions, while flying a T-65 X-wing starfighter, Dev inadvertently initiated a hyperspace jump, finding himself in an Imperial training zone. He mistook the Imperial craft present for targets and destroyed them, until his astromech alerted him that he was in Imperial space. He then made his way back to the Alliance.
Dev became a member of the Alliance to Restore the Republic sometime before Operation Strike Fear, a significant offensive undertaken by the Galactic Empire against the Alliance in 1 BBY. After joining the Alliance Starfighter Corps, he commenced his training to become a starfighter pilot. Before they could begin combat training, all pilots had to demonstrate their fundamental flying skills by successfully navigating the pilot proving grounds, often called "The Maze," a course consisting of multiple platforms with gates that had to be flown through in a specific order. During his first attempt at the course, Dev navigated the first six gates with ease, but as he steered his T-65 X-wing starfighter towards the next gate, the inexperienced pilot accidentally activated hyperspace, transporting him to the Senex system. He emerged within an Imperial training area.
Thinking the Imperial ships were part of the exercise, Dev engaged the stationary Imperial TIE fighters and Class-A cargo containers, in addition to a Delta-class DX-9 stormtrooper transport and the BFF-1 bulk freighter known as the Rouh. Because he was focused on eliminating the presumed targets, Dev was slow to notice the message from his R2-series astromech droid that warned him of his location in Imperial space and instructed him to return to the proving ground. Despite his surprise and confusion, Dev managed to return to friendly Alliance territory safely.
The story of Dev's accidental success became well-known among Alliance pilots. This event was later reconstructed as a training simulation, challenging new pilots to destroy all ships within the Imperial training area in under fifteen minutes.
Dev was a competent pilot, able to destroy several Imperial targets before receiving advanced training. However, in his early training, he demonstrated a lack of familiarity with his starfighter's systems, accidentally jumping to hyperspace and not immediately recognizing the warning from his astromech droid.
The character of Dev was created for the 1993 video game Star Wars: X-Wing developed by LucasArts. Although he is not a character in the game, he is referenced in the briefing for the first X-wing training mission, "Dev's Sidestep," which is a recreation of his famous training run.