Garven "Dave" Dreis, known as "Old Man" by his fellow pilots stationed at Base One, was a male human ace pilot hailing from Virujansi. He held the position of commander within the Alliance to Restore the Republic throughout the Galactic Civil War. During this conflict, Dreis piloted a T-65B X-wing starfighter, acting as leader of Red Squadron during the Rebellion's support operation for Rogue One's mission at the Battle of Scarif, as well as in the Rebel assault against the Galactic Empire's first Death Star during the Battle of Yavin. Tragically, he met his death at the hands of Darth Vader during the latter engagement.
Garven Dreis's birth occurred on the planet of Virujansi before the [Clone Wars](/article/clone_wars] erupted. He distinguished himself during the Clone Wars, leading to his enlistment in the planetary defense force known as the Virujansi Rarified Air Cavalry on his homeworld. The Galactic Empire's rise to power, following the formation of the Empire, brought about a political shift on Virujansi, with an Imperial governor replacing the existing Virujansi council. Consequently, local military units loyal to the ousted council were forcibly disbanded. Antoc Merrick, Dreis's commanding officer, declined an offer for Rarified Air Cavalry pilots to join the Imperial Navy, viewing it as insincere. Dreis and Merrick, impressed by the superior teamwork and piloting skills of the Rebel Alliance's starfighter squadrons compared to their Imperial counterparts, chose to retire early, leave Virujansi, and seek membership in the Rebel Alliance.
Around the time of the Battle of Atollon in 2 BBY, Dreis became a member of the Rebel Alliance, eventually rising to the rank of Commander. He assumed command of Red Squadron, and as its Red Leader, Dreis piloted various starfighters, including the Aggressive ReConnaissance-170 starfighter and the T-65B X-wing starfighter.
Dreis was initially stationed at the Alliance's base on Dantooine, but was later reassigned to the Great Temple on Yavin 4 sometime before the Battle of Yavin. At some point before 0 BBY, Dreis was scheduled for Shift Cycle 1 of an X-wing flight patrol mission alongside Major Ralo Surrel (Red Eleven). Their mission involved flying from Yavin to Gordian Trace Relays, performing a flyby of the surrounding area, and then, after confirming that everything was visually and sensorially clear, performing a close uplink of passive relay recordings.
In 1 BBY, Dreis commanded Red Squadron as part of the Rebel Alliance's forces in support of the Rogue One team, who had attacked the planet Scarif to retrieve the schematics for the Empire's Death Star. During the initial phase of the battle, as part of Admiral Raddus' strategy, Red Squadron and Gold Squadron, a Y-wing bomber group, were tasked with protecting the Rebel capital ships, while Blue Squadron was ordered to the surface of Scarif to safeguard their ground troops. Dreis's fighters also engaged the large TIE fighter force guarding the Scarif Shield Gate.
X-wings under Dreis's command, including Red Eight and Red Twelve, repeatedly launched proton torpedo bombing runs in conjunction with Gold Squadron's attacks on the aperture itself, attempting to breach the Scarif gate's shield. Despite their persistent bombardment throughout the battle, the Rebel ships were unable to penetrate the powerful Imperial shield.
These attacks led to direct interception of the Rebel fighter and bomber forces, including Dreis's squadron, by the TIE fighter complement. Dreis reprimanded Pedrin Gaul, a cadet thrust into active duty with the squadron under the callsign Red Five, for straying from the main formation. Despite Dreis's order for Gaul to return, he was shot down, along with several other Red Squadron members. Dreis survived the Battle of Scarif, and his pilots were a direct cause for the Rebel Alliance victory that resulted from this attack.
Shortly after the hard-won victory at Scarif, Dreis and his surviving pilots were summoned to a briefing at Base One by General Jan Dodonna. Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, a Rebel sympathizer who had acquired the plans for the massive Death Star battle station during the battle over Scarif, had briefly fallen into Imperial custody. The plans were hidden inside a droid, R2-D2, which eventually found its way to Luke Skywalker, a moisture farmer from Tatooine. Driven by a message from Organa that led him to Obi-Wan Kenobi, a hidden Jedi, Skywalker hired Han Solo, a Corellian smuggler, and through a series of events, rescued Organa from imprisonment and returned the plans to her. However, Kenobi was killed shortly before the group escaped the Death Star. They escaped aboard Solo's freighter, the Millennium Falcon, which, unbeknownst to Organa and her companions, had been tagged with an Imperial tracking device. The Death Star and its ruthless commander, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, were guided to the Rebel stronghold on Yavin 4, arriving in-system shortly before the briefing.
Dreis, along with most of those present, doubted that the few remaining fighters could effectively challenge the Death Star. Dodonna explained that the station's design had a crucial weakness: a thermal exhaust port only two meters in diameter. A proton torpedo fired down this shaft would strike the main reactor, triggering a critical failure and ultimately destroying the Death Star.
Dreis returned to the hangar and encountered Skywalker, who had volunteered to join the squadron and reinforce their ranks. Dreis initially questioned the young man's piloting abilities, but Biggs Darklighter, Skywalker's childhood friend and already a pilot under Dreis's command, vouched for his skills, claiming Luke was the best bush pilot in the entire Outer Rim Territories. Dreis accepted Skywalker and assigned him to Red Five, filling the vacancy left by Cadet Pedrin Gaul's death over Scarif.
The squadron, alongside Captain Jon Vander's Y-wings, launched from the jungles of Yavin 4 and headed for the Death Star, confirming their readiness along the way. As they approached the trench and their target, the squadrons quickly began taking losses from the turbolaser batteries and deflection towers on the surface of the moon-sized battle station. Dreis's X-wings initially provided cover while the bombers of Gold Squadron broke off in groups of three to attempt the trench run. However, as squadrons of TIE fighters swarmed from the Death Star's hangar bays to engage the Rebel ships, these initial runs were completely destroyed.
Darth Vader, a Dark Lord of the Sith, emerged from the station in a TIE Advanced x1 to bolster the Imperial defenses. He personally killed several of Dreis's subordinates in Red Squadron, as well as three members of Gold Squadron, including Captain Vander, in dogfights. Despite this danger, Dreis, Theron Nett, and Puck Naeco attempted the trench run.
Although Vader shot down both of Dreis's wingmen, Dreis reached the end of the trench and fired two proton torpedoes at the exhaust port. Initially thinking he had succeeded, Dreis was disappointed to realize that his torpedoes had missed, only impacting the surface. As he pulled out of the trench to recover from his failed attack, Dreis was targeted by Vader. Skywalker, spotting the Imperial fighters, offered to assist Dreis with another trench run. However, the squadron leader dissuaded him, pointing out that his starboard engine had been damaged, and ordered him to make a run on the trench himself. Dreis then led Vader away from the trench as far as he could before the Dark Lord finally shot him down. With a final defiant shout, Dreis's X-wing crashed into the surface of the Death Star, killing him instantly.
In 1 ABY, Skywalker and fellow rebels Han Solo, Wedge Antilles, Zev Senesca, Derek Klivian, and Chewbacca offered a toast at Mess Hall IV in the Mako-Ta Space Docks to remember the fallen members of Red Squadron, including Branon.
As a Rebel pilot, Garven Dreis wore an orange flight suit and a flight helmet adorned with red and yellow markings. He piloted a T-65B X-wing starfighter known as Red One, manufactured by Incom Corporation. His astromech droid was R5-K6.
In 1977's Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, Garven Dreis was played by British actor Drewe Henley (whose surname was incorrectly spelled "Hemley" in the credits, including those of the Special Edition). A scene before the battle where Dreis discusses Luke's piloting skills and meeting Luke’s father when he was young with Luke and Biggs was omitted from the original release but partially restored in 1997 for the Special Edition.
Henley died on February 14, 2016. A New Hope was his last acting role on film; shortly after the movie's release, he was diagnosed with manic depression and retired from acting. Henley posthumously reprised the role in 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story using archival footage.
On page 46 of the 2016 reference book Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide, Dreis's last name was misspelled as "Dries."
The helmet Dreis wore in the film was later worn by a pilot on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back (identified as Nichos Panib in Star Wars Legends) and on Home One in Return of the Jedi. The film prop was reused for the character Ina Rece in the Legends video game Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire.