Garrison facilities comprised eight levels, crowned with a sensor and communications tower. Levels one through five, uniform in size and layout, were primarily dedicated to spacious surface vehicle bays accommodating the storage, maintenance, and deployment of all surface vehicles, with sufficient capacity for AT-ATs. These levels also housed the majority of personnel living quarters, the armory, detention facilities, and other essential base functions. A recreation center was also present, which by 0 BBY included a scoopball court due to popular demand.

Level six accommodated officer housing, quarters for TIE fighter pilots, command centers, and related facilities. Level seven was exclusively dedicated to TIE/LN starfighter hangars. Level eight contained the deployment chutes and control rooms for the base's TIE fighters. Powerful tractor-beam projectors controlled the launch, retrieval, and maneuvering of TIEs. Garrison bases also incorporated subterranean sub-levels housing generators (including the main reactor) and core infrastructure. The roof structure supported the sensor suite tower, equipped with a hypercom array and Rothana's proprietary blend of thermo-infra-ecto multivariate sensors.

Despite the standardized design of the basic garrison, various modifications existed:

The shield projector garrison variant was employed in Imperial orbital construction projects, providing a continuous energy shield around the construction zone. Its defensive capabilities were sufficient to suppress planetary uprisings from the conscripted labor force. This version incorporated a command garrison, subdivided into smaller structures akin to the IM-445, but with an armored bunker for the generator; a 20-meter landing pad capable of accommodating docking AT-ATs and two to three Lambda-class shuttles; and the SLD-26 planetary shield generator.

The oceanic garrison, an aquatic adaptation, lacked underground levels and utilized several powerful repulsorlifts to maintain buoyancy. It also featured underwater hangar bays. The garrison's complement included seatroopers and AT-AT swimmers.

An orbiting garrison consisted of two standard garrisons connected base-to-base, though this configuration was rarely implemented. These garrisons were reserved for orbits around exceptionally hostile and hazardous planets. This arrangement provided ground troops with an orbital fire base and enhanced headquarters security. Orbiting Garrisons could support an entire TIE wing and several orbital tugships. Lacking engines, the garrisons relied on tugs for propulsion.

However, orbiting garrisons sparked a dispute with the Imperial Navy, which asserted jurisdiction over all space-based units. Ultimately, command of orbiting garrisons was divided between the Navy and Army, with one base under the control of an Admiral and the other under a Major General. Furthermore, a new orbital defense platform was commissioned for the Navy.

The hostile-environment garrison, designed for planets with harsh climates, featured sealed airlocks at all entry points and an additional life-support sub-level.

A garrison complex was formed by deploying multiple standard garrisons in close proximity. Underground tunnels and walkways connected the structures. The largest complexes comprised up to six garrisons arranged in a ring. Similar to orbiting garrisons, these complexes were infrequently constructed, reserved for worlds of significant strategic importance. These complexes typically served as headquarters for an Army, a Systems Army, or a Sector Army, commanded by a General.

Imperial garrisons were commanded by a Major General and typically housed 3,000 personnel, allocated as follows:

• 300 command staff [2]
• 500 support/services staff [2]
• 200 technical staff [2]
• 200 science staff [2]
• 100 medical staff [2]
• 100 gunners/weapons technicians [2]
• 80 walker technicians [2]
• 70 trade mission/diplomatic staff [2]
• 60 ground crew technicians [2]
• 25 controllers [2]
• 25 sensor technicians [2]
• 10 speeder bike technicians [2]
• 50 Imperial Intelligence officers [2]

The composition of personnel could be adjusted to suit specific mission requirements.

Documents from the Rebel Alliance indicated that Imperial garrisons were generally organized around a Corps HQ detachment from the Imperial Army. Instead of a team of 50 Imperial Intelligence officers, there were actually 50 Imperial Security Bureau agents, and only a single Imperial Intelligence liaison, known as the "Ubiqtorate Man".

An introductory briefing on Imperial garrisons for Alliance personnel, written by Major Viran Qol, presented a different perspective on vehicle maintenance. Rather than a dedicated maintenance element of 80 technicians for AT-ATs and AT-STs, there were only seventy personnel assigned to these vehicles, including their combat crews, suggesting just twenty support personnel. However, they received assistance from a garrison motor pool responsible for maintaining the base's other vehicles.

The ground crew, controllers, and sensor technicians were part of the attached TIE Fighter wing. Major Qol's briefing stated that this unit was seconded from the Navy, but listed the sensor technicians as belonging to the garrison's Army maintenance detail.

Beyond support personnel, the actual military component was relatively small. A standard Corps HQ comprised a core of 403 officers and men, along with a 144-man support unit from CompForce. However, the CompForce detachment was not present in all garrison commands. The remaining garrison personnel consisted of civilian political, economic, and science missions, all of whom were required to undergo basic firearms training due to their presence within a military base.

On planets with multiple garrisons, only the primary base had a full Corps HQ deployed. The other bases, referred to as "sub-garrisons," were staffed by smaller Battlegroup HQs and lacked civilian personnel and an air wing.

The standard garrison also had a Corps HQ allocation of 2,000 droids, including massive I2F-series automated manufacturing units, which enabled significant self-sufficiency in materiel. Many of the base's other droids supported the I2Fs, including numerous MSE-6s, while others, such as servant and security units, performed more general tasks around the base. Astromech, protocol, and labor units could also be found in various roles.

• 50 walker crews [2]
• 40 TIE fighter pilots [2]
• 800 stormtroopers [2]
• 200 perimeter support troops [2]
• 150 base security/detention troops [2]
• 40 scout troopers [2]

The 800-man stormtrooper unit represented the garrison's largest component. The Alliance briefing mentioned earlier indicated that it was organized as a battalion, with the scout troopers forming a separate platoon. The garrison's AT-ATs and AT-STs were also integrated into the stormtrooper component, although their crews and support personnel were experienced Army personnel rather than stormtroopers.

The TIE Pilots, conversely, were Navy personnel operating under Army command.

The remaining troops followed a standard Army hierarchy. Consistent with the Corps HQ structure, the perimeter troops consisted of six platoons, with a theoretical strength of 228 men (192 troopers, 30 NCOs, and 6 officers). They were equipped with specially trained guard animals, such as Garrals, and reported directly to the major-general or their second-in-command, a high colonel who also served as the base's military intelligence officer. The security detail was structured as a line company, with a combat strength of 152 men (128 troopers, 20 NCOs, and 4 subalterns), and commanded by the "headquarters officer," another high colonel responsible for base administration and security. Three additional officers of this relatively high rank headed the garrison's non-combat elements, and each of the five had two lieutenant colonels as assistants. These fifteen colonels comprised the senior personnel of the 403-man Corps HQ.

While a garrison's actual fighting strength often consisted of only a few companies, each base was theoretically assigned an additional force of four battalions of Imperial Army soldiers beyond its HQ detail and stormtroopers, with barracks available for these personnel. One Alliance document stated that the deployed force often included the stormtrooper battalion, along with two AT-AT battalions and one AT-ST battalion. However, Major Qol clarified that this was incorrect, as the base's capacity for AT-ATs and AT-STs was significantly less than battalion strength.

Some garrisons acted as command bases for much larger formations, sometimes encompassing as many as sixty-two battalions organized into four battlegroups. These forces were too large to be housed within the base itself and required separate barracks complexes.

The standard four-battalion deployment was equivalent to a regiment, and the largest multi-battlegroup commands were equivalent to a full corps. However, the forces involved were not typically organized as unified formations at the level implied by their total strength, as they were created by combining smaller units and lacked the necessary high-level command elements, instead being overseen by the garrison's own HQ detail. In practice, garrison assignments were often used as convenient locations to station detached Imperial Army units that had become separated from larger formations.

Occasionally, garrisons had COMPForce Assault paramilitaries deployed at regimental strength in place of Army units, particularly for occupation duties.

Secondary sub-garrisons within larger occupation commands could oversee troops up to battlegroup strength and were particularly likely to have CompForce Assault units deployed instead of regular Imperial Army formations.

• 30 TIE/LN starfighters and 5 TIE bombers [2] /36-40 TIE fighters (three squadrons) [1] /24 standard TIE Fighters, 4 TIE/rc starfighters and 12 TIE/gt starfighters . [3]
• 10 AT-ATs [2] [1]
• 10 AT-STs [2] [1]
• 40 speeder bikes and 60 other repulsor vehicles such as XP-38s [2] /40 speeder bikes for biker scouts and 60 other combat and support vehicles, including some additional speeder bikes for other personnel [3] /50-100 speeder bikes and/or landspeeders [1]
• 100 miscellaneous vehicles (cargo load-lifters, construction vehicles, etc.) [2]

As previously mentioned, Alliance material indicated that the garrison's AT-ATs and AT-STs, while crewed by the Army, were attached to the Stormtrooper battalion, as were forty speeder bikes for the scout troopers. The briefing source stated that the other sixty vehicles under direct Army command typically included other non-combat speeder bikes and speeders, and an armored repulsor limousine for the commanding general, but also an inventory of combat vehicles - a PX-4 Mobile Command Base, five LAVr QH-7 Chariots, and additional troop transports, often including at least one wheeled juggernaut, and in bases with responsibility for urban areas of any size, usually a single Floating Fortress. Where multiple garrisons were deployed as part of the same occupation force, the secondary bases were often able to obtain multiple Floating Fortresses to compensate for their otherwise reduced manpower.

The Navy provided the TIE fighters. Variations in the size of the air wing reflect the fact that a TIE Bomber required the equivalent of two fighter slots in the launch rack.

Garrison bases were armed with three heavy twin turbolaser turrets and six heavy laser turrets, as well as tractor beam projectors.

The garrison was protected by ramparts up to 10 meters thick, and had powerful deflectors. In addition to being armored and shielded, garrisons also possessed extensive external ground defenses. The base was surrounded by a flat, open area, exposing attackers to weapons fire from the inner defenses. This area was also protected by anti-infantry and anti-vehicle minefields, specialized probe droids, and a unit of AT-STs.

The exterior perimeter was defined by a ten-meter-high electrified death fence, capable of instantly killing a sentient being or disabling a repulsorcraft. Lower power settings could be used, depending on the base commander's preference, to simply shock an individual.

An elevated patrol catwalk with guard towers spaced every 100 meters ran just behind the fence, each equipped with electrobinoculars, floodlights, and alarm systems. To breach the fence and enter the base, units had to pass through a limited number of force field gates, each flanked by an additional pair of guard towers. These gates, typically numbering between two and four, were positioned evenly around the fence's perimeter.

Stormtroopers conducted catwalk patrols, controlling the voltage in the "death fence," while Army perimeter platoons guarded the access gates and provided additional ground patrols directly behind the fence.

Some garrison bases were strategically positioned to leverage the terrain, such as being built into mountainsides or on outcroppings, tailoring their ground defenses accordingly. Garrison bases also incorporated air recyclers and advanced environment and filter systems, enabling deployment in diverse environments, from hostile worlds to asteroids.

Boba Fett once accepted a mission from Jabba the Hutt to capture a criminal, who happened to be the brother of a base commander. In the process of capturing the criminal, Fett destroyed much of the base, including two AT-ATs, two AT-STs, and the commanding general, allowing the criminal to escape. Despite Imperial denials of the rumors of Boba Fett breaching the garrison, they developed and distributed a defensive upgrade called XZD-001: FETT COUNTERMEASURES as a consequence.

Star Destroyers of the Imperial-class could transport one of these installations, while an Executor-class Star Dreadnought could carry up to three. Prefabricated bases were dropped from orbit in ready-made components and assembled on-site by Imperial engineers and construction droids. The Y-85 Titan dropship was crucial for this purpose on Imperial ships larger than Star Destroyers.

Han Solo claimed to have infiltrated the garrisons on multiple occasions with Chewbacca, even offering to assist fellow New Republic general Crix Madine in training troops on infiltration techniques. Madine, however, expressed skepticism, suggesting to Solo that he would have preferred a holothriller if he wanted fiction.