"Eight years ago, the Emperor was slain on a battle station above the forest moon of Endor. Four years ago, he who was considered the last hope of restoring the fallen Emperor's New Order was killed on board his own flagship. Despite these tragedies, the Empire moves on. Although it's leadership has fallen upon the shoulders of many, it's directive and goal remains the same: the restoration of law and order. The Empire has always survived because this cause is just and pure. The rebel terrorists have murdered millions of Imperials, destroyed Imperial property, and slain our leaders but we continue to survive. Now, we have the scum by the throat. After eight long years of struggle, order will finally be preserved. Coruscant, the seat of galactic government, will soon be in our hands. The Mon Calamari, the twisted aliens who supply rebel terrorists with weapons of destruction, will soon be brought to justice. The New Order is rising again and all who live in the galaxy deserve to be a part of it. If you believe in peace, justice, and order and if you are an enemy of those fanatics that would replace such things with their so-called "freedom" (which is clearly nothing but militaristic anarchy), join the Galactic Empire. The Republic is the past, the Empire is the future. Join us and the power to eliminate chaos and war will be placed in your hands.

It's time to take back the galaxy..."

Supreme Commander Trask K'tar
Imperial HoloVision Military Recruitment Message (One Year Ago)

Navy Officer Training

Naval service attracts a different sort of personality type than does the Army. Qualified recruits with the right personality profile are eagerly accepted into its ranks. Many with officer potential come from regional or sector military schools, where the best of a world's inhabitants are groomed for local and Imperial military careers. High-rated recruits who already have their pilot's certification are of special interest as potential candidates for starfighter training.

Naval training is decentralized and conducted at designated sector locations called fleet camps. After completion of a fleet camp, trainees attend advanced schools for further education in the technical specialties of their assigned branches.

Beings chosen for officer training are selected both from recruits new to the military and from active duty crewmen recommended by their superiors. These crewmen-cadets attend one of many naval academies located throughout the Empire.

Each Sector Naval Academy is an Imperial institution which shares a uniform training program and curriculum with others of its kind. Officer training occupies one standard year. It includes military indoctrination, education in technical specialties, and training cruises. When a crewman-cadet graduates he is commissioned as a lieutenant, and often goes on to advanced technical training.

Officer candidates who rate in the top two percent of their qualifying tests have the opportunity to attend "the" Imperial Naval Academy, the original and oldest of the academies. An applicant must receive the endorsement of his Moff, and undergo a more thorough background investigation than other officer candidates. If accepted, he is inducted as a cadet and boards a transport bound for the Academy. Standards are stringent and its training methods are the most advanced of their kind. The Academy system is designed to instill loyalty, build discipline, and develop team interdependence. The greatest of naval commanders and fighter pilots have come from the Academy. Graduation from it is almost essential for promotion to the very highest echelons of naval command. The exact location of this Academy is unknown to most who study there. At the end of 30 months of rigorous physical and academic training, the cadet receives a commission as a lieutenant in the Imperial Navy. He will know more than his peers, and have greater responsibilities. Officers from "the" Academy are recognized as the very best the Empire has to command.

Only officers who graduate in the top five percent of their class qualify for flight training. The remaining top third of their class qualifies for flight-related specialties such as astrogation, weapons systems, and other support skills.

Because of the tough entrance requirements and extensive training offered at "the" Imperial Naval Academy, all officers in the top third of the Academy qualify for flight.

Star Destroyer Officers

The life of a Star Destroyer officer revolves around a single, fundamental concept: competition. With many officers unsure of just where they fit in the grand scheme of the chain of command, power struggles and conflicts of every type abounded in the fleet. This was just how the top brass wanted the situation. It was believed that greater amounts of competition between officers was positive, inducing more careful work habits and fewer mistakes.

Because these huge ships spent so much time in deep space, without immediate supervision from the Imperial High Command, their commander often used questionable methods of governing their crews. This was especially true of Lord Vader's fleet: Vader had absolute power over his crew and often expressed his own severe -- and lethal -- form of punishment.

For this reason, Star Destroyer assignments -- while coveted for their potential for advancement -- were feared for the likelihood that an officer would suffer something beyond his control. Star Destroyer officers had the fastest promotion ratio, yet the worst service records and lowest life expectancies among all branches of the Imperial officer class.

Still, having a commission aboard a Star Destroyer (despite the ruthless competition) can be an extremely prosperous and beneficial environment for an ambitious man with his wits about him. Suffice to say, there is no room for error aboard a Star Destroyer. An officer either succeeds or he fails. Those of nimble mind and strong purpose prosper, while those without these qualities were doomed to failure.

Pilots

Imperial pilots are the mainstay of the Imperial Navy. They are the necessary element in the military branch charged with protecting the spacelanes from pirates, smugglers, alien invaders, and Rebels.

The top pilots in the galaxy are found in the Imperial Navy. These pilots, following the glorious and time-honored allure established during the Republic, attend the premier academies throughout the Empire. Within these fine institutions, the Empire teaches these men duty and promotes the idea of maintaining order, as opposed to defending against aggression.

Gunners

Gunners are a special sub-unit of the Imperial pilot corps. Any Imperial military vessel larger than a one-man TIE starfighter makes use of these trained weapons masters to handle the high-tech arms employed by the Empire.

Most gunners are either pilots in training or pilots who failed to make the grade in all of the skills necessary to fly a vessel. Nonetheless, a gunner must have a keen eye, superior reflexes, and a rapport with the specialized equipment.

Gunners are trained to handle everything from a single light laser cannon up to turbolaser battery emplacements and even the now-destroyed superlaser that was the main weapon of the Death Star battlestation. In addition to hands-on training, gunners learn to work with specialized computer helmets that not only offer protection but are equipped with macrobinocular viewplates and sensor arrays to assist with targeting fast-moving fighter craft.

Naval Troopers

To protect its vast number of capital ships without relying on the help of the Army, the Navy has created a corps of troopers to act as soldiers. These men, trained in traditional combat skills, also learn skills needed to survive aboard the mighty vessels that patrol the galaxy in the name of the Emperor.

Once naval troopers wore the distinct uniform and helmet of the legendary Death Star troopers, but now they wear outfits similar to ground troops except they are black in color as opposed to gray. Those troopers assigned to special details or to High Command personally continue to wear the Death Star uniforms. These soldiers dressed in all black are deadly warriors, but they all serve other functions aboard Imperial ships. They act as security, handle hangar traffic control, monitor sensor arrays, and other duties when their combat skills aren't required.

Overconfidence (Academy Training)

From their first day in the Academy, Imperial officers, pilots, and troopers are taught that they are part of an invincible machine, the best the galaxy has to offer. Indoctrination training drives home the point: an Imperial soldier is better trained, better equipped and better supported than the pirates, smugglers and criminal rebels endangering the space lanes. It is the Imperial soldier's job to use his superior advantages to keep order and restore peace to the Empire.

While this type of training is well and good, it does not teach the Imperials to be cautious or respect their foes. It makes them lazy, as they see each mission as a routine, humdrum chore that must be accomplished before the first meal of the day. Without a healthy dose of respect, you will not expect your foe to do anything out of the ordinary or courageous. You will not be watching for changes in attitude or tactics, and you will be caught off guard when they occur.

The Imperial Naval Academy (The Rebel Point of View)

At one time, when it was called the Navy of the Republic, the Imperial Navy was used for defense and to keep down piracy in the space lanes. It was known as the best place in the galaxy to learn the ways of space: a young being could join the Academy, see the galaxy, and serve his people all at once. When he retired in 20 or 30 years, still relatively young, he could find a job on any spacecraft in the galaxy. Over 14 percent of all the freighter captains in the galaxy had gone through Academy training.

Now, however, things are different. Now that the Emperor has come to power, the Navy has become a means for terrorizing millions of planets. The Imperial Academy has maintained its high standards in regards to training the young men in the ways of space, but, at the same time, it has also turned its efforts to brainwashing those same young men into believing that the brutality, corruption, and terror of the Empire is right, and that they should be willing -- and eager -- to die for the evil creature known as the Emperor.

Many young men are not aware of this until they enter the Academy. They join because their father, and their father's father were Academy men, because all their lives they have heard stories about the Academy. Others join simply to escape the tedium of their everyday lives -- the lure of space is strong.

For the young idealists (there are still some left in the galaxy, even today), the shock of discovering what the Academy has become is tremendous. The physical brutality is expected -- even in the old days, recruits were worked to within a centimeter of their lives -- but the mental oppression is completely unexpected. The recruits are told what to think, what to say, what to do. They are told that the Empire is the most important thing in the galaxy, and that the Emperor is almost a god. They are taught that oppression is right, that cruelty is pragmatism, that atrocity is acceptable when it is "for the good of the state."

Sadly, many fall prey to the brainwashing techniques of the Academy, becoming willing tools of the Empire. However, a few refuse, determined to hold onto the values they learned from their parents, from the teachings of the Old Republic. These men have a cruelly hard time in the Academy -- the instructors attempt to break their will and their fellow students haze them unmercifully. Many resign or are dismissed from the Academy; a few -- the strongest -- continue their training until the end.

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