“Are the Shields Up?:” Decision Making in “Return of the Jedi”

By Cory Hollon Rebellions are built on hope. - Cassian Andor, 1 BBY Hope is not a plan. - Every decent commander, ever In 4 ABY, the Alliance to Restore the Republic gained critical intel about the construction of a new Death Star. Clearly learning from the lengthy process of creating the first planet-killing battle …

An Angry Staff Officer Exclusive – a sneak peak at new Star Wars characters!

By Eamon Hamilton Finally, the influence of the Angry Staff Officer Blog within the Star Wars community has been acknowledged - an anonymous source from Lucasfilm has sent this exclusive breakdown of some of the new characters we’ll see in future Star Wars films. We wont say how many Bothan Spies died to bring us …

Warfighter: Battle of Endor

“He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.” - Sun Tzu In war, timing and will are two of the intangibles that are hard to train for. A battle can be all but won when suddenly the unforeseen takes place: Jackson arrives at Antietam; Sheridan rides back to Cedar Creek; the …

Day in the life of a Rebel Alliance Tower Guard on Yavin 4

  Secret Base on [REDACTED] Dear Mom, Taking a moment to drop you a line. As you know, life here in the Rebel Alliance has been kind of crazy of late, what with the whole Death Star business and everything. You hear about Alderaan? I’m not even sure if I believe the news, sounds like …

A Leadership Vacuum: “The Last Jedi” and Mission Failure

SPOILERS AHEAD. Most determine the great struggle in Star Wars to be that between the Light and Dark sides of the Force. But from a military perspective it has always been between a highly regimented Empire and a loosely organized Rebel force. And even within these communities there have been contentions as to how best …

The Force Awakens to High Risk HUMINT

By Lt. Col. Jim Davitch The Star Wars storyline divides neatly into two sides: good and evil. The latter possess a qualitative and quantitative edge in terms of military hardware and personnel. The former clings to intangible advantages in pluck, optimism, and desperation. It is desperation that encourages the scrappy underdogs to take chances they …

Stormtrooper Goes on Veterans Day Rant

Scene: a bar on the back-end of the galaxy. “Look, I've got some stuff to say. I was a proud servant of the Empire for a full 20 years. And I saw some serious shit. Hi, yes, my name is NL-689, but all my mates called me Null. Served all over the galaxy and it …

The Star Wars Bomber Gap

The Last Jedi promises something not seen before - a Star Wars equivalent of a strategic heavy bomber. To date, the Star Wars Universe has provided a science fiction examples to many real-life military roles (with varying degrees of artistic licence). Imperial Star Destroyers have largely stood in for the Navy, whilst the Army and …

First Order Change of Command

Scene: Interior of a First Order Star Destroyer. A First Order Army officer takes a seat at a desk, apparently well pleased. There’s a knock at the door and another officer walks in. Captain Arlis: Come on in XO, how are you today? Lieutenant Fivret: Good morning, sir, I’m fitter than a Mandalorian helmet, thanks. …

Warfighter: Hoth

Strap yourselves in, folks, it's time to ruin yet another timely classic by giving it the old "analyze it to death" treatment. And this time, we're going back a ways. A long time ago, to be exact, in a galaxy far, far away. More precisely, we're going to the ice planet of Hoth. If you've …