Clone Officer

Of the 8 Career Skills, choose 4 to get a free rank. Of the 4 Specialization Skills, choose 2 to get a free rank.

Clone Soldier Career Skills: Athletics, Brawl, Cool, Discipline, Medicine, Ranged (Heavy), Ranged (Light) and Vigilance

Clone Officer Specialization Skills: Cool, Leadership, Knowledge (Outer Rim) and Knowledge (Warfare)

Every military organization depends upon its officers to function effectively. In most armies, this starts with noncommissioned officers, who work directly with line infantry, and extends to the highest-ranking generals, who devise the force’s tactics and strategies. Sometimes, an officer needs to be a friend to the soldiers for whom they are responsible. At other times, the officer represents a supreme authority, one who can tolerate no dissension. In the Grand Army of the Republic, Clone Officers assume all but the very highest level of responsibility for their fellow clones, and every officer is a career soldier.

Officers need to recognize trouble at its earliest signs and react calmly to it. They also need their soldiers to believe that they have already foreseen every possible complication and have appropriate plans to respond to each. A thorough familiarity with the army’s standard tactics and the capabilities of the units under their command are critical for implementing the appropriate strategy.

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) includes Clone Officers at a range of ranks, based upon their level of responsibility. In some instances, clones are promoted based upon their performance, but this is not always the case. Due to the differences in training and the constant need for Clone Officers, many Clone Officers are trained to perform at a higher rank from the time they are decanted.

A clone sergeant manages a single squad of nine troopers. In this role, they develop a close relationship working with the members of the squad. They learn the particular knacks of each clone in their unit and recognize which troopers are best suited for particular tasks. Sergeants see the same action as the rest of their squad, so they are often at the front lines.

Clone lieutenants assume responsibility for a platoon of four squads, while clone captains take charge of a company that includes four platoons. As the level of responsibility increases, so do the expectations for Clone Officers to operate independently of direct oversight. Missions often require units to operate in isolation from the larger command structure for extended periods.

Clone commander is the highest rank normally assigned to a Clone Officer within the GAR. These clones command full regiments of sixteen companies. They in turn answer to a Jedi general, and they may work closely with a Jedi commander.

Initially, Clone Officers wore color-based arm and chest identifiers on their uniforms. Sergeants wore pesto, lieutenants blue, captains maroon, and commanders yellow. This enabled every Clone Trooper to quickly identify their officers in the heat of battle, even when support systems were down. As the war has progressed, however, enemy units have exploited this easy recognition, and the Jedi have encouraged Clone Officers to uniquely identify themselves. Consequently, armor markings are becoming more personal, and the standard schemes are likely to soon be largely abandoned.

Potential Stories

  • Individuality: Clone Soldiers continually see themselves in their comrades. As they are strong-willed individuals, this challenges them to forge distinct identities. Unique acts of heroism, unusual interests, or novel insights and discoveries all offer ways to set a particular clone apart from his peers. Finding and seizing such opportunities is a vital part of each Clone Soldier’s life.

  • Dedication: Conditioned loyalty to the Republic is integral to Clone Soldier training. At many times throughout their careers, Clone Soldiers may face the temptation to turn away from their duty. They might face overwhelming odds, encounter a generous bribe, or even have to turn their back on a friend in order to fulfill a responsibility.

  • Self-Sacrifice: Even though Clone Soldiers are each a distinct sentient being, they recognize that their sacrifice may be necessary to secure a victory for the Republic. These soldiers are willing to pay any cost in order to complete their assigned tasks—even though the cost may be grievous personal injury or even death.

  • Superiority: Programmed with a sense of pride, all clones strive to be their best, but some try to take it further: to be the first to the objective, destroy the most droids in a skirmish, or always be the one to rescue a fellow soldier from the field. Sometimes reckless, always dangerous, these actions may reveal a soldier’s pride in their work or a darker egoism.

  • Martyrdom: Clone Soldiers are ready to die for the Republic, but after several sorties, a few might begin to think their death is the reason for their existence. These soldiers volunteer for even the most dangerous missions, the ones offering no hope of survival. These soldiers believe their death must be meaningful, so they seek the assignments that allow them to go out in a blaze of glory.

  • Purity: The Republic has enemies everywhere, including within. Traitors and spies threaten it, but sometimes the Republic threatens itself. The Clone Wars may push certain soldiers toward an unbending sense of purity, making them self-appointed arbiters of right and wrong. These soldiers would never question the orders of a superior, but might also feel their peers never push themselves to go that extra kilometer. Perhaps they don’t love the Republic enough.