Stormtrooper

Stormtroopers were the elite shock troops of the Galactic Empire, fanatically loyal and answerable directly to the Emperor.

Established by Emperor Palpatine in 19 BBY as a clause in his Declaration of a New Order, the troopers of the Stormtrooper Corps operated alongside Army and Navy units, as well as alone.

History
"The clone troopers, now proudly wearing the name of Imperial stormtroopers, have tackled the dangerous work of fighting our enemies on the front lines. Many have died in their devotion to the Empire. Imperial citizens would do well to remember their example."

- Emperor Palpatine during the Declaration of a New Order

It is possible that Palpatine had the Sith troopers of the ancient Sith Empire in mind, especially in the concept that the troopers induced fear as faceless enemies.

The stormtroopers were direct descendants of the clone troopers created from a template of Jango Fett in 32 BBY to serve the Galactic Republic's Clone Army during the Clone Wars. In fact, the clone troopers that lived after the end of the Clone Wars were renamed Imperial stormtroopers by Palpatine during the Declaration of a New Order; immediately afterwards, Palpatine ordered three new stormtrooper clone batches to be grown in the Outer Rim Territories.

During the time of the Galactic Civil War and the Battle of Yavin, Fett's clones were still used by the Empire, although Fett's progeny were heavily supplemented with clones from new DNA sources and troopers recruited in the traditional manner. If a man between the ages of 18 and 30 scored in the top fifth percentile, an Imperial recruiting agent would contact these people and presumably arrange DNA sampling for cloning. Men who didn't score that high were still wanted as regular soldiers. Also, it was preferable if stormtrooper recruits met a certain standard in height and weight. Princess Leia Organa was familiar with these standards by the time of 0 BBY. When the Rebel Alliance defeated the Empire in the Galactic Civil War and took over the machinery of galactic government, they terminated the stormtrooper program, including the cloning process on Kamino.

Organization
The Stormtrooper Corps was not directly tied to the Imperial Army, and maintained its own command structure, ranking system and support facilities. Stormtroopers were loyal only to Emperor Palpatine himself, and only followed orders from Army and Navy personnel at their discretion.

The basic unit of organization was the individual trooper. Each stormtrooper was assigned a number for tactical purposes and to reinforce the Imperial ethic of uniformity. Troopers were organized into the following stratum:
 * Trooper
 * Squads
 * Platoons
 * Companies
 * Battalions
 * Regiments
 * Legions

A company commander could give command to any regular officer over any given squad or platoon. A single battalion consisted of eight hundred and twenty soldiers&mdash;whereas a battalion of Galactic Republic clone troopers was comprised of only five hundred and seventy-six men.

Officers
Stormtrooper officers were traditionally non-clone graduates from the Imperial Academy. In battle, commissioned stormtrooper officers wore standard stormtrooper armor with rank insignia to indicate status. Non-commissioned officers were identified in the field with shoulder pauldrons instead of the standard rank squares worn over the armor. For non-combat situations, officers wore a black tunic and pants dress uniform including a cap, boots, gloves, and standard rank squares.

Ideology
"Now, that's a picture, isn't it? The Emperor's stormtroopers setting the example for good manners. Like arming protocol droids with blasters."

- Han Solo

In addition to their military role as elite troops, stormtroopers constituted an important part of Palpatine's New Order. Stormtrooper training was accompanied by thorough indoctrination to Imperial ideology, above and beyond what the normal military was exposed to, and stormtroopers were closely associated with the Emperor himself. This was particularly significant in light of the tensions between the Emperor and the Navy. For instance, the stormtroopers deployed to the Death Star were, arguably, largely there to ensure the immensely powerful battle station remained in the Emperor's control. Darth Vader was sent for a similiar purpose.

Weaponry
"Only Imperial stormtroopers are so precise."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

The BlasTech E-11 blaster rifle was the standard issue weapon of the Corps and one of the most common issued rifles in the Empire. the blaster was largely based on the DC-15 blasters used by clone troopers during the Clone Wars, right down to the folding stock, allowing for increased range and braced fire. All Stormtroopers, excluding those assigned to heavy or special weapons, carried an E-11 along with a SE-14R sidearm.

All stormtroopers also had a cylindrical thermal detonator attached to the small of their back, on their torso armor. The detonator could only be used by its owner, since activation required a code unique to each individual trooper. This, along with their designation codes and rank, were the only semblance of individuality the troopers were allowed.

Armor
Before stormtrooper armor was developed, the first stormtroopers used Phase II Clone Trooper armor after the transition from the Republic to the Empire. For how long, this is unknown. Later, a distinct stormtrooper armor was developed.

This armor was a white body armor over a sealed black body glove, and in this respect appeared similar to their Clone Wars predecessors. The assembled set completely encased the body and typically had no individual distinguishing marks outside of rank. In fact, the casual first-time observer sometimes would mistake the stormtroopers as a form of battle droid.

It also protected the troopers from very harsh environments as well as projectiles and impact weapons. The armor might be penetrated by a direct blaster bolt, but would reduce damage from the bolts absorbed significantly. The body glove allowed for operation in warm or cold climates; however, it could protect the trooper from almost any environment&mdash;from total vacuum conditions to the very extremes in cold and heat for a very limited period of time. In this respect, the armor was much less suited to battle than its clone armor predecessor, and much more suitable as a high-tech survival suit.

In certain situations, however, stormtroopers would sometimes wear camouflage armor to help them blend in with different environments. The Stormtrooper Corps instituted this reform after the embarrassing defeat at the Battle of Endor.

Extra
Some special features include a wrist comlink, a tiny battle holocam built into the helmet, a proper resonator (to open secure doors) built into their armour, or an external helmet light. For extended operations, stormtroopers carried field backpacks that included a personal tent, five concentrated rations, fifteen water packs, eight blaster power packs, and a glowrod.

Additional Resources

 * Stormtroopers in exhaustive detail on Wookieepedia.