The Clone Trooper Specialties
by Andrew Liptak

 

As many people have noticed, there are a great number of different jobs that are present in the military. The same is true with the Grand Army of the Republic in the Clone Wars. Spanning many thousands of worlds, there has to be a great variety of planets on which the war is fought throughout the galaxy. Here are some of the different Clone types:

Regulars: These clones are the backbone of the army, the general infantry that goes everywhere: as long as it's on land. These troops seem to also function as airborne soldiers when needed, as shown in Shatterpoint and Attack of the Clones, where we saw Clone Troopers falling from the sky from repulsorpacks and from gunships. These soldiers fight on the ground with direct contact with enemy troops, and so far, their losses have been high. These soldiers would also have to be trained in training civilians, policing former war zones and temporary administration of a war zone after the fighting is over.

ARC: Standing for Advanced Recon Commando, these soldiers are the most advanced of any of the Clones out there. They were first seen in the Republic Comics, The Epic Defense of Kamino, and have been on the front lines since. Directly cloned and trained from Jango Fett, these soldiers are fewer, but much more powerful and skillful with a blaster rifle. However, they have been found to be unpredictable at times and are kept in stasis when not used.

Commando: Outfitted with slightly different armor and with backpacks, these soldiers are also special ops. They got a brief mention in Attack of the Clones, and were assigned to Jedi-lead units during the battle of Geonosis. They are specially trained from the other regular soldiers and are assigned to much tougher missions, and will do anything to finish their mission, including disobeying orders from a superior, as seen in The Pengalan Tradeoff.

Pilot: These soldiers are trained especially in the skills of piloting. They fly everything, from the Republic LAAT-I Gunship to the Jabithu Landers, Republic Starfighters and speeder bikes. They are fearless and have a large number of weapons at their disposal, ranging from missiles to lasers. In addition to flying, there are drivers, who run and pilot the AT-AT, AT-TE and AT-XT Walkers, the army's ground support weapons.

Gunners: These clones have been trained to fire upon the enemy using large weapons. They fight with the SPHA-T and the gun pods on the LAAT-I gunships, and have enough firepower to take out enemy emplacements and ships. In addition from the ground and atmosphere, they are probably also responsible for ship to ship combat. They are most likely also to be trained in all manners of weapons, allowing them to commandeer or jury-rig weapons from space ports or destroyed guns.

Divers: Not seen yet, but these will probably be seen in the Cartoon Series being released this fall. Based on sketches, there is one clone who appears to be outfitted with diving gear, allowing him to opperate underwater, where regular troops will be unable to go.

Intelligence: A possibility, from Republic 54. For a short time, several clones were seen with regular clothing on, in civilian areas. These soldiers might have special training in urban areas, as well as civilian control and piloting.

 

There are probably others. The Empire has several more, including Scouts, Snow and Sand Troopers, Radiation and Space troopers. The ability to have a diverse army allows the leaders to enter areas that are more hostile for regular troopers and thus inaccessible.

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