Personnel Profile:

Serving aboard the mighty vessels of the Imperial starfleet as well as on outposts, installations and space stations, Imperial Navy Troopers are well-trained guards and soldiers charged with a variety of duties. They serve as security, handle hangar traffic control, monitor sensor arrays and perform other tasks when their combat skills are not required. But in reality a Navy Trooper seldom sees combat and he spends most of his time performing secondary duties. Nevertheless the Navy Trooper Division is primary a combat division.

As the old republic starfleet gradually converted into the Imperial Starfleet, the need for regular fighting troops increased. The Imperial Starfleet had a greater need of security personnel and needed more troopers then ever to assist in boarding operations. Also a growing number of Admirals wanted the capability to stage smaller ground operations and assaults without having to rely on the ground-based troopers of the Imperial Army.

Navy Troopers are both draftees and professionals, who all undergo training and education at one of the Imperial Naval Training Facilities. Most civilians who are drafted into the Imperial Starfleet and agrees full hearted with the Empire and its political values are urged to become Navy Troopers or Gunners. The Imperial Navy Troopers dress in black uniforms and wear large black protective helmets with comlinks. If the troopers are to expect ground combat or dangerous boarding operations, they can be equipped with protective blast vests, blaster rifles and even field backpacks with useful supplies and accessories.

There are several subdivisions of the Imperial Navy Troopers. One of the least notable, but still most important of these are the Special Navy Forces. This joint effort between Imperial Intelligence and the Imperial Navy was developed with several missions in mind. The Imperial Navy hoped to gain dangerous soldiers that could act as advance forces when establish beachheads, as special operatives and scouts. Imperial Intelligence hoped to create a group of mobile intelligence operatives with specialized skills and training, who could be assigned virtually any mission on a moment's notice. Known as SpecNav, these troopers came into service around the time of the Battle of Yavin, they were and still are the Imperial Navy's most elite troops.

It was also from the ranks of the Navy Troopers that Grand Moff Tarkin selected a corps of highly trained and loyal men to become Death Star troopers. Though their uniform proliferates throughout the Imperial Navy, to many the black suit and helmet still invokes images of the Death Star operations.