An elite corps, only 10 percent of TIE pilots successfully navigated the intense training and testing of the Imperial Navy. They represented the elite of the Imperial Navy, having undergone grueling physical and psychological conditioning to achieve their ranks. You need to know your life is on the line, that your next move could destroy your enemy or put you directly in his firing vector." ―Flight Leader Trel Skutu. " I attended the Academy, and I have nothing negative to say about the Imperial training program, but nothing can prepare you for true space combat. Eventually, Imperial commanders like Grand Admiral Thrawn were forced to recognize that their pilots and starfighters could no longer be treated as expendable assets, and began fitting TIE/IN interceptors with deflector shields. During the time of the Imperial Remnant and the reign of a reborn Emperor Palpatine, the Empire was forced to be conservative with the lives of the TIE pilots due to their decreasing numbers, and unmanned TIE/D automated starfighters were used as support craft for living pilots. Īt the height of the Galactic Empire, the Imperial Navy had countless Academy graduates and clones at its disposal. This notoriously callous treatment of pilots was such that the TIE fighter, in addition to representing the technological might of the Empire, was also symbolic of the Empire's disregard for its own soldiers. The TIE pilots believed that their lack of protection was a testament to their skills rather than the Empire's view of them as disposable. However, these were ignored by the Imperial Navy's hierarchy, and notably were dismissed by the pilots themselves. Įven early into the Empire, however, there were several Imperial officers, among them the distinguished TIE ace Shea Hublin, who campaigned to have the various TIE fighters redesigned to protect the pilots better, largely because non-clone Human pilots from the Imperial Academy began to replace and outnumber the aging clone trooper veterans. This early use of clones was one of the main reasons why TIE pilots were often viewed as expendable and given little protection during combat. The first clone pilots were first-generation Jango Fett clones, but the best clone pilots were honored as the prime clones for newer pilot lineages, and were distinguished by their all-black dress uniforms. The first generation of TIE pilots was composed of clones, survivors of the clone trooper pilots of the Republic Starfighter Corps from the Clone Wars. Among the pilots, they were known as "vac-heads" and "ground-hogs," in reference to their roles in the Navy and Army, respectively, due to a significant rivalry between the two factions. Within the Imperial forces they were often referred to as "coffin jockeys" due to the high mortality rate of those manning the vulnerable TIE fighters, a holdover from the Galactic Republic's use of clones during the Clone Wars prior to the Empire's formation. They were referred to as " bucketheads" by Rebel pilots, due to their bulky helmets. The TIE pilots formed the elite of the Imperial Navy's Flight Branch. Distinguished by all- black flight suits and bulky, fully enclosed, vacuum-sealed helmets, the Galactic Empire at its height produced millions of TIE pilots and generally considered them expendable assets.
Navy fighter pilot height requirements series#
TIE pilots served in the Starfighter Corps of the Imperial Navy by piloting the various TIE Series starfighters. " Lemme describe an Imp pilot for ya, Artoo-lotsa guts wrapped up in a little skill with no brain." ― Cade Skywalker, to R2-D2
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