In fact, our very first glimpse of the Imperial High Command is an argument between the Army and the Navy about the strategic vulnerability of the Death Star. The Army is going to compete with the Navy, the Fighter jocks are going to compete with the Star Destroyer Captains, and the AT-AT crews are going to compete with Storm Troopers. This is, of course, a façade – like all humans, the soldiers and Officers of the Imperial Military will each have their own interests and loyalties. Storm Troopers, TIE Fighters and even Star Destroyers are supposedly just indistinguishable cogs in a massive military machine, single-mindedly pursuing a common goal.

In Star Wars, the Empire is presented as a monolith. Johnson, December 1949ĭangerous to your Star Fleet Commander, not to this battle station… This station is now the ultimate power in the universe. And the Air Force can do anything the Navy can do nowadays, so that does away with the Navy.” “There’s no reason for having a Navy and Marine Corps… We’ll never have any more amphibious operations.

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