Work Text:
Below I have reorganized the GAR unit division and chain of command. They are presented in order from smallest to largest and additional notes on definitions/job descriptions will be at the end.
Grand Army of the Republic
Region Army
Various number of sector armies depending on which Region Army it is. There are sixteen Region Armies, one for each of the regions in the Republic.
Led by (1) Natborn Grand Moff
Sector Army
16 cluster armies led by (1) Natborn Moff
(41,605,898,240) field troopers and clone officers total
(1,199,570,944) noncombatant troopers total
(42,805,469,184) clone troopers total
Cluster Army
32 local armies led by (1) Natborn Grand Admiral
(2,600,368,640) field troopers and clone officers total
(74,973,184) noncombatant troopers total
(2,675,341,824) clone troopers total
Local Army
16 system armies led by (1) Natborn Fleet Admiral
(81,261,520) field troopers and clone officers total
(2,342,912) noncombatant troopers total
(83,604,432) clone troopers total
System Army
Eight world armies led by (1) Jedi Master and (1) Natborn Admiral
(5,078,848) field troopers and clone officers total
(146,432) noncombatant troopers total
(5,225,280) clone troopers total
World Army
Four corps led by (1) Jedi Knight and (1) Natborn Upper Rear Admiral
(634,856) field troopers and clone officers total
(18,304) noncombatant troopers total
(653,160) clone troopers total
Corps
Four divisions led by (1) Marshal Commander and (1) Natborn Lower Rear Admiral
(5,460) officers
(152,912) field troopers
One ARC battalion (340 ARCs) led by (1) ARC Commander
(158,714) field troopers and clone officers total
(4,576) noncombatant troopers total
(163,290) clone troopers total
Division
Four legions led by (1) Commander and (1) Natborn Vice Admiral
(4) brigadiers
(4) command sergeants major
(16) colonels
(16) sergeants major
(64) majors
(64) first sergeants
(256) captains
(256) master sergeants
(1,024) lieutenants
(1,024) sergeants first class
(2,048) staff sergeants
(2,048) sergeants
(32,768) foot soldiers
PLUS
One ARC company (84 ARCs) led by (1) ARC Captain
(39,678) field troopers and clone officers total
PLUS
(136) deck officers
(900) technicians
(72) non-infantry corpsmen
(36) administration staff
(1,144) noncombatant troopers total
(40,822) clone troopers total
Legion
Four regiments led by (1) Brigadier and (1) Command Sergeant Major and (1) natborn commadore
(4) colonels
(4) sergeants major
(16) majors
(16) first sergeants
(64) captains
(64) master sergeants
(256) lieutenants
(256) sergeants first class
(512) staff sergeants
(512) sergeants
(8,192) foot soldiers
PLUS
One ARC troop (20 ARCs) led by (1) ARC Lieutenant
(9,919) field troopers and clone officers total
PLUS
Bridge Crew led by (1) Deck Captain
(8) Weapons Technicians, led by (1) Senior Weapons Technician
(2) Systems Data Analysts
(2) Intelligence Analysts
(4) Asset Coordinators
(1) Chief Intelligence Officer
(8) Comms Technicians, led by (1) Chief Communications Officer
(2) Navigation Officers
(2) Defense Coordinators
(4) Pilots
(1) Chief Ship Coordinator
(37) deck officers total
PLUS
Maintenance Crew led by (1) Staff Major
- Stern Company led by (1) Chief Engineer
- (36) electricians led by (1) Chief Electrical Engineer
- (36) engineers led by (1) Chief Mechanical Engineer
- (36) Environment techs led by (1) Chief Environmental Officer
- Bow Company led by (1) Chief Mechanic
- (36) Single-person craft mechanics led by (1) Lead Mechanic
- (36) Walker mechanics led by (1) Lead Mechanic
- (36) Large craft mechanics led by (1) Lead Mechanic
(225) technicians total
PLUS
(2) medical officers
(16) senior field medics
(18) non-infantry corpsmen total
PLUS
Administration Center led by (1) Chief Administrator
(1) ISR Officer
(1) Financial Officer
(2) Requisitions Officers
(2) Rank and Promotions Officers
(2) Assessment and Regulations Officers
(9) Administration Staff Total
(10,208) clone troopers total
Regiment
Four battalions led by (1) Colonel and (1) Sergeant Major
(4) majors
(4) first sergeants
(16) captains
(16) master sergeant
(64) lieutenants
(64) sergeants first class
(128) staff sergeants
(128) sergeants
(2,048) foot soldiers
PLUS
(4) senior field medics
(2,478) troopers total
Battalion
Four companies led by (1) Major and (1) First Sergeant
(4) captains
(4) master sergeants
(16) lieutenants
(16) sergeants first class
(32) staff sergeants
(32) sergeants
(512) foot soldiers
PLUS
(1) senior field medic
(619) troopers total
Company
Four platoons led by (1) Captain and (1) Master Sergeant
(4) lieutenants
(4) sergeants first class
(8) staff sergeants
(8) sergeants
(128) foot soldiers
(154) troopers total
Platoon
Four squads led by (1) Lieutenant and (1) Sergeant First Class
(2) staff sergeants
(2) sergeants
(32) foot soldiers - one of which is a medic
(38) troopers total
Squad
Two teams led by (1) Sergeant OR (1) Staff Sergeant [2 of both per platoon]
(8) foot soldiers
(9) troopers total
Team
Led by (1) Corporal
(3) Privates
(4) troopers total
If you're anything like how I was before I started this project, you probably have no idea how the military chain of command actually functions. I did a bunch of research so you don't have to, and here's a brief explanation in layman's terms:
Star Wars canon does not do a good job of distinguishing between what we would call enlisted personnel and commissioned officers in real life. In the US army, soldiers and officers are trained completely separately; though, it is possible (and common as wars wear on) for enlisted soldiers to become officers.
While I will be using the terms enlisted and commissioned, the clone army is different than standard armies in that the clones do not choose to serve, and so I am switching the term enlisted with standard, as in a standard unmodified clone, and officer with command, as in a command class clone who has been modified to be more independent. The grades will thus appear as S-# or C-# instead of E-# or O-#.
Military officers in the US are required to have a college degree, meaning they are expected to have a higher degree of education than enlisted soldiers. This is because they (generally) are not fighting on the front lines: they are tacticians and strategists. This is not properly shown in canon, as there is no distinction made between company, field, and general officers. For my purposes, I made grades C-1 through C-5 (see the below chart) field officers and C-6 through C-8 general officers, meaning that the only officers anywhere near the front lines hold the rank of colonel or lower. This means that characters shown in canon to be fighting like Cody and Fox are actually more likely to be in some Forward Operating Base, or even back on their ship, coordinating from afar instead of running into battle along with their subordinates. This is not to say that general officers do not know how to fight or use a blaster, just that they are not expected to do so: their primary talent lies in strategy, not live combat.
Because commissioned officers do not have the experience of working directly with foot soldiers, there are Non-Commissioned Officers who work alongside them who act as liaisons between high command and the troopers on the ground. They make sure that the officers’ orders are carried out and that the troopers are in a fit state. NCOs are expected to be combat-ready, and as previously mentioned, lower-grade enlistees work their way up through the ranks and bring their experience with them as the war continues. These are the grades S-6 through S-11.
|
Grade |
Rank Title |
Authority Range |
||
|
S-1 |
Private |
None |
||
|
S-2 |
Private 2nd Class |
None |
||
|
S-3 |
Private 1st Class |
None |
||
|
S-4 |
Corporal |
Team |
||
|
S-5 |
Sergeant |
Squad |
||
|
S-6 |
Staff Sergeant |
Two squads |
||
|
S-7 |
Sergeant First Class |
Platoon |
||
|
S-8 |
Master Sergeant |
Company |
||
|
S-9 |
First Sergeant |
Battalion |
||
|
S-10 |
Sergeant Major |
Regiment |
||
|
S-11 |
Command Sergeant Major |
Legion |
||
|
C-1 |
Lieutenant |
Platoon |
||
|
C-2 |
Captain |
Company |
||
|
C-3 |
Major |
Battalion |
||
|
C-4 |
Colonel |
Regiment |
||
|
C-5 |
Brigadier |
Legion |
||
|
C-6 |
Commander |
Division |
||
|
C-7 |
Marshal Commander |
Corps |
In my fics, I have the clones separated into two distinct categories: they are either standard troopers or they are command troopers. Command troopers are specially modified to be more independent and have enhanced critical thinking skills, as command troopers fill the ranks from colonel to marshal commander and they are expected to strategize more often than fight: every rank that would be considered a commissioned officer position in the US military would be filled by a command clone. On the flipside, standard clones fill the ranks that would be considered enlisted personnel in the US military, from private up to command sergeant major.
What's the difference between a non-commissioned officer and a commissioned officer? Why do you need both a sergeant first class and a lieutenant to run a platoon? I spent entirely too long trying to figure out how NCOs work, and as I understand it, they are the only reason anything gets done in any unit. Because command clones/officers train completely separately from standard clones/field soldiers, they aren't always familiar with what life as a foot soldier is like.
They are also too busy coordinating with their superiors and making sure orders get fulfilled to make sure all of their subordinates are in good shape, so that's where the NCOs come in. NCOs work with the more personal and nitty-gritty aspects of their units, while officers deal with technical and strategic (and bureaucratic) aspects.
I have also included private second and first class. In the US military, an increase in grade has an associated increase in pay. Privates become privates second class after a certain amount of service, and the same is true of second class to first class. Because the clones don't get paid though, these grades are instead used to determine who has authority. If, for example, the squad's sergeant died, command would first go to the two corporals, and if they died, it would go to the privates first class, then second class, then the privates. There is not much difference in authority between private and private first class; it is just used as an easy way to see who the newest team member is (so you can make them do all the heavy lifting).
Moving on from grades and enlisted vs commissioned, you probably noticed that there were a significant amount of extra clones introduced at the legion-level. This is because I figured that each legion is big enough to staff an entire Venator, and therefore every legion would need to include extra clones to maintain the ship and crew the deck. I have a more in-depth breakdown of what the maintenance clones do below.
Stern Company (112 troopers) - Chief Engineer
- One platoon of electricians - Chief Electrical Engineer
- One squad for generators
- One squad for lighting, doors, and day-to-day uses
- Two squads for ship systems and equipment
- One platoon of mechanics - Chief Mechanical Engineer
- One squad of droid technicians
- One squad of engine and hyperdrive technicians
- One squad of reactor technicians
- One platoon of structural engineers
- One platoon of health and environmental technicians/chemists - Chief Environmental Officer
- One squad of cleaning techs (manage cleaning droids and do more advanced work)
- One squad of sanitation techs/chemists/plumbers
- One squad of HVAC technicians
- One squad of life support techs
I switched around and added several ways of dividing and managing the GAR to accommodate its increased size. In canon, the largest unit of clones is a system army—a million clones or thereabouts—but there's no way that would ever work (see my long-ass analysis of GAR numbers after this section for why). So, I created several different classifications of "army", and they are each named for how large of an area you could conquer with that amount of troopers. A world army could conquer a world, a system army could conquer a solar system, a local army could conquer a local group of solar systems, a cluster army could conquer several dozen local groups, and so on up until the level of region army. The star wars galaxy is divided into regions, and I once again looked to how the US army operates for inspiration. The army has several different branches (called Army Service Component Commands) that manage different geographical areas and the troops deployed there—there is US Army Pacific, for example, which commands the forces in the Asia-Pacific Region, and US Army Europe and Africa, which manages the army forces in Europe and Africa, and so on. So, I used the regions of the star wars galaxy and made each have its own GAR Service Component Command. I did encounter a bit of a problem with this, though, and that is that none of the regions in the star wars galaxy are named for some reason. I came up with my own names and you're free to use them, but these are not canon.
The Coruscant Guard, for example, is under the command of The Core Service Component Command. Not every region army has the same number of sector armies, as each region has a different number of sectors and a different amount of contested space, so the size of each region army can change and is not consistent.
So I've come up with a halfway-decent way to reorganize the GAR, but have I come up with a solid estimate of how many clone would actually be needed to fight a galaxy-wide war? Well, no. But I have a ballpark estimate and I can tell you that the bullshit numbers canon gave us are so unbelievably impossible that it's borderline hysterical.
During Attack of the Clones, we can see there are clone embryos gestating. Because it takes ten years to fully grow and train a clone, we can infer that there must have been at least ten years of non-stop clone synthesizing with an accompanying twenty years of training, at a minimum. The war was obviously intended to have lasted for longer than four years, but exactly how many troopers were service-ready every year is unclear.
There are an estimated 27,671,000 military personnel on Earth, for a ratio of .0035 servicemembers to civilians (a similar ratio of .0036 is reached when comparing the # of US military personnel to US citizens). In the Star Wars Galaxy, there are an estimated 400 quadrillion sentients. In order to attain a similar military-to-civilian ratio, there would have to have been at least 1.4e+15 (1,400,000,000,000,000) clones, AKA little less than one and a half quadrillion—and that's with no super significant world wars going on.
Trying this from another angle, it is estimated that it would take between two and five million soldiers to conquer a planet. There are fifty billion inhabited planets in the GFFA, so a large overestimate of five million troopers per planet would net around 2.5e+17 (250,000,000,000,000,000) or 250 quadrillion troopers. Since that’s more than half the galaxy’s population, this number is clearly absurd, not to mention the fact that a unique force of five million troopers is not required for each individual planet. Most planets were not anywhere near the disputed territories of the CIS and Republic, as the war was concentrated mostly in the Outer Rim and Mid Rim where stars were distributed more sparsely, and so an estimated third to four-tenths of the galaxy’s habitable systems would be disputed. Combine that with the assumption that clone troopers, as genetically enhanced super-soldiers, would be able to conquer a world with drastically fewer numbers (~500,000 for this estimate), and would have a combat casualty rate of ~5% (modern warfare rates range from 5 to 15 percent), a conservative estimate using the planet-conquering method would be:
500,000 troopers x .05 casualty rate per planet = 1,000,000 troopers needed for every twenty planets, assuming every 25,000 deficit would be immediately filled
16,500,000,000 potential disputed planets (50 bil x ⅓) x 1 mil per 20 planets = 8.25e+14 (825,000,000,000,000) or 825 trillion troopers
The planet-conquering estimate assumes that all warfronts will be active simultaneously, and does not allow for movement of troops. In reality, massive battles on the scale described above happen infrequently. Unfortunately, this is why my mathematical ability fails. When trying to find out and calculate how many battles would happen simultaneously and how much time each soldier typically spends fighting when deployed, I did not find much solid research. The average number of large-scale confrontations in WW2 was 30/year, or about one major battle every one and a half weeks Earth weeks (one every two GFFA weeks), and I think it is safe to assume that troopers would spend a similar amount of time on each deployment, spending around two weeks actively fighting and then moving on. However, I am not sure how many battles would be happening simultaneously and how many troopers would be needed to fight them all. Let's assume that there each major planet-wide conflict takes two weeks and 500k troopers to resolve. 37 two-week periods in a Standard Galactic Calendar year means that, if there was only one battle happening every two weeks, every year you would need ~1,850,000 clones a year. There were probably thousands of conflicts happening simultaneously: a thousand conflicts would require 1,850,000,000 troopers a year, but remember, there are sixteen and a half billion disputed planets. A million conflicts would net you 1.5e+15 or 1,500,000,000,000,000 (1.5 quadrillion) troopers. So, the number of simultaneous conflicts is somewhere in the tens to hundreds of thousands, and the number of required troopers per year would most likely be in the trillions.
There is one other thing to account for, though: the GAR was not made to fight on behalf of the entire Republic completely on its own. The whole point of the GAR was to offer assistance to local planet-sized militaries who were unequipped to fight the Separatists’ overwhelming number of droids, not single-handedly fight said droid army. The Republic had no galaxy-wide military, but the CIS did, and the clones were made to combat that. It is safe to assume that every planet had some sort of army for self-defense, and the GAR was only called in when the local armies were almost wiped out. However, these armies would have been small, as having a formal organized military was seen as an act of aggression in the Republic. At most, a local planetary militia would have a million members, and several planets would have much smaller ones or even none at all. Plus, even with only a third of the galaxy in contested space, a decent amount of the planets in the Outer Rim wouldn’t be fought over at all due to having next to no value, so you can assume that way less than sixteen billion planets needed defending. In fact, I went with the assumption that only a billion planets in the disputed territories would be at risk of invasion due to their materials or strategic location. Of these, they probably average around fifty thousand soldiers per planet, equaling around a 5e+13 or fifty trillion natborn soldiers who would be focused on defending their home planets from invasion. Next to that, the GAR would be seen as special forces, much like the Jedi, to be called in when necessary, and as super-soldiers, there would need to be far fewer of them to achieve a similar success rate. All this is to say that, because of the amount of natborn soldiers in the Outer Rim, the amount of clone troopers required to fight against the Separatists can be drastically lowered. Again, precise numbers are tricky, but more than fifty trillion troopers a year seems excessive to me. One to ten trillion a year is probably a good estimate, and because numbers make my brain hurt (why did I decide to do this again?) I just went with one trillion a year because that's a nice number and it has fewer zeroes. Bite me.
One thing bothered me when I was doing all this math, though: could a single planet even produce a trillion people a year? There is an upper limit on the amount of people that can live on one planet; Coruscant, the most populated planet in the galaxy, is home to three trillion people, and the only way it sustains that many people is through extensive housing and a surplus of imported supplies. We're expected Kamino, an out-of-the-way planet, to grow and produce a trillion (at least) clones a year? There is no way that could work if Kamino was as isolated as it was implied to be in canon, so either 1) there are far more natborn soldiers than previously estimated to make up for the deficit, which is possible but unlikely considering the Republic’s track record with militaristic member planets, or 2) the additional troopers were either grown on a planet other than Kamino or Kamino outsourced much of their supplies for the clone army from other planets.
There is nothing saying that the Kaminoans have not colonized other nearby planets, nor that Kamino is the only planet in its system. It is theoretically possible that there are other cloning facilities on other planets—it would honestly probably be smarter to spread out the clone army over various planets to eliminate the chances of a natural disaster completely killing them all—and so it is entirely possible the cloning took place across multiple planets, or it took place solely on Kamino but was sustained via supplies from other planets. While I believe the first option makes more sense strategically, I have still gone with option two because 1) Kamino is the only planet removed from the Jedi Archives, meaning it is likely that all of the cloning happens there, and 2) it would be easy for neighboring planets to produce and export vast quantities of supplies without arousing suspicion as Kamino is technically outside of the Republic and therefore not under its scrutiny. Kamino is isolated from the rest of the galaxy because it legally does not exist, but any nearby systems, whether they be colonies of the Kaminoans or otherwise, would have been able to communicate with Kamino without issue.
So now that Kamino could feasibly support growing entire planets worth of troopers a year, there really isn't anything saying you can't simply decide how many troopers that entails specifically and roll with it. So basically, all of this work I did was for nothing and I didn't even get a solid answer other than "at least a trillion a year probably".
So.
You can use my GAR numbers or structure if you want. Or don't, I'm not the boss of you.