Special forces were elite military units that held specialized roles and accomplished tasks or missions that conventional military units were not trained or skilled for. The New Republic sent a special forces team led by Jom Barell to investigate suspected Imperial activity on Akiva sometime after the Battle of Endor.
The Galactic Republic made use of various special and elite units during the Clone Wars. Clone commandos, Advanced Recon Commandos, Biker Advanced Recon Commandos, and Advanced Recon Force Scout Troopers were greatly employed, with units including Foxtrot Group, D-Squad, Delta Squad, and Clone Force 99. The 41st Ranger Platoon was also an elite unit within the 41st Elite Corps.
The Confederacy of Independent Systems utilized specialized battle droids as special forces units, including BX-series droid commandos, during the Clone Wars.
The Alliance to Restore the Republic maintained the Rebel Alliance Special Forces, a branch of the Alliance Military. Consisting of pathfinders, the Marine Corps, and Rebel Commandos, the Alliance Special Forces served in various battlefronts.
The Galactic Empire maintained various special forces units throughout its military and intelligence branches. An early special forces squad was the ES Task Division, which Admiral Rampart assembled as part of a program to transition from clones to human transcripts. However, the ES Troopers proved to be unable to follow orders as obediently as clone troopers, and one of the members, ES-01, was executed by their commander, Crosshair. The rest would soon follow in the events after, and only ES-02 survived.
The Imperial Special Forces (ISF) was the Empire's special forces organization, which included the 204th Imperial Fighter Wing, Task Force 99, and Imperial Special Forces troopers, such as Inferno Squad. Other special forces units included CompForce and Special Forces Command. Special Unit One was an elite starfighter squadron, and Imperial Intelligence utilized elite death troopers. Purge Troopers were elite soldiers that operated under the Inquisitorius.
The New Republic maintained a military branch, the New Republic Special Forces, which was formed from the Alliance Special Forces.
The First Order maintained the First Order Special Forces as part of its military forces. Members of the First Order Special Forces included Special Forces pilots who piloted TIE/sf space superiority fighters, as well as elite stormtroopers who utilized elite speeder bikes.
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