Jedi Commander A Jedi Commander was a Jedi military officer in the Grand Army of the Republic . The title was created shortly after the Battle of Geonosis , the first battle of the Clone Wars , and was given to the Padawan s of the Jedi Order in 22 BBY . The rank of commander granted them authority over the clone trooper s of the Grand Army , including clones of rank such as Clone Captain s and Clone Commander s . As in the Order itself , however , Jedi Commanders were subordinate to the Jedi General s — veteran Jedi who completed their training to become Jedi Knight s and Jedi Master s . A Jedi commander ' s place was often at the side of their master and general , although they were occasionally required to complete tasks or missions without the aid of their mentor . As the conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems came to a close in 19 BBY , the majority of Jedi officers were betrayed and killed by their clone trooper s as a result of Order 66 — a military protocol labeling all Jedi as enemies of the state . Despite the deaths of many Jedi in the ensuing purge , there were several survivors who escaped into hiding , such as Commander Caleb Dume and former Commander Ahsoka Tano , both of whom went on to become supporters of the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the reign of the Galactic Empire . Powers . Whereas the rank of general made both Jedi Knight s and Jedi Master s the commanding officer s of the clone trooper battalion s that composed the Grand Army of the Republic , the rank of commander made Jedi Padawan s their second - in - command . As such , a Jedi Commander had the authority to command clones — from rank - and - file trooper s to clones specially bred for command , such as Clone Captain s and Clone Commander s — but was subordinate to the higher - ranked Jedi General . Clone troopers were trained to follow orders without question and would execute commands given to them by their Jedi commanders , just as they would with their Jedi general s . History . During the Battle of Geonosis in 22 BBY , the Grand Army of the Republic deployed against the Separatist Droid Army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems for the first time . At the time , the Jedi Order lacked an official status in the military forces of the Galactic Republic . Nevertheless , the clone troopers followed the orders of the Jedi , who served on the battlefield as " de facto " generals . In the aftermath of the Battle of Geonosis , the rank of general was created for fully - trained Jedi , giving them control of the Grand Army whereas Padawans — Jedi who were still training to achieve the status of Knighthood — were given the lesser rank of commander . During the Battle of Christophsis , Ahsoka Tano was assigned to the newly - promoted Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker , making her Skywalker ' s official Padawan despite his unwillingness to mentor the next generation of the Jedi Order . As a result , Tano also became a Jedi commander in the Grand Army of the Republic . On Christophsis , she served alongside the soldier s of her master ' s unit , the 501st Legion , and would continue to serve as Skywalker ' s second - in - command in multiple battles across the galaxy such as Teth , Bothawui , and Ryloth . In 21 BBY , Tano worked with Commander Barriss Offee — the Padawan of Jedi Master Luminara Unduli — to destroy the Geonosis primary droid foundry during the Second Battle of Geonosis . After securing victory for the Republic on Geonosis , commanders Tano and Offee worked together to prevent the spread of an infestation that infected the crew of the " Pelta " - class frigate TB - 73 . In 20 BBY Commander Knox fell in battle along with General Halsey and their clone troopers , all of whom were killed by the Dathomirian Nightbrother Savage Opress . As the fighting continued , Offee secretly grew disillusioned with the Clone Wars , the Republic , and the Jedi ' s role in the conflict . She orchestrated a terrorist attack on the Jedi Temple of Coruscant in 19 BBY , killing several Jedi , clone troopers , and civilian workers . In addition , her actions resulted in the death of her friend , Tutso Mara , and the framing of another friend , Ahsoka Tano , whom Offee had set up to take the fall for the attack . Although Offee was ultimately exposed as the true culprit and traitor , former Commander Tano declined the chance to rejoin the Jedi Order and the Grand Army of the Republic . In the final days of the Clone Wars , the clone troopers turned against their Jedi generals and commanders after receiving the command from Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine to execute Order 66 . Having been labeled as enemies of the state by the chancellor , many Jedi were suddenly gunned down by their own soldier s , all of whom had been programmed to carry out Order 66 without question . However , one of the Jedi commanders , Caleb Dume , survived the clones ' betrayal due to his master , Depa Billaba , who sacrificed her life to ensure that Dume would not perish by the blaster fire of their battalion . Under the reign of the Galactic Empire , the few surviving Jedi were forced into exile in order to survive the purge that all but destroyed their Order . Prior to the Galactic Civil War , the former Jedi commanders Dume and Tano became members of the Alliance to Restore the Republic during its formative years as a resistance movement . Dume , who now went by the alias of " Kanan Jarrus , " continued the Jedi tradition by training a Padawan of his own — the Force - sensitive Ezra Bridger of Lothal .