Palo Torshan Palo Torshan was a Human male Rebel Alliance major and one of the top security personnel at Echo Base , the Alliance High Command headquarters on the ice planet Hoth . He developed counterintelligence tactics at Echo Base , including setting loose the flamboyant red protocol droid R - 3PO in search of Imperial spy droids . Torshan formerly served under General Jan Dodonna on Yavin 4 and sat in on the conferences planning the Rebellion ' s assault on the Galactic Empire ' s Death Star battlestation for the Battle of Yavin . Biography . Major Palo Torshan was an officer of the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War . He served under General Jan Dodonna at the Rebel Alliance headquarters on Yavin 4 and attended the strategy conferences planning the Battle of Yavin , in which the Rebels assaulted and destroyed the Galactic Empire ' s first Death Star battlestation . Torshan later continued to serve with Alliance High Command at Echo Base on the ice planet Hoth . Torshan coordinated Rebel security for Echo Base and developed counterintelligence techniques . He suggested that the Rebels reprogram R - 3PO , one of Echo Base ' s more temperamental and troublesome protocol droids , and set it loose to search for Imperial espionage droid s . Torshan also suggested not giving R - 3PO a memory wipe or repainting its red body , since no one would suspect such a flamboyant and moody droid of being a spy . R - 3PO proceeded to foil several Imperial infiltration attempts at Echo Base . In 3 ABY , just before the Battle of Hoth , Torshan was present in Echo Base ' s tauntaun stable on the night Rebel Commander Luke Skywalker went missing during a routine scouting mission of the base perimeter . As Torshan and another soldier were struggling with all their physical strength to calm one of the agitated tauntauns that was trying to break free , Han Solo passed their position and departed the base in search of Skywalker . Personality and traits . Palo Torshan ' s instincts concerning R - 3PO ' s value as a spy droid proved correct after R - 3PO snuffed out several Imperial infiltration attempts at Echo Base and , later , with Alliance High Command . Torshan also possessed a certain level of Force - attunement . A Human , he had light skin . Equipment . During his service at Echo Base , Torshan donned the cold - weather armor standard of the Rebel personnel on Hoth . His outfit included the set ' s headgear , anti - glare goggles , padded vest , lightweight tunic , gloves , leggings , and boots . Behind the scenes . Palo Torshan appeared in the 1980 film . He struggles with a wild tauntaun during the scene in which Han Solo departs Echo Base to search for the missing Luke Skywalker . Actor Richard Bonehill portrayed the character in the film , uncredited . Bonehill , who also played several other masked characters in both " The Empire Strikes Back " and , originally filled in as Han Solo ' s tauntaun handler in place of actor Kit Hillier , whom actor Harrison Ford — who played Solo — personally replaced during film rehearsal because of Hillier ' s inability to hold onto the mechanical tauntaun ' s reins . The Torshan character was first named and given a brief backstory on the " Major Palo Torshan " card as part of the November 1998 " Special Edition Limited " expansion set of the " Star Wars " Customizable Card Game . Torshan ' s card identifies the character as " Force - attuned . " This level of Force ability is a step down from a " Force - sensitive " and significantly less than a full Jedi / Dark Jedi character for gameplay .