Tamizander Rey Tamizander Rey was a Human male commander of the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War . A native of the planet Esseles in the Galactic Core , Rey abandoned his role with the Esselian defense force following the dissolution of the Imperial Senate shortly before the Battle of Yavin . After joining the Rebellion , he served at the secret Echo Base on the Outer Rim Territories ice planet Hoth by 3 ABY . As the facility ' s senior deck officer , he was responsible for overseeing all docking bay operations . At Rey ' s suggestion , General Carlist Rieekan issued an order preventing any starship from leaving Hoth ' s surface until Echo Base ' s energy shield was activated , which earned Rey the ire of many non - Rebel pilots finding themselves trapped in the base as a result . During the Battle of Hoth , Rey coordinated the evacuation of the base ' s various transports . Biography . Echo Base deck officer . Tamizander Rey was a Human male from the Core World Esseles , a planet highly regarded for its rich culture , celebrated museums , and technologically - advanced research facilities . Rey served as a member of the Esselian defense force , a local military unit , though he resigned following the dissolution of the Imperial Senate by Galactic Emperor Palpatine in 0 BBY , just prior to the Battle of Yavin . Afterward , Rey joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic as a highly - skilled starship pilot , eventually earning an assignment to the Alliance High Command ' s secret Echo Base on the Outer Rim Territories ice planet Hoth by 3 ABY , as a commander . As Echo Base ' s senior deck officer , Rey was responsible for overseeing the facility ' s docking bay operations in the base ' s main hangar , working closely with Lieutenant Romas Navander , who coordinated and relayed orders to Rebel ships from the command center . No starship landed on or departed from the ice planet without Rey ' s knowledge . When Han Solo returned to the base after one of many routine scouting missions of the external Hoth perimeter with Luke Skywalker , Rey was present in the docking bay , helping to oversee the maintenance of the base ' s T - 47 airspeeders , dubbed " snowspeeders , " by ordering a group of repair droids to assist in the difficulty Echo Base had getting the speeders to operate in the planet ' s nighttime sub - freezing temperatures . General Carlist Rieekan , commander of the base , and Princess Leia Organa ordered Rey to report in to the command center as soon as Skywalker and Solo returned . When Rey attempted to direct Solo to the command center , the smuggler was more interested in the condition of his freighter , the " Millennium Falcon " . Solo was upset to discover , as he learned from Rey , that base technicians were pulled away from working on the ship to address the more dire needs of the snowspeeders . After Solo discovered later that Skywalker had failed to report in to the base after investigating a purported meteorite that crashed into Hoth ' s icy surface during their scouting mission , he questioned Rey as to whether or not Skywalker had been heard from . Rey sheepishly responded that he had not seen him but considered the possibility that Skywalker may have alternatively entered through the base ' s southern entrance . Although not in an official position to give commands , Solo ordered Rey to check on Skywalker ' s location , to which Rey complied , eventually discovering for himself that Skywalker was missing . Search for Skywalker and Battle of Hoth . As pilots from Rogue Group prepared to depart from the base the next morning in snowspeeders to search for Skywalker and Solo , the latter of whom had left the base just as night settled to search for his missing friend , Rey eagerly reported to Rieekan that external temperatures had reached operational limits for the speeders and that the base ' s shield doors were ready to be opened . Rey proceeded to direct each Rogue ' s departure from the hangar . Shortly before the Battle of Hoth , Rey made the suggestion to General Pharl McQuarrie , second - in - command to Rieekan , that no ship be permitted to leave Hoth until the base ' s shield generator had been activated . Rieekan agreed with the precautionary measure , effectively grounding the many non - Rebel pilots delivering supplies to Echo Base , who in turn became angry with Rey . Rey was later grievously injured during the Alliance defeat at the Battle of Hoth while coordinating the departures of the various Rebel evacuation transports . Nevertheless , he dutifully continued to oversee the evacuations . Despite the crushing Rebel defeat , a significant portion of Echo Base ' s personnel and equipment were able to escape the Imperial assault , including thirteen of thirty GR - 75 medium transports . Personality and traits . The increasing Imperialization of the galaxy during the Galactic Civil War , part of which included the disbanding of the Imperial Senate in 0 BBY , led Tamizander Rey to join the Rebel Alliance as a talented starship pilot . As Echo Base ' s senior deck officer , he suggested to the base ' s command staff that no ship be allowed to leave Hoth until the shield generator was activated despite the resulting flak he received from non - partisan pilots . During the Imperial invasion of Hoth , he dutifully proceeded to oversee the departing escape transports even after suffering serious injuries . Rey had a particularly tumultuous relationship with Han Solo , whose brash nature often clashed with his own responsibilities as senior deck officer . Solo typically responded to Rey ' s requests to follow base procedure with his trademark sarcasm , neglecting a direct order to report to the command center and later ordering Rey to check on Luke Skywalker ' s missing status , without necessarily having the authority to do so . When Solo snapped at Rey to quickly check on Skywalker due to Hoth ' s threatening nighttime cold , Rey fired back in return that he was well aware that Hoth ' s sun was setting , quipping that he joined the Rebellion because of his perceptive nature . Behind the scenes . Tamizander Rey first appeared in the May 1980 of , written by Donald F . Glut , just prior to the film ' s theatrical release , in which he was played by actor Norman Chancer , credited only as one of several " Other Officers . " The character was first identified by name in the November 1996 " Hoth Limited " expansion set of the " Star Wars " Customizable Card Game , which also provided Rey with a backstory . Rey ' s interaction with Solo in " The Empire Strikes Back " novelization is much more expansive than the film . In the novelization , Rey , who is referred to as a " deck sergeant , " is accompanied by an aide when first queried by Solo . Additionally , it is Rey who subsequently reports back to Solo that Skywalker has not returned to Echo Base through the south entrance , going on to warn Solo that Hoth ' s dropping nighttime temperatures would mean the death of his tauntaun as he exits the base to search for Skywalker . This role is instead occupied by character Tigran Jamiro in the film , portrayed by actor Ray Hassett , to whom Solo retorts he will " see in Hell . " The Rey character holds an even greater role in " The Empire Strikes Back " radio drama and . The role of " Deck Officer , " voiced by Ron Frazier , combines the film ' s characters of Rey , Jamiro , Bren Derlin , and Cal Alder into one . The " Deck Officer " is also referred to as a " Lieutenant " both in the scene occupied by Jamiro in the film and that in which he oversees Rogue Group ' s morning departure to find the stranded Skywalker and Solo . Since neither Rey nor Jamiro canon ically hold the rank of lieutenant and both characters are combined into a single role , there may arise ambiguity concerning which character truly appears in the Rogue departure scene . Given that the deck officer in this scene is directing the departure of craft from the hangar , a duty more closely associated with the responsibilities of Rey , this article assumes that it is indeed Rey appearing in that scene . " The Empire Strikes Back Storybook " , a 1980 illustrated children ' s adaptation of the film , alternatively depicts Rey ' s film interaction with Solo as a brief comlink exchange , rather than a face - to - face encounter . The story refers to the character only as " the deck officer . " Likewise , the Rey character is given a passing mention in the " Marvel " comic adaptation " " as " the watch officer . "