Academy for Young Imperials The Academy for Young Imperials on Lothal housed and educated recruits for the Imperial Army . It was overseen by Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko and Taskmaster Myles Grint . Lothal ' s Imperial Academy was a one - year junior academy . At the end of their term , graduates were expected to move on to a senior academy for a longer stint , then the very best were allowed to enter a specialized service academy for training with the Imperial Army , Imperial Navy or the Stormtrooper Corps , while the remainder went straight into the Imperial Military . History . The Academy for Young Imperials was created when the Galactic Empire established a presence on Lothal . The Academy was run by Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko , a senior Imperial Military officer . He was supported by several staff members which included Taskmaster Myles Grint , Sergeant Currahee , Lieutenant Chiron , and Captain Piers Roddance . As a one - year junior academy , the Imperial Academy supplied cadets to several senior and specialized service academies throughout the Outer Rim and wider galaxy . About six years before the Battle of Yavin , Dhara Leonis enrolled at the Imperial Academy . During the spring season , she mysteriously disappeared . While the Imperial authorities reported that she had run away , her brother Zare and mother Tepha Leonis suspected that the Empire was covering up the real reason for her disappearance . The following year , Zare infiltrated the Academy to learn about his sister ' s whereabouts and to aid any possible resistance against the Empire . He met up with Ezra Bridger , a Lothal rebel who had infiltrated the Academy in order to find a decoder containing the location of a kyber crystal . With Zare ' s help , Ezra succeeded in obtaining the decoder . However , Ezra ' s plans to leave the Academy was delayed after the two cadets learned that he and a fellow cadet Jai Kell had attracted the attention of the Grand Inquisitor , a Dark Side Adept who specialized in hunting down Jedi . Unwilling to allow Jai to experience the same fate as his sister , Zare convinced Jai to escape with them . While Jai and Zare were riding an All Terrain Defense Pod walker , Ezra ' s rebel associates assaulted the Imperial Academy and created a diversion which allowed the three cadets to flee its perimeters . However , Zare opted to stay behind in order to find out about his sister ' s whereabouts and to assist the | growing Rebellion in toppling the Empire from within . Following the rebel attack on the Academy , the Imperial Academy ' s reputation was dented as a result of revelations that rebel infiltrators had entered the Academy . In response , Imperial authorities began interview cadets to uncover treason and sedition . After the winter break , field exercises at the Academy were suspended in response to the growing Lothal insurgency . Instead , the Imperial cadets were used to assist Governor Arihnda Pryce ' s planetwide crackdown of crime and sedition . As part of the crackdown , the Imperial cadets were used to investigate illegal activities , detain the children of fugitives , and to assist stormtrooper efforts to apprehend criminals . Captain Roddance also embarked on a program to investigate cadets for criminal " associations . " As a result , the Cadet Nazhros Oleg was expelled from the Academy for trying to shield his smuggler uncles from prosecution . Despite Captain Roddance ' s efforts to break him , Zare advanced sufficiently in his training to be transferred to the Officers Academy on Arkanis . As a result , he was granted a class three courier clearance . His new security clearance enabled him to warn Ezra about a forthcoming Imperial operation at the Lothal City Capitol Building in Lothal ' s Capital City . Shortly later , Zare was transferred to Arkanis , ending his time at the Imperial Academy . Following the execution of its leaders , Aresko and Grint , by the Inquisitor , there was a shakeup in the Academy ' s power structure . Captain Piers Roddance was named its temporary head . Lieutenant Chiron , another officer stationed at the Academy , was transferred to the Arkanis Academy to investigate a personal concern of Grand Moff Tarkin . Curriculum and organization . The Academy for Young Imperials was a one - year junior academy that prepared teenage Imperial cadet s for two years of further training at other senior academies scattered throughout the Outer Rim Territories . After graduating from the senior academies , the best cadets would enter a specialized service academy for officer training with the Imperial Army , the Imperial Navy , and the Stormtrooper Corps , while others would go straight into the Imperial Military . Prospective cadets would usually submit an application to the Imperial Academy that was reviewed by the proper authorities . After admission , cadets had to undergo an intake test to test their physical and mental abilities . Following the intake test , cadets were sorted out into eight - member squads , which each consisted of two four - member units . One known squad was LRC077 , which consisted of Unit Aurek and Unit Besh . Other known units included Unit Cresh , Unit Dorn , and the all - female Unit Esk and Unit Forn . Imperial cadets wore white and grey uniforms and white helmets that could be sealed with faceplates . During the first two weeks , cadets underwent an orientation program which consisted of multiple running exercises and at least one field combat obstacle course . The harsh nature of the orientation program was designed to weed out the weaker cadets and to ensure that only the strongest and most resilient cadets continued training . Cadets could be issued with demerit s for disciplinary infractions . Despite its difficult training regiment , stormtrooper s who graduated from Lothal ' s academy were often viewed as inferior to those produced elsewhere by off - world officers . Following the orientation program , cadets underwent a series of assessments for the rest of the term to test their physical prowess , mental acuity , leadership skills , and strategic adaptability . Most of these exercises took place in the Well , a remotely - configured chamber that could be configured to simulate various obstacle courses and challenges . One such test involved cadets leaping across floating repulsorlift platforms that were shocked . This test was made harder everyday by adding another challenge on top of the last one , such as the ability to move platforms by firing on it with an E - 11 blaster . For these assessments , the top three winners were rewarded with work details at the Imperial Complex in Capital City or getting to ride inside an AT - DP walker . On several occasions , the Academy was known to replace washed out cadets with cadets from other Lothalian - based academies like Pretor Flats Academy , which was based on the far side of Lothal . After the winter break , cadets underwent field training in the Easthills . Following a rebel attack on the Empire Day festivities in Capital City , field exercises were suspended and Imperial cadets were used to help stormtrooper s enforce law and order . Captain Roddance also embarked on a program of screening cadets for rebel sympathies and criminal associations . Unknown to most cadets and the general public , the Imperial Academy also served as a means for the Empire to identify Force - sensitive subjects , who were then inducted into a secret program known as Project Harvester . Project Harvester was run from a secret location near the Imperial Academy on the planet Arkanis . Commandant Aresko would report cadets who demonstrated incredible physical prowess to the Grand Inquisitor , who would then evaluate the cadets himself . If they met his " special criteria " , he would take them into custody . To maintain Project Harvester ' s secrecy , the Imperial authorities claimed that these cadets had run away . One known target of Project Harvester was Dhara Leonis , the older sister of Zare Leonis . Later , the Inquisitor nearly took Jai Kell and Ezra Bridger ; the latter being an undercover member of the Lothal rebel cell . Campus . The Academy for Young Imperials was based in Lothal ' s Capital City and was near Lothal ' s Imperial Headquarters . The Imperial Academy was near a ten - kilometer field in the Easthills that was used for running drills . The Academy ' s other facilities included interview cubicles , barracks , a mess hall , toilets , showers , office facilities for Imperial training instructors , and a large hangar bay that could accommodate AT - DP walkers , Imperial Troop Transport s , and shuttle s . The Academy ' s assessment hall also hosted a special facility known as the Well that could be used to simulate a wide variety of obstacle courses and challenges . The Imperial Academy ' s grounds included a lake and a nearby field that was used for an obstacle course . The Academy ' s had a large blast door that covered its hangar bay . Besides Imperial officers and trainers , the Academy ' s staff included several protocol and astromech droid s . Behind the scenes . The Academy for Young Imperials first appeared as the Imperial Academy in the " Star Wars Rebels " episode " Breaking Ranks " , which premiered on October 27 , 2014 . Its backstory was further explored in Jason Fry ' s " " young adult novel series , which ran from October 2014 to October 2015 .