Unidentified Imperial commander ( Blockade of Kashyyyk ) A Human male commander in the Galactic Empire ' s military helped enforce martial law on the planet Kashyyyk during an Imperial blockade of the world during the Life Day holiday of 1 . 5 ABY . Leading a team of two stormtroopers and a technician , the commander entered residences of the planet ' s native Wookiees and searched for ties to the Rebel Alliance . When the Imperials arrived at the house of the Alliance hero Chewbacca , who was away from home , they harassed Chewbacca ' s family while awaiting his return , yet remaining ignorant of his identity . After dismissing the trader Saun Dann from the house ; threatening Chewbacca ' s wife , Mallatobuck , with harm ; and overseeing a search of the residence ; the commander finally departed when Chewbacca ' s son Lumpawarrump covertly used a mini - transmitter to broadcast a " return to base " signal to the officer ' s comlink . Suspecting that their missing Wookiee was indeed a Rebel , the commander left stormtrooper B4711 at the house to await Chewbacca ' s return . Biography . A Human male with brown hair and brown eyes served as a commander in the Galactic Empire ' s military during the Empire ' s civil war with the Rebel Alliance . During the Wookiee holiday of Life Day midway through the year 1 ABY , the commander was dispatched to the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk during an Imperial blockade of the planet . Martial law was declared and a curfew imposed due to suspected Rebel activity on Kashyyyk , and the commander led two stormtroopers and a technician from home to home in search of ties to the Alliance . Their hunt brought them to a treetop house in the city of Rwookrrorro that belonged to the family of Chewbacca , an Alliance hero . The Imperials barged into the house and found three Wookiees : Chewbacca ' s wife , Mallatobuck , his father , Attichitcuk , and his son , Lumpawarrump . The Human trader Saun Dann was also present . As the residents cowered , the technician reported that another adult male Wookiee lived in the home ; although unaware that the Wookiee in question was the famous Chewbacca , the commander demanded to know where he was . Dann offered his services as a translator between the Imperials ' Basic and the Wookiees ' Shyriiwook , but the commander was only interested in seeing the trader ' s identification . As he plugged Dann ' s identification card into a reader , he ordered his men to search the residence for any signs of Rebel activity . When the trader ' s card checked out , the commander dismissed him from the home , and a nervous Dann — who was also secretly a member of the Alliance , hoping to protect Chewbacca ' s identity — only departed when he found a stormtrooper ' s blaster rifle pointed at his chest . The impatient commander bid his men to finish their search , but when one of the troopers pointed his rifle at a furious Mallatobuck after the other trooper knocked Lumpawarrump and Attichitcuk out of his way , the commander intervened . He ordered Mallatobuck to keep her son quiet , implying that harm would otherwise come her way . She cooperated by letting her son watch a cartoon about his father ' s adventures in the Rebellion , and when the video caused Lumpwarrump to scream , the commander investigated . The young Wookiee quickly changed the screen of his video book to instead display a game , and the commander lost interest . Meanwhile , the technician and one of the troopers tore apart Lumpawarrump ' s room during their search , and the commander afterward sent the young Wookiee to clean it up , hoping that it would keep him out of the Imperials ' way . All four Imperials directed their attention to the residence ' s wallscreen when a program began that announced itself as required viewing for all members of the Imperial forces . The program , entitled " Life on Tatooine " , was a live broadcast of a harrowing night in the life of Ackmena , the nightshift bartender of a cantina in the planet Tatooine ' s city of Mos Eisley . It was shown with the hope that viewers would be uplifted by a feeling of superiority over the cantina ' s lowly denizens . Following the program , the commander ' s comlink transmitted a " return to base " order , which the Imperials failed to realize had actually been broadcasted by Lumpawarrump via a mini - transmitter . The commander led the technician and one stormtrooper out the door but left trooper B4711 behind to await the return of the missing Wookiee . When Chewbacca did return , he and his Human companion , Han Solo , sent B4711 tumbling from the treetops down to the forest floor , and Saun Dann reported to another Imperial officer that the stormtrooper had fled into the woods . The officer believed the lie , and the Wookiees were free to celebrate Life Day without Imperial interference . Personality and traits . The Imperial commander had brown hair , brown eyes , and light skin . He wore prominent sideburns , which were popular with Imperial officers at the time . While in Chewbacca ' s home , the commander was short with Saun Dann and had little patience for the trader ' s attempts to interfere with the search for Rebel activity . He displayed a similar temperament to his own men and grew annoyed with their slow progress , adamant that there were other homes to be searched before the day ' s end . He frequently addressed his men with nothing more than a snap of his fingers . Although the commander prevented one of his stormtroopers from firing on Mallatobuck , he warned her not to test the trooper ' s patience , and subtly threatened her with harm unless she kept a reign on her son Lumpawarrump , whom the commander found annoying . Despite being unaware that he was in the home of Chewbacca , the commander suspected that the residence ' s missing Wookiee was one of the Rebels for whom he was searching , and acted on his suspicion by leaving B4711 behind after departing . Behind the scenes . The Imperial commander first appeared in " The Star Wars Holiday Special " , a 1978 television feature that was from the original 1977 . He was played by actor Jack Rader . Although addressed only as " officer " in the program , and referred to as " Guard officer " in the fourth draft of the " Holiday Special " script , he was later identified as a commander in 1995 ' s " The Essential Guide to Characters " . An Imperial commander was included in the " Holiday Special " as early as its initial story treatment , which features the character at an Imperial base , adamant with his aides that the " Starship Musica " vessel — carrying several Rebels — not be allowed to reach the Wookiee planet in time for holiday celebrations . A guest star , written to be played by actress , volunteers to sabotage the ship . Following its only airing , the " Holiday Special " was almost universally panned . " Star Wars " author Alex Newborn has credited the Imperial characters as contributing factors to the program ' s poor finished product , calling them " ineffectual Imperial antagonists " in the midst of a 1970s who helped lead to an overall lack of focus . In the " Holiday Special " , the commander wears three code cylinders in his military uniform and sports a single row of six squares in his rank insignia . Although 2012 ' s " The Essential Guide to Warfare " explains the use of code cylinders and rank insignia by officers of the Imperial Navy , no source has revealed the branch of the Imperial Military to which the " Holiday Special " commander belongs . His uniform ' s tunic also parts down the middle , unlike the tunics worn by officers in the original " Star Wars " trilogy , which part down either the left or right side .