Supreme Commander ( Alliance / Republic ) The title of Supreme Commander was one of the highest ranks accorded in the militaries of the Alliance to Restore the Republic , the Alliance of Free Planets , the New Republic , and the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances alike ; but the usage of the title varied considerably over time . Alliance to Restore the Republic . The military High Command of the Alliance to Restore the Republic was led by the Chief of State in the " ex officio " capacity of Allied Forces Commander - in - Chief , assisted by the Alliance Minister of War , the Alliance Chief of Staff , and a council of Supreme Allied Commanders , each with responsibility for a distinct aspect of the Alliance military : Although often referred to as " Chief of Intelligence " , " Chief of Sector Command " , etc . , these officers were known collectively as the " Supreme Allied Commanders " or simply " Supreme Commanders " , and it appears that this was part of their full formal title ; for instance , the titles of " Supreme Allied Commander for Intelligence " and " Supreme Allied Commander for Special Forces " survived until c . 12 ABY , although by then these two posts had effectively been amalgamated into a single office . By far the most important of the Supreme Allied Commanders was the head of Fleet Command , with the rank of Admiral of the Fleet — Admiral Gial Ackbar . Ackbar ' s command incorporated not just the Rebellion ' s major combat warships , but also its own Fleet Intelligence , Starfighter Command and Ordnance and Support departments , essentially duplicating much of the structure of the high command . In many respects , the Fleet was a fully - functional and self - contained armed forces within the Alliance military organization , with Ackbar exercising complete control from his flagship , " Home One " , and regularly delegating his place on the high command to a subordinate ; but the devolved hierarchy can also be compared to those of Sector Forces , and seen as a reflection of the Alliance ideology . New Republic . After the victory at Endor , major reforms occurred : the increase in ground troops led to a new bilateral division into Army and Navy , and a cumbersome bureaucratic superstructure was imposed : the Ministry of War was renamed the Ministry of Defense , and additional Ministries of the Army and the Navy were formed , creating three Council - level political appointments with overlapping jurisdictions . Yet in terms of operational control , what happened was that the Fleet simply gobbled up the other commands : Ackbar — still normally commanding on the front line from " Home One " — became Commander - in - Chief of the entire New Republic military ( though still subordinate to the Chief of State ) . The old high command ceased to function as a council of state , but security forces acquired a new definition , with General Crix Madine becoming Supreme Allied Commander for both SpecForces and Intelligence . About ten years after Endor , the entire cumbersome political apparatus was swept away , and military authority was concentrated in a new post of Supreme Commander . Officially , this post replaced the Minister of Defense , but with the office filled by the Admiral of the Fleet , and no civilian ministries to get in the way , it represented in practice the apotheosis of the process of concentration of military authority in Fleet Command that can be observed in earlier developments . The independence of the other Supreme Allied Commanders was ended , their former agencies subordinated to the Supreme Commander : in effect , Fleet Command ' s preexisting Starfighter Command , Ordnance and Support and Fleet Intelligence departments absorbed StarCom , OaS and Support , and much of the combined Intel / SpecForces hierarchy . In the twenty years or so between Admiral Ackbar ' s initial appointment as Supreme Allied Commander for the Fleet and his retirement as Supreme Commander of the New Republic Defense Force , the only changes in the actual organizational superstructure of his command were thus as follows : subordinate field commands passed from a flexible group of Line Admirals to five Fleet commanders ; Ordnance and Support was renamed Quartermaster ; and the Fleet absorbed the rest of the military . Of the former commands , only Intelligence survived as an independent department — in fact , it was totally separated within the constitutional hierarchy , under a Director rather than a Supreme Commander , and more - militarized elements of the former SpecForces , such as the Katarn Commandos , were absorbed by Fleet Intelligence . By the time the Yuuzhan Vong invasion began , Ackbar had retired , and the Supreme Commander was the Sullustan Fleet Admiral Sien Sovv , an able administrator and determined organizer . Although a hero on Sullust , Sovv did not inspire the same awe in many of his personnel as Ackbar , and he was not a famous battlefleet commander . He further differed from Ackbar in his willingness to participate openly in the New Republic ' s political scrum — and he accordingly conducted the war from a desk on Coruscant , rather than the command deck of a battleship . Nor was he perhaps the most compassionate , tactically flexible or surgically deft operational commander — but then , it cannot have been easy for him to follow a legend like Ackbar , and he shared with his celebrated predecessor a doughty determination to win , and an understated capability to deploy ships , personnel and infrastructure to that end . Galactic Federation of Free Alliances . Cal Omas ' constitutional reforms following the Yuuzhan Vong conquest of Coruscant were largely theoretical . In practice , the Galactic Alliance consisted of the Councilors , Senators and Defense Force command elements that had regrouped on Mon Calamari , and Sien Sovv remained as Supreme Commander , although now commanding the war from the Super Star Destroyer " Guardian " . After leading the Alliance to victory , Sovv was briefly replaced by Fleet Admiral Traest Kre ' fey , but he soon returned , and held office until his death in 36 ABY . At this point , as a conflict between Killik s and Chiss threatened to become a galaxywide war , Cal Omas called Imperial Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon out of retirement to serve as Alliance Supreme Commander . He remained in that position for the next four years , until the start of the Second Galactic Civil War , resigning over disagreements about the Galactic Alliance Guard . He was replaced by the politically ambitious Cha Niathal . After Niathal defected from the Galactic Alliance Chief of State Darth Caedus did not appoint a new Supreme Commander . It is unknown who Chief of State Daala appointed after Niathal went MIA during the Second Battle of Roche in 41 ABY . Constitutionally , the Supreme Commander was appointed by the Chief of State ; under the mature New Republic constitution , the Senate confirmed the appointment , and could also recall the Supreme Commander by a Vote of No Confidence . In practice , the Supreme Commander seems to have always been , by rank , the most senior serving Admiral answerable to the government he served , but it is unknown if this was a requirement for appointment .