Alliance Special Forces Alliance Special Forces , also known as Rebel Alliance Special Forces or Rebel Alliance SpecForces were a special military branch of the Alliance to Restore the Republic led by General Crix Madine . Known to be a cocky and arrogant in general , SpecForce often took the Rebellion more seriously than most ground troops , and disdained on those who shirked from duty . All SpecForce personnel were required to pass training which consisted of four months of intense , physical and mental training , including learning the use of antique slugthrower s , disarming proximity mines and rappelling off a ray shield . History . Founding . The Alliance Special Forces was founded as a detachment of the Rebel army following the founding of the Alliance to Restore the Republic . Alliance General Pitt Onoran was put in charge of the Alliance Special Forces and some of it ' s first battle groups were the Rebel Marine s , the Pathfinders — led by Sergeant Ruescott Melshi — and the 4th SpecForce Regiment , a battle group comprising of many elite rebel trooper s including Jav Mefran . Beginning the Galactic Civil War . During Operation Fracture , Alliance Intelligence confirmed the existence of the Death Star and the location of it ' s plans . The Alliance High Command however failed to act upon the growing threat fearing utter defeat . Captain Cassian Jeron Andor however believed in obtaining the plans and he put together a team of rebel troopers — including members of the Rebel Marines , Pathfinders and 4th Specforce regiment such as Mefran and Sergeant Melshi . Led by Cassian and Jyn Erso , the team named themselves Rogue One and took a stolen shuttle to the Imperial garrison on Scarif where the data vault containing the Death Star plans was . The troopers dispatched into the shrubbery of Scarif ' s beaches and began planting explosives to create a distraction whilst Cassian and Jyn went up to the data vault in the Citadel Tower to find the plans . Mefran and several others guarded the shuttle in the meantime . The troopers held at first but were soon forced to retreat from incoming AT - ACTs . Luckily , the Alliance Fleet had reached Scarif and the X - wing starfighter s of Blue Squadron saved them from the walkers . Blue Squadron ' s U - wing dispatched more Alliance Special Forces soldiers to assist Rogue One and the battle stretched on until death trooper s landed on the beach and gunned down the entire force excluding Melshi , Lieutenant Taidu Sefla , Baze Malbus and Chirrut Îmwe . Selfa was gunned down by death troopers trying to reach a master switch on a nearby console . Melshi soon joined the Lieutenant leaving Baze and Chirrut trapped by the death troopers . Chirrut sacrificed himself to turn the master switch and Baze was killed when facing off with the death troopers . At the same time , Mefran and a few others were under fire defending the shuttle and a grenade thrown by a Coastal defender stormtrooper blew up the shuttle killing any surviving troopers . Despite the loss of all the Special Forces soldiers , Cassian and Jyn managed to obtain the Death Star plans and transmit it to the MC75 cruiser " Profundity " . The battle of Scarif became known as the first major Alliance victory and the starting point of the Galactic Civil War . At Hoth . In 3 ABY , the Alliance High Command was stationed at Echo Base on Hoth . Over a third of the personnel there were Alliance Special Forces , one of them being a young man named Kryndal . Kryndal — like most of the personnel there — was very passionate about the Alliance cause but he was soon challenged by First Sergeant Hazram Namir , a soldier from Twilight Company who disagreed with his view of the war . Kryndal and Namir got into a fight and Namir was taken away by the other Special Forces soldiers . A few days later , the Empire discovered Echo Base and Darth Vader launched an attack . Many Alliance Special Forces personnel defended Echo Base , Perimeter Outpost Delta and Outpost Beta until the Imperial forces overran them . The rebels there took heavy losses escaping Hoth . Battle of Endor . A number of rebel Pathfinders were hand picked to join the Endor strike team . The group of elite troopers tasked with destroying the shield generator protecting the second Death Star . However , the Imperial forces at the Garrison set a trap and captured the entire team . Luckily for them , the native Ewok s attacked the stormtrooper s and a skirmish broke out . Several Pathfinders were killed in the ground battle but when they managed to destroy the shield generator , the Alliance Fleet above could send starfighters inside the Death Star and destroy it . The Battle of Endor came out as a victory for the Alliance and the turning point of the war for them .