Stormtrooper Corps The Stormtrooper Corps , also referred to as the Trooper Corps , was an independent military branch operating under the Imperial Army of the Galactic Empire . The Corps was best known for its near limitless supply of obedient stormtrooper s trained at Imperial academies across the galaxy , as well as its near fanatical devotion to Darth Vader . Regarded as the Empire ' s chief enforcers , the Corps would serve to remind the civilian populace of the Empire ' s military supremacy . In the aftermath of the Galactic Civil War , the training of stormtroopers was prohibited by the Galactic Concordance , a formal peace treaty between the Empire and the victorious New Republic . However , a new generation of stormtroopers would come to exist under the the First Order , an Imperial - inspired military junta that recognized neither the treaty or the Republic ' s sovereignty . History . Inheriting the military forces of the Grand Army of the Republic , the Stormtrooper Corps would possess a large amount of highly trained infantry to support military excursions against remaining Separatist holdouts . The Corps was ultimately founded by a group of clone commando s . Due to the military buildup during the Clone Wars , the Corps continued to rely on Republic - era clone trooper s for a few years after the Proclamation of the New Order . Nonetheless , the clone stormtroopers ' fighting skills ultimately deteriorated due to their accelerated aging process . In response , the Corps began accepting non - clone recruits into its ranks , with most remaining clones being disbanded four years before the Battle of Yavin . During the Galactic Civil War , the Corps underwent an accelerated training process to provide more soldier s at a faster rate in order to suit the Empire ' s needs . Members of the Stormtrooper Corps would see substantial military action on multiple against the Rebel Alliance and its successor state , the New Republic . Following the Battle of Jakku in 5 ABY , the defeated remnants of the Empire signed a peace treaty called the Galactic Concordance . One of the terms of the treaty prohibited the mobilization and training of stormtrooper forces . The Imperial remnants retreated to the Unknown Regions where they reconstituted themselves as the First Order . In violation of the Galactic Concordance , the First Order rebuilt the former Imperial military including a new generation of stormtroopers . In 34 ABY , these First Order stormtroopers would see action against the New Republic and the Resistance , a paramilitary organization led by General Leia Organa . Training and equipment . Although their ranks were numerous and possessed some of the finest weaponry and armor , with much development spearheaded by the Imperial Department of Military Research , stormtroopers were generally less respected as soldiers — at least in comparison to their clone predecessors — by the Empire ' s adversaries and surviving veterans of the Clone Wars . Clone Captain CT - 7567 noted the inferiority of the new stormtrooper ranks , believing poor training and equipment was partly to blame for the Corps ' decrease in operational effectiveness . Nevertheless , stormtroopers were trained to be fiercely loyal to Emperor Sheev Palpatine , and were reputedly incapable of betraying him . In addition to their allegiance to the Emperor , they loyally followed his apprentice and enforcer , the Sith Lord Darth Vader . According to Imperial records , the Corps never trained a trooper - turned - traitor . When they were not in armor , officers of the Stormtrooper Corps wore black dress tunics , caps , and boots . They also carried code cylinder s , rank insignia plaque s , and officer ' s disk s conform to the standards of the Imperial Navy . Organization of units . In the Stormtrooper Corps , one of the smallest units was a squad , which consisted of ten stormtroopers . A platoon was made up of five squads , and a company was made up of four platoons . Higher up , a battalion consisted of four companies , and a regiment had four battalions in it . A legion was made up of four regiments , giving one a total of twelve - thousand eight - hundred stormtroopers .