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This article is about the basic soldier of the Republic before the New Sith Wars. You may be looking for other uses of the term.
Republic soldiers were enlisted in the Republic Army from 25,053 BBY until its dissolution in 1000 BBY. The Republic soldiers were the troops directly under Galactic Republic control, although in times of war it seems they were reinforced by levies from Republic planets. Most of the soldiers in the Army appeared to be Human males. Trask Ulgo and Carth Onasi were Republic soldiers stationed on the Republic Hammerhead-class cruiser Endar Spire. Republic soldier ranks included captain, commander, and ensign.
The armies of the Republic were also made up of the local militias as well as the sector forces who reported to their generals rather then the central command authority such as the Defense Ministry. Darth Revan, before he fell to the Dark side of the Force, was the first field marshal who commanded all the separate units in order for the Republic to better coordinate their defense against the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders. However, the nature of the conflict meant that they often spent more time as guards on their capital ships than as troopers on the ground.
During the Great Galactic War, Republic soldiers were professionalized, and millions of volunteers across thousands of planets fought in the Republic Army. The Army's logistical network brought constant reinforcements to those planets. Republic Army basic training was eighteen weeks of drills, tests, and exercises, followed by up to twelve months of specialist training. Infantry units saw combat in eighty percent of engagements against the Sith Empire.[2]
Republic soldiers wore red and yellow armor and what appeared to be a black bodysuit underneath. Combat suits and Republic mod armor were available to Republic troops as well. Republic soldiers were issued blaster rifles, blaster carbines, blaster pistols, disruptor rifles, and heavy repeating blasters. Vibroswords were used for close-quarters combat due to an increase of close-quarter enemies such as the Sith during the time of the Old Sith Wars. Several types of explosives, such as grenades and mines, were also issued to troops for combat and demolition purposes.
During the Cold War, Republic Infantry were equipped with a versatile blaster rifle that accepted alternate types of energy cells, a sidearm, grenades, Duraplast Armorweave, an encrypted Comlink, and four days of rations.[2]
The Champions of the Force set of the Star Wars Miniatures game features a miniature that is modeled after the Republic soldier. The miniature is called the "Old Republic Trooper" and its rarity is "Common." In the Knights of the Old Republic set, another miniature, named "Old Republic Guard," is modeled after the Republic soldier. A miniature called "Old Republic Captain" from the same set wears the armor of a common soldier but has an in-game commander effect.