Saga The Imperial chain of command

What is the imperial chain of command? Where do people rank?

You can mention any Imperial seen in any canon material, primarily from the CT but also Rebels and Rogue One. Im not 100% on how they rank against each other, but here's my example (that I know already is missing out a lot of people!)...

Palpatine
Darth Vader
Grand Inquisitor
Inquisitors/Director Krennic/Grand Moff Tarkin
Moff Jerjerrod
Stormtrooper commanders
Stormtroopers

 

Do Vader and the inquisitors have official ranks or are they really outside/above/beyond the chain of command?

 

I don't think Vader has his general ranking anymore. He's never referred to as General Vader, just Lord Vader like the other Sith have been called. Ozzel and Piett wind up giving orders after Vader gives them to them, so he was definitely in charge of the Executor. But we see him defer to Tarkin aboard the Death Star. We don't know what the situation is in "Rogue One". The Inquisitors didn't have military rankings, but seemed to be in the same situation as Vader was in ANH. Which is why they let someone of military rank call the shots, with the Inquisitors making suggestions. Grand Moff was a high rank, but I think it was lower or close to Grand Admiral. But Tarkin was also a governor which gave him political power. Jerjerrod was not a Grand Moff, so he was lower than Tarkin. We had Admirals and Generals in the conference scene in ANH. Stormtroopers still held the same rank as in the Clone Wars such as Colonels, Lieutenants, Majors, Commanders and so on.

 

Great post! I think it's an interesting thing to look at and think about and figure out where everyone fits and how they all stack up against each other. Good point about Vader and the inquisitors...I actually think they may rank alongside Tarkin.

 

Well, remember that during the Clone Wars that Grievous who was a general had to answer to Dooku who wasn't one. So I think it is more that with the Sith, they are in charge in certain aspects and other aspects, someone else is in charge. The general consensus is that Tarkin was in charge of the Death Star and Vader had control over the Imperial fleet, but not absolute control. Someone of a higher rank could make decisions when Vader wasn't around, like Thrawn who has a high ranking or when he wasn't around, it was Piett.

 

I forgot Thrawn was now officially in the mix now!

I think the Vader(or Anakin)/Tarkin thing is interesting, as it shows they have a lot of respect for each other in the Clone Wars series. Once Anakin became Vader I think that in palpatines eyes he became of higher rank than Tarkin. So even though Vader COULD call the shots, his respect for Tarkin allowed him to let Tarkin have a much longer leash than other people of similar ranking.

(I hope that all made sense! Haha!)

 

The Emperor​

Darth Vader/Mas Amedda/Wilhuff Tarkin​

Imperial Ruling Council​

Grand Moffs/Grand Admirals/Grand Generals​

Inquisitors​

Moffs​

ISB/Intelligence Agents​

Generals/Admirals​

Stormtrooper Commanders​

Stormtroopers​

Cadets​

Ensigns​

 

I think you have a basic military chain of command with Palpatine right at the top and then the Grand Admirals and working down the chain from there. Moffs are more like real-world Governors - they can call on military/law enforcement support but have no direct authority in the field. On the other hand there doesn't appear to be any facility to declare 'martial law' and the military to take over running a planet from the political offices so they are in balance/competition (as Palpatine likes it to be of course.)

Vader and other force-users are more like Commissars in Soviet Russia - officially not part of the chain of command but if they make a ''suggestion'' you'd be smart to listen to it.

 

In the old continuity the Inquisitorius was a branch of Imperial Intelligence.

 

Why Mas Amedda so high?
Legitimately just wondering, I thought of him as just a servant of Palpatine, like an aide.

 

As the Emperor`s deputy all high ranking officers answer to him, and as Amedda, Vader and Tarkin all answer directly to the Emperor I put the three on equal footing.

Edit: He is also the Head of the Imperial Ruling Council

 

True that he reports directly to the Emperor. I just sort of see that as separate from the hierachy. Kind of like how the Emperor's red guard are directly answering to The Emperor but hold less status. Mas Amedda likely knowing Palpatine's true identity in the PT validates your stance admittedly.