why does luke give orders?

at the end of ANH, when luke is going to start his attack run, he ordered biggs and wedge to follow him.

LUKE: (over speaker) Biggs, Wedge, let's close it up. We're going in. We're going in full throttle.

WEDGE: Right with you, boss.

i don´t understand why is luke giving orders to other pilots, if luke was the last pilot who joined the squad.

i don´t think he outrank biggs and/or wedge, he had just joined the rebelion. And more important why did wedge and biggs obey luke?

what was going on with the rebels authorities?

 

There was probably no pre-planned 'official' chain of command after Red Leader died.

BUT

If I recall correctly, Red Leader tells Luke to take Red 2 and 3 with him while he goes on the attack run. Red Leader has confidence in Luke--he knows his piloting abilities!

AND

Official chain of command aside, Luke is taking responsibility for the squad. Someone has to step up and be a leader. He has grown up a bit on his adventure, from whiny farmboy to someone willing and able to take charge and get things done.


Rick McCallum loves you!

 

i agree

AdamBertocci loves you!

 

Yeah, he was just stepping up to show some leadership in a time of peril. I agree with what Adam said.

 

I wonder what Biggs would have thought about taking orders from Luke. No doubt Biggs would have special knowledge of how good a pilot Luke is, but Biggs is a big Academy grad and older than Luke. That, and Luke hadn't even spent much time in an X-Wing, let alone with Red Squadron. Biggs followed the order quite willingly, but I wonder if he thought, "What's got into Wormie? Delusions of grandeur?"

 

It was in the heat of the battle, and there were only a few ships left.

Biggs or Wedge were too late in taking command, so Luke stepped up to the plate.

 

Combat experience does not make a soldier a good commanding officer, it's leadership ability. Wedge eventually progressed into being one of the greatest squadron COs in the Rebellion, but neither Biggs or Wedge were ready for leadership at Yavin.

Luke on the other hand was ready to lead, he is a natural leader and what he lacked in experience he made up for in charisma, sheer potential, passion, optimisim, etc.

 

Here's what I like about Adam Bertocci: A lot of his posts are right on the money, such as the one above.

Here's what I don't like about Adam Bertocci: His posts tend to be so good that by the time he's done posting, there is nothing left for me to say.

 

Combat experience does not make a soldier a good commanding officer, it's leadership ability.

Exactly. There was a power void, Luke came forward to take command, and Wedge accepted his leadersip. That's more a function of charisma and personality than time spent in Rogue Squadron.

 

Red Leader told Luke to lead the next run, so that's what he did.

 

Luke was made a commander in the time between ANH and ESB I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Yup, DeJade_Vu, he wasn't Commander in ANH, but in ESB. So either he was promoted sometime after The Battle of Yavin or had the delusions of grandeur Han spoke of in RotJ already in TESB

 

at the end of ANH, when luke is going to start his attack run, he ordered biggs and wedge to follow him.

Somebody had to take charge.

 

Luke received command of Rogue Squadron when Commander Narra died in the ambush at Derra IV shortly before the Battle of Hoth.

 

Luke received command of Rogue Squadron when Commander Narra died in the ambush at Derra IV shortly before the Battle of Hoth.

So what does that have to do with Luke taking charge at the battle of Yavin?

 

He was expanding on TwIleKJedi's post.

 

He was expanding on TwIleKJedi's post.

If that is the case, he needs to address what he is responding to.

 

Someone has to step up and be a leader.

And he did that in rescuing Leia from the Death Star, and also safely delivering the plans to Yavin. He likely received a lot of credit for that when Leia told the leaders of his exploits.

 

Perhaps as a baby, Luke was given the honorific title of "Boss" from the Gungans, in recognition of his father's part in freeing Naboo from the evil clutches of the Trade Federation.

Obi Wan, after a night's drinking, may have told this to Biggs (but swore him to secrecy), and in the heat of the Battle of Yavin, Biggs used this title of "Boss" to address Luke.

Of course, since Biggs then decided to go and explode, taking out his X-Wing as well, he never got a chance to tell Luke of his reference to "Boss". And thus, Luke was forever in ignorance....


Or maybe not...

 

I'm supporting the opinion that, since Red Leader specifically told Luke to take command of the last attack wave, Biggs and Wedge were being good soldiers by following Luke's commands.

An interesting idea to consider is: Is it possible that Red Leader gave Luke command of the last group...so that his 2 most experienced pilots (Biggs and Wedge) could provide cover for Luke's natural ability? Maybe it's just my watching too much football...but I'd rather have 2 veteran players blocking for my rookie running back in the final drive of the game!

 

That's an interesting interpretation. Perhaps Red Leader thought that Biggs and Wedge would be better cover than Luke would.

 

Offense gets the glory, but defense wins the game.

 

If Porkins were still alive, this thread would be meaningless.