The ARC Trooper Training Program was a special process that the first batch of ARC Troopers
went through on Kamino at the beginning of the Clone Wars.
The program accepted fresh Clones who were bred specifically to become commanders and
ARC Troopers, but also some Clones that weren’t specially bred for the task.
So, I’m going to break down exactly how almost every single Clone Commander received
training as part of this program, including some you definitely know.
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Lore Content.
Most of the ARC Trooper Training program is part of legends, but there are few hints that
point most of it still being true in Canon, which I'll break down later in the video.
The ARC Trooper Training program or ARC Program was an advanced training program from the
early days of the Grand Army of the Republic.
The program was established by the Kaminoans, and was led by the Advanced Recon Commando
Clone known as Alpha-17.
The program was formed shortly after a massive attack on the planet of Kamino, where he and
his fellow clone brothers were forced to defend Tipoca city against the droids of the separatist
alliance.
When he created the program, Alpha-17 used a lot of the lessons he learned from working
alongside Anakin Skywalker previously in the war.
An example of this is the nicknaming of the Clones.
On the battlefield, Anakin was not comfortable calling Alpha-17 by his clone serial number,
or simply just “clone”, so he designated him the nickname “alpha”.
Alpha went on to use this lesson in his own training programming, granting anyone who
graduated the program their own nickname.
This program is actually where most of the major Clone Nicknames come from.
Let me know down below if you want to hear more about Alpha, because he was originally
supposed to have the same role as Rex did in the Clone Wars series, but George Lucas
ultimately created Rex because there were too many characters beginning with the letter
A in the main squad of characters.
And because a lot of this story was written before the 2008 Clone Wars series, only a
few of the Clones in Revenge of the Sith and Attack of the Clones actually had names, so
this training program was used to explain how they got them.
Now from the Clone Wars Season 7 and earlier, we know that Clones didn’t have to graduate
from this training program to earn a nickname, but until that came out, this was the only
way Clones could have a nickname.
At the time the ARC Trooper program was seen as just an experimental program, aimed at
squeezing the most determination and performance out of the Clones who showed that they were
the most capable, but the program later went on to become a key part of the Grand army
of the Republic, forming a new special forces division of Clones.
The program consisted of gruelling training, with a major focus being on bringing out the
individuality and independence of the Clones, so that they could think freely on the battlefield,
allowing them to make more informed decisions in the heat of combat.
Participants who graduated were rewarded with the right to take a nickname, instead of being
forced to use their Clone serial number.
The first batch of Clones to take part in the rigorous and extremely tough training
program were hand picked by Alpha-17 himself, and included extremely important figures in
the Grand Army of the Republic.
Each Clone who graduated from the program was given the Rank of ARC Trooper and was
officially turned into a member of the ARC Troopers division.
The first graduates of the program included massive names like: Commander Cody of the
212th, Commander Neyo of the 91st, Commander Bacara of the 21st Nova Corps, Commander Gree
of the 41st, Sergeant Appo of the 501st, Captain Rex of the 501st, Commander Bly of the 327th,
Commander Fox and Thire of the Coruscant Guard, Commander Wolffe of the 104th and finally
Oddball.
Each of these Clones completed their training in the first few months of the war, with the
first class of graduates being ready around 22BBY.
Because this training program was featured in the Canon Character Encyclopedia, the story
of Alpha-17 and these Clones May still be the same in Canon.
So that is everything you need to know about the crazy ARC Trooper training program on
Kamino.
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Also remember to check out the Sith holocron merch in the description and pinned comment
down below.
Cheers guys, hope to see you in the next one.