Don't set your selves up for a letdown... all of my very professional movie talk shows are saying that it is not a movie about what people think it is about.
I would rather be let down than be bummed the whole way through.
Rogue Squadron, The Movie "Rogue One"
It goes element, flight, squadron, group, wing.http://www.starwars.com/news/inside-the-fearless-rogue-group
On Hoth they were refered to as Rogue Flight and with Blue and Green Squadrons formed Rogue Group for Battle of Hoth. No mention of Rogue Squadron in the movies. No idea what has been retconned but it wasn't in the movies.
If there's a rouge flight in rouge group you can bet there's a rouge squadron too.
For the Empire it's:
2 = element
(2x2=) 4 = flight
(3x4=) 12 = squadron
(6x12=) 72 = wing
Edited by Mikael HasselsteinWell, I don't know about that, but a group is 3 squadrons or thereabouts. Not sure there is a fixed number. The 181st is both a wing and a group in the comics. The group consists of 3 squadrons that are, I gather, more elite than the rest of the wing.
What's the RW organization?
Squadrons, then several squadrons is a group, then one or more groups is a wing, then wings are in air forces, which are subordinate to commands.
I wouldn't exactly apply real world military organizations to Star Wars. Generals have fleets.
Could be a marine.
Squadrons, then several squadrons is a group, then one or more groups is a wing, then wings are in air forces, which are subordinate to commands.
(Also using Wikipedia), so I guess it's not that standardized.
For my headcanon, I'll stick with the numbers I posted above for the Empire, with 'group' being some amorphous designation that the pathetically disorganized rebels use.
I actually like the flight, squadron, wing breakdown. Ez to remember.
What does the 'group' refer to? AFAIK (in the SW RPG, from the Sourcebook, which may be defunct), they don't have the group level.It goes element, flight, squadron, group, wing.http://www.starwars.com/news/inside-the-fearless-rogue-group
On Hoth they were refered to as Rogue Flight and with Blue and Green Squadrons formed Rogue Group for Battle of Hoth. No mention of Rogue Squadron in the movies. No idea what has been retconned but it wasn't in the movies.
If there's a rouge flight in rouge group you can bet there's a rouge squadron too.
For the Empire it's:
2 = element
(2x2=) 4 = flight
(3x4=) 12 = squadron
(6x12=) 72 = wing
In real life any time any time two or more troops get together you have an element. These get together to form sqadrons. Now in America we have a middle step called the group, but in British (and commonwealth) I'm pretty sure they skip this and go straight to wings.
Again, though these are not comprehensive rules. A group may have an element that runs the group's administration, having that element fall outside a sqadron. You'll find that in the military, everything is an ad hoc arrangement.
EDIT: forgot flights. Element, flight, squadron, group, wing, numbered air force, command.
Edited by PewPewPewPlus, not having a definite number of elements in a unit is an advantage because it makes it harder for the enemy to estimate their opposition. This practice extends at least as far back as the Byzantine Empire.
I'm sure the RW variation has something to do with practicality, effectiveness, and availability of resources under certain conditions.
By my headcanon, the Empire only cares about being uniform and numerically impressive. Were I writing it from scratch, I'd have also made it base-10 (like the metric system).
Per dat wookieepedia, the Rebel wings typically had half as many squadrons: so, 36 fighters instead of 72 for the wing. Which, makes sense right? Hyperdrives, shields, astromechs and all that. 
Plus, not having a definite number of elements in a unit is an advantage because it makes it harder for the enemy to estimate their opposition. This practice extends at least as far back as the Byzantine Empire.
This sounds like a myth. Simply marching your troops to battle kills a portion of them, so if you kept rigid element sizes, you'd be reassigning and restructuring your force every day.
I'm sure the RW variation has something to do with practicality, effectiveness, and availability of resources under certain conditions.
By my headcanon, the Empire only cares about being uniform and numerically impressive. Were I writing it from scratch, I'd have also made it base-10 (like the metric system).
Well, FFG has to observe the following:
Game > Lore
That's a recipe for giving us all a headcanonache.
Plus, not having a definite number of elements in a unit is an advantage because it makes it harder for the enemy to estimate their opposition. This practice extends at least as far back as the Byzantine Empire.
This sounds like a myth. Simply marching your troops to battle kills a portion of them, so if you kept rigid element sizes, you'd be reassigning and restructuring your force every day.
Right, and the Romans certainly didn't renumber legions. They kept going until they died and new legions were recruited all at once. However, the standard unit size worked for new legions. The Byzantines intentionally varied the numbers of troops even in "standard" divisions at full strength because it made it more difficult to estimate their forces. For the Byzantines this made more sense than the Romans, as they didn't really keep a standing army, as such. Troops were raised for a campaigning season, so all units were nominally at full strength until the first (and usually last) major battle.
What does the 'group' refer to? AFAIK (in the SW RPG, from the Sourcebook, which may be defunct), they don't have the group level.For the Empire it's:
2 = element
(2x2=) 4 = flight
(3x4=) 12 = squadron
(6x12=) 72 = wing
For "Rogue Group" on Hoth, it's because Rogue Squadron was combined with another squadron to crew the two-seater T-47s. It's used interchangeably with "squadron" in other places, especially to indicate temporary or reinforced commands.
Elements, flights, and squadrons are pretty much as you describe. "Wing" gets a little weird because it can be used as either a collection of independent starfighter squadrons, or to designate the squadrons assigned to a specific vessel. This is why you generally find Imperial wings with 6 squadrons (the starfighter complement of an Imperial-class) while Alliance wings tend to have 3 squadrons (the complement of an average Mon Cal cruiser).
My headcanon took a blow when trained and qualified imperial aviators somehow got Ps 1, where rebel rooks, just shoved in cockpits got 2.
Or Acadamy Pilots havn't completed their training yet and the Rebels mostly throw experienced crop dusters and thrill-seeker flyboys into the cockpits of their X-Wings.
Edited by Major TomIn real life any time any time two or more troops get together you have an element. These get together to form sqadrons. Now in America we have a middle step called the group, but in British (and commonwealth) I'm pretty sure they skip this and go straight to wings.
Not 100% sure how it works now, but in WW2 the RAF definitely had groups, which were organised geographically (so 12 Group defended the Midlands and East Anglia, for instance).
In real life any time any time two or more troops get together you have an element. These get together to form sqadrons. Now in America we have a middle step called the group, but in British (and commonwealth) I'm pretty sure they skip this and go straight to wings.
Not 100% sure how it works now, but in WW2 the RAF definitely had groups, which were organised geographically (so 12 Group defended the Midlands and East Anglia, for instance).
In WW2 the RAF was divided into Fighter Command and Bomber Command. Both fighter command and bomber command were then subdivided into groups, and from there into squadrons stationed at the different airbases. Wings were sometimes used above the squadron level but below the group level, though they weren't as formal in the WW2 structure of the RAF as they were at later periods from what I can gather. No 11 Group under Keith Park basically saved England by itself. Go no 11!
My headcanon took a blow when trained and qualified imperial aviators somehow got Ps 1, where rebel rooks, just shoved in cockpits got 2.
Or Acadamy Pilots havn't completed their training yet and the Rebels mostly throw experienced crop dusters and thrill-seeker flyboys into the cockpits of their X-Wings.
I always figured Academy Pilots haven't completed their training. Notice how all the other pilots are _______ Squadron (Black, Obsidian, Scimitar Squadron, Tempest Squadron.) The Academy pilots haven't even really been assigned to a real squadron. This is probably their final exam. Anyone who survives gets to go to a real squadron, instead of an "Academy" squadron.
So a leading role for this guy opposite Felicity Jones? http://screencrush.com/star-wars-rogue-one-ben-mendelsohn/
Meanwhile, Felicity Jones is excited, but can't say anything substantive: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765670710/Felicity-Jones-says-Stars-Wars-role-is-really-exciting.html?pg=all