Death Troopers and Shadow Troopers

[Dredwulf60]

Death Troopers vs Shadow Troopers (aka Blackhole troopers)

Has anyone got a sense of how these two relate to each other?
As in which one is more 'elite', or the relative tasks assigned?

Are they on par with each other?

I've read somewhere that the Death Troopers in Rogue One are roughly equivalent to the Empire's version of US Navy SEALs.

What would be an analogy of Shadow Troopers.

If there is no canon, I'm just looking for opinions and conjecture to help me form my own head canon on the matter.

[Naaman]

Well, let me start off by telling you that "US Navy SEALs" are some bad mammajammas, but they are given a certain mystique by the Naval propaganda machine that creates some misconceptions about where they "rank" in terms of "elite-ness."

The US military has a "Tier" structure. According to my understanding (based on what is publicly available), a Navy SEAL is a Tier 2 or Tier 3 operator.

SEAL Team 6 would be tier 1 (along with Delta Force, which might be approximately "as elite" as the British SAS).

A Navy SEAL is generally considered to be on par with an Army Ranger or Recon Marine, if that clarifies anything for you.

(In other words, if the Shadow Troopers/Death Troopers are supposed to be the best of the best of the best of the best, then Navy SEAL comes close, but there are other elements out there that most people don't know of that are even more selective than the SEALs).

Check out Special Activities Division/SOG. Also look at RRD (Ranger Regimental Reconnaissance) for some lesser known units that might help to inform your approach to the Shadow Troopers/Death Troopers.


EDIT:
After reading about them some on Wookieepedia, there are a few real world comparisons that come to mind.

First, the Shadow Troopers originated as troops belonging to the Empire's intelligence branch. This would suggest that their main role is reconnaissance, but that have a highly developed military skill set to include direct action operations (somewhat like a Recon Marine).

It also says that they are trained to carry out infiltration and ambush attacks (which is basically generic to spec ops in general), and implies that they conduct large scale raids/assaults at an elite level (like the Army Rangers).

The Wookieepedia article on Death Troopers seems to put them more in line with what Delta Force might do (based on what I think I know from reading/conversations/documentaries/TV... for whatever that might be worth).

There is a lot of "bodyguarding" attributed to them, which is something that Delta is know to have done (General Schwartzkopf used to travel around with a PSD comprised of Delta soldiers, for example), as well as other super secret elite type stuff, like performing a mission without leaving a trace, etc.

[Dredwulf60]

I was also wondering about the duplication of effort, and how much cross-over or competition there might be in mission type.

If Shadow Troopers are an extension of intelligence branch, might they be analogue to the CIA Special Activities Division?

Would a Death Trooper be selected to become a Shadow Trooper the way a Navy Seal might be selected to join the SAG?

Or would it be the other way around...or would they be two completely different career paths?

Or can we look at the WWII NAZI model of things with the Death Troopers being like the SS Sonderlehrgang zbV Friedenthal; (SS literally translates as Protection Squadron), and this branch was selected for special forces type missions,

And the Shadow Troopers like the Brandenburgers, which according to wikipedia says "Originally the unit was formed by and operated as an extension of the military's intelligence organ, the Abwehr. Members of this unit took part in seizing operationally important targets by way of sabotage and infiltration. Being foreign German nationals who were convinced Nazi volunteers, constituent members had lived abroad and were proficient in foreign languages as well as being familiar with the way of life in the area of operations where they were deployed."

If that were the case, the two organizations were rivals and there wouldn't be any movement between them.

Thoughts and opinions?

Maybe the Navy SEALs comment was an off the cuff remark by someone in the film industry to get the point across that the Death Troopers are special, by using a common frame of reference, as purported by the Naval Propaganda mystique you mention?

[Bren]

[Sutehp]

[garhkal]

I forget where i read it, but there were supposedly 3 levels TO the royal guards. One was the regular royal guardsmen, one was Crimson guardsmen, and one was Crimson shadows.. Supposedly that last bunch, were the ranks the Sovereign protectors were selected from..
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Sutehp]

[MrNexx]

Crimson Guardsman only makes me think of GI Joe.
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[Ray]

COMPNOR rules the roost, doesn't it?

[Sutehp]

[MrNexx]

[Dredwulf60]

[Sutehp]