Marching in unison while wearing stormtrooper armor is no easy feat. So the 501st members participating in the 2007 Rose Parade called in reinforcements for training. The 501st garrison leaders and Col. Anthony Toledo answered the call to action.

"My role as Legion Executive Officer is to assist the Legion Commanding Officer (Mark Fordham) in whatever activities and functions are needed to help the 501st Legion function smoothly, cohesively, and consistently across the units," Edward Karl explains. "During our face-to-face meeting with Lucasfilm in April 2006, Mark and I were told that there was a top secret project in the works involving the 501st Legion participating in the Rose Parade. Even more amazing was the fact that this idea originated from George Lucas himself who, as I understand it, wanted to show his appreciation for the warm support that he has received from the men and women of the 501st Legion at his various public appearances."

After the meeting with Lucasfilm, Karl and Fordham decided to gather the 501st members together to train in a specific way for the parade. "Given the different marching styles and techniques in the world, as well as the varying degrees of experience levels within the 501st Legion, Michael Hass from the Cloud City Garrison recommended that an Instructional Marching Video be developed so that our marching troopers around the world would have a good understanding of a specific marching style and technique to lessen the learning curve in Pasadena," Karl explains. "I presented Michael's idea to Mark Fordham (LCO) who was in complete support of this project and, in fact, volunteered to drive to the San Francisco Bay Area from his home in Provo, Utah, to participate in the Instructional Marching Video session. With Mark's concurrence, I presented the concept to Ian Hiebert (Commanding Officer of the Golden Gate Garrison) and Dean De Anda (Executive Officer of the Golden Gate Garrison), who were both supportive of this idea."

Col. Anthony Toledo soon got involved bringing his military expertise to the project. "When the initial request from Lucasfilm was issued to the 501st Legion requesting Garrison troopers to submit their marching video, Dean De Anda called on his co-worker Colonel Toledo, a former U.S. Army Infantry Drill Instructor, to help train the Golden Gate Garrison troopers for the audition video," Karl says. "During the two-day training last July, I found Colonel Toledo to be very competent, professional, yet personable. He was not only open to new ideas, but was receptive to adapting the Army marching style to overcome the various challenges of marching in full helmet and armor. I later learned that LFL was so impressed with Colonel Toledo's ability to train the Golden Gate Garrison marching unit that they offered him the position of the Drill Instructor for the entire 501st Legion Rose Parade Unit. When we decided to develop the Instructional Marching Video, Dean contacted Colonel Toledo who graciously volunteered to spend his Sunday afternoon to help make it happen."

As the Master Drill Instructor for the 200 501st members who will be in the 2007 Rose Parade, Toledo was happy to prepare a video tutorial so participants could train to march in unison in full trooper armor. "I thought that it would be an excellent primer for those who did not know how to march, and also it would give a heads-up to those who had questions about the drills," Toledo says. "It was also a great way to show those who have not had the opportunity to work with me to see what the basics of training will be like. I would like to see everyone on the same page when we actually start our practice, and this would be a great way to show others what we are looking for."

As various 501st members worked together on their marching techniques, Karl was impressed by their level of teamwork. "The most surprising part of the training is how well everyone was able to work together," Karl says. "Despite our different backgrounds and marching skill levels, the marching troopers took their training seriously and gave it their best effort. Many of these same troopers then came out in force to support the taping of the Instructional Marching Video."

"For me, as a long time Drill and Ceremonies instructor, I was amazed how quickly and how motivated everyone was during the training," Toledo adds. "I was impressed with the members' professionalism, and what usually takes the average Army trainee weeks to learn we were able to accomplish in just a matter of a few days or even hours."

Marching as a large group may sound easy enough, but adding a full stormtrooper or clone trooper costume into the mix can create difficulty merely because of obstructed views and inflexible armor. "Some of the marching troopers had difficultly watching their teammates peripherally due to the obstruction from their helmet," Karl says. "The hardest part of marching is actually perfecting the marching techniques themselves. The dreaded wheel turn, for example, where an entire row of troopers make a turn around a bend is particularly challenging. Fortunately, the marching team will not be performing too many wheel turns as there are only two sharp turns on the parade route."

"I have never worn the armor before, but I have tried on the helmet and I can see that trying to keep your alignment and guide with the person next to you can be quite difficult," Toledo adds. "So I really commend them on the effort they put on in looking as good as they do in the armor."

Karl and Toledo are excited to see the 501st members in action once the parade is officially underway, and they have a strong feeling the fans will be impressed as well. "I don't think that something like this has ever been done on a scale this grand, and I feel that the fans of Star Wars and the 501st Legion will get a great thrill watching their favorite characters march in the parade," Toledo says.

"Star Wars, being such a recognized movie saga throughout the country and, in fact, around the globe, brings an instant bond with fans everywhere," Karl says. "I think that when the fans see the hundreds of Star Wars screen-accurate Imperial stormtroopers, sandtroopers and biker scouts, seemingly march off the movie screen and onto the streets of Pasadena, it will ignite warm and nostalgic memories of the first time they saw Star Wars 30 years ago. There will also be a whole new generation of younger fans who, not too long ago, had played with many of the very same action figures, including Darth Vader and clone troopers, who will be marching life-sized in front of them. Finally, there will be many true Star Wars fans who are members of the 501st Legion, Rebel Legion, Jedi Assembly and Star Wars Fan Force, who, even though they are not selected to participate in the parade themselves, would be totally jazzed seeing their clubs represented by their fellow 'brothers and sisters' in such a highly publicized event. This is an exciting time to be a 501st member."

To learn more about the 501st and its worldwide members, visit 501st.com.

Stay tuned to starwars.com for more Rose Bowl Parade coverage.