Kota's Militia (Dark Times)

"Master Kota was a military genius, but felt that clone soldiers were unfit for battle. Instead, he relied on his own militia."

- PROXY's description of the militia

"I never trusted the Clone soldiers during the Clone Wars and restored for forming my own militia. The volunteer corps helped me raise my own force and ultimately spared me from Order 66."

- Kota's description to Ahsoka Tano.

Rahm Kota's Militia was a unique militia and military unit that was composed of battle-hardened soldiers that fought during the Clone Wars under the command of Rahm Kota for the Galactic Republic. During the Clone Wars, Kota's Militia were part of the Civilian Volunteer Corps and were officially designated as the 1st Republic Volunteer Regiment. The militia was made up of civilian volunteers from the Republic, mercenary groups, and even Separatist prisoners of war who fought under Kota's command during the war. Kota himself distrusted the Clone troopers and thus formed his own militia instead. During the war, they served with distinction and were highly decorated.

After Order 66 was exectued and the clones turned on the Jedi Order, Kota survived and his men remained loyal to him and followed him as he waged his own insurgency against the Galactic Empire after the Republic was dissolved. Kota and his militia later joined the United Front and would help rescue Imperial prisoners and stage various raids against the Empire. By the time the Alliance to Restore the Republic was formed, the militia was reorganized as the 1st Assault Battalion of the Alliance Army.

Overview
Kota's Militia was a militia composed of highly trained, motivated, and professional soldiers all of who were volunteers from all walks of life. They were originally formed as part of the Civilian Volunteer Corps and were part of the Republic Army and fought as their own independent unit from the Clone Army. Due to Kota's distrust of the Clone Army, he didn't have Clones join his militia and recruited from Republic civilians, hired mercenaries, and Separatist prisoners of war. They wore combat armor and gear reminiscent of the gear worn by soldiers from the Old Republic.

During the Clone Wars, the Militia was armed with DC-15S and DC-15A blaster rifles which were standard for the entire Clone Army. By the time of the United Front insurgency, the Militia used a wide variety of blaster rifles, chain guns, and other weapons usually either leftovers from the Clone Wars, personal weapons, or stolen armaments from raids against the Empire. Both during the Clone Wars and campaigns against the Empire, Kota's Militia fought with distinction and complete loyalty to Kota.

Clone Wars
"We mustn't rely purely on the Clones of Kamino. We must also rally our citizens to the cause of defending the Republic."

- Kota The militia was first formed in 22 BBY during the early stages of the Clone Wars. After the Confederacy of Independent Systems seceded from the Republic, the Republic Military found itself at a major disadvantage in that the Separatists could produce battle droids faster than the Republic could produce fresh troops for the Clone Army and the Clones were outnumbered during the early to mid stages of the war. Kota suggested forming a unit of the Republic Army composed of non-Clone civilian volunteers leading to the formation of the Civilian Volunteer Corps. He would go on to raise his own militia and was organized as the 1st Republic Volunteer Regiment and was under Kota's command.