Colonel Aleric Crofta was a Galactic Republic military officer during the Clone Wars who later served the Galactic Empire before defecting to become an advisor to the Rebel Alliance and its successor, the New Republic. A member of the Judicial Forces, Crofta reached the rank of colonel and joined the Grand Army of the Republic at the outbreak of the Clone Wars. He was a highly respected soldier-scholar and was appointed as the Supreme Chancellor's First and Principal Aide-de-camp, also being the chief strategist on the Republic High Command. Crofta oversaw the formation of the Republic Militia, a reserve force of conscripted Republic citizens, to assist the Clone Army. Although he initially supported Emperor Palpatine's New Order and served in the Imperial Army, it was not long before the colonel became disillusioned and retired.
He had become so thoroughly disgusted that when the Rebel Alliance was formed, Crofta joined it and was granted his old rank, as well as the office of Alliance Minister of War during the Galactic Civil War. In this position Colonel Crofta served as a senior military advisor to Mon Mothma and the rest of the Alliance Civil Government on military matters. Following the Battle of Endor he entered the New Republic's High Command as an executive advisor, becoming part of the group of Clone Wars veterans that formed the "Gray Cadre" in the military.