Six months before the Battle of Scarif, a SpecForces team infiltrated Iakar to steal medical supplies, where they recruited the gunner Bistan. Alliance General Pitt Onoran was put in charge of the Alliance Special Forces on Yavin 4 and some of its first battle groups were the Marine Corps, the Pathfinders-led by Sergeant Ruescott Melshi-and the 4th SpecForce Regiment, a battle group comprising of many elite rebel troopers including Jav Mefran.

The Alliance Special Forces was founded as a detachment of the Alliance Army following the founding of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. We do this better than the Empire, and that is how we'll win this war.' ―Ruescott Melshi on Alliance Special Forces ' Marines, pathfinders, urban guerrillas, techs, wilderness fighters, heavy weapons specialists, and infiltrators make up Special Forces.