When the Republic launched an invasion around 21 BBY to retake Umbara from the Confederacy, Hawk was among the troops dispatched as part of the Grand Army's landing force. At the outset of the battle, Hawk served with the 501st Legion, transporting Skywalker, CT-7567, and their men to the planet's surface via gunship despite thick ground fire from the Umbaran militia. On a later assignment, he covertly inserted Skywalker, CT-7567, Tano, and Kenobi onto Onderon aboard a Nu-class attack shuttle so that the four officers could train a group of rebel soldiers to retake their world from the Confederacy.
Hawk's gunship arrives to rescue Skywalker and Kenobi from the foiled ambush.
While Hawk headed for the South tower, Skywalker, Captain Rex, and their men proceeded there to reinforce Kenobi. After regrouping, Skywalker and Kenobi made their way to the tower's roof, and Hawk's gunship touched down near the edge of the roof just as B1 battle droids caught up with the beleaguered Jedi and clones. The Republic troops piled onto Hawk's gunship, taking the pilfered cranial unit[8] of the Confederate T-series tactical droidTJ-55[9] with them so as to uncover more information about the foiled ambush. Hawk returned the weary troops to the Republic base, where debriefing began on the failed assault.[8] Following several days of fighting, Skywalker and Kenobi defeated the Separatist forces on Christophsis and freed the world from droid occupation. Immediately after their victory, Skywalker was dispatched with his recently assigned Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, to the planet Teth, where they were to retrieveRotta the Huttlet, the son of crime lordJabba Desilijic Tiure, to win Jabba's favor so that the Grand Army could be granted safe passage through Hutt-controlled space.[10]
Skywalker was given only one planetary rotation to return Rotta to his father on the planet Tatooine. Furthermore, Rotta was being held at an abandoned monastery on Teth, a clifftop stronghold guarded by two battalions of battle droids.[2] Because the Republic battle group was unable to directly land there, Skywalker instead elected to deploy his troops in the jungle below the cliff and commence a vertical assault up the ridge. Hawk was among the pilots chosen for the gunship deployment,[10] and he recognized the dangerous lack of cover at the drop-off and extraction sites.[1] Launching from Skywalker's Acclamator I-class assault ship alongside the other pilots,[10] Hawk, piloting the battle group's lead gunship,[11] ferried Skywalker, Tano, Rex, and a squad of the 501st Legion's Torrent Company to the jungle of Teth.[10] En route to the landing site, Hawk received orders from Skywalker to pull out of the drop zone once they had been deployed, as Skywalker wanted him to be standing by for an extraction from the monastery.[2] Once DSD1 dwarf spider droids opened fire on the gunship from their position at the monastery, Hawk closed the craft'sblast shields and maintained his course to the jungle landing site. After the Lieutenant managed to land them in the dense jungle, Skywalker, Rex, and Tano led Torrent Company in the[10] half-mile climb[12] to the monastery. Despite heavy casualties, Skywalker and Tano were able to rescue Rotta and return him to his father.[10]
"General Skywalker, I've turned the lights out. Our night vision sensors are having a tough time in this drop. I hope we don't overshoot the landing site!" "Just get us as close as you can."
―Hawk and Anakin Skywalker, during the landing on Umbara[src]
Hawk pilots Skywalker and Rex to the surface of Umbara aboard a space gunship.
With clone Z-95 starfighters[17] flying as starfighter support against attacking Umbaran starfighters, Hawk and the other gunship pilots steered their craft toward the predetermined landing site on Umbara's surface. The gunships' deployment was met with much enemy ground fire from the Umbaran militia, and Hawk was forced to maneuver his gunship through the heavy flak. Even with night visionsensors, Hawk had a tough time trying to navigate through the dark atmosphere, and he expressed his concern to Skywalker about the possibility of overshooting the landing zone. While other gunships landed early to launch All Terrain Recon Transports against the advancing Umbaran Soldiers and hover tanks, Hawk continued on to the landing point and reached it intact. There, he deployed Skywalker, Rex, and their men to join the concentrated Republic effort to secure Umbara.[15]
Hawk was dispatched[18] around 20 BBY, the final year of the war,[19] to transport Skywalker, Tano, Rex, and Obi-Wan Kenobi to the planet Onderon. There, the four officers were to train a group of rebel soldiers to retake Onderon from Separatist control. Flying the Nu-class attack shuttleValkyrie 2929, Hawk inserted the four officers into the Onderon jungle by night, hovering over the drop point so that they could disembark, and then quickly pulled out to avoid being detected by the Separatists. Skywalker, Rex, Tano, and Kenobi found the rebel soldierSteela Gerrera, who took them to the resistance's secret base so that they could train the insurgents to liberate their world.[18]
"Long range shows a heavily defended target, sir. Laser-cannon emplacements, at the very least. We won't be undetected now, you do know that, don't you, sir? I'll drop below the tree canopy as soon as I get a clear run." "Good, then bang out as soon as we're down. I need you standing by for extraction." "Will do, sir."
As a Human male clone, Hawk stood 1.83 meters tall and was versed in Galactic Basic Standard. He was a skilled and expert clone trooper pilot,[1] and his abilities were recognized by and impressed the likes of Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and Clone Captain Rex. He was thorough in his duties, and, during the Battle of Teth, he kept Skywalker updated with comprehensive reports en route to Teth's surface.[2] His experience in the war caused him to see the danger posed in his troop landings on Teth, as both the drop-off and extraction sites lacked proper cover from the Separatist battle droid forces entrenched there.[1] He had eyes like a hawk bird, which earned him his nickname.[4] He additionally received combat training and had a knowledge of military tactics.[1] Hawk was capable in piloting LAAT/i gunships and flew[10] a variant of the infantry gunship model, the space gunship,[20] at Umbara.[15] He was also able to fly Nu-class attack shuttles.[18]
Hawk sports standard-issue Phase I armor during the Battle of Teth.
During the Battle of Christophsis, Hawk wore Phase I clone trooper armor,[8] and his scarred helmet[1] was customized with blue markings and two red hawk "bird of prey" insignia.[8] However, the clone trooper pilot armor he later wore at the Battle of Teth was standard issue, with yellow markings and the normal Galactic Republic insignia displayed on his helmet.[10] After upgrading to Phase II clone trooper armor prior to the battle on Umbara, Hawk adopted new equipment that was based on the armor suit that he had previously utilized at Christophsis; his new Phase II helmet featured variations of his Phase I blue markings and red hawk insignia.[15] All of his armor suits were equipped with sensors that measured his vital signs. He wielded a DC-15 blaster pistol in combat.[1]
"Clone pilot Hawk was originally in the Clone Wars movie, called by Anakin for an extraction from the B'omarr monastery on Teth. That sequence was cut from the movie—which may have ended up saving Hawk's life, because as it originally played out, that rescue gunship would have been shot down by a vulture droid."
―"The Hidden Enemy" Episode Guide clarifies the non-canon status of Hawk's appearance in the cut scene from The Clone Wars film[src]
In a scene cut from the film, Hawk's gunship arrives at the monastery moments before being destroyed by a Vulture droid.
As part of the Battle of Teth sequence in The Clone Wars film, Anakin Skywalker calls in a gunship for an evacuation from the Teth monastery, but the gunship is shot down by a Vulture droid starfighter, killing the pilot and all troops on board. That scene initially appeared in the film's novelization[2] and junior novelization, though neither books identified the pilot of the gunship by name.[11] Hawk was originally intended to be the pilot of the gunship in the film, but the scene was removed from the film's final version, thus maintaining that Hawk did not die at Teth.[21] To date, Hawk's "death" has not been verified as canonical, and the non-canon status of his appearance in the scene was solidified with his being featured in the chronologically later episode "Darkness on Umbara."[14] Nevertheless, the cut scene itself—without Hawk as the named pilot—retained its canon status thanks to its canonization in the film's novelizations.[2][11]
Hawk's card in Star Wars PocketModel TCG: Clone Wars Tactics depicted him in normal, white Phase I clone trooper armor at Teth[23] instead of his standard-issue yellow-marked pilot armor, as seen in the film.[10] A September2010 video published on the official Star Wars website showed Series Director Dave Filoni describing Hawk as a clone trooper commander,[24] but this rank has yet to be confirmed by an official source. Until such a confirmation, it is assumed to be an error. Additionally, a clone pilot who lacked Hawk's distinctive armor but whose role corresponded to that of Hawk in "The Hidden Enemy" appeared in the non-canonical video gameLEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, which was released in March 2011. In the game, the pilot does not initially hear Skywalker's request for an evacuation because he is listening to music.[25]