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Moff is military and political title for a sector leader. It originates from the days of the Old Republic.  As the Republic would expand outward and incorporate new systems they woulc occasionally encounter warlords or kings that would control entire sectors.  These leaders were given the title of Moff to help them integrate into the Republic.  Eventually as time passed the leaders would die and the sectors would elect representatives to the galactic senate.  As the Old Republic settled into its established borders, the title fell out of use. 

Flash forward to the last year of the Clone War with the conflict appearing to have no end in sight.  Chancelor Palpatine started to appoint Moffs to work in parallel with their respective sector senators.  The Moff''s would oversee resources such as planets for the war effort, not just direct fleets and armies.  In areas where territory was conquered a moff was used rather than the previous senator that had proven traitorous to the Republic.  This was captured in the online Starwars.com Holonet news which gave a week by week account of the Clone Wars leading up to the release of Revenge of the Sith.  

 
 
 
The first time the rank for a Moff is seen is in Revenge of the Sith on Governor Tarkin.  In the Tarkin novel, there are 20 moffs established at the dawn of the Empire.  Tarkin convinces the Emperor to create a special oversector leader for a combination of other sectors.  This was done making him Grand Moff Tarkin.
 
Grand Moff Tarkin is the leader of the Outer Rim Territories made up mostly of conquered territory from the Clone Wars and Hutt territory acquired during the war.  Here far from prying eyes of the Core Worlds, work is undertaken on the imperial war machine including the Death Star.  
 
The rank of moff becomes the defacto sector leader after Palpatine abolishes the senate.  And the number of moffs by then equal or exceed the number of senators previously in the legislative body.  
 
Replacing the bureaucracy are other ranks in the imperial structure.  The rank depends on the importance of the world.   In many cases, a world has a simple governor.  Sometimes the moff picks a favorite world to rule from and adopts the title of "governor" to go with Moff.   Other times military officers are used to govern worlds.
 
 Captain Sturn is the governor of the occupied world of Kashyyyk.  Styling himself as a big game hunter, Sturn wore a sash made of wookiee fur.
 
 
Baron Tarko had the rank of Moff, but also the title of nobility where he governed on the world of Cato Nemodia, homeworld of the former Trade Federation.  He adopted the local fashion aesthetic into his uniform dress.
 
Governor Pryce had no record of military service before becoming appointed the leader of the world Lothal.  Her uniform was strictly that of imperial officer.
 
Captain Supervisor Grammel was the officer in charge of an imperial mining operation of Circarpous V.  Portly and more of a sadist in charge of the miners.
 
His rule was not long.  
 
Lon Isoto of Brental IV, who had the decency to at least wear his rank...
 
and not much else.

Even Queen Amidala's Captain Panaka became the moff for the Naboo sector serving his old friend the former Senator Palpatine.
 
How many moff's are there?  As many as there are senators.

Moff is military and political title for a sector leader. It originates from the days of the Old Republic.  As the Republic would expand outward and incorporate new systems they woulc occasionally encounter warlords or kings that would control entire sectors.  These leaders were given the title of Moff to help them integrate into the Republic.  Eventually as time passed the leaders would die and the sectors would elect representatives to the galactic senate.  As the Old Republic settled into its established borders, the title fell out of use. 

Flash forward to the last year of the Clone War with the conflict appearing to have no end in sight.  Chancelor Palpatine started to appoint Moffs to work in parallel with their respective sector senators.  The Moff''s would oversee resources such as planets for the war effort, not just direct fleets and armies.  In areas where territory was conquered a moff was used rather than the previous senator that had proven traitorous to the Republic.  This was captured in the online Starwars.com Holonet news which gave a week by week account of the Clone Wars leading up to the release of Revenge of the Sith.  

 
 
 
The first time the rank for a Moff is seen is in Revenge of the Sith on Governor Tarkin.  In the Tarkin novel, there are 20 moffs established at the dawn of the Empire.  Tarkin convinces the Emperor to create a special oversector leader for a combination of other sectors.  This was done making him Grand Moff Tarkin.
 
Grand Moff Tarkin is the leader of the Outer Rim Territories made up mostly of conquered territory from the Clone Wars and Hutt territory acquired during the war.  Here far from prying eyes of the Core Worlds, work is undertaken on the imperial war machine including the Death Star.  
 
The rank of moff becomes the defacto sector leader after Palpatine abolishes the senate.  And the number of moffs by then equal or exceed the number of senators previously in the legislative body.  
 
Replacing the bureaucracy are other ranks in the imperial structure.  The rank depends on the importance of the world.   In many cases, a world has a simple governor.  Sometimes the moff picks a favorite world to rule from and adopts the title of "governor" to go with Moff.   Other times military officers are used to govern worlds.
 
 Captain Sturn is the governor of the occupied world of Kashyyyk.  Styling himself as a big game hunter, Sturn wore a sash made of wookiee fur.
 
 
Baron Tarko had the rank of Moff, but also the title of nobility where he governed on the world of Cato Nemodia, homeworld of the former Trade Federation.  He adopted the local fashion aesthetic into his uniform dress.
 
Governor Pryce had no record of military service before becoming appointed the leader of the world Lothal.  Her uniform was strictly that of imperial officer.
 
Captain Supervisor Grammel was the officer in charge of an imperial mining operation of Circarpous V.  Portly and more of a sadist in charge of the miners.
 
His rule was not long.  
 
Lon Isoto of Brental IV, who had the decency to at least wear his rank...
 
and not much else.

Even Queen Amidala's Captain Panaka became the moff for the Naboo sector serving his old friend the former Senator Palpatine.
 
How many moff's are there?  As many as there are senators.

Love this! I found it hard keeping up with Thrawn (and Vanto's) rise in rank through the book, so the timeline is super useful!

Here we go!



It's saved my life several times with writing and getting things straight
The same person also put together this AWESOME timeline for the events of the book and how they interact with the rest of the canon

However since it basically tells the whole plot of the book, I'm just gonna leave it as a link here and keep spoilers at a minimum for people who haven't read it yet

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11S71i6RiwC_yg6eueQ6AxKLJeSBgDZnuqP83iEUz-9E/edit#gid=223787102

If they can't get along at Disney then there is no hope for the relationship tbh.

Do they salute in the Star Wars universe?
 
The clones did during the war.
 
 
Clones kept doing it after the war.
 
The clones saluted old commanders.
 
 
The rebels would offer salutes.
 
 
Imperial officers would offer salutes.
 
Imperial pilots would offer salutes.
 
The First Order would ju....... you might want to use your discretion with this one.  
 
Opened up some books on customs and courtesies.  While there are minor differences between armed services and services across the world, many of the same basics are the same.  I'll offer some here and if you know some, please share what you know.We have a number of prior military people here that know it better than any book.

And do keep your right hand free.  You never know.

It’s what a good emperor would do 

It’s what a good emperor would do 

Do you want it in excel, pdf or a jpeg?

Yeah I can send a revised one based on what Dillon showed.  The comics from the recent Thrawn book are showing the single cube to be a midshipman.  So that fills in that gap.
 
in a few more issues we may have an answer for commander and vice admiral 

***ALSO KIND OF SPOILER*** 
 
 
I can't believe Palpatine is just sending Vader and Thrawn to Disney World

Robert did you ever get a finalized version of this? There have been a lot of guys in the Ohio Garrison and the rebel Legion in our area that were asking about the ranks today. And if it's complete if it's okay I would like to post it to the Ohio ears enclosed page for Members Only so that they can see the rank status of every one of us that's wandering around in uniform. Might help them out a little bit. Thanks advance man!

I've been accepted and approved.  A tad excited here.
Looking forward to meeting the Garrison Coreillia when I do my first offical troop.
I even signed up for facebook.  
 
 

It is often implied but never stated that a level 3 must be for a person seen on screen.  Is there no such thing as a generic level 3?

X-wing: Rogue Squadron was a comic series that told stories in 4 issue arcs, with different artists per arc.  It mostly ran in the late 90s with the principle author Mike Stackpole also writing a series of books with the same rotating set of characters, principally Wedge Antillies.

I wouldn't say that they were roman through the series, but maybe this arc.  Others varied wildly.  It was the series that introduced us to the 181st and Baron Soontir Fel.

That is because everyone was at attention in ranks.  Read the cartoons I posted.  There were two that met the emperor: Vader and Moff Jejerrod.  And the Moff kneeled when they greeted him.  
 
The emperor is not a superior officer, he is the sovereign.

In regards to meeting the emperor, I do recall seeing how stormtroopers would "salute" him, but I'm pretty sure this is not canon.  Take a look at 0:35 in this video
 

The only thing I could see in that whole scene was everyone standing at attention in ranks. 

It is preferable to call the senior by grade and name; that is, “Commander Jones,” rather than by the impersonal “sir” or “ma’am.”
The following are some of the major points you should remember when rendering a salute:
1. If possible, always use your right hand. Use your left hand only if your right hand is injured. Use your left hand to carry objects and to leave your right hand free to salute.
2. Accompany your salute with a cheerful, respectful greeting; for example, “Good morning, sir”; “Good afternoon, Commander [Jones]”; “Good evening, Chaplain [Smith]”.
3. Always salute from the position of attention. If you are walking, you need not stop; but hold yourself erect and square. If on the double, slow to a walk when saluting.
4. Look directly into the officer’s eyes as you salute.
5.If you are carrying something in both hands and cannot render the hand salute, look at the officer as though you were saluting and render a verbal greeting as previously described.
6. Remove a pipe, cigar, or cigarette from your mouth or hand before you salute.
7. Salute officers even if they are uncovered or their hands are occupied. Your salute will be acknowledged by a verbal greeting, such as “Good morning,” “Good afternoon,” or something similar.
8. Army and Air Force policy, unlike the Navy’s, is to salute when uncovered. Suppose you are in an office with several Army personnel, and all of you are uncovered. An officer enters and the soldiers rise and salute. You should do likewise; to do otherwise would make you seem ill-mannered or disrespectful.
9. If you are walking with or standing by a commissioned officer and the occasion for a salute arises, do not salute until the officer salutes. Assume that you are walking with a lieutenant. A commander approaches. Do not salute the commander until the lieutenant salutes; but as soon as the lieutenant starts to salute, you should quickly do the same.
10. When approaching an officer, start your salute far enough away from the officer to allow time for your salute to be seen and returned. This space can vary; but a distance of about six paces is considered good for this purpose. Hold your salute until it is returned or until you are six paces past the officer.
11. Salute all officers who are close enough to be recognized as officers. It is unnecessary to identify an officer by name; however, ensure that he/she is wearing the uniform of an officer.
12. Salute properly and smartly. Avoid saluting in a casual or perfunctory manner. A sharp salute is a mark of a sharp Sailor.

During the so called Third Reich they only sung the first verse of Deutschlandlied, after that they played "Horst-Wessel-Lied". It was the anthem of the NSDAP.
 
And as a german I have to say: Yep, they dug a little bit to deep in the dark parts of our history for the First Order. I'm glad that they discarded the collar patches, otherwise it would be nearly impossible to wear First Order costumes (except the teal ones) without breaking the law.

Oh lord, the less said about the First Order salute, the better. :C

Do they salute in the Star Wars universe?
 
The clones did during the war.
 
 
Clones kept doing it after the war.
 
The clones saluted old commanders.
 
 
The rebels would offer salutes.
 
 
Imperial officers would offer salutes.
 
Imperial pilots would offer salutes.
 
The First Order would ju....... you might want to use your discretion with this one.  
 
Opened up some books on customs and courtesies.  While there are minor differences between armed services and services across the world, many of the same basics are the same.  I'll offer some here and if you know some, please share what you know.We have a number of prior military people here that know it better than any book.

And do keep your right hand free.  You never know.

There was a system to it but it fell apart as people didn’t fit into the right costumes and there were changes to the scripts.  John Mollo got a consistent rank system with 4 separate ranks for the Empire Strikes Back, but all of that was lost with Return of the Jedi when he was not brought back to the production.  
 
With the new movies there is a definitive system in place and given their history of changing things when they want, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see ranks retroactively changed to smooth everything together. 

Do they salute in the Star Wars universe?
 
The clones did during the war.
 
 
Clones kept doing it after the war.
 
The clones saluted old commanders.
 
 
The rebels would offer salutes.
 
 
Imperial officers would offer salutes.
 
Imperial pilots would offer salutes.
 
The First Order would ju....... you might want to use your discretion with this one.  
 
Opened up some books on customs and courtesies.  While there are minor differences between armed services and services across the world, many of the same basics are the same.  I'll offer some here and if you know some, please share what you know.We have a number of prior military people here that know it better than any book.

And do keep your right hand free.  You never know.