A battle-weary but capable commander, General Carlist Rieekan was the Rebel officer in charge of Echo Base on Hoth. Rieekan had to make the difficult decision of evacuating the base that the men and women under his command had worked so hard to build. Most of the evacuation transports were able to escape Imperial pursuit and regroup elsewhere, ensuring the Rebellion's survival.
Rieekan was born on Alderaan. Early in the Galactic Civil War, he was put in charge of covert operations in and around the Alderaan system. Rieekan was offplanet, inspecting a new satellite transmission system in far orbit around the planet Delaya, when the Death Star obliterated his home.
According to the spin-off novels set years after the Battle of Endor, Rieekan entered politics and eventually became the New Republic Minister of State.