Serving as a gunner in small vessel like the Alliance snowspeeder requires communication and great faith in the pilot. Wes Janson and Wedge Antilles had perfected their coordination as gunner and pilot during the Battle of Hoth. Janson was the first Alliance gunner to successfully use the snowspeeder's harpoon and tow cable to entangle and trip an Imperial walker.
Earlier in his career, Janson was stationed at the Tierfon outpost. There, he was close friends with fellow pilot Jek Porkins. During the events leading up to first Death Star battle, starfighters from the Tierfon Yellow Aces were transferred to Yavin. Had Janson not been ill with a case of Hesken Fever, he would have participated in the Battle of Yavin.
Years after the Battle of Hoth, Janson continued flying with Rogue Squadron.
Contrary to popular belief, the uniform of a snowspeeder pilot is different from that of an X-wing pilot. The X-wing pilot uniform, seen in A New Hope, is worn underneath the heavier jacket seen on a snowspeeder pilot. Also, snowspeeder pilots wear the same white gloves and boots worn by Rebel Hoth troops, and not the black boots and gloves worn by standard X-wing pilots.