Thanks for the invite to the thread. It's been a long time since I have posted. (in fact several posts don't even exist anymore 0_0! )
I will say before R1 came out and I saw images of the troopers, I was apprehensive about any troopers being added to the MEPD. But the more screen grabs and source material presented,I changed my mind. I now believe that the R1 Jedha trooper should belong to the MEPD.
I wrote down a short list of things that make a TK and a TD different at first glance. They are dirt, pack, pauldron and knee plate. While the R1 Jedha troop does not have the knee plate, they might be mistaken by the average viewer as a sandtrooper. There have been some instances at a troop when one of our TK Commanders has been mistaken as a TD because of the pauldron. Perhaps the ANH TD is an evolution of the R1 TK. They are troopers that have been at their outpost in the outer rim territories, so far away from their FOB, they may not have the convenience of replacing parts broken or lost, right away.
