For kicks, here's the full text of the 1981 article (via Google cache):

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ORIGIN

The creation of an Imperial Stormtropper. A cloned man is one of a group of
genetically identical humans, an assembly-line product. He is a thinking
man, but he serves a specific purpose and no other. A clone has no
mother; only his trainers, and he accepts his fate because he believes
it is inevitable. A clone is, physically and emotionally, a normal man.
He simply has no human rights and no name. He is the property of the
Emperor. Soldires fully formed in the growth tanks quickly proved
impractical. Scientists found themselves the befuddled fathers of
one hundred sixty pound blubbering idiots. A fetus is now removed
from the hatchery after a gestation peiord of sixty weeks and is delivered
immediately into the hands of its trainers.

TRAINING

As kids, Stormtroopers live like hardened cell block inmaes only
barely under control. Hundreds of nast little orphans with only
one thing on their minds: the sheer unparalleled joy of a good raid.
These boys know that they are special and they strut with the
proud arrogance of samurai. Their military education is picked
up as naturally as an infant learns to talk, and any purpose other
than their preordained future as commandos is inconceivable. By
the time they are actually contracted into service, each Trooper
is anxious to fulfill his common lifelong ambition; to wear the
Imperial armor, and to be carried away with the Star Fleet into
incredible adventure and battle. Trainees are generally devoid
of imagination, but after years of rough talk and stories of
conflicts lost and won, indiviual temperaments emerge.

An introduction of the TIM armored spacesuit: a white eggshell worn
like a second skin and made of super lightweight Impervium. Many
troopers become so attached and dependent on the suits that they
fear to remove them. A black, two piece body temperature control
glove is worn under the armor and is adjustable for comfort.
Eighteen pieces of armor, which include the battery box and control
devices, snap together to form an effective anti-laser cocoon.
Indirect hits are reflected off the surface of the armor, though
it provides little protection against a well-aimed piercing blast.
During the off-duty hours, only the body glove is worn. Each
trooper is issued two body gloves, one set of armor and spare
parts. His helmet features automatic polarized lenses and voice-
activated transceiver. Belts include specialized survival equipment
concentrated ration, emergency batteries, and a Comlink. Additional
equipment is issued for desert and arctic use. Impervium resist
decay so effectively that early models of the spacesuit can still
be found near century-old battle sites. They bring high prices
as souvenirs and privateers rebuild them for another fifty years
of good use.

PROMOTION

Promotion to Squad Leader comes with battle experience and long
months of straight duty. Just staying alive long enough helps,
most old Troopers are Squad Leaders . Real promotion, however,
is a step up to the Imperial Guards. Each guard is assigned
to an Executive of the Imperium. Governor Moff Tarkin's personal
guard....forty men. Lord Darth Vader's personal guard...twelve
men. Snappy uniforms and light duty. A guard travels with his
assignment, usually to the plushest environments. There are
hazards. The personal ambitions of the leader one is assigned
to protect may give rise to litle-publicized but very lethal
feuds. The size of a titled officer's private army is a factor
in realizing his political goals, and Imperial Guards often find
themselves in the role of hit men. It is a satisfying position.
A Guard never feels he is playing the traitor by assassinating
rival Imperial Officers. Troopers have always been taught that
the enemy are worthless insects to stomped out; but a guard who
has successfully overcom or defended against other Imperial Guards
feels that he has defeated an oppenent worthy of the effort. A
healthy spirit of competition exists in their ranks. No one is
exactly sure what qualities make a clone worthy of promotion - a
special alertness perhaps - but they are much envied. Imperial
Guards are allowed liquor and women.

RETIREMENT

Only a small percentage of Troopers survive to retirement age.
As they get older, they are assigned to light duties; training,
communications, stores. Eventually they are sent to the Troopers'
Rest camp on the holiday planet of Sochi. There are tales of
Troopers who, captured by enemies or wounded and abandoned by their
companions, now live and breathe outside the influence of the
Empire. They have names. Without their armor, they are almost
indistinguishable from the general population. Of course, such
cases are rare. Officially they do not exist. For the most
part however, Imperial Stormtroopers remain loyal 'lifers'
dedicated to the preposition that the only good alien is a dead one.