Kendal Ozzel was a Human male admiral who served in the Imperial Navy during the Galactic Civil War, and was considered by many Imperial personnel to be inept, clumsy, and stupid. Ozzel came from a wealthy landowning family on Carida, and his last name would aid him in his quest to gain power. After his graduating from the Coruscant Naval Academy, he served as an instructor there before becoming captain of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Reprisal, the largest ship in the Shelsha sector, from which he oversaw the Teardrop massacre, a slaughter of innocent civilians accused of being Rebel sympathizers. The incident, followed by the murder of Imperial Security Bureau Major Drelfin by stormtrooper Daric LaRone, prompted a group of troops under LaRone to desert from the Imperial Military and flee the Star Destroyer. At the same time, Emperor's Hand Mara Jade arrived aboard the Reprisal as part of an investigation on the BloodScars pirate group. Ozzel believed that Jade was investigating the desertion of LaRone and his stormtroopers, and he conspired with Colonel Vak Somoril to kill her in order to prevent the incident from hurting his chances at becoming an admiral.

Ozzel took the Reprisal to the Gepparin system and ordered a bombardment of Gepparin, the home of the BloodScars' base, in which Jade was located. Although the attack failed to kill Jade, Ozzel did achieve his goal of rising through the ranks. Ironically, he did not become an admiral due to his loyalty or skills, but his apparent disloyalty. Jade did not trust Ozzel, so she advised Darth Vader to keep him under close supervision. Vader took Jade's advise, and Ozzel was promoted to admiral, succeeding Amise Griff as the commander of Vader's flagship, the Star Dreadnought Executor, at the forefront of Death Squadron. Ozzel would serve under Vader for approximately three years. He saw command of the Executor as a path to attaining more power, and he believed that he would be able to control the universe with the Super Star Destroyer.

Ozzel's searches for the Rebels' hidden headquarters were unproductive and only served to agitate Vader. His overconfidence in his abilities ultimately led to his death before the Battle of Hoth. In preparation for the battle, he had Death Squadron emerge from hyperspace too close to the planet Hoth, alerting the Rebels to the Imperials' presence. He had at last succeeded in finding the Rebels' headquarters, but he had made a fatal error that allowed the Rebellion the time needed to raise their planetary shield and evacuate Echo Base. Vader, having had enough of the admiral's failures, telekinetically executed Ozzel for the blunder shortly thereafter, promoting Captain Firmus Piett to fill the vacancy.