GI Joe: 1988 Personnel and Equipment

Personnel:

Armadillo: Philo R. Makepeace was an insanely fast driver in the civilian market before repeated complaints caused him to seek similar employ in the military. That's when it was discovered that Philo drives not just quickly, but very, very rough, as well! Availability:

Blizzard: Gregory is tough because he has to be, for he knows that with his job as a cold weather soldier - much less the instructor of such - he will become a statistic if he goes easy on himself. And his charges will as well, if he goes easy on them. Availability:

Budo: though he was content to spend his time enjoying heavy metal and tinkering with his Harley, young Kyle was surprised to learn his great-great-grandfather was a samurai warrior. Given the family's ancestral home, he has strived to live up to this legacy. Availability:

Charbroil: Carl grew up working with fire, whether he was heating water pipes with a blowtorch in rural Minnesota or shoveling charcoal into blast furnaces for a living. He's comfortable around the stuff, which makes him an excellent flamethrower for GI Joe! Availability:

Ghostrider: Jonas has worked his entire life to avoid notice, a trait which has developed to an almost super-human degree. Even when it's written down in front of them, his fellow Joes can barely remember his code name, much less what he actually looks like! Availability:

Hardball: a former minor league baseball player, Wilmer quit after five seasons upon realizing the leagues valued star power over teamwork. He then enlisted to find a group which appreciated his team player attitude better - and was wildly successful! Availability:

Hit & Run: Brent was orphaned at three years of age when his parents were wiped out by a drunken driver. He decided he'd join the Army as a youth, and worked all his life to prepare for this - mostly by running marathons. And Brent runs very, very well! Availability:

Lightfoot: described as a 'Zen fussbudget', Cory Owens is an expert demolitionist. He's memorized the technical details about every explosive known to man, and since he knows how easily bombs can kill, he's become ultra paranoid about boobytraps everywhere! Availability:

Mangler: an Army newbie who showed significant promise, Mangler was invited to 'try out' for the GI Joe team, which he did. He passed their horrifying entrance tests, though he died in an almost heroic fashion during his 'final exam' in Trucial Abysmia. Availability:

Muskrat: born and raised in the swamps around Thibodaux, Louisiana, Ross grew up tough and quick. He breezed through his Ranger training and Jungle Warfare school as a result of his background, and easily earned his place within GI Joe upon being invited! Availability:

Repeater: a venerable Army Ranger, Jeffrey Therien enjoys being a soldier, and is very good at it, but sucks where military politics are concerned. As such, he was assigned to GI Joe, where he can defend freedom without ruffling oversensitive feathers. Availability:

Sgt. Slaughter: a force of nature, Sgt. Slaughter was born on Parris Island, and raised to become as tough and mean as is humanly possible - a perfect Marine! The ultimate drill instructor, the Sarge is who GI Joe relies upon to keep themselves on their toes! Availability:

Shockwave: showing true bravery as a member of Detroit's SWAT team, Jason applied for a position on the GI Joe team to use his skills for even more good. Being accepted, he was trained up in the SOP and made one of GI Joe's experts in urban combat! Availability:

Skidmark: Cyril seems a perfectly tempered young man with an uncanny attention for detail and propriety - at least, until you put him behind the wheel of any vehicle. That's when you meat the real Cyril, and learn why he received his curious code name! Availability:

Spearhead & Max: an incredibly persuasive insurance salesman, Peter Millman gave that up to enlist, because he felt guilty about fleecing so many peoples' hard-earned money. He is just as charismatic in the military, and has proven to be a great leader! Availability:

Starduster: originally a circus acrobat, Edward was recruited by GI Joe after Duke saw his act, and thought it'd be even better with a jet pack. Somehow convincing Edward of this logic, Duke got him to enlist, where he's been wowing the Joes ever since! Availability:

the Steel Brigade: GI Joe excels in all areas, but sometimes it comes in handy to work with someone having more localized knowledge. When they need such a specialist, they call the Steel Brigade, their reservists and regional contacts around the world! Availability:

Storm Shadow: Tommy Arashikage, originally Cobra's greatest ninja, eventually broke free of that organization's influence. Turning his life around, he has since joined the GI Joe team, and works to make amends for his many dark deeds! Availability:

Super Trooper: Phil Lattimer got into West Point the hard way - right out of Basic. Making it in against the odds, Super Trooper then became the top graduate of a brand new, covert ops school combining advanced technical ability and public relations skill. Availability:

Wild Card: the military appreciates Eric's unparalleled destructive capability, they really do. They only wish he could save it for the bad guys! Something about him, though, causes everything he touches to bend, break, fall apart, or disintegrate. Seriously! Availability:

Windmill: a former Army Flight Warrant School instructor, Edward Roth also doubled as a helicopter test pilot. It was in this capacity that he mastered the experimental Skystorm X-wing Chopper, earning a place on the GI Joe team for him and his new ride! Availability:

Night Force:

Crazylegs: David was on his way to becoming one of the world's greatest organists, but his short fingers put the kibosh on that goal. Needing new direction, he instead enlisted, and now jumps out of airplanes while his internal sound track is playing Bach! Availability:

Lieutenant Falcon: a second generation Green Beret, Vincent Falcone is himself a natural leader. The man excels at inspiring those who serve beneath him, and is a multi-lingual expert in all manner of counter-terrorist operations around the globe. Availability:

Outback: Stuart is the consummate survivalist - though as a survival and jungle warfare instructor, that's his job. He's at his happiest when he's living off the land, days away from civilization, and immersing himself in the wilds that surround him! Availability:

Psyche-Out: wielding a doctorate in psychology and an expertise in predictive behavioral analysis and paranoia-inducing ultra low frequency radio waves, Kenneth is the perfect psy-ops expert for GI Joe using his experience in countless covert ops! Availability:

Sneak Peek: growing up with a love of nature in eerie Bangor, Maine, Owen King enlisted as soon as he could. Using his wilderness skills to become an Army Ranger, Owen has since gone on to become one of the GI Joe team's greatest reconnaissance operatives! Availability:

Tunnel Rat: raised on the surly streets of Brooklyn back in the day, Tunnel Rat grew up to be tough, indomitable, and somewhat jaded. Always looking for a good challenge, he's more than ready to climb into nasty Cobra tunnels to ferret out the bad guys! Availability:

Tiger Force:

Bazooka: a former tank jockey until his sudden epiphany about untrained yahoos immobilizing million dollar hardware with two hundred dollar handheld rockets, Bazooka instead became a missile specialist himself, plying his trade for the GI Joe team! Availability:

Duke: with his years of experience in special ops, Duke was an excellent choice to be GI Joe's field leader. Second only to Hawk in the team's command structure, Duke has consistently led the Joes to victory against Cobra over the years! Availability:

Dusty: born and bred in dry, dusty Las Vegas, Ronald grew up surrounded by desert - and has loved it his entire life. As such, he makes a perfect desert specialist, a vital skill the Joes need since Cobra frequently works in desert climes. Availability:

Flint: enlisting after he grew bored with the life of an academic, Flint utilized both his innate intelligence and brash confidence to excel in various elite specialties - which ultimately saw him being recruited onto the GI Joe team by Duke himself! Availability:

Frostbite: born in crisp, cool Galena, Alaska, Frostbite grew up to handle the snow and ice like second nature. This taught him how to easily do almost any job under such conditions, whether fixing a leaky oil pipeline or driving the Snow Cat into battle! Availability:

Lifeline: though some of the more action-oriented members of the GI Joe team may believe otherwise, Edwin is one of the group's most valuable members. An avowed pacifist, he will go out of his way to save another's life - even risking his own! Availability:

Recondo: growing up to hate Wisconsin's cold winters, young Daniel wanted to explore the deepest African jungles as a child - and grew up to do just that. Both on and off the Joe team, Daniel has become an expert in jungle combat - and many other disciplines! Availability:

Roadblock: aspiring to be one of the world's greatest chefs since he was a child, Marvin put himself through the Escoffier School in France. Subsequently enlisting in the Army to learn from their chefs as well, Marvin became quite the machine gunner, too! Availability:

Skystriker: Alexander Russo was born to fly. His father ran a Maryland Air Force base, and he became a fighter pilot himself after watching them flying over head for so long. He's so good that GI Joe snatched him up for their elite Tiger Force unit! Availability:

Tripwire: one of the single most jittery human beings you're likely to meet, Tormod is seemingly a klutz. Of course, he's the Joe team's ultimate demolitions expert because explosives are the only thing on earth that can calm him down! Availability:

Equipment:

the Desert Fox: a high speed reconnaissance and attack vehicle, the Desert Fox is designed to operate quickly and quietly, even in the harshest terrain. This 6WD ride is most often driven by Skidmark, GI Joe's resident, completely unhinged speed freak! Availability:

GI Joe's Motorized Micro-accessories: bucking the trend of most GI Joe equipment at the time, these small devices can be carried by a single operative if necessary. Assembled in the field, these motorized items provide the Joes various useful capabilities. Availability:

the Mean Dog: a powerful 6WD combat vehicle, the Mean Dog is equipped with a 20mm automatic cannon and twin missile banks. While that's respectable in and of itself, the Mean Dog's secret is that it can split into three separate components when necessary! Availability:

the Phantom X-19: shrouded in secrecy, the Phantom X-19 is a revolutionary stealth aircraft which can perform as either a reconnaissance or fighter jet. The subject of countless speculation, the Phantom X-19 is a Holy Grail to conspiracy theorists. Availability:

the Remote Piloted Vehicle: giving GI Joe a powerful edge over the enemy, the RPV allows them to perform aerial surveilalnce without putting any Joes at risk. Though unarmed, the RPV can 'spot' for the team from a remote command and control station! Availability:

the Rolling Thunder: a massive ground vehicle, the Rolling Thunder is the king of armored combat. Built with a staggering array of cannons, lasers and even cluster bombs (!), the Rolling Thunder is the perfect ride for intransigent GI Joe driver Armadillo! Availability:

the Skystorm X-wing Chopper: a prototype, stopped-rotor aircraft, the Skystorm can take off and land like a helicopter, but its rotor can stop in mid-flight to let its jet turbines take over. This means it's a helicopter and a fighter jet at the same time! Availability:

the Swampmasher: a small, twelve-wheeled ride (using three of each as a 'triad' bogey of sorts), the Swampmasher is designed to navigate thick and muddy terrain. It can readily churn through almost any kind of terrain, doing so at a slow yet reliable pace. Availability:

the Warthog AIFV: a replacement for the Joes' old APC, their Warthog Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicle does the exact same job, albiet in a smaller, more heavily armed and armored capacity. This makes it more suitable for special missions and the like. Availability:

Night Force:

the Night Blaster: when GI Joe captured several Cobra Maggots, they decided to put those villains' newest anti-tank hardware to good use. Refurbishing them for use within the Night Force, these powerful, three-part vehicles have become their Night Blasters! Availability:

the Night Raider: when the Night Force 'borrowed' the design for Sgt. Slaughter's Triple T, the former Tag Team Terminator was given a darker paint job, along with muffled gear for extra stealthy operation in the dark, but otherwise functions the same. Availability:

the Night Shade: a mainstay of the GI Joe naval arsenal for over twenty years, the SHARC is a vehicle ahead of its time: a flying submarine. Which is why, of course, the Night Force felt the need to acquire a few of these things! Availability:

the Night Storm: a small yet powerful vehicle, the Night Storm is essentially a rolling laser cannon. Built for defense while packing a staggering offense, this vehicle is a perfect fit for its driver, who can use it quickly and quietly against Cobra goons! Availability:

the Night Striker: a heavily armed and armored hovercraft, the Night Striker is a heavy duty hovercrat, a vehicle that can easily function on land or water, serving as either a patrol, assault, or liaison vessel, depending on the Night Force's needs. Availability:

Tiger Force:

the Tiger Cat: the Tiger Cat can is an old Snow cat retrofitted to function better in warmer climates than cold - an oddly successful endeavor! Armed with surface-to-surface / air missiles and ground based 'ski torpedoes', the Tiger Cat commands desert battles. Availability:

the Tiger Fly: a slightly modified and repainted Dragonfly XH-1 Attack Coper, the Tiger Fly has proven to be the ideal air support for the Tiger Force, and not just because of it's legendary pilots. It's armed to the teeth, incredibly maneuverable! Availability:

the Tiger Paw: rebuilt from captured Cobra Ferrets, the Tiger Paws are small, four-wheeled all-terrain vehicles. They lack special protection for their drivers, but make up for this with a high rate of speed, not to mention all the heavy armaments! Availability:

the Tiger Rat: repurposing captured Cobra Rattlers for use by the GI Joe team's Tiger Force is sort of a no-brainer, since the Rattler itself was based on the A-10 Thunderbolt. Thus, the team is happy to wield its Tiger Rats against Cobra operatives! Availability:

the Tiger Shark: after Copperhead lost his ride to GI Joe forces a few times, the team decided to put their captured airboats to use against terrorism for a change. A few slight modifications and paint upgrades later, the Joes' Tiger Shark fleet was born! Availability:

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