GI Joe: 1989 Personnel and Equipment

Personnel:

Backblast: after growing up in the shadow of New York City's greatest airport, Edward J. Menninger decided he'd had more than enough. Hating airplanes after years of exposure to their loud noise and bright lights, he enlisted to get a job blowing the things up! Availability:

Countdown: chess master, electronics engineer, fighter pilot, shuttle commander: these all describe the Joe known as Countdown. While they paint the picture of a supremely capable GI Joe operative, though, they don't describe how boring the man can be. Availability:

Deep Six: having deep-seated people problems, Malcom joined the Navy to serve as a deep sea diver, and 'to be alone'. He did so well on long-term missions that he ultimately landed a job on the GI Joe team - a (thankfully) small unit of elite soldiers. Availability:

Dogfight: possessed of uncanny hand-eye coordination and depth perception, not to mention a mean throwing arm, James R. King was the scourge of many an Alabama county fair. Upon growing up, he turned these skills to a more practical use as a fighter pilot! Availability:

Downtown: while his uncanny ability to make every foul never got him a basketball scholarship, Thomas P. Riley made good use of his knack for ranges and trajectories in the Army. An amazing mortar man, he lends those skills to the fight against Cobra! Availability:

Hot Seat: Michael A. Provost was a professional boxer until he had a moment of clarity about relative job security and potential brain damage. Enlisting soon after, he began a similar career in the Army, working as a drill sergeant and heavy vehicle driver! Availability:

Long Range: despite his difficulty with arithmetic early on, Karl W. Fritz is gifted in trigonometry and calculus. He's turned his mathematics to a practical use as an Army Artillery Corps operative, with an artillery accuracy unheard of amongst its ranks! Availability:

Payload: growing up in Cape Canaveral, Mark always wanted to go to space, and worked towards this goal his entire life. After becoming a bona fide astronaut, this former fighter pilot was picked to fly GI Joe's firt spacecraft, the mighty Defiant! Availability:

Rampage: originally enlisting to attend the Army's Finance School, Rampage was forever changed upon seeing his first tank convoy in motion, and has needed the rush of driving a several ton implement of devastation ever since! Availability:

Recoil: a former marathon runner and professional body builder, Joseph Felton was a shoe-in to be a LRRP member upon enlisting. Upon joining the GI Joe team, he began to hone his skills by practicing them on his fellow Joes, which drives them crazy! Availability:

Rock 'n Roll: the Joes' original heavy machine gunner, Craig is from beautiful Malibu, California. He eventually grew up and joined the Army, hoping to make the world a better place, and found that membership in the GI Joe team lets him do just that. Availability:

Scoop: with his electrical engineering and journalism degrees, Leonard Michaels could've easily joined the network news team of his choice. However, he enlisted in the Army to get at the 'real' stories out there, and documents them alongside GI Joe! Availability:

Snake-Eyes: a singularly mysterious man, the commando known only as Snake-Eyes has experienced nothing but tragedy in his life. However, he's persevered through the years, and become a true force to be reckoned with - as would any other ninja master! Availability:

Stalker: though he started out as an urban warlord in Detroit, Lonzo cleaned up his act and joined the Army, quickly becoming one of its very best operatives. A qualified Ranger, helicopter pilot, and field medic, Lonzo is an invaluable GI Joe operative! 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:

Windchill: an avid hunter and ski mobile rider, Jim Steel was an Olympic Biathlon hopeful when he was instead recruited onto the GI Joe team by Blizzard himself. Tempted by promises of high-octane thrills, Jim has indeed seen his fair share of action ever since. Availability:

Battle Force 2000:

Dee-Jay: a disc jockey in Boston with a penchant for tinkering with both electronics and electronic music, Thomas ultimately decided he wanted more in life than fame and fortune. Enlisting soon afterward, he found what he was looking for - in Battle Force 2000! Availability:

Night Force:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

Slaughter's Marauders:

Barbecue: thrill-seeker and all around party animal, Barbecue became a fire fighter for the sheer thrill of it all. The only dedicated firefighter on the GI Joe team, Barbecue tends to be placed on missions with the flamethrower experts. Availability:

Footloose: Footloose was an overachiever in his formative years, a trait which continued until he suddenly dropped out of college and vanished for years. Eventually coming to his senses, he enlisted in the Army to find purpose in his life - and he has! Availability:

Low-Light: lost in the woods for three weeks during a hunting trip gone wrong, Cooper overcame his fear of the dark, animals, and loud noises - and how! He grew up to become one with the night, and is an expert tracker, night spotter, and sniper! Availability:

Mutt & Junkyard: an amazing animal handling ability caused Stanley to gravitate towards military K-9 units upon enlisting, which ultimately led to his assignment to the GI Joe team! There, he and Junkyard provide security on base and in the field. 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:

Spirit: a psychologist and Vietnam veteran, Charlie is an expert woodsman that brings considerable talent to GI Joe. His fellows fail to understand him now and then, but they respect his skill and his ability to keep them alive! Availability:

Equipment:

the Arctic Blast: small and fast, the Arctic Blast is comprised of two large, off-road tires driving an oversized sled. Most often driven by Windchill, this thing is armed to the teeth and a lot faster than you'd expect it to be on first glance. Availability:

the Crusader: the GI Joe team's second space shuttle, the Crusader is built a little more with combat in mind. It lacks a hydraulic crane arm to work on satellites in orbit, instead possessing a heavily armed scout craft that adds to its fire superiority! Availability:

the Mudfighter: sometimes you need a high-performance, super-sonic fighter, while other times you need to drop a lot of bombs on some poor slob. The Mudfighter isn't the fastest GI Joe aircraft, but it packs enough bombs to make almost anything 'go away'. Availability:

the Radar Rat: whenever the Joes need a quick, portable air defense station set up in a jiffy, they rely upon the Radar Rat. It is essentially a powerful radar unit mounted on a 250 HP engine, and is armed with enough missiles to knock out whatever it sees! Availability:

the Raider: designed as a quick yet heavy combat vehicle, the Raider has several surprises within. It features an elevating missile bay, and the ability to split into two separate components: a high speed scout mini-tank, and a heavily armed battle station! Availability:

the Thunderclap: so heavy that it requires both a tractor and a trailer to move it about, the Thunderclap is a devastating artillery piece. Its eleven inch shells can hit targets twenty miles distant, and detonate with enough force to atomize any opposition! Availability:

the Tri-blaster: essentially a go-kart with an enormous engine, this tiny little ride's power plant doesn't make it fast so much as it powers its triple-barrelled laser cannon. It packs a tremendous punch as a result, being incredibly deadly to Cobra operatives! Availability:

Battle Force 2000:

the Pulverizer: the final equipment Battle Force 2000 rolled out before its untimely demise, the Pulverizer is a small tracked vehicle. It can pack an astounding punch with its massive laser cannon, which can stop enemy gear and fortifications dead - and how! Availability:

Night Force:

the Night Boomer: when the Night Force needs a super-sonic fighter jet to take out serious targets in the dark, they call in the Night Boomer. A modified Skystriker, the Night Boomer is a super-sonic, swing-wing jet that's effective against ground or air targets. Availability:

the Night Ray: arguably Cobra's greatest water-borne craft, the Moray is a high speed hydrofoil that lends itself to pursuit and attack missions. This is why the Night Force 'appropriated' a few, and transformed them into Night Rays! Availability:

the Night Scrambler: this versatile, armored troop carrier has been in the Night Force arsenal for years. This because, in addition to being able to drive on land or water, it's a very safe conveyance for Joes on their way to a mission! Availability:

Slaughter's Marauders:

the Armadillo Mini-Tank: a tank in miniature, the Armadillo packs the fire power of six linked, LA-44 missile launchers into a vehicle the size of a Ford ™ Escort ™. Though only having only one real weapon to speak of, it's fast and highly durable. Availability:

the Equalizer: after the Marauders stripped a few Mauler MBT tanks of their turrets for use in their Lynx vehicles, they had a perfectly good tank body remaining. Thus, they welded missile launchers on top of the thing, creating their Equalizers! Availability:

the Lynx: a durable, miniature tank, the Lynx is a frankenvehicle built from old Wolverines and MBT Maulers - combining the best traits of both! Though incredibly slow, the Lynx makes up for this with a staggering amount of destructive power! Availability:

Tiger Force:

the Tiger Fish: a small, high speed riverine assault craft, the Tiger Fish is built to get Tiger Force in and out of Cobra territory as fast as possible - all while doing a serious amount of damage, thanks to the astounding amount of firepower it possesses! Availability:

the Tiger Sting: when GI Joe's Tiger Force required a versatile off-road combat vehicle, they looked to the VAMP! The resultant Tiger Sting combines the best features of the Mark 1 and Mark 2 VAMPs into a superior fighting machine! Availability:

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