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Post by foxley on Jun 23, 2023 20:07:36 GMT -5
I am reading Delta Force: A Memoir by the Founder of the U.S. Military's Most Secretive Special-Operations Unit by Charlie Beckwith. Good read. In one chapter, there is mention of how, during training, snipers were expected to hit 100% on targets at 600 yards, and 90% on targets at 1,000 yards. Apparently, there were marksmanship competitions between Delta Force and others - and the Secret Service beat Delta. I see that as a real tribute to the marksmanship skills of Secret Service agents. So, it got me thinking, while not technically a special force, could the G.I. Joe comic have featured a former Secret Service agent? What could they have called him/her? I have a book on special forces somewhere, an A-Z of sorts, featuring information on everything from the SAS and Delta Force to special forces in Middle Eastern countries. Interestingly, the Metropolitan Police’s firearms unit (whose names seems to change regularly) is in the book despite not being military, yet the LAPD’s SWAT unit, who I understand pioneered SWAT, are not. I wonder, would a G.I. Joe comic story ever feature them recruiting from the likes of the police and federal law enforcement agencies? Maybe 'Shades' because of the sunglasses they always wear?
The Secret Service was originally part of the Treasury, so 'T-Man', an old slang term for a Treasury agent, would be a possibility, using the same that process that gave 'Leatherneck' as the codename for one of the marines on the team.
Or based on role, you could have 'Bodyguard', 'Spook' (unfortunate racial connotations and already the name of a Batman villain), 'Escort' (could be open to misinterpretation), 'Close Protection', 'Human shield' (probably not ideal  ), 'Protector' or 'Guardian'.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 23, 2023 21:59:26 GMT -5
I am reading Delta Force: A Memoir by the Founder of the U.S. Military's Most Secretive Special-Operations Unit by Charlie Beckwith. Good read. In one chapter, there is mention of how, during training, snipers were expected to hit 100% on targets at 600 yards, and 90% on targets at 1,000 yards. Apparently, there were marksmanship competitions between Delta Force and others - and the Secret Service beat Delta. I see that as a real tribute to the marksmanship skills of Secret Service agents. So, it got me thinking, while not technically a special force, could the G.I. Joe comic have featured a former Secret Service agent? What could they have called him/her? I have a book on special forces somewhere, an A-Z of sorts, featuring information on everything from the SAS and Delta Force to special forces in Middle Eastern countries. Interestingly, the Metropolitan Police’s firearms unit (whose names seems to change regularly) is in the book despite not being military, yet the LAPD’s SWAT unit, who I understand pioneered SWAT, are not. I wonder, would a G.I. Joe comic story ever feature them recruiting from the likes of the police and federal law enforcement agencies? Maybe 'Shades' because of the sunglasses they always wear?
The Secret Service was originally part of the Treasury, so 'T-Man', an old slang term for a Treasury agent, would be a possibility, using the same that process that gave 'Leatherneck' as the codename for one of the marines on the team.
Or based on role, you could have 'Bodyguard', 'Spook' (unfortunate racial connotations and already the name of a Batman villain), 'Escort' (could be open to misinterpretation), 'Close Protection', 'Human shield' (probably not ideal ), 'Protector' or 'Guardian'.
What a reference book includes or doesn't says more about the editor than the actual reputation and skill of the organization. That said, there are different approaches to how law enforcement trains, in different countries, some of which is down to the role of the police in that society. The US has pretty loose gun laws, the UK has far stricter. US patrol officers go armed, UK constables do not. UK firearms officers will have high levels of training that the average constable will not. US SWAT team members might have different tactical training; but, the firearms training might be mostly the same. Also, there are different standards for different SWAT teams and departments, across the country. The LAPD pioneered the concept in the US, largely in response to acts of terror by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), the group that kidnapped Patty Hearst. They were conducting crimes and acts of terror, while armed with military grade weapons. At that time, most police officers carried a .38 cal revolver and had a 12 ga. pump action shotgun (usually a Remington or a Mossberg), in their patrol car, as a back up weapon. They were not equipped to deal with someone armed with an AK-47 and a 30 rd magazine. SWAT developed as a response; but, it was a long work in progress. The War on Drugs led to even further arming of the police and many departments allowed officers to carry semi-automatic pistols. The difference between law enforcement and military training is down to their role; law enforcement serves the populace of a community and protects them from crime. Their weapons training is built around stopping a suspect, when force is necessary, but with minimal danger to innocent civilians, in an urban environment. The military is trained to kill the enemy, on the battlefield. They developed tactics for house-to-house fighting in various wars; but, with less regard for potential civilian casualties. They try to minimize it; but they don't train that way, except for special units who might be called to operate among civilians, like a hostage rescue team....like Delta or the SAS. There, marksmanship is key Your average soldier is not a marksman, your average sniper is not after a single, very specific target. They are after targets of opportunity. An assassin is out to kill a specific individual. During the Vietnam War, the Phoenix Program used assassins to kill specific enemy targets, not just officers and NCOs, as they came into their sights. They would operate and hide out, waiting for a clear shot at a VC leader. A sniper is looking to create confusion of the enemy, by killing or wounding leadership, to cause troops to panic. They will look for officers and NCOs, but will use other targets, if they are available. By contrast, a police sniper is out to take out a specific threat, like a terrorist, before they can kill a hostage or an assault team. They need greater precision. In both cases, marksmanship is a devloped and highly prized skill; but, police snipers have far more exacting standards, as would those within a hostage rescue special operations unit. As for interaction, groups like the FBI Hostage Rescue Team do cross-train with military specialists, like Delta and the SAS. The German GSG-9 also does. They are the German police special operations unit, created in the wake of the battles with Baader-Meinhoff and Red Army Faction terrorists and the Munich Massacre. They cross-trained with the SAS and carried out the Lufthansa Rescue, in Mogadishu, in 1977 (with SAS assistance in the raid on the plane). The FBI's Hostage rescue Team was formed in 1982, to be the US government's internal hostage response team. As such, they cross-train with Delta and the SAS, as well as other foreign government response teams, like GSG-9. The FBI also has its own SWAT units. The US constitution pretty much prohibits the use of the military in law enforcement matters, except when authorized by the governor of a particular state, which would activate that state's National Guard units. For acts of terror, that would fall to the FBI and department of Homeland Security. The military might act in an advisory capacity, given certain circumstances. Delta and DEVGRU also provide protective services to senior government officials, in high threat environments, such as when President Bush visited Iraq. In news footage you could see Delta bodyguards, armed with M-4 carbines, surveying bystanders and keeping a close guard on the President or other officials. You saw the same with Gen Colin Powell and Norman Schwartzkop, during the Gulf War, as well as the senior UK commander, with SAS bodyguards. As for recruiting for the team, it would not be inconceivable to recruit someone from HRT or Secret Service to a counter-terrorism squad; but, the reality is that JOE, being a military unit, would be tasked with military threats. The series and the cartoons never really gets into the legalities under which the JOE's operate. The idea of them as a special operations unit was down to Larry Hama, as he adaped his Fury Force idea to fit Hasbro's new toy line. Hasbro, before Hama's involvement, were just talking about new military toys, while Hama worked on the concepts of the team and the specific characters and their backgrounds. SHIELD, from which Fury Force was the be derived, as a quasi-law enforcement body, crossed with an intelligence and security service. they were paramilitary from the word go and were given quasi-international status. The SHIELD idea was adapted from the Man From UNCLE, which was a United Nations-backed global law enforcement agency, tasked with stopping the threat of THRUSH. SHIELD copied this. In the tv series, THRUSH was a threat to all nations, a fascist terror group, made up of criminals, mercenaries, and war criminals. HYDRA matched this and upped the ex-Nazi war criminal ratio, with Baron Strucker. So, SHIELD, depending on the writer, was either a UN-led security organization, or a US government one. It acted as both law enforcement and military special operations, when facing a threat beyond normal organizations. JOE seems to be there to combat Cobra; but, we already saw them deal with a domestic terror group, albeit one with links to Cobra. Since JOE is part of the US military, they would be bound by the US Constitution and the prohibitions of using troops against civilians (though that has been rationalized in past, during strikes and civil unrest). There would have to be special legislation that let them operate against Cobra, within the United States. The concept is more complex than they wanted to deal with, in a toy tie-in comic, not to mention a cartoon aimed at children, to sell toys. Kids don't think in such terms, unless you are weird, like me, when I was a kid. By the way, the primary duty of the Secret Service is not personal protection, though it is one of their major functions. their biggest activity is in investigating and enforcing laws related to counterfeiting. originally, the President's bodyguards were either soldiers or private groups, like the Pinkerton detective Agency. The US Secret Service was formed after the Civil War, to deal with rampant counterfeiting. They were also tasked to enforce other Federal regulations, relating to financial matters and many of those duties were spun off to other agencies, like the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which enforces Federal laws related to those areas, such as the enforcement of Prohibition, when it was federal law, or investigation of violations of regulations relating to Federal taxes on such commodities. The personal protection portion of their remit came into being after the assassination of President McKinley, in 1901. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 23, 2023 22:19:55 GMT -5
ps I read Col Beckwith's book years ago. It's a good read. He served with the SAS during an exchange program and brought back their concepts, which developed into Delta Force. Delta, though, was a long work in progress. Operation Eagle Claw, the aborted attempt to rescue US hostages in Iran, illustrated numerous flaws in how Delta and Special Operations, in general, was organized. The lossof helicopters and the lack of experience among the flight crews in special operations missions led to the formation of the Special Operations wing of the USAF, which trained and acted in support of Special Operations missions, with pilots devoted to such operations and specific aircraft chosen to fit their missions. Special Operations was put under unified command structure, to increase communication and integration of the various special operations units in the branches of the military (US Army Special Forces, US Navy SEALs, US Marine Corps Marine Force Recon, USAF pararescue and special operations teams).
I'd also recommend Richard Marcinko's Rogue Warrior, his memoir of his special operations career, starting with UDT and then SEAL teams, in Vietnam, time at the Pentagon, during the planning of Eagle Claw, and the formation of DEVGRU and the later RED CELL counter-terror training team. He does have a hell of an ego, which is to be expected of the type who goes into special operations; but, a lot of the criticism against him was politically motivated, especially when the book came out.
When I was a naval officer, stationed in Charleston, SC, we did exercises with the further evolved Red Cell, after Marcinko was gone. In his book, he described some of the things they did in training scenarios, playing without rules, as terrorists would. When we conducted exercises with the group, the naval shipyard, senior officer housing, Readiness Support Group, naval hospital, and Naval Supply Center were declared off limits, as were the Navy Exchange and Commissary (a grocery store, on base). That left the ships and select shore commands. Most of the restricted areas were prime targets for terrorist attacks, but why bother training for such things? They were not allowed to cause damage to property, as that had been a major issue, under Marcinko. It wasn't treated seriously, by my superiors, nor did base security seem to take it seriously. One exercise had them take over the Destroyer Squadron command building, where I worked and we were hostages. Then, they ran a scenario were half of us escape, with a terrorist who cuts a deal and half are "killed" when they try to retake the building. At one point, one of the trainers comes into the storage bay, where we were held and said, "You guys just F-ed up and shot one of our guys. I need 3 volunteers to 'die'." They chose one of the sailors who was temporarily assigned to us, because of an injury, so that he could leave the exercise and reduce any stress on his injuries. I was part of the group that escaped. They video taped everything and interviewed the commodore, who was arrogant, under the best of circumstances and was boasting how they didn't catch him, while he was locked in the radio vault. i just listened to him boasting, while they made a point about him wearing lieutenant's bars, trying to disguise that he was the CO, despite his age making it obvious. I just shook my head and figured they would come back the next day, to prove their point; but, they didn't. As it was, committing an act of terror on the base was ridiculously easy. For one thing, the river that ran alongside the base was barely patrolled and there were multiple places where someone could enter the base from the river. It would take nothing to bring a small boat, laden with explosives alongside and blow up a ship, ala the USS Cole bombing, in 2000.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2023 6:02:40 GMT -5
I'd also recommend Richard Marcinko's Rogue Warrior, his memoir of his special operations career, starting with UDT and then SEAL teams, in Vietnam, time at the Pentagon, during the planning of Eagle Claw, and the formation of DEVGRU and the later RED CELL counter-terror training team. He does have a hell of an ego, which is to be expected of the type who goes into special operations; but, a lot of the criticism against him was politically motivated, especially when the book came out. Thank you. Incidentally, I have a few books about special forces here. One is about the Royal Marines’ SBS (Special Boat Service). Now, the SAS still have a mystique about them, and they probably get most of the attention from publishers, newspapers, comics, etc. No fault of theirs, but the SBS seems to get little attention - and, who knows, maybe they prefer it. As many here no doubt know, the SBS is a maritime special forces unit. They may have evolved since their WWII beginnings (it seems counter-terrorism is an “obligatory” requirement in special forces now). This is a quick read about them: www.nam.ac.uk/explore/special-boatSpecial forces seem hard to define at times, even Colonel Beckwith appears to acknowledge that. I mean, one person stated that the RAF Regiment is a special forces unit, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen that designation about them. Are the Parachute Regiment considered a special forces unit or not? Regarding the Met Police’s armed unit, I wonder why they have changed their name more than once, don’t they want an identity? If Wikipedia is accurate, they are currently SCO19 (Specialist Firearms Command). They were S019 at one point. And possibly Firearms Wing years ago. They’ll probably have changed by the time I finish posting this! Incidentally, GSG 9 were mentioned a few times in Beckwith’s book, seems they were influential in many ways. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 24, 2023 7:36:41 GMT -5
GSG-9's reputation is largely down to the standards of their original commander, Lt Col Ulrich Wegener. He was a liason officer to the Minister of the Interior, during the Munich Massacre, and he received the job to create a counter-terrorism unit, within the police. He developed the team through cross-training with the SAS and the Israeli Sayeret Matkal, the group who carried out the terminal assault in Entebbe. The Mogadishu mission and the arrest of members of the Red Army Faction built their reputation.
Generally speaking, airborne units are considered elite units, alongside special forces; but, their missions tend to be more battle oriented. They conduct airborne assaults in conjunction with regular infantry battles; but do not have the specialized training of the SAS; or, in the US Army, as the Rangers and Special Forces units. The US Army Rangers were developed, originally, as the US equivalent of the commandos, with the same kind of training in raiding and patrolling missions. They were deactivated, after WW2, but reactivated in Korea and operated in Vietnam, as recon units. They have been used in a security capacity, on some special operations mission, such as the prisoner snatch operation in Mogadishu, that broke down and led to a running firefight, during the US mission in Somalia, as detailed in Mark Bowdren's Blackhawk Down.
The British Paras have been used a little differently, as security in Northern Ireland and deployed to foreign countries to deal with a special threat. They are probably more in the special operations mode than the US Army Airborne. US Airborne has been used more in the traditional manner, securing strategic objectives, in conjunction with other military units, such as in Grenada and the Gulf War. They also acted as occupation troops, in Iraq.
As for name changes, that is often politically motivated, during a restructuring of an organization, to just put a new stamp on things. More often than not their role doesn't significantly change; but the name is changed to make it look like they have been modified.
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Post by commond on Jun 24, 2023 18:53:22 GMT -5
I'm not sure Hama gets the credit he deserves for giving these 3.75 inch action figures such well-rounded personalities. I mean, we're all aware that he did it, but in the back of our minds I guess we all fob it off as being just G.I. Joe. In actual fact, not only is it probably one of the best team books of the 80s, it also has some of the best representation in comics at the time with some of the strongest black characters around, as well as Asians and other ethnicities. The villains are given equally large amounts of characterization, if not more at times.
The major difference with the IDW series so far has been the level of violence. The Joes kill huge amounts of Vipers, and the Vipers are actively out to kill any Joe they can as retribution for the number of Cobra members who've been slain by Joes. If you ever complained about no-one getting hurt in the cartoon shows then buckle in.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 25, 2023 22:27:05 GMT -5
GI JOE #7 Sheesh! They're both shooting in the wrong direction! Also, Stalker has a canteen, so he can stay hydrated, but no ammo pouches, to reload. Hope he never runs into more than 30 of the enemy! First, some mood music...... Nikolai Volkoff was actually Croatian, not Russian, but we didn't get legitimate Russian wrestlers until Salman Hashimikov and Viktor Zangiev started working for New Japan Pro Wrestling and then appeared at Starrcade 1990, in the Pat O'Connor Memorial Tag-Team Tournament, representing the Soviet Union. Roll Call: Larry Hama-writer of propaganda, Herb Trimpe-Communist plots & inspirational art (pencils), Chic Stone-Soviet inks, Jim Novak-Cyrillic Letters, Christie Scheele-Red & Gold colors, Denny O'Neil-commissar (wa-uh-oh), Jim Shooter-Tsar Mission Report: When we left the JOEs and their Commie Counterparts, they were surrounded by the forces of Cobra. Right now, Cobra Commander is pontificating and even the Russkies, who have sat through all kinds of speeches about Marx and Lenin, thinks he is pretty long-winded....  (note the fascist lines of his uniform and the very Germanic helmet) The JOE and the Ivans are looking forward to a firing squad by the time Cobra Commander finally shuts up and buggers off. Then as Cobra troopers cackle, Clutch activates the remote firing control of the guns on the VAMP and wastes two snakes. He shows the others the small control, which he had palmed and hid inthe crook of his crossed arms (Cobra didn't frisk them, when they disarmed them, apparently). Steeler then reveals he planted a tracer on the RTV (sure you did) and they can track it. Stalker proposes detente to track down Cobra and relieve them of the recon aircraft and Col Brekhov is amenable, though Clutch and Scareltt object. Stalker hears their concerns and then responds in a reasoned and logical manner.....  Brekhov admits they must go after Cobra, but the odds are against them, but they might succeed, if they combined forces. Steeler and Scarlett say that even if they secure the aircraft, they are back to fighting each other, but Stalker and Brekhov consider that as only a possibility, until they get the aircraft back from Cobra. The JOEs pile into the VAMP and the Commies into their ATV. They follow the tracker signal across the Iranian border and run smack into a military patrol. The JOEs prepare for a fight, then notice the Ruskies are missing. The Iranian patrol is set to open fire, when they are cut down from behind, by the Russians. They travel on and locate the Cobra base, which seems to be a blockhouse, with solid walls and no entrance. Stalker dons the JUMP jet packs and does some aerial recon and is spotted by Cobra, who are busy parading inside....  I'm not sure if that is an actual cobra snake mascot or just a weird symbolic object, like the orb and scepter of the British monarch. Either way, it is pretty creepy! The recon doesn't reveal an entrance, so they split into assault teams and go probing for an entrance, with one observer each, left behind. They co-mingle the teams, to keep everyone honest. Two teams scale the walls to the roof, while another prepares to use Flash's laser rifle to burn their way in. However, a door opens and they head in, knowing it is a trap. Breaker and Brekhov remark that the concentric rings on the roof look familiar and Brekhov recalls the word in English....hot plate....  Clutch hears something on the roof and radios Stalker, then his transmission cuts out. the others continue deeper into the obvious Cobra trap. Faster than you can shriek "COBRAAAaaaaaaaaaa......" they find themsleves in an ambush and a firefight. Fortunately, it is a Cobra ambush, which means they can't hit anything and make the A-Team look like Sgt York. Stalker's team moves on and avoids some old fashioned boobytraps (like Egyptian tomb traps), then hear a rushing sound and it turns into a Republic serial.....  Scarlett uses her shuriken like rock climbing pitons (despite lacking a hammer to pound them into the rock) and uses her crossbow to hang on and anchor the rest, until the flood water drains away. They then move on a run into a real cobra pit....  Flash turns his laser on them and the Joe's then see if they really do taste like chicken, then move on. They run into another firefight, but a grenade takes care of that. Then they hit a locked door and deploy a satchel charge. On the other side, they find the RTV and Col Brekhov, Daina and Horrow Show, who hold their weapons on them....  Cobra ends the Minsk Standoff, until Clutch, in Cobra uniform, pistol whips Cobra Commander and takes him hostage. Cobra actuall backs off, rather then contemplate promotion and the JOE teams saddles up. They are going to leave the Russkies behind, but Col Brekhov eliminates their hostage, by shooting Conra Commander....  CC comes on a monitor and cackles about his brilliance and the JOEs hit the gas and peel out. Daina makes a run for the VAMP and gets facepalmed by Stalker. Clutch reveals that he saw the sneaky Cobra trooper in his mirror and bashed him with his radio mic and then took his uniform. They make the rendezvous in Karachi, where Hawk tells them the crate is a fake and they were a decoy. Stalker says something about Hawk having something on common with Oedipus, under his breath. Analysis: The combined forces escape from Cobra and defeat them, inside Iran, then are back to old tricks, though both ended up duped. A Cobra trooper mentions something about Operation Doppelganger and we are reminded of the scene in the previous issue, where Cobra was contacted by a shadowy figure, at The Pit, who turned out to be Hawk. Now, at the end, we find out, from Hawk, that he lied to the team. Did the JOEs, in any fashion, get the recon aircraft? Does Cobra still have it? The base traps are very Republic movie serial-centric, which gets a little silly. They forgot to have a truck go off a cliff, with the hero or his girlfriend unconscious or tied up, in the back, only to reveal in the next chapter that they rolled out, at the last second. The cliffhanger..... and the resolution, at the beginning of the next chapter...... The snake pit is a pretty obvious homage, given that Raiders came out the year before. The letters page sings the praises of issue #4, though one person questions whether the JOEs being sold as toys means they will survive every mission, which will take the drama out of stories. The editor (or assistant) doesn't address the problem. Cobra Commander turns up, holding a Mac-10 Ingram, with barrel extension and telescopic sight.....  The barrel extension is legit......  ....but the scope would be useless, as an Ingram sprays all over the place and even an extended barrel doesn't add that much to its accuracy. I think Herb Trimpe saw Escape From New York too many times.....  The real Cobra Commander! Not much else to add, other than it is a bit disappointing that we didn't learn much more about the Oktober Guard; but, then again, we barely know anything about the JOEs. This being the Reagan Era, we couldn't show them being soldiers, doing their job, just like the JOEs; they are the Evil Empire, who invade foreign countries without provocation and overthrow governments at the drop of a hat. Hmmmmm.....why does the name Smedley Butler keep running through my head?
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 25, 2023 22:41:28 GMT -5
ps..... General Smedley Butler was the most decorated Marine officer*, with two Medals of Honor....  He led troops during incursions into Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico and Haiti. in 1935, he wrote the book, War Is A Racket!...  The book deals with his time during the Banana Wars, securing the interests of the United fruit Company and the New York banks: "I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer; a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902–1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents." *General Lewis "Chesty" Puller is recognized as the most decorated Marine, with 5 Navy Crosses and a Distinguished Service Cross, Silver and Bronze Stars, legion of Merit and Purple Heart, plus campaign medals out the yin-yang and 5 Presidential Unit Citations. However he was never awarded the Medal of Honor, let alone two of them. |
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Post by foxley on Jun 26, 2023 3:02:20 GMT -5
And king cobras don't spit their venom. All of the spitting cobras are in the genus Naja. King cobras are thhe sole member of the genus Ophiophagus: Ophiophagus hannah to be precise.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2023 7:06:08 GMT -5
And king cobras don't spit their venom. All of the spitting cobras are in the genus Naja. King cobras are thhe sole member of the genus Ophiophagus: Ophiophagus hannah to be precise. So, what kind of cobra is this: |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jun 26, 2023 7:29:12 GMT -5
And king cobras don't spit their venom. All of the spitting cobras are in the genus Naja. King cobras are thhe sole member of the genus Ophiophagus: Ophiophagus hannah to be precise. Yeah, king cobras are too hoity-toity to spit like those plebs in genus Naja. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 26, 2023 10:19:37 GMT -5
And king cobras don't spit their venom. All of the spitting cobras are in the genus Naja. King cobras are thhe sole member of the genus Ophiophagus: Ophiophagus hannah to be precise. So, what kind of cobra is this: |
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Post by Dizzy D on Jun 28, 2023 15:34:45 GMT -5
I am reading Delta Force: A Memoir by the Founder of the U.S. Military's Most Secretive Special-Operations Unit by Charlie Beckwith. Good read. In one chapter, there is mention of how, during training, snipers were expected to hit 100% on targets at 600 yards, and 90% on targets at 1,000 yards. Apparently, there were marksmanship competitions between Delta Force and others - and the Secret Service beat Delta. I see that as a real tribute to the marksmanship skills of Secret Service agents. So, it got me thinking, while not technically a special force, could the G.I. Joe comic have featured a former Secret Service agent? What could they have called him/her? I have a book on special forces somewhere, an A-Z of sorts, featuring information on everything from the SAS and Delta Force to special forces in Middle Eastern countries. Interestingly, the Metropolitan Police’s firearms unit (whose names seems to change regularly) is in the book despite not being military, yet the LAPD’s SWAT unit, who I understand pioneered SWAT, are not. I wonder, would a G.I. Joe comic story ever feature them recruiting from the likes of the police and federal law enforcement agencies?
I wanted to say there were former police and federal law enforcement members, but the prime candidate I was thinking about, Chuckles, turns out to have been CID (and private investigation before that).
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Post by jason on Jun 29, 2023 7:58:08 GMT -5
Shockwave (not to be confused with the Decepticon) was a Detroit SWAT team officer before joining the Joes. We've got a LONG way to go before we see him in the comics though.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 29, 2023 10:24:22 GMT -5
Shockwave (not to be confused with the Decepticon) was a Detroit SWAT team officer before joining the Joes. We've got a LONG way to go before we see him in the comics though. A Detroit SWAT officer? I'm sure he and Stalker got along famously. |
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), 'Protector' or 'Guardian'.
