MERMANSK was a Cobra Eel for a time, having failed in his initial attempt to become a diver in the Soviet Navy due to an illness. Cobra's $kind=archive;requirements in that part of the world were not as strict as elsewhere, and Mermansk was admitted and trained as an Eel. But he soon came to the realization that he would ultimately be fighting his own people to serve a terrorist organization, and he defected. He brought with him his Cobra Eel uniform, which was actually more advanced than the best diving suits the Soviet Navy was producing at the time. The colors and insignia were altered, and Mermansk, taking a name which admittedly was a terrible pun on the English word "merman", the male form of "mermaid", was welcomed into the Oktober Guard as their underwater combat specialist.

From Col. Brekhov's Files: "Mermansk has a lot of inner angst and turmoil eating at him, due to his early mistake in joining Cobra. Normally this would probably make a person ineffective in combat. In his case, though, it only makes him more determined to be the best underwater soldier the Soviet Armed Forces have ever seen. He combines the brutal training regimen Cobra gave him with the additional training he received from the Soviet Navy to become an impressive warrior. He will wage combat in any watery environment, from polluted rivers to half-frozen ice floes. He also knows that Cobra likely has a price out on his head. That makes him even more determined."