With Duke now situated as First Sgt. it allowed Hawk to focus on actively recruiting more specialized and notable specialists. The Armored division was added as was required in the invasion of Springfield, a town discovered to be a Cobra Nest. As exposure increased and the ranks began to swell, General Sharp drafted the Greenshirt initiative. All potential candidates would serve as rank and file personnel until graduated to the active roster.

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The world ain't saving itself! - Roadblock

An army recruiter convinced him that he could learn to be a chef in the Army. After enlisting, Roadblock found Army food appalling, and transferred to infantry where he excelled at using heavy weapons. Roadblock is one of the biggest and strongest members of G.I. Joe, able to carry a fully loaded M2 Browning machine gun as a personal weapon, which can weigh up to 134 lbs, and usually requires a dedicated squad to transport and operate. Despite working in infantry, he still maintains his passion for making good food, and indulges in it while engaging in his secondary duty.

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What Could go Wrong? - DeepSix

He likes to be alone, preferably down in the ocean depths. He was one of the twelve out of 50 applicants who passed the strict requirements for the position of the Joe Team diver; eight more washed out in the practical application testing, and of the four finalists Deep Six could hold his breath the longest. Isolationism of his work sometimes allow for his mind to wander into troubled waters. While concentrating on the task at hand he often reviews the thousands of ways to die in any situation, especially being in a tin can dropped into the dark abyss of the ocean.

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We're having fun now aren't we? - Recondo

Recondo hates the cold, he's much more in his own element sweating, chewing and chopping through the jungle. His linguistic skills and extensive insight on tribal rituals and customs are immeasurably valuable to the team, especially in such places as Sierra Gordo.

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Look within - Spirit

Charlie Iron-knife was a hunting guide through high school and then served in Southeast Asia after joining the military. Spirit returned to civilian life to complete his education and then inexplicably returned to the service. As the team's tracker, he is often running point on missions. Stoic and reserved, however disarmingly kindred to everyone he encounters. On several occasions he has fought StormShadow to a draw, which speaks volumes for his fighting skills.

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The "Slugger", a self-propelled gun, is his main responsibility and his primary military specialty is artillery. His secondary military specialty is bandsman. It would appear that Thunder has a fondness for loud noises; he grew up next to a foundry, and has a passion for heavy metal music, peanut brittle, and even cars with bad mufflers. We made sure to accommodate him with bunking with Gung-Ho, no one else could stand the snoring.

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Howling Commando - Mutt & Junkyard

Stanley Permutter (Mutt) can be characterized as a natural with animals, who had several pet dogs in his youth, which he trained exceptionally well. The smartest of these was Junkyard, who accompanied Mutt into the army. It is suggested that Junkyard is more popular than his master, since he is friendlier than Mutt and definitely has better manners . Following the retirement from service of the initial Junkyard, his offspring Junkyard II - who is as loyal, smart, and well-trained as his father - is now Mutt's partner. During one raid on a Cobra lab facility housing Repulsor (Repugnus) Junkyard was exposed to chemicals he was using to bolster the strength and power of his z-compound effected troops. After recovery Junkyard had grown in nearly double in size, leading to Mutt to undergo an entire new training regiment in order to properly discipline and gauge Junkyard's ability.

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Awesome, as usual. They're all great, but that Deep Six is just incredible. I thought you had modded so that the dive suit was part of him, then you show the pic of him without the suit and it's just seamless. Great job. And Mutt is one of my favorite characters (anyone who came with an animal was always better) and you just nailed it with him.

(Reading the Roadblock bio made me realize that The Rock played a Roadblock character before he played him in GI Joe -- in "The Rundown", he was a muscle wanting to do nothing more than to cook, too. Funny how the mind wanders sometimes.)

No joke about it - Ripcord

Wallace Weems, it takes a lot to be willing to jump out of a plane and parachute to the ground. Trusting a sheet of silk strapped to some belts to deliver you safely, now add a combat zone flak and mortar fire and enemy small arms. Something Ripcord always has in mind is how important it is for him to be on the ground and neutralize those threats so others don't have to encounter them.

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GO GO GO Get out of HERE! - Blowtorch

Some might question Blowtorch's overly developed sense of safety, until you realize his daily operations include strapping a tank of highly explosive fuel to his bank and directly harnessing a vortex of fire without endangering himself or other team mates. Caution is not crazy, it's smart
...
...
...
and
Porkchop Sandwiches!

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It all comes together - Heavy Metal

He enlisted to go to Finance School, in order to become a CPA, but after witnessing a column of tanks roll by at Fort Belvoir, he put in a transfer to Armor that same day. He knows every nut, bolt and rivet inside and out of the Mauler.

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thanks, that's it for the 1984 recruits..
I am still taking suggestions for who to make next from 1988 in my Budo/SnakeEater thread

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These are amazing. Love that Thunder - You don't see him come up too often.

They're all pretty fantastic. You've captured the essence of them really well, and translated it to the sigma aesthetic perfectly. They don't always look like a 1:1 port of the character, but you always know that they *are* the character because you've preserved the critical design elements that made them who they are.

- R

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Blowtorch and ripcord are my favorites of these, nice work on all of them though