In his first mission for the Joe team, Barbecue was part of the group of Joes that defended the Joe air-sea base from Cobra hydrofoil attack. He later joined the Joes in the ground battle shortly afterward on Cobra Island. Soon after, he was onboard the G.I. Joe hovercraft during the rescue of Ripcord and Snake-Eyes off the coast of Cobra Island. He was in the G.I. Joe team's headquarters (the Pit) when it was infiltrated by the Cobra agent known as Zartan. He later joined the strike team that attacked the Cobra-controlled town of Springfield. During a training session in the Pit, Barbecue was injured by the Cobra ninja Storm Shadow and then was nearly punched out by Scarlett after insensitively misunderstanding why Snake-Eyes let Storm Shadow leave the Pit unharmed. Barbecue was one of the few Joes who did not take part in the Cobra Island civil war. When Hawk and the Joes who took part in that mission were unjustly arrested, Barbecue and the others who had not been there went into hiding and planned to rescue Hawk from St. Lo's Infirmary where he and General Hollingsworth were being held. The Joes eventually cleared Hawk's name and uncovered the corruption of U.S. Army General Malthus. For a short period of time, Barbecue was assigned to the Eco-Warriors. He later used his flame-projector to defend the Pit against a Cobra invasion. His subsequent missions up to the team's shutdown in 1994 are classified. When the team was reinstated in 2001, Barbecue signed on as a reserve member. He eventually joined the team in New York, where he assisted in clean-up and rescue operations after Cobra detonated a bomb in a television studio where Hawk was appearing on the television show, "Twenty Questions." After the Joe team stopped a plot by Cobra to unleash the weapon known as the Tempest, and defeated a new threat, the Red Shadows, the military again disbanded the team. One year later, the Joe team was reformed with a smaller roster of active members. Barbecue, like most former Joes, is a reserve member of the new team. Larry Hama named Barbecue "Gabriel Kelly" after the father of a friend. (GI 40, 41, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 78, 130; YB 2; OB 1; GIv2 29; BF 1; Figures: 1, 2, 3)
 

Bazooka joined the G.I. Joe team in 1985. During thier final training mission as provisional members of the G.I. Joe team, Airtight, Bazooka, Crankcase and Heavy Metal were testing out new vehicles in the desert near Las Vegas, Nevada led by Lady Jaye. On the highway on the way back from a lunch break, the group was attacked by Cobra B.A.T.s (Battle Android Troopers) carrying creeper vines and sleeping gas created by Cobra agent Dr. Mindbender, who was demonstrating them to Destro and the Baroness. The Joes were kidnapped and forced into battling the B.A.T.s in a junkyard. The Joes figured out how to defeat the vines and destroyed Mindbender's factory, forcing the three Cobras into retreat. Over the next several years, Bazooka was a part of many important operations, including the rescue of Ripcord and Snake-Eyes from Cobra Island and the invasion of the Cobra-controlled town of Springfield. He was also one of the many Joes to be involved in the contruction of the third Pit headquarters in Utah. For a time, he was also part of the short-lived special unit, Tiger Force. Bazooka was one of the few members of the team who did not participate in the Cobra Island civil war. When most of the team was arrested after that war, Bazooka and several other Joes went "underground". The group staged an assalt on St. Lo's Infirmary in Virginia where corrupt governement agents had arrested falsely-accused Generals Hawk ad Hollingsworth. Bazooka was injured during the assault, but the Joes were successful and Bazooka recovered soon after. Bazooka continued to serve with the team until it was disbanded in 1994. He later left the Army and began working as a security guard. In 2001, Bazooka was invited to join the reinstated G.I. Joe team. Unfortunately, he hadn't stayed in shape and didn't meet the health requirements. Bazooka began working out and got himself back into shape. He met up with other former team members to reminisce, but the Joes stumbled upon a hidden cell of Cobras in a small town. As the Joes escaped Cobra agents, Bazooka fought and beat Big Boa. In the wake of that fight, Bazooka has returned to the Joe team. He was one of the many Joes to take part in the battle against the forces of a revived Serpentor on Cobra Island. After the Joe team stopped a plot by Cobra to unleash the weapon known as the Tempest, and defeated a new threat, the Red Shadows, the military again disbanded the team. One year later, the Joe team was reformed with a smaller roster of active members. Bazooka, like most former Joes, is a reserve member of the new team. (GI 44, 46, 47, 49, 50, 63, 64, 67, 78, 90, 100; OB 1; SM 27; GIv2 1, 2, 14, 15, 23, 24; BF 1; Figures: 1, 2, 3) Bazooka wears a New England Patriots football jersey bearing the number of former player Steve Grogan. His Tiger Force jersey colors resemble the colors of the Miami Dolphins.
 

In 1991, Big Ben was assigned temporarily to America's G.I. Joe team. He first joined the Joes in Scotland, where a small team kept watch over Castle Destro. Cobra Commander soon attacked his old rival and the Joes fought on Destro's side during the battle. Knowing that the Commander continued to hold a grudge against Destro, Big Ben and a team of Joes helped defend the weapons designer's castle in Trans-Carpathia. They fought Cobra throughout the remote nation's mountains. A short time later, Hawk was injured and trapped in Borovia along with Lady Jaye. Against orders, Stalker took the Battle Wagon into the Borovian capital to rescue their commander. Big Ben was one of the Joes who joined him. Ben later assisted the Joes in guarding and testing a new secret weapon, the rail-gun prototype. Cobra eventually attacked, and the Joes fought them off. He continued to serve on occasional missions with the team up until it's shut down in 1994. He was later called back to join the reinstated Joe team in its battle against the forces of a revived Serpentor on Cobra Island. The forces loyal to Serpentor, known as the Coil, had invaded a number of countries leading up to the battle and Big Ben later joined the Joes in dealing with Coil troops in other parts of the world. (GI 116, 117, 120, 121, 122, 123, 128, 129, 137; GIv2 24, 26; Figures: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
 

Members of the Joe team -- Chuckles, Scarlett, Iceberg and Snake-Eyes -- got involved in the struggle when Snake-Eyes stopped some of Big Tep's bandits from beating up an old farmer. The bandits who survived their first encounter with the Joes exaggerated their numbers and brought a small army of bandits and Iron Grenadiers to the old man's farm to stop them. They were met there by the October Guard. The Iron Grenadiers chased off the Soviets, leaving Big Tep and his men to find the Joes, who were hidden in the farmer's house. When Big Tep threatened to kill the old farmer, the Joes came out of hiding and easily dealt with the bandits. Big Tep was killed, and his revolution presumably died with him. (SM 18)
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The G.I. Joe team encountered the Blind Master in 1987. He was running a martial arts school in Denver, Colorado, which was next to the garage owned by Fred VII, an undercover Cobra Crimson Guardsman. It is not known if "sensei Moore" set up his school there by coincidence or design. When Cobra Commander and his son Billy were staying with Fred, Billy stumbled upon one of Blind Master's classes. What he saw brought back a flood of memories, helping him recall his ninja training under Storm Shadow, which he had forgotten after months in a coma. Billy learned that the Blind Master's assistant, Jinx, was another member of the Arashikage clan, and reported to the G.I. Joe team. Soon after Billy arrived, the Blind Master left his training to Jinx and headed off on a secret mission. The mission brought him to Grenada, where he posed as a tourist. There, he met with Snake-Eyes and Scarlett, who were vacationing there with Flint and Lady Jaye. With the Blind Master's assistance, Scarlett and Snake-Eyes faked their own deaths. Their goal was to sneak off on a mission into Borovia to rescue Stalker, Snow Job and Quick Kick, three Joes who were thrown into a Borovian gulag. The Defense Department had ordered that no rescue attempt would be made. Snake-Eyes, Scarlett and the Blind Master made their way through Europe to sneak into Borovia. On the way, they had to evade local thieves and soon joined a traveling circus. The circus owner had never seen a blind man juggle chainsaws (nor had anyone else). The group was joined by Jinx, Storm Shadow and Billy before they staged an assault on the gulag and freed the Joes and the other prisoners. After returning home to the United States, the Blind Master went into semi-retirement in San Francisco. There, he became mentor to a young thief named Tyrone, eventually instructing the boy in ninjitsu. The Blind Master spent years there before he encountered Zartan when the Cobra operative snuck into the Presidio. The Blind Master hoped to exact his vengeance on Zartan for killing his mentor, the Hard Master. Though he was blind, the master nearly bested Zartan in a brutal fight in an alleyway. Eventually, Zartan stabbed the ninja master. As the Blind Master lay dying he told Zartan that Onihashi - the swordsmith who brought Zartan into the clan - had forgiven Zartan before committing suicide ashamed of his apprentice's betrayal. Zartan couldn't believe that anyone could forgive him for what he did, and told the Blind Master that he had lived with guilt over Onihashi's death for all these years. But Zartan could do nothing but watch another man die at his hands. He vowed to change his ways, and used his mastery of disguise to pose as the Blind Master and become mentor to Tyrone. A short time later, Zartan revealed his true identity and abandoned the guise of the ninja master. The Blind Master is remembered as a friend to the G.I. Joe team. His legacy continued when one of his former students became a member of the G.I. Joe Ninja Force, and later helped establish a martial arts school for underpriviledged children. (GI 59-67, 91, 97, 98, 145)
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Blowtorch was one of the new members assigned to the G.I. Joe team after many of the original members of the team were taken off active duty. He first arrived at the Pit shortly before the celebration dedicating the rebuilt Joe headquarters. Blowtorch and Ripcord were taking an injured Spirit to buy natural healing remedies at the Staten Island Mall when they stumbled upon Cobra Crimson Guardsman Fred II and his family. A firefight and car chase followed, during which the Joes borrowed the delivery van owned by Candy, a woman in the guise of Bongo the Balloon Bear. The Cobras made their escape, but the Joes arrived back at the Pit with a van full of party balloons just in time for the Pit's re-dedication. In appreciation for "Bongo's" assistance, Blowtorch, Ripcord and Gung-Ho helped Candy deliver a van load of balloons to the Arbco Brothers Circus. Again, the Joes stumbled upon the Crimson Guard, but this time their were dozens of them, including the Crimson Guard commanders, Tomax and Xamot. While riding a roller-coaster, Gung-Ho and Blowtorch were fired on from below by the Cobras. When their car came to a stop, the two Joes appeared to be dead, but it was only a trick to lure the Cobras in so the Joes could get the drop on them. In the firefight that ensued, the Crimson Guardsmen were defeated, though Tomax and Xamot escaped. Following a lead on where the twin brothers had gone, a team of Joes including Blowtorch raided a house in Staten Island. They discovered Crimson Guard uniforms and equipment inside after a group of Cobra agenst escaped. The house was nearly in ruins, and Blowtorch was surprised to see Candy arrive. The house had been hers and her father's, though Candy had no idea of his involvement in Cobra. Some time later, Blowtorch helped secure the Pit when it was infiltrated by Cobra's master of disguise, Zartan, and soon after was one of the many Joes who participated in the invasion of the Cobra-controlled town of Springfield. Blowtorch would be involved in another massive operation against Cobra when the Joe team fought in the Cobra Island civil war. Blowtorch continued to serve the Joe team for years. Many of his subsequent missions remain classified, but he served the Joes until the team was shut down in 1994. Some time later, Blowtorch returned home to Tampa, and helped begin a fire safety education program for inner city schools. His efforts proved very successful and he received commendations from the mayor of Tampa. After the team was reinstated years later, Blowtorch rejoined and played a role in the Joes' fight against the terrorist Tyler Wingfield. He was later one of the many Joes to take part in the battle against the forces of a revived Serpentor on Cobra Island. After the Joe team stopped a plot by Cobra to unleash the weapon known as the Tempest, and defeated a new threat, the Red Shadows, the military again disbanded the team. One year later, the Joe team was reformed with a smaller roster of active members. Blowtorch, like most former Joes, is a reserve member of the new team. (GI 32, 33, 37, 38, 48, 49, 50, 76; YB 2; OB 1; GIv2 24; FL 13; Figures: 1, 2, 3)
 

Though his military career caught the eye of Duke and Hawk, to enter the G.I. Joe team, Budo had to participate in an intense training program. Out of dozens of applicants, only three remained: Budo, Repeater and Lightfoot. Their first mission for the team soon followed, and it was the Joe team's "final exam": a true-life combat situation. The Piccatinny weapons arsenal was being raided by Cobra forces. After their team leader, Grand Slam, was injured in a firefight, the three new Joes performed well and repelled the attackers, learning in the process that it was actually Destro's Iron Grenadier army disguised as Cobra who had attacked the arsenal. Budo continued on with the team, participating in many missions until the team was shut down. In the years following the break up of the team, Budo became a bounty hunter in Tokyo along with Jinx, and the two have become romantically involved. Budo and Jinx worked again with their former teammates when Snake-Eyes headed to Tokyo to track down Firefly. Taking down Firefly would be the final test for Snake-Eyes' apprentice, Kamakura, and both men wanted revenge on Firefly personally. Budo and Jinx assisted in the mission, but the mission went awry after the sudden appearance of Storm Shadow. Firefly and the ninja both escaped, and the team was surprised when Duke and Chuckles showed up and informed them that Firefly was part of a bigger terrorist plot, led by a former black ops teammate of Kamakura who had also worked for Duke, Mikhail Derenko. While part of the plot was foiled by the former Joes, Firefly and Derenko escaped.

A short time later, the G.I. Joe team was reinstated and Jinx was asked to join the team, though Budo remained in Japan. He later joined with Jinx and Billy to help Storm Shadow rescue his love and ninja apprentice Junko Akita from rogue Red Ninjas. After the Joe team was again disbanded by the military, Jinx returned to Japan but she and Budo soon broke up, as he began to claim that a ninja like Jinx could never understand the honor of a samurai. In reality, this was all a ruse by Budo to protect Jinx from his mission to infiltrate the organization of Hayatu Toba, a Japanese weapons manufacturer and head of a secret group called the Tatenokai that was dedicated to overthrow the current Japanese government. A year later, Jinx received word that Budo needed her help to stop Toba. She contacted the recently reestablished Joe team, who quickly put together a team of the nearest available reserve team members. Jinx and the others infiltrated the group's headquarters while Budo continued to pretend to work for Toba, and allowed the other Joes to be captured. They all learned that Destro sent Mistress Armada to join forces with Toba. When Toba refused to follow her orders, she killed him and started the coup without him. As the Tatenokai forces rolled through the streets of Tokyo, many of the soldiers turned on each other. Budo had worked to subvert many of them away from Toba's control, and they and the Joes put a stop to the attempted rebellion. Jinx continues to serve as a reserve member of the G.I. Joe team, while Budo has chosen to continue fighting against the criminal element in Tokyo. (GI 82; MA 2-4; SM:T; Figures: 1, 2)