GENERAL HOLLINGSWORTH. A U.S. Army General who often served as an advisor to Hawk and the G.I. Joe team. Samuel J. Hollingsworth's first direct involvement with the Joes was during the Joes suspension following the Battle of Springfield. He, General Ryan and Admiral Dyson all arrived at the Pit to conduct an investigation, along with Hawk. The officers were alone in Joe headquarters when Cobra launched an attack. The four men heavily armed themselves and fought back against the invading BATs, and later a group of Vipers led by Cobra Commander and Destro. During the fighting, Ryan and Dyson both gave their lives to allow the others time to escape and to destroy the Pit before it fell into enemy hands. Having witnessed the threat of Cobra first hand, Hollingsworth immediately reinstated the Joe team, advising them on occasion.

When Cobra stole the government's top secret electronic "black box" from Joe headquarters, Hollingsworth warned Hawk that government officials would ruin Hawk if he didn't retrieve the black box, and suggested he send a small recon team into Cobra Island before attempting to retrieve it. As the Joes arrived on the island, Cobra's civil war had just begun. When Dr. Mindbender made a deal with the United States on behalf of Serpentor, it was Hollingsworth who organized the Joes involvement in the civil war on Serpentor's side. He gathered up much of the team without Hawk's knowledge and brought them to the U.S.S. Flagg before the Joes landed on the island. When the battle ended embarrassingly for the Joes thanks to Cobra's last minute deal making, the committee of generals who oversaw the Joes -- the Jugglers -- decided to disavow any knowledge of the incident and blamed it all on Hawk and Hollingsworth, claiming they acted without authorization. The two men were arrested and placed under psychiatric care at a small hospital in Virginia. Meanwhile, most of the Joes involved on Cobra Island were taken into custody, as well. Hollingsworth and Hawk could do nothing, but didn't have to thanks to the arrival of the remaining members of the Joe team, who went underground when their teammates were arrested. They staged a rescue operation, and freed their commanders, while at the same time exposing the Jugglers' cover-up. Hollingsworth's reputation was hurt somewhat by the incident and he even served as one of the Jugglers for a short time. General Hollingsworth advised the Joes on many more occasions, until the team was shut down in 1994. He has had no contact with the Joes when the team was reinstated in 2001.

Due to some apparent art and coloring errors, Hollingsworth appears as both a white man and black man, as well as being in the Army and the Air Force. Larry Hama has said that Hollingsworth was always intended to be a black man and an Army officer.

(GI 53, 73, 74, 77, 78, 99, 101)