SERGEANT SLAUGHTER. As a gunnery sergeant with the U.S. Marine Corps, Sgt. Slaughter gained a reputation as the toughest drill sergeant to come out of the Corps, becoming a legend throughout the U.S. military. Every exaggeration and cliche the Marines can think of for being the toughest and the meanest has been applied to the Sarge, and he lives up to most of them. He was even born in Parris Island, South Carolina. For a time, Sergeant Slaughter ran potential G.I. Joe recruits through the team's difficult training program. He served as a regular member of the Joe team for a short time, arriving at the Pit just as it was revealed that Zartan had infiltrated the Joes' headquarters disguised as one of their own. His appearance was unannounced, making the Joes in the motor pool suspicious. This led to a confrontation with four Joes, who soon discovered that picking a fight with Slaughter was a bad idea. After a brief brawl, he proved his identity and joined the search for Zartan. When coming upon two Gung-Hos in a fistfight, the Sarge knew one of them was Zartan. He knocked out the disguised Zartan, though he insisted he just made a lucky guess as to at which one was the imposter.

As the Joes embarked on their invasion of the Cobra-controlled town of Springfield, Slaughter was one of the few Joes who stayed behind, seeing to securing the Pit and the Joes' prisoner, Zartan. When Zartan's siblings and the Dreadnoks rescued him from the Pit, Sarge and other Joes chased after them and had to contend with fighting the new Thunder Machine. The Dreadnoks managed to evade capture, much to the irritation of Slaughter. While the team was placed under suspension after the Battle of Springfield, the Sarge was one of the members who fought a Cobra attack on Fort Wadsworth before Hawk was forced to destroy the Pit to keep it out of Cobra's hands. As the Joes spent time as a nomad unit, Slaughter returned to training new recruits. In the years since the team's shutdown in 1994 and reinstatement in 2001, Sergeant Slaughter has had little or no contact with the Joes. He undoubtedly continues to serve as a drill instructor for the Corps, since the Sarge isn't the type to retire.

(GI 48, 51-53; Figures: 1, 2, 3, 4)