COLONEL BREKHOV. Ivan Nikolevich Brekhov was born in Odessa in the Ukraine and grew up on his parents' farm.  Brekhov's father fought the Nazis at Stalingrad, and young Ivan followed his father's footsteps into the military and would spend most of his life serving the USSR. By the time he was chosen to command the October Guard, Brekhov was a tough, cigar-chomping veteran with a sharp strategic mind. The Guard was Soviet equivalent of the G.I. Joe team (though the Colonel maintained the Joe team was the American equivalent of the October Guard), and over the latter years of the Cold War, the October Guard came up against both Cobra and the G.I. Joe team. Cobra often played the two teams against each other, but the Joes and the Guard occasionally teamed up to defeat their common enemy. Brekhov was pragmatic enough to agree to these brief alliances to achieve his mission objectives.. He was never one to spout communist party rhetoric, and often had a cynical sense of humor towards Soviet politics. While he constantly maintained strict leadership of his team, he nonetheless considered those under his command his friends. The final mission of the original October Guard began when the Russians arrived in Sierra Gordo to assist the revolutionary leader, El Jefe, in his fight to overthrow the local government. The Soviet government hoped to make Sierra Gordo communist territory. The nation's current government was being supported by Cobra and Destro's Iron Grenadiers. All during the mission, a small group of Joes spied on both sides. During the fighting, Colonel Brekhov was moved by the small nation's revolution, having long become cynical over the "communist revolution" of his Soviet superiors. He and the rest of his team fought valiantly, and in the end Brekhov, Horrorshow, Stormavik and Schrage were all killed in action. The team would continue on with new members, but Colonel Brekhov would never be forgotten by his allies or his enemies.

(GI 6, 7; YB 2, 4; SM 1, 4, 26; Figures: 1, 2)