Fighter Pilot

File Name: Brad J. Armbruster

Birthplace: Providence, RI

Rank: Colonel

Primary Military Specialty: Fixed Wing Pilot, Single and Multiple Engine

Secondary Military Specialty: Intelligence Operations

Status: Reserve

First Appearance: G.I. JOE #14 (August 1983)

"...in Armbruster's case you can hardly call it gambling since he never loses." — Army peer profile

   As a high school student in Providence, Rhode Island, Ace worked after school and on weekends to pay for flying lessons. He became an excellent pilot and had various jobs, including stunt flying for movies. At age 22, Ace joined the Air Force. During his time in the Air Force, Ace became the senior instructor for the USAF Fighter Weapons Squadron known as "The Aggressors" just before his assignment to the G.I. Joe team. Ace is a qualified expert pilot of various fighter jets: F-5E, F-15, F-16, XP-14/F, X-16. The real reason for Ace's nickname is that he is a great poker player who never loses.

    Ace joined the Joes in 1983 and flew many missions for the team in both his XP-14F Skystriker and in the team's C-130 Hercules transport plane. On a mission to test out new system upgrades for the Skystriker with Lady Jaye as co-pilot, Ace encountered the Cobra pilot Wild Weasel in his Rattler with the Baroness as co-pilot. The two pilots fought to a stalemate, ending the dogfight when their weapons were spent. Ace was the leader of the fighter squadron that destroyed a Cobra underwater bunker that was killing marine life in the Gulf of Mexico. Cobra expected the Joes to blow up the bunker, which aggravated a faultline and caused the creation of Cobra Island. The Joes then attempted to push Cobra off of the newly-formed island before Cobra could claim it as a free territory. A tidal wave triggered by the destruction of the bunker caused the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Flagg's deck to tilt 30 degrees. Ace risked his life by attempting to take off from the carrier and nearly failed. He gave the Joes the air cover they needed to win the battle, but Cobra gained the status of a sovereign state, forcing the Joes to retreat.

    Later, Ace flew a recon mission over Cobra Island with Ripcord as co-pilot. Ripcord unexpectedly ejected from their Skystriker and parachuted onto the island to search for his girlfriend, Candy, who had been kidnapped by the Dreadnok known as Buzzer. After Ripcord was rescued, Ace and Lady Jaye flew the Joes' C-130 to the island to transport two Devilfish fast attack boats used in a mission to rescue Snake-Eyes, who had recently landed on the island. The C-130 then brought a wounded Ripcord to McGuire Air Force Base near G.I. Joe headquarters. When the Joe team invaded the Cobra-controlled town of Springfield, Ace flew one of the two C-130s that transported the Joes and their vehicles to the town.

    While he and Slip-Stream fought a Cobra Night Raven piloted by a Strato-Viper, Ace was shot down but he ejected and survived to be rescued by a G.I. Joe Tomahawk helicopter. Ace returned to stunt flying when he, Slip-Stream and Maverick participated in an Airshow at Orange County Airport in New York State. Later, Ace flew a C-130 to Cobra Island during the Cobra Civil War in which the Joes participated on the side of Serpentor. Just after the invasion, Ace and co-pilot Lift-Ticket along with several other G.I. Joe pilots flew a diversionary mission to allow the Stealth Fighter to fly a recon mission over Cobra Island. Ace was part of the crew of the space shuttle Defiant on an observation mission. Payload ended the mission and entered Earth's atmosphere, attacking a group of Python Conquest jets attacking the U.S.S. Flagg.

    Ace's Skystriker sustained heavy damage during a night recon mission in Benzheen in the aftermath of the Battle of Benzheen. He and his co-pilot Dogfight barely survived a crash-landing on the deck of the U.S.S. Flagg in the Gulf of Benzheen. Later, Ace and Wild Bill flew the Joes Duke, Lady Jaye, Roadblock and Snake-Eyes in a C-130 to Cobra Island for a spy mission. One of Ace's final missions before the Joe team was disbanded was to fly General Joseph "G.I. Joe" Colton from McGuire A.F.B. to Washington, DC in the Ghoststriker X-16 for a Top Secret meeting with high-ranking army officials. After the Joe team was disbanded in 1994, Ace returned to stunt flying for movies. He returned to duty in 2001 to fly for the reinstated G.I. Joe team, and led a squadron of Skystrikers against the forces of a revived Serpentor on Cobra Island.

    After another year of deactivation, the G.I. Joe team was again reformed. Ace began working with the smaller team at their new headquarters, The Rock, as a reserve member. During the global conflict known as World War III, Ace took part in a number of missions launched from the U.S.S. Flagg, engaging Cobra fighters over the United Kingdom.

Artwork: G.I. JOE #47(interior) by Rod Whigham and Andy Mushynsky; G.I. JOE #34 (interior) by Rod Whigham and Andy Mushynsky; G.I. Joe: Battle Files #1.