DR. ADELE BURKHART. A brilliant scientist turned outspoken activist, Dr. Adele Burkhart crossed paths with the G.I. Joe team on several occasions. After completing work on what the press would later call the "Doomsday Project", Burkhart began to speak out against the project, claiming that she was misled by the military about just what her work would be used for. The military was forced to take Burkhart seriously because of her knowledge of top secret information and her apparent willingness to speak to the press about it. While some considered her a traitor, the government considered her an embarassment. During a speaking tour, the train on which Burkhart was being interviewed was attacked by Cobra operatives led by the Baroness. The Baroness captured Burkhart a brought her to an island in the Caribbean that was being controlled by Cobra. At that installation Burkhart met face to face with Cobra commander. It was made clear that Burkhart would tell him her secrets or she would die. Burkhart was surprised when the G.I. Joe team attacked the island and rescued her. Burkhart had expected the government to just let her die, and reconsidered some of her opinions about the military.

In the years following her rescue, Dr. Burkhart became a humanitarian, trying to further the cause of peace throughout the world. Burkhart and a group of peacekeepers were working in the Central American nation of Sierra Gordo, hoping to negotiate an end to a civil war. In the end, one group didn't appreciate meddling from other countries and killed most of the peacekeepers, except for Burkhart. She was being held in a bunker deep in the jungle, where her interrogator planned to use powerful drugs to extract her knowledge. Again, the US turned to the Joe team to rescue Burkhart, and a small group was sent to retrieve her. As before, some of the Joes were not completely pleased with Burkhart. Once she was rescued, Burkhart was upset that others had to die to save her. This angered Ripcord, but Stalker -- who had particpated in the first mission to rescue the scientists -- defended Burkhart and her right to her beliefs, even though he didn't agree with her. By now, Burkhart was learning to respect the Joes. In the aftermath of the Cobra Island civil war, the Joe team found themselves on the losing side. When their failure became an embarrassment, the corrupt generals who had authorized the Joes' involvement claimed that Generals Hawk and Hollingsworth had acted alone in an unauthorized mission. Many members of the Joe team were arrested, but in Washington, DC, Roadblock escaped the military police. Burkhart was watching a news report about the Joes arrest when she heard a knock at the door of her home in Georgetown. She was surprised to see Roadblock -- one of the Joes who rescued her in Sierra Gordo -- at her front door, asking for her help. After telling him to get inside before the Feds spotted him, she agreed to help the team rescue Hawk and Hollingsworth, who were being held in a psychiatric hospital in Virginia. The corrupt General Malthus had let a news crew into the hospital to make his accusations against the Joe team's commanders. The crew was surprised to see Burkhart make her way inside the hospital, claiming the Joes were wrongly accused. Her appearance created a diversion long enough for the assault team to get inside and begin their rescue. Burkhart herself was nearly shot, outraged that Malthus' men were firing with civilians in range. Roadblock had to tackle her to the ground to get her under cover. In the end, with the timely intervention of Destro, the Generals' corruption was exposed and the Joe team was cleared of all charges. Burkhart continues to be a peace activist, and though she is not exactly friends with the military, Burkhart has more respect for soldiers than she had before, and the members of the G.I. Joe team consider her an ally.

(GI 1, 38, 39, 77, 78; GID 3)