COBRA OFFICER

(An Officer discusses battlefield tactics with a Stinger Driver.  Area of operations: Unknown)

CODE NAME:

Officer

BRANCH:

Cobra Infantry Team

GRADE:

O-4 (or equivalent)

PRIMARY MILITARY SPECIALTY:

Infantry

SECONDARY MILITARY SPECIALTY:

Artillery, Command, Intelligence

MILITARY TRAINING:

Demolitions, Martial Arts

EXPECTED ARMAMENT:

Cobra Officers are qualified experts with the AK-47 assault rifle, Ingram M-11 sub-machine gun, M-16, and PM-63 machine pistol.  They are most recently deployed with a 9mm pistol and rifle.

CURRENT ASSIGNMENT:

Cobra Officer

FIRST DEPLOYMENT:

1982

AREA OF OPERATIONS:

Any non-arctic

     Cobra Officers originally served one of two base functions: front-line battlefield commanders (infantry or mechanized) or spies in defense plants, nuclear facilities, etc.  These Officers wore two distinctively different uniforms depending on their role in combat.  Infantry commanders wore midnight blue fatigues, designated with a silver Cobra insignia on the chest, and marked with a single chevron on the helmet to show rank.  The Stinger Driver-class Officer had a uniform in gray instead of midnight blue and red insignia.  Other than leading infantry or mechanized units, there is little difference between Officers and Stinger Driver-class Officers.  The Python-class Officer, however, is different enough to warrant a separate report.

     The creation of the Crimson Guard in 1985 radically altered the role of Cobra's Officers in two major ways.  First, with advent of the Crimson Guard serving as sleeper agents in the civilian sector, the Officer's role narrowed to battlefield command only.  Second, Cobra Commander filled the ranks of the Crimson Guard with recruits from the best and brightest of his Officers.  With this shift of focus from battlefield strength to urban sabotage and terrorism, Cobra's fighting arm diminished as its combat-experienced fighters no longer led or fought.  To compensate, Cobra began to specialize its troops into different Viper sub-trooper categories.  Unlike the Viper corps - and until the deployment of the Python Patrol seven years after Cobra's creation - the Officer remained unmodified until 1993 when Cobra introduced the Cyber-Vipers and individually code named Officers utilizing standardized equipment from Crimson Guard Immortals and Iron Grenadier T.A.R.G.A.T.s.  After Cobra's revival in 1997, Cobra's hierarchy upgraded its Officers.  Now armed with multi-layer body armor, wraparound acrylic/composite helmets with built-in RTO* gear, and carrying more modern weapons of war, Officers are strictly decorated in gray, while Squad Leaders, Infantry Troopers, and Troopers maintain the stereotypical midnight blue fatigues.

     The original deployment of the Cobra Officer was encountered internationally, from Argentina to Brazil to Japan.  The 1998 deployment of Cobra Officers, however, have not yet been largely encountered outside of the North America.

*Radio Telecommunications Operator

OTHER LINKS:

Cobra Officer

Cobra Officer

Code Names: Cobra Officers