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In Vietnam, "tunnel rats" were the nicknames of smallish soldiers who would infiltrate underground Viet Cong bunkers, most often armed only with a pistol, knife, and flashlight. Tunnel Rat continues this combat style by engaging enemies in hand-to-hand or close-quarter combat in claustrophobic tunnels whenever the job calls on him. His specialties in E.O.D. and combat engineering enable him to anticipate and defuse booby traps and mines in these tight spaces that would easily kill an average soldier.
Tunnel Rat has served on the G.I. Joe team since 1987. Like many of the G.I. Joe team members, Tunnel Rat has served on a variety of special sub-teams and has been stationed around the globe. He served on the G.I. Joe
Night Force nighttime operations team from 1988 to 1989. In 1990, Tunnel Rat had a short reassignment to the Sonic Fighters special operations followed by a second reassignment to Europe in 1991. There, Tunnel Rat served on the UK-based
Tiger Force unit until G.I. Joe was decommissioned.
When G.I. Joe was reinstated, Tunnel Rat was finally able to rejoin in 1998. Tunnel Rat served in India for five years as a combined Sonic Fighter/Tiger Force member. He was also deployed in 1998 with other G.I. Joe members such as
Dial-Tone (Battle Corps),
Dodger (Sonic Fighters),
General Flagg (Battle Corps), and fellow Tiger Force member
Lifeline. In India, Tunnel Rat has served with well-known non-G.I. Joe and paramilitary operatives such as
Skydiver, Street Hawk, and
Super Cop. It was during this time that he sharpened his combat expertise against several Cobra troop types including
Crimson Guard Immortals,
Eels, and Incinerators. Tunnel Rat also provided intelligence reconnaissance and/or enemy combat contact with the key Cobra mercenaries and hierarchy such as
Big Boa,
Major Bludd, and
Wild Weasel, and the
Iron Grenadier operatives
Metal Head and Scrap-Iron. Also during his time in India, Tunnel Rat actively engaged the
Dreadnoks Ripper,
Zarana, and Zartan across the country.
Tunnel Rat was reassigned to a state-side post in 2003 and has since recently rejoined the Night Force team in 2004. After his very short reunion with the Night Force team, Tunnel Rat’s talents were reassigned to the new
Desert Patrol Squad.
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