Introducing: John Smith

This is intended as the first of several 'Introducing:' posts; each focusing on a different character from my books. Although I have dabbled in Science Fiction, most of my writing is Action/Thriller fiction. These books follow the adventures of John Smith, a Marine Corps veteran of the Global War on Terrorism.

Like me, John Smith was a POG (Personnel Other than Grunt), serving in a combat support MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) rather than direct infantry combat. The idea came to me after my time in the Marine Corps had come to an end. Out of boredom, I joined the Army Reserve. I realized that two things happened whenever I told a soldier I used to be in the Marines. First, he or she automatically assumed I had been a Grunt and had aspired to be a Scout Sniper or MarSOC Raider, which I never did. I had toyed with the idea of transferring to EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) or Counterintelligence, but I lacked the motivation to complete the necessary paperwork. Second, he or she would feel the need to justify to me why he or she had joined the Army instead of the Marines. It was never for me to judge who should have joined which branch, but I always listened politely, anyway.

Since his separation from the Marines, John Smith has had similar experiences. He's a fairly big guy, six feet tall and over two hundred pounds, so people automatically assume he was some kind of Special Forces badass when they find out that he was a Marine. For simplicity's sake, I gave John my old MOS: 6541, Aviation Ordnance Systems Technician. Instead of humping a fifty-pound MOLLE pack across the desert in Iraq and Afghanistan and getting shot at, he never had to leave the FOB (Forward Operating Base) to accomplish his mission. All he had to do was interpret the munitions requests from the aircraft squadrons, draw the components from storage, supervise the assembly of the munitions, and deliver them to the squadrons.

Some POGs feel inadequate for not being in the infantry, and lie about what they actually do in the military to feel better about themselves, but John Smith proudly claims the title of POG. However, "POG" is the military equivalent of the "N" bomb. John calls himself a POG, and he doesn't get offended when another Marine calls him a POG, but he doesn't tolerate any civilian using the word.

Aside from the military's influence on his life, John came of age in the late nineties, when Office Space and Fight Club came out. His mindset on his place in society was molded by repeated viewings of those movies. Office Space taught him that his life didn't have to revolve around his job; that the two could exist on separate planes. Fight Club taught him not to be a lemming; to forge his own path. As a result, he became a trusted NCO in his unit by impressing his supervisors with his knowledge, skills, and abilities, rather than by doing everything he was told to do and kissing ass. In his personal life, he found balance and happiness alone before he tried to find it in relationships.

It's John's inward focus and self-reliance that the founder of Reflex Engineering, Incorporated saw in him during the events of Favor For a Favor. His determination to succeed on his own terms has lead him to become resourceful, like a modern-day MacGyver. Unlike MacGyver, though, John has no reservations about killing the enemy when all lesser means of resolution have failed. John Smith is a character very close to my heart, and I hope to keep telling his stories for years to come.