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05-20-2020, 09:16 PM | #11 |
Filecard Maker
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NJ
Posts: 7,300
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I always think of it in three basic terms and break it down from there.
The three basic terms are 1) Rank and File These are any basic troopers. The nameless faceless. 2) Specialist Clearly any one with a name, Dreadnoks, Firefly, Croc Master, Copperhead, C.L.A.W.S. Commander, etc. Even Troop Leaders like Razorclaw, or Letal, M.O.T.H. Night-Viper, Major Bludd, Wild Weasel etc. All these characters are clearly individuals not just another trooper. 3) Command This one is pretty easy...anybody with a certain amount of authority. Baroness, Destro, Mindbender, CC and yes at times Serpentor Now you can break things down a bit further in Rank and File. I think every one starts as a blue shirt. And you once you prove yourself you can advance into various blue shirt specialties. Anti-Armor, Heavy Machine Gun, Missile Command, Laser Weapons, Para Trooper, Hostile Environment, EOD, Flamethrower, Night Watch, Pilot, Diver, Drivers, Gunners, Viper Glider Pilot, Squad Leader, Officer, etc. After proven in those positions you can be chosen for or apply for Viper units or specialized branches. Vipers, Snow Serpents, Incinerators, Night-Vipers, Tele-Vipers, Crimson Guard, Toxo-Vipers, HISS Drivers, Air-Vipers, Strato-Vipers etc, etc, etc. I don't really assign any actual ranks in the sense of traditional beyond entry level, special training, seasoned troopers. Its too hard to actually attribute normal ranks when the file cards didn't really take into account adding branches. I mean if you do look it from the ranks assigned there...Cobra Officers have equal authority as Major Bludd. As for specialist, I also tend to break things down by discipline. For example...Dr. Mindbender is section chief of anything involving science or medical. Wild Weasel is really the first Cobra pilot specialist so any pilot would report to him, and he in turn would report to command. One last thought. We have a ton of color variations on troopers. The Alley-Viper alone has 13 different color uniforms. I tend to break them down Star Wars Clone Wars style. Each color is a different division. v1 (orange and blue urban camo) 101st division v2 (yellow and black uniform) 201st division etc, etc, etc. Or at least that's how I clarify it in my mind. |
05-20-2020, 09:46 PM | #12 |
Computer Interface Expert
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 141
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They definitely have some form of rank system, for the first few years the file cards actually showed their rank equivalent on them just not what the rank was called.
The basic Cobra trooper had a rank of E-4 equivalent which is a Corporal. This implied that you actually had to work up in rank a bit and prove yourself before becoming a uniformed member of Cobra. The Officer was rank O-4 Major. These guys not only led combat units in the field, but also performed the same role as undercover agents that was later carried out by Crimson Guards. Some are also cross trained as operators for the Stinger jeep. Only the most proven of Officers were allowed to become Hiss Drivers trusted with the most expensive piece of equipment Cobra had at the time, and they held the equivalent rank of Lieutenant Colonel O-5. You might not be far off in using a form of Roman style rank names since the Cobra combat units are referred to as Legions in several sources, including the original trooper's file card. Though you might change it up a bit with some snaky names like instead of a First Pillar Centurion you would have a First Fang Centurion. |
05-20-2020, 11:23 PM | #13 |
US military family
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Fort Campbell, Kentucky
Posts: 2,218
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What is important to notice about COBRA is that they didn’t use rank insignias, other than an Officer chevron on the helmet to designate the Squad Leader. Sometimes an alternate set of uniform colors were used also.
The file cards said E4 or equivalent, and O4 or equivalent. This didn’t make sense to me as a young person in 1982, who had only talked to veterans on weekends at the VFW hall, because I hadn't served yet so I didn’t understand. Fast forward forty years later, and those Grades on the file cards indicate something more now, after having spent a lifetime in the service… I’ll try to explain what I’ve learned. The Cobra Troopers say E4 equivalence because that would be a soldier, sailor, or airmen that is trained to understand and perform a specific job which they are needed to do. An E4 usually doesn’t have very much leadership capability because they are relatively new to the organization, but are instead usually a specialist schooled in a particular occupation. The Cobra Officers say O4 or equivalent, which is often the starting point in an officer’s career where they are trained by other officers. An O1 to O3 are less knowledgeable than the senior enlisted ranks in most militaries, so the O4 is when significant command authority usually begins. Cobra Command doesn’t mention O3 or below, because no experienced senior enlisted troopers are training junior Cobra Officers… it just doesn’t seem to happen in COBRA. The HISS Driver is said to be selected from the best and most evil of this organization’s yearly recruits to attend COBRA Battle School, Advance Weapons Systems Training. It is reasonable to guess that there are a limited number of seats available to train people, so those soldiers are more valuable to the organization, which is why they are said to be O5 (and I think the “or equivalent” was simply omitted in this instance by the toy copywriter). Because we know that the Cobra Officers are bullet stoppers at the front of the squads, COBRA is not very protective of those with an O4 equivalence. Maybe those HISS Drivers having a little armor to protect themselves with demonstrates that COBRA has a slightly higher regard for those of an O5 equivalence. The Legions of Cobra: “Legions” are a unit of measure from Roman antiquity (three to six thousand perhaps), which is not a very large force to go up against. For a fan fiction Joeverse, sure, Roman ranks or even Girl Scout ranks could be adopted, and neither would be incorrect. The HISS Driver file card mentions “…Cobra Command’s thousands of yearly recruits…”, which is a very small annual replenishment number. These are not significant numbers, even though they may sound impressive to some G.I. Joe collectors today, depending upon their career backgrounds. COBRA was dangerous enough to be taken seriously by America, but they were always a manageable threat. To help put these numbers in perspective, the fighting force of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) would often number between 35,000 to 100,000 at any given time, with about 1,000 to 2,000 recruits added monthly, replenishing thousands of yearly recruits. Besides just the natives local to the regions, they also recruited from 83 other nations located in every area of the world, which is not unlike the COBRA organizational recruitment numbers, or scope of area. Even as large as they were, they didn’t have a need for fancy ranks or artistic insignia patches, and they used (like COBRA did) a metrics-driven military command system of unified leadership from the top down (using performance indicators for officer equivalence promotions).
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... freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it and then hand it to them with the well thought lessons of how they in their lifetime must do the same... - Ronald Reagan |
05-21-2020, 12:29 AM | #14 |
CG Immortal Commander
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: New York
Posts: 19,276
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The 12 inch Hall of Fame Cobra Commander came with an Operations Manual which showed the ranks of the various troopers. Not necessarily within any one type but in the overall organization. Crimson Guards being the top and BATs being the bottom.
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05-21-2020, 12:37 AM | #15 |
CG Immortal Commander
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: New York
Posts: 19,276
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Found a shot. Obviously not every troop is accounted for...
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05-21-2020, 12:50 AM | #16 |
US military family
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Fort Campbell, Kentucky
Posts: 2,218
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Quote:
The rank system described inside is little more than a number system, with 00 being supreme, then 01, 02, etc. Using the information inside, it claims that Zanzibar and Gnawgahyde outrank most of COBRA, Cobra Sludge Vipers are the upper level leadership of the Vipers, and the Baroness didn't even make the list this time … essentially a failure for a rank system or true understanding of the COBRA organization. Thanks for posting it though. It was actually fun to look at it again after all of these years.
__________________
... freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it and then hand it to them with the well thought lessons of how they in their lifetime must do the same... - Ronald Reagan Last edited by Playful; 05-21-2020 at 01:13 AM.. Reason: I have old man vision without my reading glasses |
05-21-2020, 01:08 AM | #17 |
CG Immortal Commander
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: New York
Posts: 19,276
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Quote:
That 1992 manual was fun for kids to read, but was for the most part just an art collection of the various emblems used on Cobra vehicles drawn by Ron Rudat and other artists.
The rank system described inside is little more than a number system, with 00 being supreme, then 01, 02, etc. Using the information inside, it claims that Zanzibar and Gnawgahyde outrank Storm Shadow and Night Creeper Leader… essentially a failure for a rank system or true understanding of the COBRA organization. Thanks for posting it though. It was actually fun to look at it again after all of these years. |
05-21-2020, 01:29 AM | #18 |
US military family
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Fort Campbell, Kentucky
Posts: 2,218
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Quote:
I just spotted another thing in the rank manual... B.A.T.s and Cobra Vipers are said to be equal in rank, so depending on the date a man joins the COBRA organization, or achieves the rank of Viper, a great many B.A.T.s will already have seniority over that Viper.
__________________
... freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it and then hand it to them with the well thought lessons of how they in their lifetime must do the same... - Ronald Reagan |
05-21-2020, 02:31 AM | #19 |
Lousy Greenshirt
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Iowa, US
Posts: 1,091
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It's been really interesting reading everyone's input on this. My ranking of Cobra is pretty simplistic, so it's neat hearing all of the in-depth explanations of everyone's structure.
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05-21-2020, 12:33 PM | #20 |
CG Immortal Commander
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: New York
Posts: 19,276
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Quote:
That is actually funny.
I just spotted another thing in the rank manual... B.A.T.s and Cobra Vipers are said to be equal in rank, so depending on the date a man joins the COBRA organization, or achieves the rank of Viper, a great many B.A.T.s will already have seniority over that Viper. |
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