(2013 - Present) Our primary character. An Army Reservist from Boise, Idaho, mobilized for Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004. Joe had been on Active Duty for 3 years before coming to the Reserves and joining the 213th Combat Engineers in Boise, Idaho.
Jorge "Junior Ric" Ricardo
(2013 - 2016) Joe Rock's best buddy from Basic Training. He served in another Reserve unit in Oklahoma, although he calls New Mexico home. He is a main character during the Iraq War deployment, but becomes a "rarely recurring" character afterwards.
(2013 - 2016; 2019 - 2020) A "fill" from a Reserve unit in Wisconsin, Brad Patterson is originally from Madison, Wisconsin. He struggles with alcohol even before deployment. After the war he disappears for awhile but makes a return for their second trip to Iraq.
(2013 - 2020) Albright is from the same Reserve unit as Joe Rock, and also hails from Boise, Idaho. He claims he's into Libertarianism but the truth is he just thinks he's being cool. A main character through the second deployment to Iraq.
(2013 - Present) Juni Okuda was born and raised in Hawai'i. Her mother is Korean and her father Japanese, and when he got a job at Micron Technologies in Boise, Idaho, their family moved there two years earlier. A member of the unit that starts out as a maintenance clerk but later switches to Intelligence. Becomes the primary character during the "KFOR" chapters.
(2013 - 2020) A young woman from Boise, Idaho who joined the Reserves to help pay for college. She likes tech work and role-playing games. A major supporting character through the second Iraq deployment.
(2013 - 2016) Jane Ransom is a veteran of the 1991 Gulf War and a former Drill Sergeant. She once trained Joe Rock and Junior Ric, but is now a Reservist from Pennsylvania sent to "fill" the 213th Battalion. When the Battalion is deployed, she is the only one with combat experience but no one listens to her. Supporting character during the first deployment.
(2013 - Present) Lieutenant-Colonel Wes Fassbender is the commander of the 213th Battalion, and he lives in Boise, Idaho. Despite converting to be a Mormon for his wife, he still keeps all his old coffee mugs for hot chocolate. He is not related to the actor Michael Fassbender, and only knows of the actor because people keep asking him. A supporting character through the series.
(2013 - 2016) Sergeant-Major Rufus Hoddson is a "fill" from a Reserve unit in Johnstown, Pennslyvania. His day job is as a manager at a Lady Footlocker. He is primarily interested in his own comfort while on deployment. A supporting character during the first deployment.
(2013 - 2014) Staff-Sergeant Purdue is an avid bodybuilder and workout devotee who loves his workout shakes and other supplements. He's a "fill" from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A major supporting character for much of the first deployment.
(2013 - 2016) Sergeant Kajama is another "fill" from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His family name was originally "Williams" before his father changed it in the 1970's. A major supporting character through the first deployment.
(2014 - 2016; 2019 - Present) Mirav Mizrachi is a smorgasbord of ethnic backgrounds, with African-American, Middle Eastern, European and Asian parentage. Jewish and raised in both Israel and America, she has a knack for languages. Originally an Active Duty "fill" from 1st Cavalry Division, assigned to the 213th, she leaves after the first deployment but returns for the second and sticks around as a major supporting character.
(2013 - Present) Lieutenant William MacGregor is the platoon leader for Joe Rock, Junior Ric, and many of the others. He tries to be both an inspiring leader and also sort of a friend to the troops, and doesn't entirely make it to either destination. He is from Boise, Idaho, and got his officer's commission from ROTC at Boise State. Supporting character throughout the series.
(2013 - 2016[?]) Chief Warrant Officer (Mechanic) Ben McCoby is a mechanic assigned the Herculean task of maintaining the 213th's vehicles. From Boise, Idaho, he may use secret powers to keep things running. Minor supporting character through the first deployment and after the return home.
(2013 - 2016) Chaplain David Crossman is from a California Flower Child communal family. By joining the Army he is the "black sheep". He's from a very liberal strain of Episcopalian ministry, and sent as a "fill" to the 213th Battalion. A supporting character during the first deployment, he leaves afterwards and people occasionally wonder where he went.
(2013 - Present) Sergeant First Class Douglas Dawg is the Platoon Sergeant and also hails from Boise. He sternly tries to keep things on track but frequently finds he has to hold his tongue and let things roll as they are. He joined in the last days of the Cold War and has an interesting perspective about how the "new Army" works. Major supporting character through the series.
(2014 - 2016; 2019 - 2020) A local Iraqi from a nearby village, he was a computer engineer but now makes a living selling pirated porn DVDs to US troops. Sometimes coerced into working for Al-Quaeda in Iraq, he generally dislikes the fundamentalists but is also not sure if he trusts the Americans either. Supporting character for first deployment and returns as an Iraqi National Guardsman for the second deployment.
(2015 - 2016[?]) Kelly G. Brannon is a CIA agent that throws himself into his work with such vigor he frequently ends up tripping over himself. He always wears his trench coat, aviator shade glasses, a Fedora hat, and a cigarette, convinced these Cold War-era tricks are still the best disguise. Minor recurring character.
(2016 - Present) Alvarez is a young Private that joins the Battalion some time after their return from Iraq; he's "the first of the post-deployment recruits". Becomes a major character from that point on.
(2018 - Present) A friend of Cecelia Glass who decides to join the Reserves as a Cook for the college money. Originally from San Diego, we get to see her go through the process of joining, going to Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training, and then settle in with the 213th. Supporting character after joining the unit for the second deployment.
(2017 - 2020) A woman in Boise that becomes Philip Albright's boss, then girlfriend, and then wife just prior to their second deployment. She is the sister of one of Joe Rock's friends. Minor supporting character for most of the events in Boise.
(2014 - Present) A military Working Dog that later gets adopted by Joe & Juni. Far too clever for her own good, she masterminds a number of mischevious events and tells "spooky dog stories" at night with a stolen flashlight under her face. Supporting character making infrequent appearances throughout series.
(2014 - Present) Another Military Working Dog that gets wounded in Fallujah and airlifted out of the battle zone after a terrorist's bomb vest goes off near him. Later adopted by Wendy Two-Feathers. Minor supporting character during series.
(2014 - Present) A frequent tormenter of the Battalion. The Devil, from Hell, is always ready to punish soldiers for their transgressions, great or small. Supporting character making infrequent appearances throughout series.
(2016 - Present) Another tormenter of the Battalion, representing the Army's propensity for "good ideas" that are frequently worthless, redundant, and counter-productive.. She refers to herself as "the Tinkerbell of Despair" and is especially fond of 2nd Lieutenants and Sergeants-Major, finding them especially susceptible to her wiles. Infrequent appearances throughout series.
(2014 - 2016; 2018) Native American woman from the North Cheyenne Reservation, she joined the 220th Military Police and served in Iraq next to the 213th Battalion personnel. A Military Police dog handler, she was responsible for "Butter" and later adopted him. She hopes to get a job with the Tribal Police at some point.
(2016 - Present) After returning from the first deployment, the Battalion gets a new Sergeant-Major. Apart from having the stereotypical fixation on reflective PT belts, he generally keeps a low profile and makes infrequent appearances.
(2019 - 2020[?]) Brad Patterson's wife, originally from Queensland, Australia. She grew up on a "station" (ranch) and learned how to fix the family's old generator, making her fascinated by engines. They met while serving together in the "Sea Shepherd" nature conservancy activist group in the South Atlantic.
(2021 - Present) Troy Saltee joins the 213th in 2021 as a former Active Duty Combat Engineer who was part of the final withdrawal from Afghanistan. He has a few spicy hot takes about US involvement in Middle East politics and is a recurring supporting character.
(2022 - Present) Shania Jensens joins the 213th as the first (enlisted) female Combat Engineer. She arrives very eager and full of "young soldier enthusiasm" for her job. She is accepted as "one of us" by the guys after buying a pink Dodge Charger at 23% interest and marrying a male stripper.
(2022 - Present) Emma O'Neil joins the Battalion as their first junior enlisted Intelligence Analyst, and the first soldier that Juni Okuda is ever directly in charge of as a supervisor. After some initial clashes they get along, and get mobilized as "Fills" for a National Guard unit deploying to Kosovo.
(2017; 2024 - Present) Ken Specter is met by Joe Rock at his Warrior Leader's Course in 2017; years later he turns up again as an Intelligence Sergeant for the 813th Aviation Unit (Idaho National Guard) and is in charge of Juni Okuda and Emma O'Neil. He has been an Intelligence soldier for many years and has to show them both the "tricks of the trade" and all the ways a proper S2 shop is run.
