Conrad Hauser (Reimagined)

Conrad Sebastian Hauser was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Conrad was a gifted artist as a child, a talent nurtured by his father, Max, and his ailing mother, Constance. His mother succumbed to cancer, leaving Conrad to be raised by Max alone. In addition to being an artist himself, Max was an ardent pacifist, and would take part in protests against the U.S. government's use of military force abroad.

Upon graduating from high school at 17, Conrad was lined up to attend art school, but upset his father by asking legal permission to enlist in the United States Army. The lesson learned by Conrad from his father was to stick to his convictions. It was not an act of youthful defiance to join the military. Rather, it was following his father's example and acting upon his beliefs. Grudgingly, Max gave Conrad permission, but their relationship has been strained ever since.

After completing basic combat training and then advanced individual training, Conrad went on to the U.S. Army Airborne School. Upon completing airborne training, he was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division as an airborne infantryman in the 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Conrad later attended and passed Ranger School, earning the Ranger Tab. A little while after that, he attended the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course. Upon its successful completion, Conrad went through the Special Forces Qualification Course and eventually joined the United States Army Special Forces as a special forces engineer sergeant in the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group.

He eventually rose to the position of a detachment assistant operations and intelligence sergeant. Sometime later, Conrad's exemplary work during counterinsurgency operations caught the attention of a high-ranking officer in the United States Special Operations Command, Brigadier General Lawrence J. Flagg. After reviewing his records, Brigadier General Flagg believed Conrad would be perfect for a newly-established and highly unconventional anti-terrorist task force within U.S. Special Operations Command. In short order, he was offered a position in an elite military black ops organization called the Global Intervention Joint Operations Expeditionary Team, or the GI Joe Team.

Commanded by Colonel Clayton Abernathy, the GI Joe Team is a top-secret special mission unit mandated to investigate, identify, and dismantle emerging paramilitary terrorist networks that pose an imminent threat to U.S. national security. Directed to attack terrorist threats where they originate, it functions as a high-tech mobile tactical intelligence and assault group with the capability to covertly move from country to country anywhere in the world to unilaterally neutralize terrorist activities in locations too politically-sensitive to intervene through conventional means. The GI Joe Team draws its personnel from all branches of the U.S. military.

Conrad accepted the offer and joined the Global Intervention Joint Operations Expeditionary Team. With the codename "Duke", he serves as one of the GI Joe Team's chief field operatives. In that capacity, Conrad leads team members in covert military direct action and special reconnaissance operations. He also engages in unilateral espionage operations in which he assumes a false identity and goes deep undercover in order to identify targeted terrorists, track them to a specific location and capture or kill them as necessary.

A clear-thinking and reliable soldier, he brings strategic clout to the GI Joe Team. As a premier counterterrorism operative, Sergeant First Class Conrad S. Hauser has helped save the United States from devastating terrorist attacks on numerous occasions.