Adrian Calhoun

Adrian

Full name	Adrian J. Calhoun
Date of Birth	3 May, 2493
Parents	Father Isaac, Mother Gina
Siblings	None
Assignment	Co. Cdr, H&S Co, 1st Batt, 74th FRR, 63rd Div. Also Executive Officer, same Batt/Reg/Div
Specialization	Infantry, Ordnance and Armory (translation: The guy who fixes your weapon when you break it, when he's not busy shooting at the guys who you're not, 'cause you broke your bloody weapon!)
Gender	Male
Eyes and Hair	Gray/ Black (cut too short to really tell)
Height and Weight	6'2" / 205 lbs
Status	Active
Education Information
Full schooling on Persephone. Alliance Military Training System; Recruit Depot, Camp Arthur Currie, Persephone. Advanced Infantry School, Bernadette. Military Armorer's School, Ares.

Childhood

Adrian Calhoun was born to Isaac and Gina on Persephone; one child for two parents who, by their own admission, took their work far too seriously, and didn't spend near as much time with their son as they would've liked. His parents have been working on a powered combat exoskeleton for individual soldiers. It's their life's work, and it shows; their home is decorated with schematics of prototype suits, power supplies, various formulae, and generally, the place screams "Scientists Live Here". The two encouraged little Adrian to think for himself, but still guided his thoughts. Had he not become irrevocably enraptured by the images of the "glorious Alliance Military Service," it is very likely he would have followed in his parent's footsteps. Who knows, maybe he would have hit upon exactly what was needed to get the exoskeletons out of their heads, off their paperscreens, and out into the field. It was not to be, though.

A Soldier is Crafted

On his 18th birthday, Adrian strolled into the recruitment building, with one goal in mind: Alliance Military Service. Well, he got it. Shipped off to Basic Training, he showed an inherent grasp of small-unit tactics, and a good deal of mechanical aptitude (he could field-strip and reassemble his weapon faster than anyone in his training platoon. Heck, he could take it apart and get it partway back together again by the time the last man in his squad finished the first field-strip-reassemble cycle), and a strong desire to learn everything he could about the issue equipment. He graduated as a recruit-corporal (a rank from which he was busted several times, chiefly due to an unruly squad member who quit before graduation). Upon graduation, he applied for advanced infantry training, and was accepted. The Advanced Infantry School taught him land warfare tactics on Bernadette (before that component was moved to the Silver Hold colonies), then sent him and the rest of his class to Bellerophon for aquatic (frogman training, essentially), amphibious (sea-to-land), and desert training; a week's travel time out, and another week's back, that was NOT wasted; in transit to and from Bellerophon, the class was instructed in microgravity combat. After AIS, he applied for additional armorer's instruction on Ares, and was at first rejected, but a letter from his senior drill instructor (followed immediately by a re-application) got him in. His armorer instructors initially were rather callous, but gradually warmed to him (one rather stubborn woman named Vance in particular seemed to dislike his inquisitiveness about some of the newer gear. Of course, part of it might have been due to Adrian's hands-on nature, clashing with her control-freak nature), or at least were able to tolerate the man. He aced his armorer training, and, just after the end of the Unification War, was assigned to the Ares Shipyards Security Detachment, an assignment he prefers not to speak of.

Present Status

Recently transferred to the 63rd Federal Division, Adrian was dropped to the spaceport on Lilac, where his carrier, the IAV Mao Zedong, was parked. And I do mean "dropped;" the nearby pirate strongpoint was feeling particulary playful that day, and had decided to start taking potshots at shuttles. As he was the only man slated to be deployed for a while, and as they needed to field-test them anyway, he was volunteered to drop to the surface in a prototype chute-and-retro "drop pod." After a five-minute crash course, (Nobody actually CALLED it that, but everyone knew the term was only too appropriate, as we'll soon learn), they packed him and his gear into a vaguely egg-shaped metal box, angled the ship, and fired him out of the dock point. The pod worked more or less exactly as it had been designed to; ablative layers shielded Adrian and his gear from the intense heat (mostly; the temperature inside the pod peaked at sixty degrees Celcius, but luckily for him, it wasn't there for very long or he'd've baked alive), the stabilizing drogue chute lined him up perfectly for the barely-controlled crash into the spaceport that immediately followed the brief, but powerful, burn of the final braking rockets. After the hatch was blown off by explosive bolts, the straps securing him to the pod released him, and he nearly collapsed on the ground. His first intelligible words after that little adventure (and a few hours in the medical bay soaking in a cooled neutral-buoyancy tank with a breath mask over his face) were something to the effect of "Fun... not... again..." (As a side note, those 'drop pod' models were modified to better handle reentry heat, and have been formally accepted by the Alliance Military as the Mk. 1 Individual Combatant Orbital Insertion Pod) Of late, he's distinguished himself to such a degree that, with the transfer of the Fox Platoon's Panda Squad leader to the elite Special Armed Support, and later, the transfer of the platoon's lieutenant to a non-combat arm of the service (Logistics, specifically), Adrian was promoted, then warranted, and finally commissioned (albeit against his will). He presently holds the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and serves as the executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 74th Federal Rifle Regiment, as well as trying to teach a new commander for his old company, Alpha. This sees him out of his beloved Armory even more than before, showing the new guy the ins and outs of top level command, while trying to find time to repair everything from the newtech Walther sidearms and abused bayonets ("I'll be dawgoned! Did ya know this can opener fits on th' end of a rifle?" He's actually heard that.) up to 80mm mortars, and 90mm multishot anti-armor launchers, as well as the odd 35mm revolver cannon aboard Alpha Company's shiny new home; the Longbow-class battlecruiser, IAV Temperance. That last one stumps him every now and again; he has to refer to the manual (as opposed to most infantry weapons, which he can fix with both eyes closed and his hands stuffed into mittens).

Awards and Decorations

Alliance Advanced Infantry Badge (gold)
1st Row	Silver Star medal	Federal Ground Forces Medal	Bronze Star w/ V	Purple Heart, Silver Pip
2nd Row	Combat Action Ribbon	Federal Good Conduct Medal, Bronze Pip	Federal Expeditionary Medal	Reconnaissance Star
3rd Row	'Barbary' Expeditionary Medal	Lilac Campaign Medal	Newhall Campaign Medal w/ V	Three Hills Campaign Medal w/ V
Marksmanship Badges		Rifle Expert, 3 rungs		Pistol Expert, 3 rungs

Appearance and Personality

With twin silver bars on each side of his collar, and a patient outlook, Adrian gets the respect due most of the older veteran soldiers. He is still rather uncomfortable with top command of a company (He thought a single squad was a pain; now he has nine to command, plus support staff, including four Corpsmen to babysit), but that is slowly being worked away through tactical exercises. He takes a decidedly paternalistic attitude to life; trying to be a sort of father figure where appropriate. He smiles a lot (but never in battle), and has been known to privately purchase "officer" foods (a misnomer; only flag officers really eat better than most of the enlisted) out of his own pocket, usually for the unit he's assigned to, often including some form of alcohol or another (privately purchased, then quietly donated to the above assigned unit) He keeps his hair cut very near the scalp, though a few gray hairs are starting to poke out. He's well-muscled, and very quick.

Tidbits

• Adrian's nickname (and comm callsign) is 'Pitbull.' The reason behind the moniker varies with each telling, from an incident during his first cycle of AIS where, if it hadn't been a training exercise, he would've earned the Alliance military's highest decoration (posthumously), to a habit as a kid for imitating his neighbor's dog.

• He's developed a habit of tearing apart every piece of gear he or his company could be issued, and putting it back together, just so he knows it inside and out. This habit has earned him more than a few finger injuries, and at least one case of nonfatal blood poisoning when an autoinjector zapped him with an chemical agent antidote (that was in itself toxic)

• Rarely socializes with his company, always trying to keep his head above the water of an endless river of paperwork.

• Never, but NEVER walks out of his quarters without his combat knife and Walther sidearm. Seeks special dispensation to carry at least one weapon at all times when attending places where such things are otherwise prohibited.

Soundtrack

Indestructible - Disturbed. His own personal battle theme. Often forced upon his subordinates in transit to a battlespace (he's yet to hear one of them complain)

The Marine's Hymn - Semi-traditional. Used on the rare occasion that some brass hat insists on a parade for whatever unfathomable reason. Lyrics modified to reflect the new singers.

No More Stones - Enter the Haggis. Not what you'd expect to hear from a soldier, but then, Adrian's not what you expect of a Fed.

The Minstrel Boy - Traditional. Sums up Adrian's feelings on the subject of surrender and/or capture.

Down with the Ship - Enter the Haggis. 'Recall' song; played over the comm instead of someone yelling 'RETREAT' in as panicked a voice as imaginable. Encourages those who hear to leave no one behind.

Vode An - I have no idea. Quiet battle hymn, taught to every member of Alpha Company in the "original language, with one word changed." Often used as a PT cadence.

Peril - O'Donnell, Salvatori. Occasionally played over the company wide comm, at very low volume, on combat patrols, reminding patrollers to 'observe everything, admire nothing.'

Lament - Light of Aidan. Used as a regimental 'Funeral march.' Part of the song is sung in the original language by whosoever of their commanders (from fire team leader, up to the regimental commander) volunteers. One recent KIA had her fireteam leader, up *through* the regimental commander, singing.

Heart of Courage - Two Steps from Hell. Same purpose as Peril, played for the same reason.