Beach Head (G.I. Joe)

Beach Head (also released as Beachhead and Beach-Head) is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He serves as the G.I. Joe Team's sergeant major and debuted in 1985.

Profile
Beach Head's real name is Wayne R. Sneeden. He was born and raised in Auburn, Alabama, living in abject poverty. This led to him being bullied and tormented by his classmates and peers throughout his growing years. In hopes of becoming more than what those taunted him believed he could be, Sneeden became an overachiever and ended up the valedictorian of his high school through hard work, unwavering discipline, and his keen mind.

Seeking the next challenge, he enlisted in the US Army, where he went through Airborne and Ranger school Ft. Benning, Georgia. After he completed training there, he went on to join Central America's Covert Ops as an Observer/Advisor. After his training in Central America, he returned to Ft. Benning as a lane instructor.

He was offered a spot in the G.I. Joe team as a Ranger. After he decided on the codename Beach Head, he joined eager for the challenge being a member of the most elite force in the US military would bring. Sneeden's habits include getting up hours before his teammates and going on a 10-mile run, then undergoing rigorous physical training that make the most gung-ho of his comrades weary - and all before breakfast.

His unwavering patience on and off the battlefield made him a legend - as did his intolerance of anyone not willing to live up to their full potential, something he makes quite clear to anyone he feels is a slacker and not working up to their potential. The consummate professional, he is determined and ruthless when needed to get the job done. However, his contempt for protocol and the chain of command have prevented him from being promoted. As it is well known, he would do things his own way by rushing headlong into things without consulting his superiors; instead of recommending his ideas to the chain of command. Beach Head is the first off the copter laying down suppressive fire for the others and is the last back on the copter to protect the backs of his comrades.

Visually, Beach Head is almost always seen masked with a green balaclava hood over his face. His actual face varies depending upon the figure/comic: he is seen with either blonde hair (both cut short and normal length), brownish red hair, black hair, and shaved. While most versions have him clean shaven, the only mass release 3 3/4 unmasked version of Beach Head has the character sporting a reddish fu manchu mustache.

In the UK Action Force series, Beach Head is from Auckland in New Zealand. His profile is otherwise very similar.

Hasbro toy line
Beach Head was first released as part of the fifth series in 1986 as the Joe team's Ranger, and came with a gray submachine gun, a large black backpack, and a black bag of ammunition. His figure was also available in 1987, before it was discontinued in 1988. In 1993, a new Beach Head figure was released to the public, this one had the face entirely covered. There are three international variations in India of the first Beach Head figure, with a yellow vest, with red trim, and a version in bright green; his body was recolored and reused for a figure called Skydiver. The figure was repainted and released as part of the Battle Corps line in 1994.

There is some suggestion that Beach Head is related to the Checkpoint character from Hasbro's C.O.P.S toy line: Checkpoint's real name is listed as Wayne R. Sneeden III, and it is stated that his father was a member of a top secret military team during the '80s and '90s.

25th anniversary

 * Beach Head has been released in wave 2.
 * Comic Pack Beach Head & Dataframe (Mainframe) also has been released.
 * Beach Head was released as part of the Internet-exclusive Hall of Heroes wave in 2009. He is numbered 5 of 10.
 * After the 25th toyline, Beach Head was once again released with the G.I. Joe Resolute box set and in the Pursuit of Cobra Toyline.

Beyond 25th anniversary toys, Beachhead has been released as part of the Pursuit of Cobra toy line.

Marvel Comics
Beach Head's first appearance in the Marvel Comics series was in issue #47 (May 1986), alongside of Wet-Suit. Beach Head's first mission on the Joe team was assisting Hawk during the rescue of Snake-Eyes from Cobra Island. The rescue was successful, after an off-shore battle with Cobra attack boats and Cobra Eels. He was part of the first team of Joes to enter Springfield before the invasion of that Cobra-controlled town, whose job was to knock out the enemy's power and communications.

Later, Beach Head was part of a group advising Sierra Gordo's counter-revolutionaries in the fight against Cobra, where he once again found himself involved in rescuing Snake-Eyes from Cobra's Terror-Drome. He was also one of the many Joes to be involved in the construction of the third Pit headquarters in Utah. Some time later, with a large force of Joes, Beach Head participated in the Cobra Island civil war. He served on the team until it was disbanded in 1994.

G.I. Joe: Special Missions
Beach Head appeared in the sneak preview of Special Missions, published in issue #50 of A Real American Hero in August 1986, taking place right after his first appearance in the regular comic series. Here, he sneaked onto a Russian airliner alongside Flint and Lady Jaye, in order to foil hijackers. The enemy soldiers were all killed. In Special Missions #8, Beach Head and a small team of Joes took part in a near-disastrous mission in the jungles of Southeast Asia, which nearly cost them their lives due to a treacherous CIA agent.

Devil's Due Publishing
Beach Head became part of the reinstated Joe team in 2002, where he acted as a drill sergeant for new recruits, in addition to his usual duties as a Joe. After he rejoined the team, he helped stop Storm Shadow in his attempt to assassinate Hawk. Beach Head was later part of a convoy of vehicles escorting a group of young children who turned out to be clones of the original Serpentor. When the revived Serpentor arrived to claim them with the forces of The Coil to back him, Beach Head and several others were captured, and some of the team's new recruits were killed. Imprisoned on Cobra Island, the Joes eventually escaped and joined the battle against Serpentor's forces, as the Joe team invaded the island.

He later fought Destro's new recruit, Wraith, as the mercenary freed Major Bludd and Scrap-Iron from Blackwater Prison. A short time later, members of the Joe team fought Cobra forces that were drawn into an attack on a train guarded by the Joes, believing that Destro was being held prisoner on board. At the battle's end, Hawk was shot in the back by Cobra Commander and paralyzed.

In Hawk's absence, the Jugglers began to take control of the team to reign it in, if not disband it altogether. Eventually, the team's roster was cut down to only a dozen Joes, and Beach Head was one of many reassigned to other units. After the remaining Joes stopped a plot by Cobra to unleash the weapon known as the Tempest, and defeated the new threat of the Red Shadows, the military again disbanded the team.

G.I. Joe: Frontlines
Beach Head made his Frontlines appearance alongside Flash, Trip-Wire, Airtight and Chuckles, where they fought against terrorist Tyler Wingfield, the son of Vance Wingfield.

He was also featured in issue #17, as he leads a team of new recruits on a very dangerous, very real mission in a war-torn, riot-filled city. One of his men is wounded, and Beach Head apparently orders the man abandoned. This leads to mistrust and hostility on the part of the other soldiers. It is later revealed that Beach Head knew the wounded man was not going to be killed, rather he would be taken to the police station, which was a mission objective. Beach Head and the others rescue their wounded comrade and attempt an escape. Beach Head himself is wounded and despite explicit orders to leave him behind, his men risk their lives to save him, and themselves. Beach Head consistently gives push-ups as punishments, even when the team is under hostile fire.

Special Missions: Manhattan
There are times when the active members of the Elite team are on assignment or too far away to help in a crisis, which is where the reserves come into play. In Manhattan, there is the threat of a biological agent being stolen from a top secret lab; the closest reserve members are Beach Head, Mercer, Low-Light, Cover Girl, and Tunnel Rat. With Beach Head the acting team leader, they send Tunnel Rat in first, since he knows the layout of the building best; with him as their guide, they infiltrate the building. Beach Head sends the wisecracking Mercer to make certain the levels are secure, while Beach Head, Low-Light, and Cover Girl head upstairs to handle the enemy.

While they are en route, Mercer is attacked by a Cobra agent called Neurotoxin; after a display of combat skill and heroics by Beach Head's team, they end up in quarantine along with their target, where they are met by General Joe Colton, who explained there was no bio-agent, that it was a decoy to lure Neurotoxin out of hiding so he could be captured. He and Mercer showed dissatisfaction at the fact they were used in such a manner, essentially putting the lives of the team on the line without their knowledge, even though Tunnel Rat and Cover Girl expressed that the mission had been the "most fun they've had."

G.I. Joe: Reloaded
In an alternate continuity, Beach Head is ranked as a U.S. Navy Master Chief Petty Officer (E-9). He is part of a smaller, more tightly focused G.I. Joe team that exists in the modern times, with appearances from a man that resembles President Bush in the role of the President of the United States. In the course of this alternate timeline, he ends up severely wounded in a mission to protect, then retrieve, the United States Constitution from the hands of Cobra; during this mission, he shows just why Lady Jaye and others had nightmares of him, by threatening to ingest the ear of a captured Alley Viper in order to replenish lost blood.

Later, when he and the team are sent to Hawaii for training Beach Head style, he ends up separated from the team and is presumed dead by them, but still remains active, using guerrilla warfare tactics to attack and weaken the forces of Cobra. He later joins forces with Snake-Eyes, and they act as support for the rest of the Joes who had infiltrated the Cobra recruits, where they are spotted by the traitor Duke.

G.I. Joe Origins
In the new IDW continuity, Beach Head suffers from amnesia, after being attacked saving a village in Guatemala. He is found on a beach, face down in the sand and is taken to a hospital. An American doctor speaks with him, and after showing him his army ranger uniform, helps Beach Head remember how he ended up getting shot, but not his own name. The doctor reveals himself to be Duke, and he offers Beach Head a chance to join the team. On their first mission, Beach Head argues about his code name, asking for names like "Night Ranger" or "Wolfman", but is denied the request. When asked, Duke tells him his name is what the nurses called him, "Cabeza de Playa", which is Spanish for Beach Head.

Sunbow
Beach Head appeared in the second season of the Sunbow G.I. Joe cartoon voiced by William Callaway. He served as fifth in the G.I. Joe chain of command, just ranked below Sgt. Slaughter. Beach Head was portrayed as a short-tempered soldier in contrast to his calm character from the comics; he was also shown to long for the command he felt he deserved and was very strict concerning the rules, showing intense disapproval for the relationships between Flint and Lady Jaye as well as Duke and Scarlett. This was due to the fact romance between the parties was against regulations.

In the G.I. Joe Sunbow cartoon 5-part mini series "Arise Serpentor, Arise!", Beach Head and his teammate Mainframe escaped from Cobra troops by hiding in the actual coffin of Vlad Tepes. When they later escape, Mainframe tells Beach Head he wants to talk to him about his deodorant, in which Beach Head replies: "But I don't wear deodorant." "That's what I want to talk to you about," Mainframe responds. Although this was a seemingly insignificant bit of comedy, it becomes a running joke of his character, and many fans have adopted this attribute to Beach Head even though it was never mentioned as flavor text on his filecard or mentioned by writer Larry Hama, whose filecards and comic writings are considered to be canon of the G.I. Joe mythos by Hasbro Toys.

It was, however, mentioned in the G.I. Joe: Battlefiles sourcebook published by Devil's Due Publishing, where his less-than-admirable personal hygiene habits are explained as being a tactical preventative measure, since scented deodorant could literally be a dead giveaway if he were dropped into a close combat war-zone without any prior notice. Though the Battlefiles copy was not written by Larry Hama, Hasbro at the time considered the Devil's Due books the official continuation of the canonical story, cementing Beach-Head's questionable personal hygiene as a "real" part of the character.

G.I. Joe: The Movie
Beach Head appeared in G.I. Joe: The Movie as an instructor for the Rawhides, the probationary recruits for the G.I. Joe Team who had yet to complete their training.

Spy Troops and Valor vs. Venom
Beach Head appeared in the direct-to-video CGI animated movie G.I. Joe: Spy Troops voiced by Matt Hill, and in G.I. Joe: Valor vs. Venom voiced by Lee Tockar.

Resolute
Beach Head appeared in G.I. Joe: Resolute in the briefing room and on a mission in the jungle alongside Stalker, Gung-Ho & Roadblock.

Video games
Beach Head appears as a playable character in the video game G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra voiced by Joe Hanna.