Rod Malone was a U.S. Army Soldier who joined his colleagues Greg Flint, Gary Strauss and Mario Ucello when they held a party in the Rovers Return Inn in December 1970 prior to their transfer to Germany. The four soldiers supplied all the food and paid for all the drink at the party. They formed an impromptu darts team and, despite their insistance that they had never played the game before, beat Stan Ogden and the regulars. Credited as "Sergeant", the character's name was given in dialogue.