U.S. Army Sergeant Edward J. Menninger was born in New York City. He is an expert in using various portable ground-to-air missile launchers. On his first mission with the G.I. Joe team in 1989, Menninger, codenamed 'Backblast', was part of the covert team sent into Sierra Gordo to rescue captured members of the G.I. Joe team and the USSR's Oktober Guard. He shot down a Cobra Condor jet attempting to destroy the Joes' vehicle before the team could get across the border into the friendly nation of Punta del Mucosa.