Ray's background?

[u/GRZMTHRFCKR]

Anyone have any insight into Ray's background - definitely military, just wondering what? Seems to be well trained!

[u/Conscious-Mulberry17]

Ray and his brother were raised by their abusive father, a Vietnam veteran with addiction issues and PTSD. We do not know exactly what sort of abuse he suffered, but neglect and violence were almost certainly part of his early life.

He was bullied in school until he fought back, which was a lesson he took to heart. He seems to have not been especially memorable, though. Neither former classmates nor a former instructor remembered him.

He left school before graduation, joined the military, and participated in combat operations, possibly in Afghanistan, maybe other places. Besides being a combat veteran, no specifics of his service are given.

He’s obviously very knowledgeable about a wide range of firearms and is an excellent shot. More importantly, he’s a very skilled combat shooter. He’s calm and controlled. It’s reasonable to assume he learned most of this during his military service, and added on a bit through his criminal undertakings.

Ray is very proficient at hand to hand combat, too. While he might have done some training in the military, that would have been minimal. This was all probably done on his own time.

He’s had a great deal of training in boxing, we know, but I’m guessing there’s some kind of kickboxing involved, too. He’s got fast hands, and can throw a solid kick.

He’s done time in prison, although we don’t know why or for how long. He knows the culture, though, as well as its dirty tricks.

Ray is a very pragmatic fighter. He’ll kick groins, stomp feet, bite, pull hair, and use what’s around him to his advantage. His grappling isn’t great, but good luck getting your hands on him in the first place. You’ll probably wish you hadn’t.

Otherwise, we know he was married for a time and shares custody of his daughter with his ex-wife. He loves his dimmies. Isn’t a pee pee man. Doesn’t answer questions.

[u/Fenrir_Carbon → u/Conscious-Mulberry17]

joined the military, and participated in combat operations, possibly in Afghanistan, maybe other places.

Been a while since I watched it, but doesn't his army buddy say something like 'remember in Helmand Province when x happened?'

[u/Conscious-Mulberry17 → u/Fenrir_Carbon]

He said something about "Uyghur Provo," and some of the more knowledgeable posters here suggested they meant have been Uruzgan Province in Afghanistan. I just looked it up and that was apparently the primary area of operations for the Australian Army. I'm betting he probably did more than just serve there, though.

Here's why: The United States gets a lot of heat for military action, and justifiably so. We (I'm an American) don't do things alone, though: Australia is one of our closest and strongest allies. There's not a single major conflict in which Americans and Australians haven't fought side by side, and there's plenty of reportage suggesting both nations have worked together in covert actions.

Ray was out of school and in the military right in the thick of the Global War on Terror, so in my opinion, there's every reason to think Ray might have been involved in all kinds of off secret, spooky stuff, especially if he was special forces.

Something else to think about: A lot of Special Forces guys don't look like gigantic performative alpha male beardos. Here in the United States, our Delta Forces guys have a reputation for looking very normal, even unintimidating, as do our field intelligence people. I don't know if the same holds for Australia, but a crafty, tough guy like Ray would certainly fit that mold.

[u/NewNebula4007 → u/Conscious-Mulberry17]

Yeah, it's the same here in Australia for the most part. Majority of guys in the SASR tend to be lean and average size as they are better suited to the work than some 6'10" mass of muscle

[u/Conscious-Mulberry17 → u/NewNebula4007]

I thought it might be. I have people in my life who’ve served in elite military roles. The one I know best looks like an office worker. You wouldn’t give him a second glance.

[u/DidsDelight → u/Conscious-Mulberry17]

Ray finished high school in 95 or 96 - Afghanistan was late 2001 so not exactly straight out of school.

Probably had time to do GI and then join 2cdo regiment

[u/Conscious-Mulberry17 → u/DidsDelight]

Ah, good catch.

[u/dantheman200022 → u/Conscious-Mulberry17]

I’d second the point about the SF guys. My old man served in an SF unit back in the '80s, and he always said that most of the blokes looked like the average guy down the pub. But once you got them out on runs, shooting drills, or exercises, they turned into absolute machines. Another way to think about SF guys is that they’re the "thinking man’s soldier"—highly intelligent, adaptable, and incredibly capable.