@lurkingminx- I don’t know a damn thing about Overwatch, but I do know the military. And from what you’re saying here, I’d have a few things to add in. I fully agree on the various forms of seniority, although I’d bring in the Company/Field/General distinction. I’d agree that Major (O-4) is the first officer rank that anyone would consider “senior”, although it’s more like Lieutenant Colonel (”light colonel”, styled “colonel”, if you’re curious) where it would be seriously considered that. Also, to fill in some background, by FEDERAL LAW one can not become a Major without ten years in service, although there are some exceptions which bring the time in service requirement down to nine.
More importantly, the officer track is pretty damn soul-sucking. An individual like you’re describing wouldn’t last on the officer track. Especially coming from a Mustang background. Hell, one of my best CO’s was an SSG in Ranger Batt, then went officer, and he considered it punishment to be sent to be a commander of a mechanized (re-flagged as light) infantry company. Also, despite his impressive background, he was never considered a senior officer. Other COs would tread lightly around him, but from an external standpoint, nope. The officer track has too many administrative requirements and “broadening positions”. What you’re forgetting is the SOCOM route.
I can’t speak to SEALs or Raiders, but I’m fairly familiar with the various Army routes, and oh man they’d be perfect for an ambitious, intelligent, physically fit hard charging motherfucker.
There’s two really good routes for this, considering an enlistment at 17 or 18 with and end target age of 31-33, with a consideration of “senior officer”, giving us 13 to 16 years to play with.
The first, which I’d honestly consider slightly less likely, is Special Forces, Green Berets. There’s a process, called the X-Ray pipeline, where someone can enlist directly to become a Green Beret. It’s unusual for someone so young to get selected and make it through, but it’s possible, especially for intelligent, socially adept people- maybe I’m a little bitter, but most other career tracks are a little more mediocrity driven. So at 19, he gets to his A-Team (yes, that’s a real military term, ODA), and stands out as an excellent soldier, team player, and small group leader. So, he’s a huuuuge standout, kicking ass etc, and gets promoted to Staff Sergeant two years later at 22. Now this can go a few different ways, although they end up at the same place. Maybe he gets switched to a B-Team (ODB), which is a more administrative position, or he continues in an ODA, and makes his 7-in-7 (Sergeant First Class in under eight years). So now he’s probably a Senior Team member, and looks around, and he’s in a mentoring position, maybe he’s had a taste of military administrative positions and doesn’t like it (They’re FUCKING SHIT- if you’re in the military and are good with computers, don’t let ANYONE FUCKING KNOW). So anyway, somewhere along the line, he looks around and realizes that he has no desire to get stuck pushing papers, so drops a packet for Warrant Officer. SF Warrant Officers are second in command of an ODA, but typically have more experience than the (commissioned) officer in command of the team, and have spent more time on a specific ODA than fucking anyone else, and in may ways are the heart of a team. The absolute earliest he could do this, in theory, is immediately after he gets his E6, but it would be more likely that he gets it around 25-28, giving him another six to eight years to rack up various types of seniority and experience and reputation. To be honest, this gives him some spare time to have attempted college, disliked it, gotten a little more mature, and then enlisted in the 18X pipeline.
The second is the Ranger/Cool Army Guys pipeline. In this one, he enlists at 17-18, but all full of youthful ignorance and immortality, he signs an 11V contract, Airborne Ranger. He gets through RASP less than a year later, deploys pretty quickly, and goes to Ranger School. Of course he breezes through it, with a good head on his shoulders pushing through an incredibly physically punishing course. Maybe he has another deployment or two, and he’s made his way up the ranks. Let’s say he’s still fast tracking and makes his E6/SSG around 23-24. At some point, a dude with a beard and long hair taps him on the shoulder and says “Hi, I’m from Delta Force/Assymetric Warfare Group/Some Other JSOC Group, and we’re inviting you to try out.” Of course Gabe jumps at this chance, although he’s got a moment of regret leaving the Rangers that he’s lead and mentored and become closer to than his family. In these roles, it’s fairly likely that he’s not actually an officer, but due to the relatively hush-hush nature of those assignments, it would be incredibly easy for a journalist to just call him a “Senior Officer”. Consider Black Hawk Down and how the Delta Force Operators in that were treated by the other troops.
A third possibility would be Marine Gunner or Infantry Weapons Officer, but that takes 16 years to even become eligible for so it’s unlikely.
So these are ways that he could make it, keeping that kind of personality of taking care of the dudes to his left and right and under him, without being separated from the front line operations that he’d crave. And frankly, from a combat arms background, make him even more impressive and respectable, without the bullshit excuses of holding himself back.
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