Light spoilers for Reacher season 1 and Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels.
Summary
- Jack Reacher's military upbringing and his family's deep military ties have a profound impact on his life.
- Reacher's time at West Point — and service in the military police — provided him with extensive formal training.
- Despite leaving the Army, Reacher's military background continues to influence his life as a drifter.
Jack Reacher's military backstory informs every iteration of the iconic character, making it essential to know more about the character's past before delving into Amazon Prime Video's stars Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher. While Reacher season 1 largely adapted Child's 1997 debut novel, Killing Floor, season 2 promises to explore other source-material installments.
At the Reacher season 2 continues the series' faithfulness to the source material, Jack's intriguing military backstory will shape him into a more well-rounded protagonist.
10 Jack Reacher's Father Was A Marine
In Lee Child's novels, Jack Reacher's father, Stan, was a Marine Captain. In the Amazon Prime Video series, he makes a brief appearance (played by Matthew Marsden), but seems to have a similar backstory to his novel and short story counterpart. Stan served in both Korea and Vietnam, with his military service forcing his family to move to U.S. bases around the world. In Child's Second Son, Stan is portrayed as a "waste not, want not" kind of guy, who was gentle and sweet in one breath and a stone-cold killer in the next. Clearly, Stan Reacher's service (and disposition) played a huge part in shaping Jack.
9 Young Jack Reacher Grew Up On Marine Bases
Given Stan's commitment to his military service, the Reacher family moved around a lot. In Second Son, for example, he was stationed in Okinawa when Jack was a teenager. According to Child's novels, Jack Reacher was born on a military base in Berlin, in 1960, which further exemplifies just how much the family picked up and moved to a new post. Without a doubt, growing up on military bases — far from standard civilian life — had a profound impact on Jack and shaped his own trajectory as a military man.
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8 Reacher's Mother & Grandfather Also Have Military Ties
Appearing in three of Child's Jack Reacher stories, Josephine Reacher (Leslie Fray) also makes a brief appearance in the Amazon Prime Video series. During World War II, Josephine ed the French Resistance; in addition to saving dozens of innocent lives from the invading Nazi forces, she was awarded a medal for her heroism. But it's not just Jack's parents who have ties to military history and wartime acts of bravery. His grandfather (Josephine's father) served in both World Wars. Given these other military ties, it's not just Stan that influenced Jack Reacher's life path.
7 Reacher Attended West Point
From growing up on U.S. military bases all over the world to hearing stories about his parents' and grandfather's wartime heroism, it's no surprise that Jack Reacher decided to pursue a military career. After gaining an on-the-ground education in basic survival thanks to his unique upbringing, Jack entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Spending four years at the prestigious New York-based academy, Reacher climbed in the ranks, even securing the title of Major. While he may become a not-so-by-the-books figure, Reacher has extensive formal training in weaponry and hand-to-hand combat thanks to his stint at West Point.
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6 Jack Reacher Served In The Military Police
A member of the military police, Reacher served 13 years in the U.S. Army. Post-West Point, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and served on several tours of duty in the Middle East. Although not a Marine like his father, Jack's decision to the military police makes perfect sense given his upbringing: military police generally protect the lives and property of people on Army installations. In addition to preventing crime and providing security, of the military police also partake in intelligence operations, monitor traffic, and more.
5 Jack Reacher Became The Youngest Peacetime Major
In Lee Child's series of Jack Reacher stories, the titular military man receives accelerated promotions during his service, quickly earning the title of Major. In the canon of the novels, Jack Reacher even achieves a new Army record, becoming the youngest peacetime Major in the organization's history. Although these successive promotions are an indication of Reacher's prowess, he isn't infallible. Shortly after his promotion to Major, Reacher was charged with assault. This charge resulted in a demotion, but, before leaving the Army, Reacher attained the rank of Major once more.
4 Reacher Led The Special Investigations Unit
During his time with the Army's military police corps, Reacher served as the leader of a fictional group: the 110th Special Investigations Unit. While a Major, Jack Reacher oversaw the special investigations squadron, only to gain a reputation for handling tough cases. At one point, he even investigated his superiors, hoping to weed out military corruption. That said, the character's strong sense of justice and moral com might make him a solid fit for the role, but it's also this drive to do anything necessary to right a wrong that gets Reacher into some hot water later on in his career.
3 Reacher Is The Only Non-Marine To Win The Wimbledon Cup
While Jack Reacher has plenty of impressive skills, from being ably tri-lingual to excelling in hand-to-hand combat, one of the character's most imposing strengths is his proficiency with firearms. In fact, in Child's canon, Reacher is the only non-Marine to win the Wimbledon Cup — a Marine Corps invitational rifle competition — and even hit a record-setting score when he came out on top in the 1988 iteration of the event. During his tenure with the Army, Reacher achieved plenty of other notable awards, including two Silver Stars, a Purple Heart and the Army Commendation Medal, among many others.
2 Why Reacher Left The Military Police
Several factors contributed to Child's version of Reacher leaving his military life behind. While the military police were reducing their forces in the late '90s, and while that made for a convenient excuse, the reasons for Reacher's decision ran deeper than logistical considerations. For starters, he permanently damaged his career by investigating his superiors; this resulted in the assault charge and his demotion from Major to Captain. Singled out for discharge due to his strong sense of right and wrong, Reacher felt disgusted by the corruption he saw in the Army. That said, all of these elements shaped Jack Reacher's decision to leave the service.
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1 Reacher's Military Upbringing Shaped His Life As A Drifter
After leaving the Army, Lee Child's Jack Reacher feels liberated and finds solace in his newfound agency. "I was thirty-six years old, a citizen of a country I had barely seen," Reacher says in The Affair, "and there were places to go, and there were things to do." Even so, Jack Reacher's military upbringing and career continue to shape his post-service life. Not only is he a drifter — unable to settle in once place for too long — but he can't quite give up his old life, which pushes him to take on life-threatening odd jobs, as seen in Amazon's Reacher.
Source: Jack Reacher Wiki via Fandom
