Alright, I know that MacGyver served in Vietnam in a bomb disposal unit, but for the life of me I cannot find out if he was in the military or if he just worked with them, like he did in the series. I've searched and googled and dogpiled and I just cannot find this information.

Does anyone know?


This is very frustrating and this tiny bit of information is holding up the story I am working on. It's like hitting a brick wall and my writers block doesn't need any more ammo against me. Any help will be much appreciated. Thank you!

This same question has assaulted me in my sleep, too. There is no mention in the series of Mac ever belonging to the military. I wrote a story that had Mac in the military, but it never really sat right with me.

I researched it a bit, and learned that there was a fair-sized number of civilian contractors working with the US military in Vietnam--so one could assume that he belonged to that group.

If I ever re-write 'The Art of Smuggling Camels', I will change it to show Mac as a civilian contractor-- attached to the Army-- in the Bombs Disposal Unit. Then I'll be able to sleep better.

Hope that helps break your block! Write on!

Wow. That was fast.

Thanks Lothithil!

Your input is accepted gratefully and rewarded with virtual ice cream and a cupcake.



Now just to see what I can do with with this new information.

where did the idea of him being ex-special forces originate?

Because if he was in fact special forces, then you would expect him to have been in full military service... wouldn't you?

Exactly! For Mac to be able to do a lot of the stuff he did for the Phoenix Foundation and as a Troubleshooter, he had to have some kind of formal training, and it was more then likely military training of some sort. I mean, sure some of it must be natual talent, but you can't just one day wake up and *boom* you're an international secret agent, spy-like person.

Oohh, more ideas are spinning.... This is great!

Thanks Rocky! I knew posting this question would give me some ideas!

The spy stuff was pretty well explained by the Partners episode, how mac and Pete met.

I'm not sure CIA agents are necessarily military trained.

Survival training, yes... but not necessarily military training.

I imagine that it is things like the scene in 'Tough Boys', when Mac mentions that the net-trap that was set up for him was 'forest recon configuration' and that there 'wasn't even a manual for that' suggests to the fertile imaginations of watchers that Mac has such training himself--or at least enough experience to recognize it when he sees it.

Certainly he's spent a lot of time around people who could have taught him such things, but formal training? Not unless he joined one of those 'weekend warrior' groups. Which I really can't see, myself.

-L

CIA personnal do not receive military training per se.

I'm sure that at some point, the Official Description of Mac included his being 'ex-Special Forces" -- and that means military. My impression of "Countdown" is that he was in the military in Vietnam, and that the bomb squad was Special Forces; I also had the sense that his activity in Afghanistan was when he was in the military.

I don't know if the military in Vietnam would have used civilians on bomb disposal units -- I personally doubt it.

However, the series was completely overhauled between the first and second seasons, including changing his and Pete's backstories. They seem to have quietly written out the military service at that point, along with the 'secret agent' notion. "The Human Factor" focussed on Pete's military past, and was silent on the question of Mac's own status as a Vietnam vet.

I really liked Lothi's handling of Mac's military service in her fanfic, including the foreshadowing in "Three Musketeers" and the frank discussions in "Smuggling Camels". Mac hated guns, but growing up in a gun culture, sometimes the response to an aversion is go somewhere where you have to deal with it. At the same time, doing so may cause the aversion to deepen. Mac's attitude towards guns was rooted in his childhood . . . but that doesn't mean it didn't go through changes as he grew up and became an adult.

Basically, Bansheila, any attempt to rationalise the inconsistencies in Mac's backstory is a real challenge -- but a fascinating one! I had a great time working with the first-to-second season transitions in "Phoenix Rising". You may have to choose what your story is going to work on in terms of what works for you.

Best of luck!

Everyone thank you so much for your input. It is definitely helping my block and giving me a bunch of ideas. Still, I'm not sure exactly what I'll do about Mac's background. It sure would have been nice if the writers of the show had given Mac a solid profile, but on the other hand we fanfic writers would then not be able to explore all of the possibilities.

Thanks everyone, I am loving all of the responses.

I have to say to ScreamingBansheila that I have a background in the army.I think that when Mac was in Vitnam with a bomb disposal unit he would need military training.I looked up stuff on real bomb disposal units on wekiapedia and I belive that the training was conducted under the British Bomb Disposal Units .They did have a Office of Civilian Defense or (OCD). But it was eventually ended up being turned over to the military due to the security and technical reasons. There is mention of Civilian traning but I not sure,I think this is took place after vitnam.So what I would do if you want to get more realism out of your story you could always look up bomb disposal units in Vitnam. If you want more info on this I can ask a friend of my who was in the Special Forces himself. I got a lot of info from him for my own Macfiction that I am writing now. Just let me know if you need help.

As for my story goes I just simply put him there because it seemed fit. OK, I'm doing a major restoration and partly recovery/rewriting and partly continuation of my When The World Changes story.

OK, it's set in a complete alternate universe since it's about World War II and of course set in the 1940's. You just might see it as the episode of Serenity except this is no dream. It all has to look like as if it is for real. So in this case he really is in the military. Because I don't know, at that time weren't you supposed to go in? In Belgium they abbolished that in the '70's.

Anyway that's my idea anyway. He' s in it and during the war he's doing assignments mostly like he did in the first season.

Of course in case of questions or need of info there's always wiki. I'm doing most of my research over there.

Hmm- I tend to think that no matter how much MacGyver hates guns, he may have simply, like many others his age at that time, been drafted into the Vietnam War and had no choice but to serve with the Army. And perhaps he was just assigned to the bomb defusing detail? Maybe after his superior officers picked up on his aptitude for such things? It is kinda hard to figure out- I just never saw MacGyver as totally a pacifist, because it seems pretty clear that he's a patriot who is willing to serve his country- just in a bit different way.
Oh well- these kind of things give ample opportunity for fan fiction to take him in different directions, so in some ways it's frustrating and in some it's pretty neat.

I spoke with my friend who was in the special forces and he said the anyone who was in Bomb Disposal Units in Vietnam would have to go throught military training.I hope this help for the fanfiction.

well that, at least, confirms that MacGyver was military trained then

Although how he actually got there would be open to fan-fic speculation.

Thanks, Sheila!

I've always thought that Mac would have entered the military by choice, not through the draft.

Recruits are given aptitude tests, and when the process works well, outstanding individuals are directed towards special assignments from the start (although everyone has to get through boot camp). A friend of mine, who had joined the army in the 60's hoping to work with computers, was found to have an extraordinary aptitude for languages, and was instead trained in German and Russian and sent to Berlin to eavesdrop on electronic communications there.

Sheila, I took your advice and did some research on Vietnam bomb disposal units and I didn't find very much on any type of civilian units, so now I'm thinking Mac had to have been in some type of military unit. Also, in my search I ran across an article from a TV dictionary published during the first few seasons that stated outright that Mac was a former Special Forces agent. Silly me didn't think to copy down the adress and now I am in a mad search for it again so I can share it.
Also, thank you for asking your friend about Special Forces, that gives me some good personal expirence to draw from and make the story more true to life.

Thank you all for your help and information. It's been a great help.

Good discussion! I don't think there's any doubt that Mac was military...a lot of the reasons have already been said and SHEILA got some real life confirmation. There's also that tidbit in Serenity where Mac hands the wagon driver his gun and says something about having carried it for the last 5 years and having had enough of it. I always took that as an allusion to military service that solidified his dilike for guns and violence. In Blood Brothers you get an early glimpse of Mac's respect for life (he stops his friend from shooting at the bird, which causes something much worse to happen). Mac could have been drafted, but I think he also could have signed on voluntarily. In addition to the respect for life, he's got a keen sense of justice and an itch for world travel...seems like the military would have been a good choice for him. I haven't seen it for a while, but I'm not so sure the Blood Brothers flashback was THE defining moment when Mac started hating guns but that it became the foundation those feelings were built on as he finished up his service.

An interesting note...just did a search on US military activity in Afghanistan because I was wondering about the time span of Mac's service because it seemed to me that serving in Viet Nam AND Afghanistan would have meant voluntarily extending his military career beyond 4 years. Turns out there isn't even a mention of US military activity in Afghanistan until 2001, even tho he was supposedly there round about 1971. there's activity in the Persian Gulf in 1984, but that's the closest. Unless the list I'm looking at is incomplete, I don't see how he could have been there unless it was part of a black ops project (which I found can be traced back as far as WWII).

Another intersting note...I'm also looking at our timeline. Mac would have been 17 in 1969 and could have joined the military then and thus was in Viet Nam in 1970. If he put in 4 years he was done in '73. Is the 1973 date for winning the barricade contest and graduating Western Tech solid or is it in that nebulous "some time in this period" region? Things are kind of muddled there because he couldn't have gradutated from WT so soon after being discharged. The only way he could have graduated so early was if he wasn't indeed military but a civilian in a bomb disposal unit...which goes back to what SHEILA's friend said.

Oy.

I can do more research if you guys want.I don't think Mac was a civilian in a bomb disposal unit. My friend said that the civilian units that were in Nam would have contracted units and had back grounds in the military. They would have been former military. I think anyway you look at it that Mac was in the military. I do also think that the writers of the show did not have the time that we have to cover all the angles of MacGyvers life. I love the fact that we can pick a part Mac's life.It is so much fun.As far the whole Afghanistan thing I'm pretty sure that was a black ops mission. I can ask my friend what kind of things took place there in the 1980's.I think it probley may have something to do with the Afghanistan Restiance fighting aganist the Russian invation.There was a civil war at the time. If you want too and if your a James Bond fan like me you can always check out the movie The Living Daylights.It has some interesting things about the whole Afghanistan war.The writers of Bond usely put current events in there movie.I did find some stuff on wikipedia.I just typed in Afghanistan and you can read al about the civil war with Russia. I hope all of this helps you guys.

This picture is on the wall of the university towards the beginning of the episode. So the date is solid.

Thanks for confirming that, Rock. I seriously doubt we will ever reconcile every date and event in Mac's life...