attitude often leads to friction between him and Gary Manning, and the two frequently take jabs at each other. However, their conflict is good-natured and not detrimental to the team. One of McCarter's quirks is consuming large amounts of Coca-Cola. McCarter's preferred SMG was the Ingram MAC-10 in 9mm, but it had jammed on one mission, causing him to adopt the Intratec KG-99. His preferred pistol is the Browning Hi-Power. Rafael Encizo Originally from Cuba, Encizo assisted in Fidel Castro's revolution in Cuba. Upon realizing that he had helped install a Communist regime, Encizo turned against the Communists and was subsequently imprisoned. He escaped and fled to America, and later came back during the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Encizo was captured a second time as a result, and tortured for several months before making a second escape. Rafael Encizo's younger brother, Raul, was taken from the family at a very young age, and joined the Cuban army. Rafael and Raul have fought against each other on two occasions, the second of which resulted in Raul's death after he turned on a group of Communist terrorists he was working with. Encizo's preferred weapons are the H&K MP5 and a Smith & Wesson or a Walther PPK pistol (later changed to the H&K P9). He is also the team's edged weapons expert, favoring the Cold Steel Tanto. Gary Manning Phoenix Force's Canadian demolitions expert, the team's most talented sniper, and silent weapons expert. Manning grew up hunting and working for his uncle's demolitions company. During the Vietnam War, Manning was attached to a US Special Forces team as an "observer" (much like McCarter). Following the war, Manning settled down, got married and became an executive of a major import-export firm. The marriage failed, but the business prospered. Because of his wealth, Manning is the most unlikely of the Phoenix Force members. He seems more down to earth than the others, and is annoyed at McCarter's actions, although the two are friends. Manning's weapons of choice are the FN FAL and the Desert Eagle .357 Magnum. In later books, he uses the SA80 and the Walther P5. Calvin James Hailing from the south side of Chicago, James grew up in an environment full of drugs and gang violence. His parents died when he was young; his mother murdered by a drug dealer. At the age of 17, James became a hospital corpsman with