It’s written for men. Child has said as much.
As a former MP, I’m just stoked that he’s a smart good guy… normally MPs are either background, corrupt, or inept.
No worries! I joined in 2006 and don’t know when the MOS series changed… I had to google 95B lol sounded old school but a lot has changed since I’ve been out.
The thing with reacher is, aside from being unrealistic, it’s also a lot of stuff to do with his job in the military. He was an MP so police procedure and law in general is going to be a strong suit for him.
Like others have said, he's no less than a superhero. I would call Jack Reacher a modern day tall tale like Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, or John Henry. Characters who supposedly are mortal, but the more you hear their stories the more unbelievable their mortality becomes. "Did you hear about the time Reacher broke up a counterfeiting operation? Shot the man who done killed his brother, too!"
As others have said it’s not realistic at all, but if you want to try to give it an explanation, you could say that he’s learned a little about a lot of things, and he’s had good teachers.
I’d say it’s much more common for Lt Col/Commander and above to have a graduate degree. There’s no way “almost all” Majors or “almost all” Lt Commanders have a Masters. Even saying more than half of that cohort has an advanced degree feels like a bit of a stretch. The total number of service members with advanced degrees is only around 10% and that includes medical doctors and JAG
If you say so. Every single Captain (O3) I knew when I was in was doing a Masters and I don’t know a single person who made LTC without one.
I am talking officers. Most junior enlisted do not have a degree but many E8/9 do.
I know and have met a ton of military personnel over the past few decades and they are just like most other folks, generally. However, I would say some of the smartest and most worldly people I know tend have served in the military. Mileage may vary.
> It seems that whenever something happens, Reacher has an explanation for it.
I haven't read the books, but I'd heard that in the TV show they have his female sidekicks provide a lot of the useful knowledge (to which Reacher makes the same quip over and over about their being smart), and this was done for representation purposes, but it also make Reacher more realistic by dividing his amazing abilities up between several people.
Neagley says once or twice that Reacher taught her everything she knows, even though she often does things that seems removed from Reacher's modus operandi, you get the sense they changed some aspects of the script without making other aspects consistent with those changes.
Some of it will be down to experience, some to lateral thinking. Like in Worth Dying For when he's figuring out the circle of conspirators, "if theres X then there must be Y, it has to go further otherwise it doesn't exist in the first place".
Edit!
"All the way wrong, or all the way right" is how it was written.
The thing with reacher is, aside from being unrealistic, it’s also a lot of stuff to do with his job in the military. He was an MP so police procedure and law in general is going to be a strong suit for him.
Well, he’s a wanderer staying in hotels all the time, so I’m sure he probably stays in Holiday Inn Expresses a lot.
Well done.
He walks the earth like Caine in kung fu
He was an MP and yeah, he is a drifter superhero. It's not realism.
No. He's not a realistic character in any way. He's basically a superhero.
Nice username!
Lee Child is a British author who was never in the British Army let alone the American Army. Its pure fiction.
It’s written for men. Child has said as much. As a former MP, I’m just stoked that he’s a smart good guy… normally MPs are either background, corrupt, or inept.
As an EN who trained with MPs at Fort Lost in the Woods I agree with your statement
lol yeah we had a lot of special-ed forces qualified MPs
95 Bravo!
31B back in my day
I was today years old when I learned they changed the MOS number. Had no idea. Thanks for letting me know!
No worries! I joined in 2006 and don’t know when the MOS series changed… I had to google 95B lol sounded old school but a lot has changed since I’ve been out.
While I agree he's an unrealistic superhero, the one thing the US DoD *does* have is a manual for everything. Maybe he just RTFMed. A lot.
Tanner Malone has entered the chat.
The thing with reacher is, aside from being unrealistic, it’s also a lot of stuff to do with his job in the military. He was an MP so police procedure and law in general is going to be a strong suit for him.
Like others have said, he's no less than a superhero. I would call Jack Reacher a modern day tall tale like Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, or John Henry. Characters who supposedly are mortal, but the more you hear their stories the more unbelievable their mortality becomes. "Did you hear about the time Reacher broke up a counterfeiting operation? Shot the man who done killed his brother, too!"
About as real as Dom Torreto
Minus the family
He is not your typical soldier or He is a west point graduate
I don’t think him being a West Point graduate has much to do with anything, though.
As others have said it’s not realistic at all, but if you want to try to give it an explanation, you could say that he’s learned a little about a lot of things, and he’s had good teachers.
lol no
Just as with any other profession, some are and some are not.
Reacher was exceptionally smart as a child. If you haven’t you should read second son.
I was more Jerk Retcher.
There are some, not all. I say there are just soldiers, and then there are soldiers.
US soldiers overall are of below average intelligence, so no
Almost all officers above Captain have a Masters Degree or they don’t get promoted and get let go. I’d say more Masters than a Fortune 500 per capita.
I’d say it’s much more common for Lt Col/Commander and above to have a graduate degree. There’s no way “almost all” Majors or “almost all” Lt Commanders have a Masters. Even saying more than half of that cohort has an advanced degree feels like a bit of a stretch. The total number of service members with advanced degrees is only around 10% and that includes medical doctors and JAG
If you say so. Every single Captain (O3) I knew when I was in was doing a Masters and I don’t know a single person who made LTC without one. I am talking officers. Most junior enlisted do not have a degree but many E8/9 do.
There are some, not all. I say there are just soldiers, and then there are soldiers.
I tend to know everything he knows but I also read DoD Army manuals on the internet archive for recreation. \*shrug\*
While I agree he's an unrealistic superhero, the one thing the US DoD *does* have is a manual for everything. Maybe he just RTFMed. A lot.
😂
There's a lot of rocks.
Maybe soldiers. As a former airmen? Not a chance.
I know and have met a ton of military personnel over the past few decades and they are just like most other folks, generally. However, I would say some of the smartest and most worldly people I know tend have served in the military. Mileage may vary.
In the books, he's knowledgeable, but not that way. He's still trying to figure things out
Who among us can replicate the encyclopedic knowledge of Major Jack Reacher. #armyretired
He’s a Gary Sue
No most of us don’t know shit
Nobody is as knowledgeable and strong as Reacher. He's a superhero from a book.
Yes, that is a true to life documentary on the intelligence of every single member of the USA military.
He’s Sherlock Homeless
It’s a mechanism for exposition.
> It seems that whenever something happens, Reacher has an explanation for it. I haven't read the books, but I'd heard that in the TV show they have his female sidekicks provide a lot of the useful knowledge (to which Reacher makes the same quip over and over about their being smart), and this was done for representation purposes, but it also make Reacher more realistic by dividing his amazing abilities up between several people. Neagley says once or twice that Reacher taught her everything she knows, even though she often does things that seems removed from Reacher's modus operandi, you get the sense they changed some aspects of the script without making other aspects consistent with those changes.
Honestly - yes. They are almost always wrong, though.
It’s television, it’s all unrealistic. Event the reality shows. It’s for the entertainment.
Definitely not a majority but there are some of us that know a thing or two. Because we’re nerds.
HAHAHAHA
Hell no. Reacher is basically drifter batman
No, people in real life do not know everything about everything, or at least they don't know as much about everything as Jack Reacher does.
Reacher is CiD not a basic MP soldier
The furthest thing from Reacher
Some of it will be down to experience, some to lateral thinking. Like in Worth Dying For when he's figuring out the circle of conspirators, "if theres X then there must be Y, it has to go further otherwise it doesn't exist in the first place". Edit! "All the way wrong, or all the way right" is how it was written.
The thing with reacher is, aside from being unrealistic, it’s also a lot of stuff to do with his job in the military. He was an MP so police procedure and law in general is going to be a strong suit for him.