Hawk (G.I. Joe)

Hawk
G.I. Joe character
Packaging artwork for Hawk's 1986 action figure.
First appearance	1982
Voiced by	Ed Gilbert (Sunbow and DiC's Season One) David Kaye (DiC's Season Two and Sgt. Savage and His Screaming Eagles) Phil Hayes (Spy Troops and Valor vs. Venom) Anthony Salerno (Sigma Six) Lee Majors (Renegades)
Affiliation	G.I. Joe
Specialty	Missile Commander (1982) G.I. Joe Commander (1986) Armor-Tech Commander (1993)
File name	Abernathy, Clayton M.
Birth place	Denver, CO
SN	RA212754036 (1982) 142-27-CM46 (2004)
Rank	O-6 Colonel (1982) O-7 Brigadier General (1986) O-8 Major General (1992)
Primary MOS	Artillery (1982) Strategic Command Operations (1993) Ranger (2002)
Secondary MOS	Radar (1982) Armor-Bot Commander (1993) Military Intelligence (2002)
Subgroups	Star Brigade

General Hawk
G.I. Joe character
Dennis Quaid as General Hawk in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
First appearance	2009
Portrayed by	Dennis Quaid
Voiced by	Josh Robert Thompson (video game)
Affiliation	G.I. Joe
Specialty	Team Leader
File name	Clayton M. Abernathy
SN	142-27-CM46
Rank	Major General (O-8)
Series	G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Hawk (also released as General Hawk, General Tomahawk, General Abernathy, and G.I. Joe Hawk) is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is one of the original members of the G.I. Joe Team, and debuted in 1982 as a Missile Commander, but was later promoted to full commander of the team. Hawk is portrayed by Dennis Quaid in the 2009 live-action film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

Hawk's real name is Clayton M. Abernathy, and he was born in Denver, Colorado. He comes from a wealthy family, whose influence enabled him to enroll in West Point. He graduated at the top of his class. He also graduated from Advanced Infantry Training and Covert Ops School, and served on the fictional North Atlantic Range Command and USA ENG COM and EVR Missile Radar Training. Hawk is a qualified expert in the use of the M16 rifle and M-1911A1 automatic pistol.

Hawk is the original field commander of the G.I. Joe Team. His primary military specialty is strategic command operations and his secondary military specialties are ranger, artillery, intelligence and radar. His original rank was that of colonel. He was later promoted to brigadier general and then major general. As a colonel, Hawk served under General Lawrence Flagg, and was responsible for recruiting most of the team's early members. After General Flagg was killed in action and his successor, General Austin, retired from active duty, Hawk assumed full command of the G.I. Joe team.

As the conflict between G.I. Joe and Cobra became known in the United States and abroad, Hawk was the public face of the G.I. Joe team. He was also instrumental in the reinstatement of the G.I. Joe team after it was temporarily disbanded. This was due to his involvement with "The Jugglers", a top-secret group of generals who had frequently interfered with the team's operations. Hawk was able to undermine corruption from within by keeping tabs on them, and blackmailed them into immediately reinstating the team, once evidence was presented that Cobra was again operating on domestic soil. However, he decides to take on more of an advisory role as commander in chief, letting field command duties fall to Duke.