The Sniper-in-Chief (US Army/Politics Question)

AdriRaven

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Okay, apologies if this question seems inconcise or unclear.

Some background, first:


The world is ours, except that superheroes have existed since the WWI era. And sometime in the 80's, a series of catastrophies ended up with most of the world's powered heroes being dead, vanished or quit. It also ended up with a villain who dominates the world and requires world leaders to submit themselves to her as sacrifices. Consequently, offices like the President are often elected to people who annoyed the wrong person in power.

One of the principle characters in the story I'm working on is the newly-elected President. She's the latest in a line and got the job because the election was rigged. This character before she annoyed just about the worst person possible, was an Army Sniper. She also wasn't fresh out of Fort Benning, but had seen combat in a few scenarios, specifically against metahumans. My question is an age-based one.

Bearing in mind that the hard 35-year age requirement for Presidency is not as much of a concern, what would the minimum believeable age for somebody with such military experience be? Early to mid-thirties? Younger?


Sorry about the rambly nature of this question. Because there's a lot of speculation wrapped up in the background, I had to rewrite it a few times to get to the point, but I can elaborate on some points in necessary.
 

ironmikezero

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She could conceivably be honourably discharged/retired from the military at age 38 with 20 years service; just make her a natural born citizen (also a constitutional requirement) and you've met the prerequisite criteria.
 
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AdriRaven

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Thank you for the response! Now at the risk of belaboring the question, let me refine my scenario a bit. While all of the Constitutional Laws are still technically in place, they are less important - they're there when they're convenient, and ignored when not. The whole system is becoming steadily more corrupt.

My initial version of this was that the candidate had seen a few tours of duty - enough to pop several "super" heads - before being caught in bed with the General's Daughter. The General is not a nice, kindly fellow - he got his job through being ruthless and corrupt enough to help the villain who owns the world. At first the General tries to force sexual favors from her, and when she refuses, trumps up some charges. Maybe he intends to stick her in a military prison, but then he hits on a more malignant idea.

The Presidency under world domination is practically a death sentence, and almost certain ends with him or her becoming a torture toy for the villainess. Worse yet, elections are now designed to focus on the worst qualities of the candidates so that mob mentality picks out the person the crowd most wants to see suffer.

The upshot of all of this is that she may not have had a proper twenty-year career or a proper discharge, but I would still need to know if she could be considered an accomplished soldier around the age of 30ish or so.
 

King Neptune

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Yes, she could be the world's best sniper after not that many years. At 30 after ten years in would be reasonable, if that's what you need.
 

AdriRaven

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Yes, she could be the world's best sniper after not that many years. At 30 after ten years in would be reasonable, if that's what you need.

Thank you for your response!

She doesn't necessarily need to be the best. I just want to make sure she comes off as having been competent and capable as a soldier - something that helps her weather her enforced servitude as President and prove more confident than some of her predecessors.

Just doing a bit of research implies that officers can be given sniper training if only to understand the tactical aspect of it, so one thought I had was that she had received such training at some point before a conflict with super-powered beings and was called upon to use it. The specifically sniper element might be simpler to remove for a cohesive story, but I like the idea of it and it would give her some backing for good observational skills that would help her stay alive in her current situation.