Jake-G293

Childhood
Jake was born into a large, impoverished family living in a slum on Earth. His DNA was discovered by ONI agents searching for candidates for the Gamma batch of the SPARTAN IIIs. When they approached his family with the offer to give him "a better life", his parents quickly agreed. Jake, eager to escape a life of begging and street gangs, was taken to Onyx, where he became a popular and capable leader. When the time came for the SPARTAN IIIs to be split into teams, Jake was the primary candidate for leadership of his squad, Team Jian.

Training
As the leader of Team Jian, Jake was quick to see how the skills of the team's individual members strengthened it. Feeling guilty over not having taken the time to know the people he worked with, Jake went out of his way to make sure that everyone fit in. He was especially surprised by Simon-G294, whom he had previously thought to be arrogant and stuck up. Instead, Simon turned out to be a quiet observer whose unique ways of thinking benefited the rest of the team in ways that no other SPARTAN III could. Jake also developed a firm friendship with Ralph-G299, who had also grown up in poverty back on Earth.

During training exercises, Jake proved his mastery of the MA5K carbine to such an extent that he was trained in the use of the MA5B Assault Rifle and began to use that as his primary weapon from then on. He was also proficient with knives, and started the Team Jian custom of strapping an extra sheath knife to their weapons. He and Ralph were always working together even when the rest of the team was incapacitated, which forged their friendship into an almost telepathic relationship. While other members of the team (namely Simon) became angry after a defeat by another team, Jake always made a point of congratulating the leader of the squad who had just beaten him.