Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Season 3's Ronin Operator Is Based On A Real-Life Soldier

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's new Season 3 update introduced two new Operators, Alex and Ronin. It's now been confirmed that Ronin is based on a real-life solider, and he's the first character in the game to be modeled after a real-world military veteran.

Ronin is based on a man named Tu Lam, who escaped from communist Vietnam in 1979, fleeing the country in a fishing boat, according to Task & Purpose. He eventually landed in the United States, where he joined the US Army and become a member of the Special Forces. He served in the Army for 23 years, visiting 27 countries, before leaving the service in 2016 with the title of Master Sergeant.

Lam then moved into a new business venture with a civilian equipment and training company called Ronan Tactics.

Lam told Task & Purpose that the Call of Duty franchise is beloved among service members, who play the game to boost morale. "It's just really part of the culture in the military. In Special Forces, we'd go out to do missions, and then guys would come back to log on to play. It's a morale thing for our veterans overseas," he said.

Lam visited the Infinity Ward studio in Los Angeles and completed motion-capture to help create an authentic-looking character model for the game. Lam also performed Ronin's finishing move that is seen in the game. You can check it out in his Instagram video below.

Go to Task & Purpose to hear more from Lam and developers at Infinity Ward. Ronin is available to buy through the Ronin Operator Bundle for 2400 Call of Duty Points. For more, check out GameSpot's gameplay video above where we play as Ronin.