The A-Team were a group of ex-United States Army Special Forces who were wrongly convicted of a crime during the Vietnam War. Ray Brenner was one of the only men to stand up for them during their trial.[1] Managing to escape from the military police, they fled to Los Angeles, where, as fugitives, the A-Team worked as soldiers of fortune, using their military training to fight oppression or injustice. As a Special Forces alpha team, their commanding officers included Colonel Morrison[2] and General Ludlam[3]. In the first season of the NBC-TV series The A-Team the group consisted of Templeton "Faceman" Peck (Dirk Benedict), B.A. Baracus (Mr. T), H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock (Dwight Schultz), John "Hannibal" Smith (played by George Peppard), and news reporter Amy Amanda "Triple A" Allen (played by Melinda Culea), who tailed the team around the globe, wherever their missions carried them.
The members of the team, by descending rank, were: Lieutenant Colonel John Smith, Captain H.M. Murdock, Lieutenant Templeton Peck, and Sergeant Bosco Baracus. One Vietnam-era picture of the team showed five members, with the fifth being Brenner.[4]
In 1969, when the team had six days of R&R, they tried to get a flight out of Da Nang to Hawaii. The flights were all booked, but Beller Air bumped two civilian passengers so that the team could get out[5].
About ten years before the events surrounding Lin Duk Coo's arrival in Los Angeles, the members of the A-Team were all captives of a Viet Cong prisoner of war camp commanded by General Chow.[6]
While working as soldiers of fortune in Los Angeles, the team sometimes accepted people as honourary members. On a few occasions, Hannibal referred to Amy Allen as a member of the team.[7]