Misato: A former Special Ops agent?

[LordThaeon]

That ideal itself seems ludicrous and dumb, until I saw something in this pic from the Proposal: http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/evangelion/images/8/82/Misato_Proposal.png/revision/latest?cb=20130111074253 (the bottom full body view of Misato)

Which made me wonder exactly what Misato did before Nerv where she became a very able tactician, strategist and downright lethal marksman capable of killing three heavily armored and armed JSSDF soldiers and made it look easy.

Not to mention having apparent training in hacking and espionage as no one seems to have noticed when Misato slipped into NERV/SEELE's databases to gather information. She also easily got the drop on Ritsuko and Kaji (a well-trained and experienced triple agent himself).

Also, her crazy driving skills would come in handy if she happened to be a get-away driver during some kind of gun-and-run mission requiring equal parts insanity and skill with a car.

Is it ever mentioned if Misato had some kind of military training or was part of an elite unit in Japan or Germany?

The idea also answers another question that was posed on the forum as to why Misato was recruited by Nerv in the first place. Despite his true intentions, anyone in Gendo's shoes would need a truly above-average operations director to face the angels. If she really did have prior experience or training as military personnel, then she probably did something to impress Gendo and have him or a proxy agent hire her into Nerv.

[Sachi]

It's unfortunate how much the giant robots and alien monsters really steal the show and downplay what a badass Misato actually is.

To answer your question: it is my opinion that she's always been associated with Nerv and some the people involved with the organization since before it's establishment, going back until at least being recovered from Second Impact. It's probably no coincidence that her and Ritsuko were at the same college.

Due to Second Impact and her need for revenge on the Angels, she was driven to be a part of never letting something like that happen again. After college she likely joined the military, and got her training there. When Gehirn reformed into Nerv in 2010, I assume that's when the Tactical division was formed and Misato may have taken the opportunity to join.

What she did with Nerv before moving to Tokyo-03 is unclear beyond her stay in Germany, though she was probably there to train with Asuka. She may have already been the the head of the Tactical division at that time, or she may have moved to Tokyo-03 in order to receive the position.

[Reichu]

To answer your question: it is my opinion that she's always been associated with Nerv and some the people involved with the organization since before it's establishment

Dr. Katsuragi was in Gehirn, so there's that.

[NemZ]

I imagine she was probably trained in the management of infantry tactical squads, since that's essentially how the evas get used.

[Ultrahuntr]

To further add evidence to this, there is the whole line about the JSSDF "owing [her] a few favors" (paraphrasing there) during the preparations to combat Ramiel in episodes 5 & 6 (I can't remember exactly where the quote it).

This begs the question of "What did Misato do that would warrant the JSSDF owning her favors?"

Kind of interesting to speculate on.

[Gendo'sPapa]

Seeing how absolutely badass Misato straight up murders those three armed JSSDF guys in End of Evangelion when they're about to kill Shinji - "Nothing personal" Boom! Mofo's head is gone - it's easy to figure she's been through some intensive training.

[Gob Hobblin]

I'm going to say that Misato was not Special Ops, but the nature of paramilitary operation often times looks indistinguishable from what you would consider 'special operations.' And the thing about what Misato does, it is distinctly paramilitary.

I mean, unless most of Nerv staff are on load from the military, then Nerv is using a military rank system on its own (which a lot of paramilitary organizations do, actually). That being said, some paramilitary groups can still end up in combat ops (there were a lot of 'operators' in this recent conflict that were actually not Soldiers: some were members of one government group or another, some were security contractors. I mean, look at these guys:

SPOILER: Show

Those aren't Soldiers: they're DEA agents on a FAST team burning a poppy field in Afghanistan. I would say that Misato was no Special Ops, but was certainly in a combat or tactical position that allowed her (and demanded more) flexibility than a normal 'line' combat position would. I could see her having to negotiate and deal with a lot of dangerous stuff in the post-Impact world as Nerv became a public and global organization.

[Sachi]

I could see her having to negotiate and deal with a lot of dangerous stuff in the post-Impact world as Nerv became a public and global organization.

I would imagine the name Nerv would have been sullied as of Third Impact, and so a new group would be formed, sort of like what happened with Wille in Q.

[Gob Hobblin]

^

I was referring to post Second Impact.

[nostalgic_beer]

To further add evidence to this, there is the whole line about the JSSDF "owing [her] a few favors" (paraphrasing there) during the preparations to combat Ramiel in episodes 5 & 6 (I can't remember exactly where the quote it).

...and her knowledge of the Strategic SDF Lab's prototype (although in ep. 6 it seems that Ritsuko knows about the rifle as well "We'll borrow one", "Borrow one? You dont mean..." "Right! The Strategic SDF Lab's prototype").

[Gob Hobblin]

^

That actually doesn't really add much credence to Misato being a Spec-Ops operative: Special Operators don't network with the same people who would run a weapons lab.

That's like saying a police officer could get a proton collider from the local university because he was once on the SWAT team.

If anything, that indicates the reach Nerv has where they can go where they want, slap down a Nerv badge, and get it without too much protest. Frankly, I'd look more at Misato herself: considering how easily she was able to kill several (we can only assume to be) veteran combat troopers with assault rifles (while she herself used a handgun!) indicates she has combat experience well above what these guys (who are supposed to be crack troops) have.

[Bagheera]

Those aren't Soldiers: they're DEA agents on a FAST team burning a poppy field in Afghanistan. I would say that Misato was no Special Ops, but was certainly in a combat or tactical position that allowed her (and demanded more) flexibility than a normal 'line' combat position would. I could see her having to negotiate and deal with a lot of dangerous stuff in the post-Impact world as Nerv became a public and global organization.

That's certainly possible, but there's no denying that Misato has some serious skills. It's not just her pistol work, either: if you look at that scene it actually says a lot about her past experience. Like, she doesn't hesitate for an instant, and that's actually hard to manage without a lot of prior field experience (even cops have issues with this, and that after being on the force for years). The way she moves is also telling: she rushes them, and goes hand to hand with the last. That indicates both a familiarity with close quarters combat and advanced firearms training (making accurate shots on the run like that is extremely difficult, particularly with a handgun).

So, I don't know about spec ops specifically, but it's clear to me that Misato has that level of training. And that makes sense, really; one doesn't become the chief tactical officer of an organization tasked with saving the world based solely on loony ideas to defeat the Angels. She'd have to demonstrate advanced knowledge of, well, tactics. That is also consistent with spec ops training, of course, but still no guarantee she served in such a role.

[Gob Hobblin]

^

You know what? That would be a cool story.

Watching Misato as she becomes who she becomes. What sort of stuff did she do? What was the Post-Second Impact world like? I mean, I like ambiguity, but that would be a cool story!