As the Crimson Commando, Frank Bohannan was one of a trio of World War II veteran super-heroes recruited to be a member of Freedom Force, the original government-sponsored mutant team. Earlier, along with his partners, Stonewall and Super Sabre, Bohannan had become a vigilante who captured criminals, released them, and hunted them in the wilderness of up-state New York. The trio killed the criminals, both to reduce the criminal element in society and for the enjoyment of hunting them down.
Mistaking Storm (at this time leader of the X-Men) for a criminal, the trio hunted and captured her. When Storm and Wolverine eventually defeated the trio, Stonewall and Crimson Commando agreed to turn themselves in to law enforcement authorities and confess their vigilantism. Stonewall, Crimson Commando, and Super Sabre (who had been presumed killed) agreed to join Freedom Force in exchange for a commutation of their sentences.
After Mystique was apparently killed, the Commando succeeded her as Freedom Force team leader. Crimson Commando was gravely wounded during a bungled mission in the Middle East when Freedom Force encountered the Iraqi super-team called Desert Sword. Teammate Super Sabre was killed while Avalanche abandoned Blob and Pyro in the desert to save Bohannan's life.
The Crimson Commando next appeared having been turned into a cyborg going by the name of Cyborg X. He had been rebuilt by Care Labs, but a testing accident had caused him to malfunction, bringing him into a confrontation with Spider-Man and Ghost Rider. Cyborg X would later assist Spider-Man in battling the Sinister Six but was believed to have been killed in an explosion at Care Labs.
Now going by only the name Commando, Bohannan next appeared on a mission for Project: Wideawake. He was teamed-up with his former Freedom Force teammate Avalanche to infiltrate the reclusive Empyrean's headquarters and put his operation out of commission. They were also ordered by a rogue government official to assassinate Polaris of X-Factor.
Wishing to have his power restored, a depowered and very old Bohannan, whose now human body was in danger of being irreversibly damaged by the cyborg parts designed for his augmented mutant physiology, kidnapped Hope Summers. He was apparently killed by Wolverine.
