Born the forth and last child of a barely successful north Louisiana plantation owner, Gregory was given an excellent education for that place and time. He was completely uninterested in farming, and being fourth son, was not in line to inherit anyway. In 2029 he moved to Lake Keaton (formerly Lake Charles), Louisiana, where, with his family's aid, he set up an import/export business.
The next year, 2030, Schpankyn enlisted in the Louisiana National Guard, where given his level of education, he was granted a commission by the Royal Governor, Frederick L. Perregaux. His business prospered, and so did his military career. By the crisis year of 2042, he was the colonel commanding the 2nd Louisiana National Guard Infantry Brigade. Entrusted with preparing the defenses of Lake Keaton during the great Islamic onslaught of that year, he performed his task so well, that despite overrunning most of the rest of Louisiana the enemy refused to assault Lake Keaton. Pleased with his performance during the campaign, he was promoted to Brigadier General in the Regular Army as a reward.
Due to his national guard origins and lack of significant combat experience, Schpankyn was given command of the Mojave Border Brigade Group that year. That formation, entrusted with defending the deserts of Central California from bandit incursions, has had one of the quieter jobs along the eastern frontier of the West Coast region. Schpankyn had performed credibly in that command, despite the reputation for being a harsh taskmaster and having an unusually high desertion rate in his brigade group. With the completion of the Barstow-Utah rail line and the simultaneous pacification of Nevada, the Mojave Border Brigade Group has been rendered unnecessary. With its troops being reassigned to the General Headquarters Reserve for reassignment, the brigade group headquarters has been redesignated the China Expeditionary Brigade on 2 July 2046.
General Schpankyn is a relatively young man for his rank. He has a reputation for being highly energetic. He can and does get things done. However, he also has the reputation for being dogmatic and less than imaginative, a doer, not a thinker. He is known to be a difficult, argumentative subordinate, is obstinate and mule-headed, and a harsh task master to his troops. A competant, though not outstanding administrator, he has never seen combat, except in squad level skirmishes in the desert.
Schpankyn's personal life is a cypher. He has never married and is known to be very awkward in social situations, especially around women.
