Brandon Beckett is an agent with Special Operations.
That is the name of the part-military, part-civilian government organization which handles highly classified and often off-the-books missions around the world, sometimes in uniform and sometimes not. It is the sometimes not part that earns Beckett his place in this compendium; that and some of the things he is asked to do by some of the people doing the asking as in covert agencies.
It is important to remember that while I said he was an agent, all I mean by that is he works for them; he is part of the group. He is not a spy per se; he is a sniper. He is a very good sniper and can be asked to find a good firing position, place himself secretly in that position, maintain his anonymity there while awaiting the kill shot, eliminate the target, and then get out quickly. Beckett is very, very good at it. His possessing this skill is both expected and surprising.
The latter is because when we initially meet him, he is not a sniper, he is a regular grunt in the Marine Corps. He holds the rank of Sergeant in that branch of the service and has been with them for likely a decade and enjoys being a grunt and has no liking or interest in "all that sneaky s**t". If not pushed into it as he was, Beckett would have gladly stayed a grunt for the rest of his career.
The former is because his father is , legendary Marine sniper who would have stories told of his exploits around the world. It becomes obvious that some of the inate skillset that the younger Beckett possesses were inherited because once he starts to work as a sniper, he finds his niche.
Beckett is likely just reached his 30th birthday when we meet him. We are told, by someone reading his service jacket and his corroborating intel that he had a history growing up of not liking being told what to do - an odd condition for someone making a career in the Marine Corps, not a bastion known for rogue warriors. This is shown by the fact that he would routinely get into trouble at whatever school he attended and would be constantly facing disciplinary action. Perhaps the Corps helped settle him down as it is know to do but when our first meeting happens, he is being charged with dereliction of duty and abandoning his post - actions he goes on to justify. It would seem that Beckett became a Marine despite his father, not because of him.
Oh, and one more interesting factor that makes his career so much fun to follow comes when he is "introduced" to a young ultra-dangerous woman who is known as Lady Death. She is cool!