Dusty's real name is Ronald W. Tadur, which is based on an anagram of Hasbro artist Ron Rudat. Dusty was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. He grew up in the desert and became intimately familiar with it. After high school, he worked as a refrigeration repairman by day, while studying the ecology of the desert in his spare time. He went through basic training at Fort Bliss, Texas, and is a qualified expert with the M-14, M-16, M-16A2, M-60, M-1911A1 auto pistol and M-203 40mm grenade launcher.
Dusty is an excellent tracker. He is fluent in Arabic and Hebrew, and conversant in Kazakh and the Oirat-Khalkha languages of Central Asia. He is also noted for his patience, his strong leadership qualities, and his excellence for sneaking up behind bad guys in the desert, and popping a can of firefight. When the G.I. Joe Team was disbanded, Dusty signed up for a tour in Israel, in order to keep his skills sharp. He returned to active duty when the team was reinstated, and can usually be found leading new recruits in target practice.
Dusty first appeared in the Sunbow-produced mini-series "Pyramid of Darkness", and often appeared in the first season. Dusty's air conditioning and refrigeration repair skills were acknowledged in the series. He was voiced by Neil Ross.
Sunbow
is most memorable episode is "The Traitor", where Dusty seemingly accepts Cobra's bribes, in exchange for information regarding G.I. Joe. In reality, Dusty is under orders from Duke to infiltrate Cobra as a double agent, but before Duke can inform G.I. Joe of this, he is injured and placed in a coma. Dusty is found guilty of treason, but is freed by Cobra agents before being incarcerated. After gaining the trust of Cobra Commander, Dusty is given the task of killing captive G.I. Joe members, as a final act of his loyalty. Dusty instead frees his teammates, and shows his true intentions, by helping them to thwart Cobra's plans.
G.I. Joe: The Movie
Dusty also appeared briefly in the 1987 animated film G.I. Joe the Movie.