Melissa Mao

Age: 25

Birthday: May 11, 1976

Blood type: B

Serving as the SRT's second-in-command next to Gail McAllen, she serves in Mithril under the call sign Uruz-2. Her expertise in electronic warfare is valued by the Pacific Battle Group Tuatha de Danaan. Her rank was Sergeant Major, but by the novel Dancing Very Merry Christmas she has been promoted to Second Lieutenant, making her a commissioned officer.

Melissa is very proficient in use of an Arm Slave, however she lacks exact control. She tends to use fast and furious methods in her firearm use. Later in the series she usually does not pilot an Arm Slave, but she can still pilot excellently, although her capabilities are nowhere near those of Sousuke Sagara and Kurz Weber. Aside from English, she can also speak fluent Cantonese due to her time spent in Hong Kong, particularly in Kowloon.

Melissa is a ruthless insulter and an extremely heavy drinker, somewhat reminiscent of Misato Katsuragi from Neon Genesis Evangelion who is also voiced by Alison Keith. She is shown once having many cigarettes and a minimum of 20 beer cans sprawled out on Tessa's coffee table. She is extremely rude, preferring to use heavy language when talking to someone angering her or someone she cannot stand. During the Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu! episode in which Sousuke is training rugby players, he is shown using extremely heavy language based on the training manual Melissa gave him—language inspired and quoted from R. Lee Ermey's lines in Full Metal Jacket; appropriate, since Mao was a Marine Corps drill instructor. She also enjoys a practical joke or two. Once in the series when Sagara called to protest Tessa's staying in his apartment, she gave him permission to "jump her bones," obviously aware of Tessa's feeling for him. But in the next episode when Tessa again found herself in his bedroom, Mao was there and she handcuffed Tessa to herself to keep her from sneaking into his room.

Born to Chinese-American parents in New York City, Melissa was brought up under strict Chinese traditions that included her supposed arranged marriage. When she realized it, she left home and immediately joined up with the United States Marine Corps, entering the recruitment office while still in her wedding gown. After several years of service, she was eventually given a dishonorable discharge. Up to now, Melissa has bitter feeling with her father, who had been in the United States Air Force.[9] After leaving the Marines, Melissa went to Hong Kong, then under British control, and stayed with some of her maternal relatives.