As Hasbro's head of research and development, Levine guided G.I. Joe through its design and development after receiving the conceptual idea from a man named Stanley Weston (Weston received $100,000 for his contribution) and the name from a 1945 film called The Life of G.I. Joe, also called The Story of G.I. Joe. Levine served with the United States Army in the Korean War and Hasbro's employees also included many military veterans, so it was decided the toy should be outfitted in the uniforms of the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force and their respective accessories. He wanted the G.I. Joe toys to be an attempt at honoring all the service members in the United States, like him.
