Greer is brought up by his loving mother Angela Greer and abusive father Reginald Greer. Greer's father deprived him of food; physically abused both his wife and Ronald; and would lock him away in a cupboard, making Greer claustrophobic in later life. Ronald enlists in the United States Marine Corps after failing to get the scholarship he was seeking. He eventually is incorporated into the Stargate Program at the rank of Master Sergeant, serving at Icarus Base. He is shown to be quick to anger, which Rush assumes is the result of having come from a poor background. Before the base attack that led to the evacuation to Destiny, he was imprisoned and awaiting court martial for assaulting Colonel Telford in front of a staff meeting at Icarus base prior to the attack. Greer's commanding officer, Everett Young, releases him after the base falls under attack, telling him to consider the charges against him dropped. On board the Destiny, he works side-by-side with Matthew Scott, who was put in charge after Colonel Young was injured, following the attack on Icarus Base. On the first mission to retrieve a needed mineral off-world, Nicholas Rush reveals that Greer was not on his list for Icarus Base personnel.
Conceptual history
In early casting documents, Greer was named Ron "Psycho" Stasiak. Before working on Stargate Universe, Jamil was best known for his vocal portrayal of Gerald in the Nickelodeonanimated seriesHey Arnold!. Prior to auditioning, he was not a fan of the show; however, he did know about the Stargate franchise. In an interview with Sky 1 'Stargate-superfan' Nidai, Jamil stated that he went into the audition 'not wanting the part', on the belief that if he didn't want it, he would end up getting it, due to previous experiences. Jamil described his character as a 'hard nut' and a 'tough guy', but saying underneath his character was a teddy bear. In an interview for MGM's Stargate Universe Character biography's, Jamil mentioned that his character's personal traits are all things that he himself wants to develop in his own life: "...he is disciplined, he is willing to die for something bigger than himself, he understands the power of being part of a team and leaving his ego at the door."
Reception
Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune criticized the character portrayed by Jamil Walker Smith: "perhaps the intention was to have Master Sergeant Ronald Greer come off as a rebellious yet courageous hothead but the character is just a one-dimensional, obnoxious idiot". Brian J. Smith called Jamil's Greer his favorite on the series; likewise, Jamil stated his favorite character was that of Scott. The character is compared to Eric Bana's character, "Hoot", in Black Hawk Down. Kevin Cole of Fused Film was very positive of Jamil's contribution to SGU: "He is a cowboy that will bring a lot of interesting development throughout the series. Walker really makes him work with casual smiles and little subtleties and nuances that this guy should have."
