Yeah, I've read that scene - I didn't remember the 'tried it in the army' bit, though. I don't think his origin was DIFFERENT back then so much as he didn't really have an origin - as best I know, Claremont never came up with one for him; he preferred to keep his background mysterious, as that led to more story possibilities. Also, his character was still developing back then - he was a SERIOUS jerk in the early issues.