Call of Duty: Warzone Season Five’s ‘Lerch’ Is A Real Guy


On July 31, EarlyGame reported that season five’s new playable character, Marcus “Lerch” Ortega, is based on a real-world former SWAT operator.

In the fiction of the Call of Duty universe, Lerch is described as a former member of the 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion. After being honorably discharged (more or less), Lerch found that civilian life didn’t suit him, so he joined up with the private security firm Shadow Company.

Here’s the real guy behind the character.

Who Is Marcus ‘Lerch’ Ortega?

The real Lerch’s name is Tony Sentmanat, and he’s an influencer of sorts who retired from being a cop in 2016 and now runs a firearms-training business in Miami.

In a YouTube video earlier this month (via Essentially Sports), he introduces himself, shows off his shooting skills, and gives a rundown of some of the gear he uses in real life.

A former Marine like Lerch, Sentmanat spent years as a SWAT operator; he says he’s got about 800 operations under his belt. He retired from law enforcement in 2016.

As he explains in the video, his likeness appearing in Warzone is essentially a clever bit of cross-branding for his training and consulting business, RealWorld Tactical.

Warzone Season Five

Modern Warfare and Warzone both got a massive seasonal update on August 5, introducing a new battle pass; new maps for 6v6 multiplayer, Ground War, and Gunfight; and of course a season’s worth of new modes, Operators, weapons, and cosmetic rewards.

For more, check out all of Gfinity’s season-five Warzone coverage.

For more articles like this, take a look at our Modern Warfare and Call of Duty Warzone page.