Details of the early life of Roger Romaine are largely unavailable.  It is known that by the 1930’s, he was a Colonel of the Army Core of Engineers working in research and development.  He developed a series of multi-functional tools for members of the Corps to use but when he presented his proposal to senior leaders, he was denied permission to develop them.  He insulted the General overseeing the project to an extent that he was administratively discharged for insubordination but not so severely that he was ineligible for a pension. The time frame of his military career and exact date of discharge are not clear.

Romaine first game to the public eye as the Gadgeteer in 1939 when he staged a robbery at the Plaza Hotel hosting a large party, including Edward Runyon, fresh from an encounter between military adventurer Steel and  the gang lord Sledgehammer.  Using a modified harmonica that emitted extremely harsh sounds, he compelled the assembled patrons to empty their wallets and valuables into his bag after which he promptly departed unimpeded by the police or that attendees.  Kathy Kulhammer, daughter of a prominent senator and paramour of Runyon, had little faith that the police could recover their valuables and secretly began to scheme to involve Steel.

Serendipitously, Steel had seized on the idea of pressuring Runyon to take a more pro-war stance in his historically anti-war paper, the New York office of the Daily Star.  Dropping on him at his Manhattan apartment, Steel found Runyon engaged in an argument with Kulhammer and was persuaded to pursue the Gadgeteer in exchange for a softer stance on the war in Runyon’s paper.  The two had little interest in accommodating Steel and simply wanted to recover their losses from the engineering criminal.  Whether Steel closed the loop on this promise before he left for Europe is unknown.