A once successful Smoke Jaguar warrior who became victim of politics.

Star Colonel Benjamin Howell was good friends with Star Captain Trent for at least three years. In the past before Tukayyid, they played many chess battles together. Benjamin admired Trent's skill and tactical brilliance, and he intended to nominate Star Captain Trent for the next Howell trial of Bloodright.

After the Battle of Tukayyid, Khan Lincoln Osis disappeared and was presumed dead. Hyperpulse messages solidified the belief among the Clans of the Smoke Jaguar Khan's demise. Star Colonel Benjamin Howell nominated Brandon Howell for the place of Khan. When Lincoln Osis suddenly reappeared, he was angered when he learned of Benjamin's nomination of a new Khan, and immediately assumed Howell was disloyal to him. After that Osis felt little mercy for Howell, and Benjamin Howell was now on his black list.

Khan Osis told Benjamin Howell that he must nominate Star Captain Jez instead of Trent for the Howell trial of Bloodright. For the respect of the Khan and for the safety of his career, he did so, against his own and Trent's desires. After learning of this, Trent almost ejected Howell from his dwindling amount of friends, but after he realized that Benjamin was a victim of political warfare within the Clan, he forgave him.

In late 3060, an Inner Sphere task force, codenamed Serpent, struck at the Smoke Jaguar homeworld, Huntress. The Jaguar garrison commander, Benjamin Howell, had only two Provisional Galaxies to withstand the onslaught of ten elite Inner Sphere regiments. Both sides wreaked enormous damage upon another. Howell used the opportunity to unleash a deadly new war machine. Dubbed ProtoMechs, these miniature mechs were piloted by washed-out aerospace pilots using the new enhanced imaging system. The EI system coupled with the improved armor and weaponry allowed the ProtoMech pilots to wreak considerable damage on the Serpent forces before they were destroyed. After several days of almost non-stop combat, Task Force Serpent crushed the last of the Jaguar garrison forces.