SPARTAN Initiative

"Justice, like lightning"

- Official SPARTAN Motto



The Special Purpose Assault Recon and Tactical Armored Network, commonly known as the SPARTAN Initiative, is an elite Special Operations Force and an integral element of the special warfare branch of the Joint Special Operations Command. The program is named after the legendary warriors who protected Sparta.

SPARTAN is composed of the best special operators and soldiers from across the Earth Sphere. Each recruit is carefully selected in special processes. Because of the multinational structure of the organization, selection emphasizes language, cultural and training skills in working with foreign troops.

=History= Funding for the SPARTAN Initiative was approved in 2092, and the unit became active the following year, with an official designation within the OCU Naval Special Warfare Division, Group 5, 1st Battalion. Individual units are organized at the company level (A Company, B Company, D Company, etc), with each company forming a different cell (see below). Its original roster was largely comprised of former members of the OCU's 707th Special Missions Unit, but it quickly grew into a full-sized Special Forces unit. They are structured into two units, specialist Direct Action (DA) and Reconnaissance elements, and the two units are considered interchangeable by JSOC. The vast majority of information surrounding the SPARTAN Initiative is highly classified and details of its activities are not commented on by Allied Liberation Front High Command.

=Mission Statement= SPARTAN is an extremely versatile group, but is tasked with five primary missions:
 * Unconventional warfare – Guerilla warfare and other direct offensive, low visibility, covert or clandestine operations, as well as the indirect activities of subversion, sabotage, intelligence gathering, and escape and evasion.
 * Foreign internal defense – Also known as counter-insurgency. Involves combating actual or threatened insurgency in a foreign state (Host Nation)
 * Special reconnaissance – Environmental reconnaissance, target acquisition, area assessment, post-strike assessment, emplacement and recovery of sensors, or support of Human Intelligence and Signals Intelligence operations, avoiding combat with, and detection by, enemy personnel.
 * Direct action – Short-duration strikes and other small-scale offensive actions conducted as a special operation in hostile, denied or politically sensitive environments, employing specialized military capabilities to seize, destroy, capture, exploit, recover or damage designated targets. It differs from conventional offensive actions in the level of physical and political risk, operational techniques, and the degree of discriminate and precise use of force to achieve specific objectives.
 * Counter-terrorism – Detecting and responding to terrorist threats and/or acts, real and imputed.

As a rapid reaction force, each cell is kept at near-constant readiness so that they can respond in a very short time frame to emergencies, typically hours to days. Because of this, they are usually lightly armed, but often extremely well-trained to compensate for their lower calibre weapons. Every assault platoon (with the exception of SPARTAN-X) trains in mechanized warfare and maintains a contingent of AIPs in case heavy armor is necessary for the completion of an objective.

As belies its multifactioned structure, SPARTAN works off the Colonial Federation's Office of Naval Intelligence, which has intelligence contacts all over the world. Usually only a single SPARTAN cell will be deployed to deal with a situation, but in some situations, such as more conventional warfare, two or more cells will be active in the same area, usually with different objectives.

=Organization= While the exact layout of SPARTAN is highly classified, the unit is believed to consist of 75 enlisted men and women and fifteen officers. It is split into task-oriented teams or 'Cells' such as Evasion and Recovery (E&R), a Force Protection Cell (military version of VIP Protection detail), a Sniper Cell, etc. The Special Forces soldiers assigned to these groups receive intensive language and cultural training for countries within their regional area of responsibility (AOR). A single Director oversees the entire operation, and one Deputy Director, who is second in command. The logistics, travel, support, and general coordination of the various cells is handled by one of two Executive Secretaries who report directly to the Deputy Director.

Basic Element - SPARTAN Operation Detachment Cell (ODC) composition
SPARTAN consists of at least eight (and likely more) Operation Detachment teams or "cells". Each cell is trained in a wide variety of infiltration skills and mission-sets, such as Military Freefall (HALO), orbital drop, combat diving, mountain warfare, maritime operations, or urban operations).

A cell typically consists of 4-6 personnel, each of whom has a specific function (MOS or Military Occupational Specialty) on the team. The cell is led by an 18A (Detachment Commander), usually an officer, and an 18Z (Operations and Intelligence Sergeant) who is his second in command, usually a Sergeant. The team also includes the following enlisted men: two 18B (Weapons Specialists), 18C (Engineer Specialist), 18D (Medical Specialist), and 18E (Communications Specialist). This organization facilitates 2-or 3-man "split team" operations, redundancy, and mentoring between a senior specialist NCO and his junior assistant.

Members
The following is a list of all known members of the SPARTAN program.

Director
 * Simulated Major General Tsutomu Kawade. Japanese.

Deputy Director
 * Simulated Colonel Estelito Mateo. Filipino.

Executive Secretary
 * Ms. Woo “Dee” Seung-yeon
 * Ms. Winnie “Zee” Lau

SPARTAN-I “707” Now deactivated. Originally the OCU’s 707th Special Mission Unit, its numerous counter-terrorism and special operations successes gave birth to the SPARTAN program.
 * Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer
 * Lieutenant Masao ‘El-Tee’ Kojima
 * Shaheen “Ali” Soorani
 * Specialist Winnie ‘Zee’ Lau
 * Specialist Michael ‘Slo” Slowenski
 * Specialist “Silk”
 * Warrant Officer Danny “Doc” Kelly

SPARTAN-II “Spearhead” Assault Team.
 * Tyrell Patrick
 * Murphy Seeker
 * Mikhail Viktor
 * Carlos Oliviera
 * Nicholai Ginovaef

SPARTAN-III “Hell’s Hurricane” Naval special warfare group devoted almost exclusively to counter-terrorism, with a worldwide maritime responsibility, including ships, oil-rigs, naval bases or other civilian or military bases accessible from the sea or inland waterways.

SPARTAN-IV Assault Team. The campaign follows their missions throughout the course of the war.
 * Lieutenant Commander Hirotomo "Hero" Hagi. Japanese. Team Leader.
 * Special Warfare Operator First Class Seamus "Celt" O'Hannigan
 * Chief Warrant Officer Ingy "Viking" Sturlsson
 * Petty Officer Third Class Kathryn "Calamity" Burlow. Well-known throughout the Earth Sphere for her exploits before being selected for the SPARTAN program.
 * Petty Officer Third Class Devin "Dutch" Holdin

SPARTAN-V “Gray Team” Transport – Vehicles and Boats
 * Arnold Spencer
 * Klaus Anson
 * Roberto Maddocks
 * Norman Critchlow
 * Ed Walker
 * Roger Pollack
 * Billy Ittoku
 * Mac Staples
 * Matt Matson

SPARTAN-VI “Sixth Sense” Recon/Surveillance/Sniper Team
 * Elliot Edward
 * Hiram Jaegar
 * Selig O’Bannion
 * Yves Massarde
 * Zateb Kazim

SPARTAN-VII “S7” Seven Samurai Assault Platoon
 * Major Jean Montieux - Former member of the French Parachute Division, he was detailed to DGSE. Part of action group Service 7. Involved in tactical espionage and counter-espionage throughout Europe. Began training DGSE recruits in 2105. On assignments he is a utility player, and doesn’t get shaken easily. He is a marksman with pistols and rifles, although he is experienced in all forms of counterterrorism.
 * Petty Officer First Class Angela Saunders - Although born in UCS-California, her parents immigrated to the colony of Virgon when she was very young.
 * Petty Officer Second Class Steve Rogers - Australian. A world-class soccer player on the Australian national football team, he placed his professional sports career on hold in 2110 and enlisted in the OCU-Australian Army.
 * Petty Officer Third Class Moe "Mo" Habana - Brazilian.

SPARTAN-VIII “Green Giants” New personnel in training. Graduates are assigned to an existing SPARTAN unit dependent upon their specialty.
 * Dr. Simon England

SPARTAN-IX Entire cell j=killed in action during Operation Bright Squall; team deactivated.

SPARTAN-X “Thunderbolts” The ALF’s premier assault force. They are the best of the best—the ALF’s answer to the UCS’ elite Night Stalkers squadron.
 * Captain Alistair Pembroke-Smythe
 * Rudi “Hotdog” Gunn
 * Marcel Levant
 * Hugo Bock
 * Kat Sue-Shaun
 * Perry Mueller
 * Emitt “Dee” England