Michael Stanforth
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| Hieronymus Michael Stanforth | |
|---|---|
| |
| Biographical information | |
|
Homeworld: |
|
|
Born: |
|
|
Died: |
August 30, 2552[1][3] (aged 66) |
|
Cause of death: |
Killed aboard UNSC Leviathan during the Fall of Reach[1][2] |
| Personal details | |
|
Species: |
|
|
Gender: |
Male |
|
Height: |
|
|
Weight: |
|
|
Hair color: |
Grey |
|
Eye color: |
Blue |
| Political and military information | |
|
Affiliation: |
|
|
Rank: |
|
- "That was a helluva piece of astrogation you pulled off. People noticed. Not to mention the morale boost it's given to the entire fleet. Now, that's the reason we're all here. We need a victory. It's been too damn long—us getting whittled to pieces by those alien bastards. This has got to be a win. No matter what it takes."
- — Michael Stanforth to Jacob Keyes, during the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV[6]
Vice Admiral Hieronymus "Harold" Michael Stanforth[Note 1] (service number 00834-19223-HS)[1][2] was a flag officer of the UNSC Navy. He served as the head of the Office of Naval Intelligence's Section Three, its clandestine operations group, in the early years of the Human-Covenant War.[3][7] Aiding with the planning and implementation of the SPARTAN-II program, Stanforth had command of all Spartan-field operations early in the Covenant War. As the war continued, Stanforth left ONI to become the Commander of CENTCOM Region Three to aid in the defense of the Inner Colonies. After his victory at Sigma Octanus IV, Stanforth was charged with the defense of Reach, where he was ultimately killed when the Covenant broke through his final line of defense.[1]
Biography[edit]
Early career[edit]
By 2503, Stanforth had risen to the rank of admiral. On June 13 of that year, Stanforth sent a message from his ship, UNSC Leviathan, to then-Captain Preston Cole.[Note 1] The Office of Naval Intelligence had discovered that Cole's wife Lyrenne Castilla was in fact an Insurrectionist and the commander of the Bellicose. Stanforth broke regulations by warning Cole three hours before Reach Central Command transmitted the orders for Castilla's arrest and Cole's recall.[8] Stanforth told Cole:
| “ | You've got three hours. Find Lyrenne before ONI gets her. Bring her in yourself. That'll go a long way toward clearing your name and ending this.[8] | ” |
Although Cole faced court martial and even capital punishment for possible treason, Stanforth and Cole's admiring public pressured ONI into releasing Cole with no charges. All that were involved were given strict orders to keep the affair classified.[8]
In 2507, Stanforth held the rank of captain, possibly due to demotion or because his position as an admiral was temporary.[Note 1] During this same year he noticed the potential of Dr. Catherine Halsey, as she corrected Elias Carver's work while she was still a young upstart. This was the start of Stanforth's continuous aiding of Dr. Halsey with her project as her military counterpart and protecting her and the project from those that wanted to see it disbanded. During the next three years, the captain would rise in rank to become a vice admiral by December 2510.[9]
Career with ONI[edit]
At some point, Stanforth held a seat on the UNSC Security Council.[10] Stanforth was head of Section Three of the Office of Naval Intelligence from 2512 to 2530. He was involved with many classified projects including GUNGNIR, SPARTAN, and MJOLNIR.[3] Although he protected Halsey and her SPARTAN-II program from competitors and saboteurs, he also prevented her from accessing classified information such as information on the SPARTAN-III program.[11] In 2513, he indicated to Halsey that changing the name of the then-budding SPARTAN-II program from its original designation of "Generation-II ORION" to a new name (eventually settled on SPARTAN-II) would aid in getting the project approved from the military by distancing it from the failures of the earlier ORION Project.