ONI Directive 930

"Spartans never die, Jorge. They're just Missing in Action."

- Carter-A259

ONI Directive 930 is a UNSC regulation regarding the reporting of SPARTAN-II fatalities. It created a tradition which eventually extended to the SPARTAN-IIIs as well.

Background
When the UNSC went public with the SPARTAN-II program, the Office of Naval Intelligence feared that reports of Spartan losses would cause a crippling loss of morale throughout the UNSC. To prevent this, ONI Section Two issued a directive requiring the falsification of any circumstances regarding the deaths of Spartans, specifically, it banned the application of KIA status to Spartan personnel. The protocol created and maintained the myth that Spartans never die, and led to the common use of the bitterly ironic phrase "Spartans never die" among the Spartans themselves. This has not gone unnoticed by the Covenant, whose members (including Prophets) often refer to Spartans as "demons", due to their ability to kill thousands of Covenant infantry at a time without death.

The Protocol
Office of Naval Intelligence Section Two Directive 930

To maintain morale among the forces of the UNSC, any Spartan casualties are to be listed as Missing In Action (MIA) or Wounded In Action (WIA), but never Killed In Action (KIA).

Application to SPARTAN-IIIs
Just before his death, SPARTAN-II Kurt-051 lists the status of two deceased SPARTAN-III's as MIA, "adhering to the tradition of never listing a fallen Spartan as 'killed in action' ". However, this was likely more sentimental than official, as ONI Directive 930 was specific to the SPARTAN-IIs' publicity. In fact, the SPARTAN-III program was never even intended to go public due to concerns about a negative effect on morale and faith in the UNSC.

Trivia

 * The tradition was broken for John-117 at the end of the war where many people refer to him as being KIA. This is ironic as he is one of the few SPARTANs to actually be MIA.