Spartan Operations

''Were you looking for the glossary of individual Spartan programs?

Spartan, also referred to as Spartan branch, is the fifth and newest branch of the United Nations Space Command, responsible for command of special operations undertaken by the Third and Fourth generations of augmented soldiers. This branch was established in the years following the apocalyptic Human-Covenant War on the orders of Admiral Margaret Parangosky, Commander-in-Chief, Naval Intelligence. Its activities across the galaxy are classified much like their predecessor organizations.

Creation
The beginnings of the fourth generation of the venerable Spartan programs began shortly before the end of hostilities in the Human-Covenant War. Admiral Parangosky, who had signed off on the previous second and third generations out of necessity, believed that the kidnapping of children for years of harsh training, especially the flash cloning of covert replacements, was unethical. Because of this, the elderly director of Naval Intelligence ordered that future Spartans would be consenting adults, all of whom handpicked by Beta-5 Division for their exceptional service during the war, mainly from special operations units from across the armed forces. The only other supersoldier program to use adult volunteers were the ORION soldiers of Naval Special Warfare Command, who were created to fight the growing Insurrection in the Outer Colonies; ironically, the Fours would come to serve in a similar capacity, fighting resurgent colonial rebellions.

Originally, Parangosky was to give command of the SPARTAN-IV program and ultimately Spartan branch to the Army veteran and ONI confidant Colonel James Ackerson - the mastermind behind the third generation program which trained, augmented, and graduated nearly a thousand Spartans into her command between 2531 and 2552. Serving under him, presumably in a scientific role to enhance the augmentation procedures and spearhead new technologies, would be Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, MD, PhD. However, neither would come to serve the SPARTAN-IVs; Colonel Ackerson was executed as a war prisoner aboard the Triumphant Declaration following his defeat at Mare Erythraeum in November 2552 while Dr. Halsey became trapped within the Forerunner shield world Trevelyan, later to be exiled to Ivanoff Station orbiting Installation 03 by Admiral Parangosky.

Due to the overwhelming successes of CHRYSANTHEMUM and its near-zero mortality rate, it is likely that all fourth-generation candidates survived as well. It is unknown how many Spartans have been augmented with fourth-generation protocols, or the number of distinct training classes, but it is noted that a number of candidates were given gene manipulation therapy prior to 2552. Training was conducted in various places, particularly the virtual reality deck aboard the highly advanced warship Infinity, then located in the Oort cloud beyond the Sol system. The surviving SPARTAN-III supersoldiers were requested by Admiral Parangosky and Naval Intelligence for reassignment to Spartan branch in early 2553. The active SPARTAN-IIs, the iconic legends of the Class of 2525, were given the choice of "pulling together" the remaining SPARTAN-IIIs and integrating them into the SPARTAN-IV program, but it is unknown whether or not the SPARTAN-IIs themselves were asked to join the command.

Requiem
During an exploration mission, the UNSC Infinity was pulled into Requiem, an ancient Forerunner shield world, by a Cryptum-occupying Promethean known as the Didact and his forces. Led by Commander Sara Palmer, the Spartans, aided by Infinity ' s Marines, would assist MCPO John-117 in his fight against the Prometheans, as well as the distracting Covenant resurgence which had followed the beleaguered SPARTAN-II to Requiem. With the Infinity high above, both Majestic Squad and Fireteam Crimson would serve on Requiem six months after the Battle of Requiem fighting both elements.

Current structure and numbers
The total number of Spartan personnel in the branch has not yet been specified, but the minimum count may range from over 300 to well over 950. Kevin Franklin, the lead designer on Halo 4 War Games, confirmed that the UNSC Infinity will contain "300 to 500 Spartans". This count may or may not include any former SPARTAN-III personnel, since all SPARTAN-IIIs active by early 2553 were reassigned to the fourth-generation program on order of Admiral Parangosky.

315 members of the SPARTAN-III Gamma Company were deployed to the battlefields of the Human-Covenant War in October 2552; the status of these Spartans following the war is unknown. Fifteen members of Gamma Company remained on Onyx; of these Spartans, three survivors of Team Saber are active as of March 2553, while the five members of Team Katana were last seen in a critical condition. The absolute minimum number of surviving SPARTAN-III supersoldiers as of March 2553 stands at five and includes Ash-G099, Mark and Olivia of Team Saber, as well as their two Beta Company instructors, PO2 Tom-B292 and PO2 Lucy-B091. Provided that the majority of Gamma Company were still active by the time of the establishment of the Spartan branch and the members of Katana returned to active duty, the total number of former SPARTAN-III personnel in the branch may be as high as 325.

Additionally, a number of SPARTAN-IIIs from the special operations program known as Headhunters may have been added to the roster of the Spartan branch. At the height of the Headhunter program, a total of seventeen Spartans served in its ranks. Four Headhunters were killed during a mission on a moon; thus the maximum number of remaining Headhunters stands at thirteen. Since much of the chronology and details of the Headhunter program remain undisclosed, it is unknown whether the program was even active by the end of the Human-Covenant War or how many of its members may have ultimately survived.

If the remaining SPARTAN-IIs joined the branch, their numbers may range from four to fifteen, as a large number of them remain missing or out of contact with the UNSC as of their last sighting. The SPARTAN-IIs confirmed to be in active service within the UNSC include Linda-058, Kelly-087, Fred-104 and Naomi-010, with the latter serving in the covert black ops unit Kilo-Five. Maria-062 claimed to be planning on "retiring" circa October 2552; whether this is true or not is unknown. There are also a number of second-generation Spartans missing or unreachable as of most recent knowledge. These include the Spartans aboard the, missing in unknown space since 2531; Douglas-042, Jerome-092 and Alice-130, and possibly Keiichi-047. Gray Team (Jai-006, Adriana-111 and Mike-120) remained out of contact by August 2552, while Black Team (Black-One, Black-Two, Black-Three and Victor-101) were last sighted stranded on a moon by around the same time.

All units in the following are noted as they remain following the battles on Onyx (10.2552) and Requiem (6.2557); all SPARTAN-IIIs are presumed to have enlisted with the new branch.


 * Gamma Company - 325 soldiers (III)
 * Blue Team — 10 soldiers (III)
 * Katana — 5 soldiers (III)
 * Saber — 3 soldiers (III)
 * Headhunters — 13 soldiers (III)
 * Fireteam Crimson — 4 soldiers (IV)
 * Majestic Squad — 4 soldiers (IV)
 * Shadow Squad — Unknown (IV)
 * Castle Squad - 4 soldiers (IV)

Trivia
The role of Spartan branch could be likened to the American Special Operations Command (JSOC) of the 21st century. Consisting of the nation's most highly trained soldiers, in such units as the Army's Delta Force (1st SFOD-D) and the Navy's SEAL Team Six (DEVGRU), they undertook unconventional warfare missions too sensitive and high risk for other special forces units, most notably counter-terrorism. JSOC is known for their unified command and asset structure, something that Spartan branch was created just for.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Glasslands
 * Halo: The Thursday War
 * Halo 4