SPARTAN-III Alpha Company

"I am going to give you a chance to learn how to fight, a chance to become the best soldiers the UNSC has ever produced, a chance to destroy the Covenant. I am giving you a chance to be like me: a Spartan."

- Lieutenant Kurt Ambrose

Alpha Company was the first company of SPARTAN-III supersoldiers, initiated in 2531 and deployed in 2536. It was succeeded by Beta Company in 2537.

Creation and training
Alpha Company was the first company of SPARTAN-IIIs to be trained. This group originally had 497 trainees recruited between the ages of four, five and six years old, but only 300 would graduate to form the final Alpha Company. The children were orphaned by Covenant attacks on various colonies such as Jericho VII, Harvest, Biko, and Eridanus II. Navy recruiters would visit the children in orphanages with the promise that they would be allowed to exact revenge on the Covenant if they joined.

From the moment they arrived on the planet Onyx, the Alpha Company candidates were tested. That night they were instructed to paradrop to the designated pickup location. On December 27, 2531, they then began their training at Camp Currahee on Onyx, instructed by Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose; in reality, Ambrose was Kurt-051, a SPARTAN-II who had been kidnapped in order to oversee the SPARTAN-III program. Their aggression levels were extreme, and ONI had concerns that the children would kill each other during training. Despite this, Ambrose and Mendez were able to train them into effective soldiers and Alpha Company was declared active in late 2536.

Individuals who failed to pass training became drill instructors for Beta Company; these washouts were particularly ruthless to the trainees, due to their regrets of not passing the test for the original Alpha Company.

Before Alpha Company's deployment, Kurt and Mendez hand-picked a small number of Spartans that stood out from the rest and removed them from the company, assigning them to special duties such as elite fireteams and Headhunter pairs. These Spartans were also issued more advanced equipment such as MJOLNIR armor to make their battlefield prowess comparable to that of the Spartan-IIs. Three of these individuals — Emile-A239, Carter-A259, and Jun-A266 — would later serve in a special operations unit known as NOBLE Team, along with candidates originally removed from Beta Company.

Combat deployments
Following Alpha Company's activation in late 2536, its members took part in several battles. After its deployment, Alpha Company quelled an insurrection on Mamore. At other points in its history, Alpha Company won the Battle of New Constantinople and performed successful operations in the Bonanza asteroid belt and the Far-gone colony platforms. Alpha Company also participated in six other battles during this time.

Operation: PROMETHEUS
In late July 2537, Alpha Company was sent to the Covenant-controlled asteroid K7-49 to disable as many reactors possible so that the liquid contents of the facility would solidify and permanently clog their capacity to produce the metal. Initial resistance to the Spartans were light, and they managed to disable two reactors before the Covenant could properly arrange a proper counterforce. The counterforce was neutralized, and the Spartans managed to destroy thirteen more reactors. By then, Covenant had sent in a massive army from orbit. The Spartans were cut off from their extraction craft, which caused the death of all of them. PROMETHEUS was a bittersweet success, the facility was permanently disabled, but all participating members of Alpha Company were completely wiped out.

Equipment
Alpha Company was issued Mark I Semi-Powered Infiltration armor, an experimental combat suit that provided the soldiers a rudimentary form of active camouflage. The Spartans were primarily issued with the MA5K carbine as a service rifle, although some members used the MA5B assault rifle. An M6 series pistol was issued as a sidearm.

Known members

 * Team Wolf Pack
 * Shane-A112
 * Robert-A057
 * Jane-A203‎
 * Unknown
 * Kai-A019
 * Emile-A239
 * Carter-A259
 * Jun-A266
 * Kevin-A282
 * Thom-A293
 * Rosenda-A344

List of appearances

 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Remember Reach
 * Birth of a Spartan
 * Halo Mythos: A Guide to the Story of Halo
 * Halo: Fractures
 * Breaking Strain