Orbital Drop Shock Troopers

"We go feet first, sir!"

- ODSTs to Major Silva, on board the UNSC Pillar of Autumn.

The Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (abbreviated as ODST and colloquially known as Helljumpers) are a UNSC Marine Corps Special Forces unit. They are renowned for their toughness and take immense pride in their elite ethos.

Origins
The Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, or "Helljumpers", have their roots in the paratroopers of 20th and 21st century fame, who dropped frequently behind enemy lines to capture buildings, bridges, and other important military and industrial targets in anticipation for a larger advance by more conventional military forces. Such troops were first used in 1939 by the German Wehrmacht in World War II to overrun the Allied defense forces in Holland and the legendary Eben Emaelfortress in Belgium and later in Operation Overlord on June 5th, when two American Airborne Divisions and one British Airborne Brigade landed behind enemy lines in Normandy, France. The ODSTs also seem to have characteristics from US Navy SEALS and the British SAS from today, highly trained professional soldiers working in small teams in extremely high-priority missions.

However, the origin of dropping humans from orbit comes from the Martian Campaign of 2163, where UN Marines were dropped onto Mars in support of UN forces against the Neo-Communist Koslovics. The ODST's seem to have "always been a part of the UNSC." It may be that the participants of the Argyre Planitia campaign were the predecessors to, or early members of, the first ODST units.

Human-Covenant War
ODSTs were known to be operating as early as 2525. The first and most elite division of ODSTs were the 105th Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Division, most known as Helljumpers ,and their phrase "Feet First into Hell!", which quickly gained a reputation as a brutal and effective fighting force. They are often referred to as elite and seem to have a class of their own, often coming right after the Brutes, Elites, and Spartans.

Barring the personnel of the SPARTAN programs, ODSTs are one of the most effective forms of troops available to the UNSC, and the expectations placed on ODST units made them all-volunteer outfits, with some outsiders regarding such volunteers as 'crazy'. By 2552 their strength had swelled to a greater number of divisions in an attempt to fill the demands of the Human-Covenant War. Some ODSTs actively participated in training the SPARTAN-IIs, but the efficiency of the program was demonstrated when a single adolescent SPARTAN-II killed two ODSTs and left the other two severely wounded during an exercise. These fatalities resulted in ODSTs having a disdain of the SPARTANS, as they were not even worthy of being called Human. The SPARTANS are referred to as "freaks" by Antonio Silva's opinion.

Operations


Orbital Drop Shock Troopers are known for their unorthodox methods of insertion, including orbital drops onto terrestrial environments.

Similar to regular Marines, the ODSTs maintain units of varying strength aboard many UNSC vessels and Installations. ODST units were present aboard the ', the ', the ', the ', and Cairo Station

While they are Human, they are very different from Marines in the sense that they take the most dangerous, suicidal, and high value target missions. They have no physical differences between normal Marines, but they are always ready to "Jump Feet First Into Hell" as their motto goes (This motto comes from the intense heat inside the HEV drop pods. The heat inside these pods is what coined the nickname 'Hell Jumpers' ,) and dive into fights they may not return from, which shows an outstanding level of courage, honor, valor and sometimes, pure insanity. Due to this reputation, some contingents amongst the UNSC Navy believe that the ODST soldiers are peculiar, while the ODSTs think that other Navy personnel are cowards. This could be attributed to the fact that Naval personnel stay in space, instead of joining in the fight below.

They also drop into areas that are under heavy fire, or are heavily guarded by enemy troops. Their primary objective for these situations, is to clear out any enemies and set up an LZ for Pelican dropships to land or deploy other UNSC reinforcements. Without the use of the ODST clearing an area, the Pelicans would be unable to land. An example of this is at the start of Battle of Installation 05. The ODSTs, accompanied by the Master Chief, cleared a landing zone so that Pelicans could drop off a Warthog. Because of the nature of their missions, many ODST troops can be found dead in the Halo games.

Behavior
In combat ODSTs fight in squads of four, as seen on the level The Ark. They normally act like tougher versions of Marines, and carry Battle Rifles, Shotguns,Sniper Rifles and Assault Rifles to provide more firepower. They may also carry Magnums as seen in the level The Covenant when you go to get on the first Hornets, however this may be due to the fact that these troopers are pilots not combat infantry ODST operators.

Equipment
The ODSTs use advanced equipment specifically made for their purpose and missions.

Body Suit

 * Main article: Body Suit



The ODSTs in addition to using normal Marine equipment, use a specially made body suit. It is completely black and sealed off, allowing for extra-vehicular operations and makes them immune to being infected by Flood (However, as noted in the trivia, ODSTs can be a victim of the Flood infection). It has heating and cooling systems to mask the infrared signature of the wearer, and it also has an oxygen tank capable of allowing 15 minutes in space. The helmet contains state of the art communications gear, along with a HMD and thermal and motion detectors.

During the Battle of the Ark, the ODSTs appear to have colors on their shoulder armor which may denote ranking. There were 3-4 "whites" along with one "red," possibly meaning a red patch stands for Squad Leader or the Sergeant, while white would be more akin to a Squad Member, this is very likely due to the fact that he is far more aggressive than the other ODSTs and that he also often leads his teammates into combat. A white patch with a red cross symbolizes a squad medic. In "Last Man Standing" the blood type of the ODST is shown on his right shoulder. (It also bears noticing that in cut scenes showing ODSTs, their shoulder armor does not show any color and just appear black. This is, however, due to how the cinematics were designed for the game.)

Human Entry Vehicles

 * Main article: Human Entry Vehicle



The Human Entry Vehicle (HEV) is a tear-drop shaped pod made of Titanium-A, Lead Foil and a ceramic skin. They are known for their risky use, as ODSTs can die either from the intense heat on re-entry, the extreme G-forces, the force of hitting a terrestrial target, or, the parachute may not open to slow the HEV down. This is the main reason why many consider the ODSTs to be "insane".

The HEV also carries weapons, ammunition, food, a radio, and a cubicle for shelter in case the ODST is ever dropped off target or they need to fight immediately when they hit the ground.

They are seen in the level Delta Halo in Halo 2.

Armed Assault Boats

 * Main article: Armed Assault Boats

Armed Assault Boats were aerial vehicles used by the UNSC Navy and UNSC Marine Corps, to deploy Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. However, the armed assault boats proved to be ineffective, taking heavy fire once within ground firing range and they were also very slow.

The UNSC Navy had ultimately replaced them with the HEVs.

Notable Actions
ODSTs were on board the Pillar of Autumn, upon the discovery of Alpha Halo. An ODST group led by Major Antonio Silva was later instrumental in frustrating Covenant attempts to purge the ring-world of the Pillar of Autumn's survivors.

Members of the 7th Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Battalion would go into the Outskirts of New Mombasa in support of the capture of the Prophet of Regret. They were in a separate Pelican fired upon by a Scarab. They fought through the outskirts before linking up to the main UNSC advance. Their battle is showcased in the bonus video: Another Day at the Beach.

Members of the 7th Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Battalion would later drop from In Amber Clad onto Delta Halo. They then cleared a landing zone so that a Warthog could be deployed for John-117. Many ODST were deployed into action from a large squad of Hornets in order to save the population of Cleveland being held captive inside a stadium by the Covenant. They were also dropped from the  to assist John-117 again, during the Battle of Installation 00 near the Ark and the Citadel.

Two ODSTs fought along side a detachment of UNSC Marines in the Battle of Pawas in 2552. Bravo-21 and Bravo-22, were tasked with calculating the crash site of John-117 on Earth (Possibly a fire team was assigned this objective or more given the fact a UNSC Marine approaches one of the ODSTs and identifies him as a "sir"), while a Marine Battalion was tasked with defending a narrow corridor between Covenant and UNSC forces in, what is known today as Pakistan. Bravo-21 and numerous Marines were killed in the fighting, while Bravo-22 was injured along with the other Marine survivors.

List of known ODSTs
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 * Major Antonio Silva: KIA
 * First Lieutenant Melissa McKay: KIA
 * Second Lieutenant Dalu: KIA
 * Second Lieutenant Oros: KIA
 * Master Sergeant Lister: KIA
 * Company Sergeant Tink Carter: KIA
 * Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker: ACTIVE
 * Gunnery Sergeant Waller: KIA
 * Sergeant Corly: KIA
 * Sergeant Parker: KIA
 * Corporal Locklear: KIA
 * Lance Corporal "Snaky" Jones: MIA
 * Private First Class Hosky: KIA
 * Private Butkis: ACTIVE
 * Private Jones: KIA
 * Private O'Brian: KIA
 * Private Marie Postly: KIA
 * Private Satha: KIA
 * Private Walpole: ACTIVE
 * Al-Thani: KIA
 * Dawkins: KIA
 * "Doc" Valdez : MIA
 * Joe: ACTIVE
 * Murphy: MIA
 * Suzuki: KIA
 * Yutrzenika: KIA
 * T. Rymann: KIA
 * S. Hartley: ACTIVE

Known ODST Units

 * 501st Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Division
 * 405th Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Division
 * 105th Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Division
 * 2nd Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Battalion
 * 7th Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Battalion
 * First Platoon
 * 340th Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Combat Training Unit
 * Echo Team
 * Kilo Team
 * 105th Drop Jet Platoon
 * Alpha Team

Trivia

 * ODSTs only appear in five levels in the Halo series. These levels are Cairo Station and Delta Halo (Halo 2), The Ark, The Covenant, and Cortana (dead in Cortana and Cairo Station). The nature of the dead ODST in the Flood infested High Charity on the level Cortana is unknown. (He is carrying a flamethrower in a hall off the main route). However, if one reads the book Halo: the Flood, one notices that some of the soldiers referenced as "Helljumpers," in the book appear to have combat uniforms and armor of regular UNSC Marines.
 * According to Halo: First Strike, ODST's wear and sport normal Marine uniforms during the Battle of Installation 04, rather than their space suits.
 * In Halo: Uprising, when they drop off the Hornets, they use a sort of cable they keep inside their belt, much like Star Wars' Stormtroopers.
 * On the right side of an ODST's body armor is a Chinese character which, when translated, means roughly "Complete Bad Ass", a reference to the ODSTS' hardcore attitude. Next to the character is the marathon symbol. Putting these symbols together spells the Chinese word "混蛋", also meaning "Badass" or "Bastard".
 * The ODST with the Flamethrower has a Marathon symbol on his chest, which is found on the level "Cortana."
 * ODSTs can also be deployed in Long Range HEVs or "Para-sails" from long distances away from the planet, these can also be under stealth cover.
 * The ODSTs are very similar to the Mobile Infantry from Robert Heinlen's Novel Starship Troopers, in that they use drop pods to reach a planet's surface, and they sport a fully-sealed body suit. However, they are deployed very differently to the Mobile Infantry, working in conventional squads instead of each trooper being spread out over many miles.
 * Onboard the UNSC Carrier Atlas, Spartan-117 had a confrontational moment with four ODSTs in the ship's gym. John had removed a pin from the weights at the bench press, and forgot to put it back. The ODSTs walked into the gym and went straight to the bench press. The weights fell and almost crushed one of the soldiers' foot. A fight ensued and John killed two of the ODSTs and severely injured the others. Ever since then, relations between the Spartans and the ODSTs have been tensed and uneasy. . This does not seem to stop them from working to their utmost efficiency during the Battle of Installation 00.
 * The ODST shoulderpieces greatly resemble the Elite Assault shoulders.
 * There is an ODST helmet Armor permutation in multi-player that is unlocked by gaining enough experience to be a Spartan Recruit.
 * In Halo: The Fall of Reach, it is stated that the infamous 105th had a reputation for brutality even against fellow soldiers.
 * Before the SPARTANS came, the ODSTs were the best of the UNSC Armed Forces.
 * In the Halo 3 level The Ark, the three ODST soldiers appear to have rank stripes on their arms, red and white, with red appearing to be the squad leader amongst them.
 * In Halo 2, there was going to be a cutscene called A Day at the Beach about an ODST squad fighting a squad of Covenant after their Pelican was shot down by the Scarab but it was replaced by another one which focused more on the Master Chief, however it is featured in a multiplayer map pack disc.
 * On Bungie.net there are many ODST groups, The ODST 119th Division, being one of them shows how popular the ODST have gotten since Halo 2.
 * If an Infection Form gets inside an ODST, Flood blood and human blood will leak from the armor, he will stumble about like a regular Marine, but Flood flesh won't grow like it does on a regular Marine, and once he collapses, he'll suddenly turn into a Combat Form with regular Marine armor.
 * In Halo: The Flood, the soldiers on the beach and at the start of the assault on the Truth and Reconciliation with SPARTAN-117 are written as ODSTs. However, in the game, they are Marines.
 * ODSTs are known to be active in Halo: Combat Evolved, although the idea didn't start until Halo 2. However, it is possible they are the Marines with helmets and eye gear, due to the levels you are aided by ODSTs in Halo: Combat Evolved, including The Truth and Reconciliation and The Silent Cartographer.
 * The ODST saying "Feet first into Hell" is similar to the marines in the movie Aliens saying "Express elevator to Hell".
 * More importantly, the 105th mirrored forms the 501st, and the 501st Parachute Battalion, formed in the Fall of 1940 and first commanded by Major William M. Miley, was the first combat parachute battalion in the US Army. While the ODSTs may have roots going back to the US Army 75th Ranger Regiment, the concept surely originated with the Parachute Infantry.
 * ODST's make there first visual appearance in Halo 2, but are first mentioned in the book Halo: The Fall of Reach.
 * There is a possibility that in the upcoming Halo game Keep it Clean, you will play as a UNSC ODST Commander.

Related Articles

 * Human Entry Vehicle
 * United Nations Space Command
 * UNSC Marine Corps
 * UNSC Military Units