Asymmetrical Action Group

The Asymmetrical Action Group is a top-secret special warfare group under the Office of Naval Intelligence, Section Three, Beta-5 Division. The Group is known to operate the SPARTAN-III program under the direct supervision of Colonel James Ackerson.

Creation
Following the meeting on the UNSC Point of No Return, Colonel Ackerson was authorized to start the SPARTAN-III Project under his command. Meeting with Section Three's Covert Operations Division, Colonel Ackerson submitted his request for the Asymmetrical Action Group to be stood up and under his direct control. With the approval of the group, Ackerson hid the SPARTAN-III Project within the unit and began recruiting personnel to help run and sustain the project. He submitted a roster of personnel from the Aerospace Force, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps to Vice Admiral Margaret Parangosky and she authorized teams to retrieve personnel across UNSC controlled space. He selected Onyx as the primary planet to conduct training after ruling out Reach due to the increased activity during the Human-Covenant War. Ackerson also made plans to retrieve a SPARTAN-II along with recruiting Franklin Mendez to create the training program and run it.

Personnel from the UNSC Medical Corps and ONI Section Three were brought in to create a database to track possible candidates and recruitment strategies. While the Medical Corps and Section Three went to work on creating the database, Ackerson met with personnel from the Watershed Group and offer them a contract to create Semi-Powered Infiltration armor and the facilities to house the SPARTAN-III Project. With contractors and personnel from the Watershed Group, they moved to construct the facilities first with help from a UNSC Army Engineering Brigade. Ackerson established three squadrons under the AAG known as the Asymmetric Action Squadron, Asymmetric Training and Tactics Squadron, and Asymmetric Operations Support Squadron. He changed the names of each squadron every three months to keep Section Zero unaware of what he was doing. With personnel arriving from their previous assignments, Ackerson stationed the AAG Command Detachment and squadron leaders except for the training and tactics on Reach, training and tactics were stationed on Onyx.

Alpha Company
Beginning training in December 2532, Alpha Company was the first generation of SPARTAN-III supersoldiers. It built off the data collected from the SPARTAN-II Program, but rather than be used against insurrection, they were purpose-built to combat the Covenant in large-scale confrontations, where they may have little in the way of support. As a result, they had been drilled extensively in direct-action engagements, with a significantly greater reliance on the larger company. Covert operations had also been trained into them, but this was a secondary concern. Budgetary restrictions meant that they were equipped with the less-effective SPI Mark I. One of the most important changes had been to recruit children who had been orphaned by the Covenant, giving them the motivation to complete their training and missions. Alpha Company was composed of 100 three-man teams, each named after an animal theme. It was structured as follows:
 * 6 platoons (50 Spartans each)
 * 4 squads per platoon (12 Spartans each)
 * 4 teams per squad (3 Spartans each)

Although it started off with 497 candidates, which were born between 2525 and 2528, only 300 were deployed as a complete unit due to budgetary issues. 28 more were augmented as part of the SPARTAN-III reserves, and replaced their peers when they were either wounded or killed in combat to maintain manpower strength. Six Spartans had been siphoned for use as Headhunters or lone-wolf operators. The others were not augmented, either because they washed out of the program due to injuries or forbidden from going through the Project CHRYSANTHEUM procedures. These individuals were either kept on Onyx to train the next class of SPARTAN-IIIs, brought in as staff for Beta-5's various projects, or conscripted as Ackerson's own security detail.

Graduating in late-2536, Alpha Company was first deployed in the Insurrection of Mamore, where they utterly crushed the rebel forces. They then went on to participate in ten other operations, where they won the battles of New Constantinople, the Far Gone Colony Platforms, and fought within the Bonanza Asteroid Belt. The Company was completely wiped out during Operation: PROMETHEUS in July 2537, where they succeeded at shutting down the Covenant shipyards at K7-49.

Beta Company
Building on Alpha Company's success, and given a larger budget, Beta Company began their training in 2538. Believing that the failure of the previous unit was down to a lack of trust between the Spartans and their commanders, and inexperience with prolonged combat, Beta's doctrine now pushed for a greater emphasis on teamwork and respect of the chain-of-command. This was backed up by a longer training schedule to further refine their skills, and an upgrade to the Series 1 SPI Mark II suit. It also brought in the first trial-by-fire exercises to prepare them for another mission like PROMETHEUS. This stricter adherence meant that Beta Company's teams could not be as fluid as they were in Alpha, and so they were strengthened to four Spartans each, which were named after a character in the phonetic alphabet. It was structured as follows:
 * 6 platoons (50 Spartans each)
 * 4 squads per platoon (12 Spartans each)
 * 3 teams per platoon

Beta Company was originally projected to be composed of 1,000 Spartans, but even with an expanded selection criteria, only 418 candidates were recruited, all born between 2532-2534. Of these, 300 Spartans once again made up the main company, with 36 others being augmented as part of their reserves, and another 12 for the Headhunters. For the first time, the teams assigned to the company reserves were authorized to be deployed on their own bespoke missions, which Kurt Ambrose abused in order to withdraw those he felt were wasted on suicide missions.

Beta Company graduated in late-2544, where they participated in numerous conflicts such as the Operation: CARTWHEEL. In July 2545, they were sent to Pegasi Delta to conduct Operation: TORPEDO to destroy a forward Covenant fuel refinery complex. Although they succeeded, this came at the cost of all but two of the 291 Spartans that reached the surface.

Gamma Company
The last SPARTAN-III unit created before the Covenant War ended, Gamma Company was trained between 2546 and 2552. They were by far the most hardest-pushed of the three companies, with an aggressive focus on surviving the extraordinarily dangerous missions which claimed their predecessors. While Kurt granted them the Series 2 SPI Mark II, he also altered the CHRYSANTHEUM procedures to include illegal brain mutagens, which allowed them to fight on with injuries which would normally incapacitate them. Their inclusion required a series of booster shots in order to be kept stabilized, and this caused significant issues for Gammas after the war.

Gamma Company started out with only 346 recruits, born between 2538-2542. Of these, ten washed out during training and six were recruited into the Headhunters. This meant that there were not enough candidates to justify the creation of a reserve group, and so all 330 remaining Spartans were augmented and assigned to the main unit. Unlike its predecessors, not a single recruit was killed or mauled by the augmentations.

Gamma Company's graduation was accelerated when the Fall of Reach occurred, and they were the first SPARTAN-III unit which was not deployed as a full unit. Three teams were held back on Onyx for a top honors program that would have seen the winning team given Mjolnir, while those that were deployed operated in groups of 100 Spartans each (Detachments Gyges, Briareus and Cottus), with the three other teams assigned for miscellaneous special duties. High-risk operations had been aborted fairly early into their service, with two-thirds of Gammas surviving the Human-Covenant War. They were then further split up among various assignments, playing a crucial part in the post-Covenant War years.

Delta Company
Delta Company was the last class to be was authorized, and their candidates had only just been collected when Onyx disintegrated at the end of the Human-Covenant War. This had deviated significantly to previous SPARTAN-III companies, as there was no more need for suicide soldiers with the fracturing of the Covenant, and so the project suffered badly from budget cuts.

Budget cuts meant that a full class of 300 Spartans was not possible, even though 379 candidates had already been collected, all born between 2546 to 2549. Out of the candidates, only 120 would end up being fully trained and augmented, with the rest shifted to other roles. Since the loss of Onyx, the remote colony of Argus V was used as the program's base of operations.

Organization
The Group is led by Colonel James Ackerson who oversees all operations across the organization. However, the Group is described by ONI Section Zero to be a deep state where units and the name of the Asymmetrical Action Group consistently change. The Group is considered to staff around 2,000 to 2,500 by Section Zero analysis with the majority of members from the UNSC Armed Forces and a small number of contractors and civilians. Unlike other units, the Asymmetrical Action Group is capable of reporting to the Chief of Office of Naval Intelligence. There are six major units organized under the Asymmetrical Action Group who report directly to the Command Detachment.
 * Asymmetric Action Squadron 01
 * Asymmetric Action Squadron 02
 * Asymmetric Operations Support Squadron
 * Asymmetric Intelligence Support Squadron
 * Asymmetric Training and Tactics Squadron
 * Asymmetric Research and Development Squadron

Action Squadron 01 holds all field-ready SPARTAN-III supersoldiers ready to deploy. There are four detachments under the squadron named Detachment 01, 02, 03, and 04 where each SPARTAN-III program is assigned to after graduation. 01 held Alpha Company, 02 held Beta Company, 03 holds Gamma Company, and 04 holds Delta Company. Action Squadron 02 holds all SPARTAN-III supersoldiers not assigned to Squadron 01. Their assignments can include Non-Company teams, Headhunters, Remote Contact Teams, and other assignments. The Operations and Intelligence Support Squadron provide analysts, operations specialists, planners, and operations officers to help with planning and executing augmented special warfare operations. The Training and Tactics Squadron includes the recruitment, training, and augmentation procedures during a SPARTAN-III program. The Research and Development Squadron includes personnel from around the UNSC and UNSC defense corporations to provide material and technologies to equip the personnel under the SPARTAN-III Program.