Michael Stanforth

Admiral Hieronymus Michael Stanforth III, generally known as Michael Stanforth and often called Harold by his close associates, was the former head of ONI Section Three during the early Human-Covenant War and flag officer of the UNSC Navy. He was killed during the Fall of Reach.

Early life and career
Stanforth was born on Earth to a privileged family with strong military traditions. His father, who shared his name, was a distinguished fleet officer in the UNSC Navy, and Michael was always expected to follow in his footsteps. His background was both a blessing and a curse, however. Early on in his career, Michael faced repeated suspicions of nepotism as well as comparisons to his father. He would later prefer to be known by his middle name, and many suspected this was due to him not wanting to live in his father's shadow. Within the UNSC's upper echelons, those who knew him would still frequently call him "Harold", evidently as a novel diminutive form of "Hieronymus".

He graduated as an unrestricted line officer from the Luna Officer Candidate Academy in 2485, and was first posted on the Constantinople. He distinguished himself repeatedly early on and rocketed through the ranks, where his professionalism and strategic talent made him respected by his crew. His first big break was the tracking and capture of an unmarked munitions freighter en route to Paradise Falls, which then led him to uncovering evidence of large-scale attempts conducted by the CMA to arm the population against the UNSC. What made it especially impressive was that he did not break protocol once during the operation - something which saw ONI approach him directly to recruit him into their ranks.


 * Gets inducted or influence in ONI. Either he joins CENTCOM and learns about them that way, or maybe Parangosky recruits him herself?
 * Becomes affiliated with Preston Cole. Maybe acts as his intelligence officer in CENTCOM?
 * Warns Cole about ONI in 2503, works to get him exonerated without any punishment. Was a Commander at that point. Becomes lifelong friend to him.
 * Gets out of FLEETCOM to work at ONI Section Three full-time. Heads a number of special projects, helps builds it up into the premier R&D group in the UNSC (probably wrked closely with the Section Chief at the time).
 * Obviously was the main proponent of the SPARTAN-II Program. Its success is probably what gets him promoted to Vice Admiral. Though he took on Dr. Halsey as a protege and kept her from harm's way, he was always careful not to let her know too much about what went on behind the scenes in ONI.
 * Serves as section head between 2526 - 2530.
 * Returns to FLEETCOM to bolster the defenses of the Inner Colonies. Helped propagate the Cole Protocol.
 * Maybe Parangosky saw him as a threat and subtly manipulated him to leave his post?
 * Need to work out exactly what he does between 2531 - 2552.

Personality

 * Good judge of character?
 * Need to work out flaws - maybe he's so dedicated to his work that he has neglected his family?

Skills

 * Brilliant strategist
 * Great at managing funds and keeping projects on track.