SPARTAN-III program

The SPARTAN-III program was a UNSC supersoldier project created by Colonel James Ackerson and carried out in secret by the Office of Naval Intelligence's Beta-5 Division under the Asymmetrical Action Group. Using a streamlined augmentation process built on the pioneering work of Dr. Catherine Halsey on the SPARTAN-II program years prior, the SPARTAN-IIIs would be a mass-produced solution cheaper than their forebears, trading expensive top-of-the line equipment for large numbers. Most Spartan-IIIs were issued the Semi-Powered Infiltration Armor as their standard combat armor, though a number would later receive MJOLNIR armor.

Initially conceived as a stopgap measure against the overwhelming Covenant threat, many Spartan-IIIs would go on to survive the war. The program was based on the sequestered world Onyx until its destruction in November 2552.

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.

''Born between 2525-2528; Trained between 2532-2536. Teams named after animal themes, e.g. collective nouns for groups of animals)
 * 1) Sonam-A031 - Part of Team Cobra, KIA during Operation: PROMETHEUS.
 * 2) Robert-A057 - Part of Team Wolfpack, KIA during Operation: PROMETHEUS.
 * 3) Shane-A112 - Part of Team Wolfpack, KIA during Operation: PROMETHEUS.
 * 4) Bruno-A141 - Second company leader, part of Team Rhinoceros, KIA during Operation: PROMETHEUS.
 * 5) Jane-A203 - Part of Team Wolfpack, KIA during Operation: PROMETHEUS.
 * 6) Emile-A239 - Rank & age tweaked. Withdrawn from company during training; assigned to the Headhunters (likely tragic backstory with partner), later served with NOBLE Team; KIA during Fall of Reach
 * 7) Jun-A266 - Rank & age tweaked. Withdrawn from main company deployment due to augmentation complications; later rehabilitated and assigned to NOBLE Team; fate TBA, possibly survived the Fall of Reach
 * 8) Carter-A259 - Rank & age tweaked. Set apart for special duties shortly after company deployment; led NOBLE Team; KIA during Fall of Reach
 * 9) Marica-A288 - Leader of Team Cobra, KIA during Operation: PROMETHEUS.
 * 10) Thom-A293 - WIA in the Battle of New Constantinople; hospitalized and replaced by a company reservist during PROMETHEUS; later assigned to NOBLE Team, KIA during Battle of Fumirole
 * 11) Axton-A423 - Headhunter

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.

''Born between 2532-2534; Trained between 2538-2545. Teams named after UNSC Phonetic Alphabet.''


 * 1) Adam-B004 - KIA during Operation: TORPEDO
 * 2) Beatrix-B072 - Company Commander of Beta Company. Killed during Operation: TORPEDO.
 * 3) Matthew-B081 - First leader of ZULU team. KIA (2545)
 * 4) Lucy-B091 - Active as of 2565, ran through an officer course, serving as a Navy attaché
 * 5) Neo-B166 - Second team leader of ZULU team. Killed during Operation: TORPEDO
 * 6) SPARTAN-B170 - Deployed in advance prior to Operation: TORPEDO for deep reconnaissance; later served in SWG3's Gauntlet Team.
 * 7) Min-B174 - KIA during Operation: TORPEDO
 * 8) Paige-B203 - Former member of team ZULU. Briefly 'retired' after the war, returned to active duty in 2560.
 * 9) Roland-B210 - Headhunter, KIA (2551)
 * 10) Ricardo-B257 - Member of ZULU team. KIA during Operation: TORPEDO
 * 11) Jonah-B283 - Headhunter, KIA (2551)
 * 12) Tom-B292 - Active as of 2565, ran through an officer course, serving as a Navy attaché
 * 13) SPARTAN-B312 - Rank tweaked. Withdrawn from Beta Company as a solo operator by Col. Ackerson pre-deployment; served with NOBLE Team; KIA during Fall of Reach (2552)
 * 14) Katharine-B320 [sic] - Rank & age tweaked. Withdrawn from Beta Company following Operation: CARTWHEEL on the basis of combat injury; assigned to NOBLE Team; KIA during Fall of Reach. (2552)
 * 15) Rosenda-B344 - Part of augmented company reserve; later served in SWG3's specialist teams, including NOBLE and GAUNTLET. Fate TBD, possibly killed on Reach.

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.

''Born between 2538-2542; Trained between 2546-2552. Teams named after edged and bladed weapons.''


 * 1) Holly-G003 - Team Saber; KIA (2552)
 * 2) Jelena-G012 - Team Dagger; KIA (2552)
 * 3) Keiji-G066 - Team Dagger; WIA; medically discharged from active duty due to injury (2552)
 * 4) Maya-G067 - Team Halberd; active as of 2565
 * 5) Connor-G085 - Team Halberd; KIA (2552)
 * 6) Zahra-G098 - Team Dagger; active as of 2565
 * 7) Ash-G099 - Team Saber; active as of 2565
 * 8) Laura-G179 - Team Halberd; active as of 2565
 * 9) Dante-G188 - Team Saber; KIA (2552)
 * 10) Abraham-G195 - Team Halberd; active as of 2565
 * 11) Sigurd-G203 - Team Halberd; active as of 2565
 * 12) Flynn-G228 - Team Dagger; active as of 2565
 * 13) Olivia-G291 - Team Saber; active as of 2565
 * 14) Pavel-G311 - Team Dagger; MIA, assumed KIA (2552)
 * 15) Mark-G313 - Team Saber; active as of 2565


 * Team Gladius
 * Five Spartans; all KIA on Onyx (2552)


 * Team Katana
 * Five Spartans; placed in Forerunner stasis pods, status TBA/Reserved for future development

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 program had to relocate its base of operations.

Behind the scenes
In the Daybreak Continuum, the Spartan-III program's background is largely similar as in canon, though the reasons for non-company teams are more varied than is implicit in canon material since Reach. Rather than always being the best of their respective companies (since Halo already has enough "best of the best" characters as it is), the still-active "company castoffs" were mostly either part of the augmented company reserve (with Alpha & Beta), or were injured in one of the combat deployments prior to the "meat grinders" of PROMETHEUS and TORPEDO and pulled out for recovery whilst being replaced by Spartans from the company reserve. Most of these WIAs were too gravely injured to serve in combat duties, though a few made full recovery and served in off-company teams. The Headhunters exist but their context is slightly reimagined. Some Spartans were set apart because they were exceptional in some field, e.g. reconnaissance or leadership, and were handed out to various units as bargaining chips by James Ackerson to fuel his ambitions within ONI.

There were a few candidates in each company that dropped out fairly early due to total psychological unsuitability - mostly issues with enduring the training. Those who could not be used in other duties, even as base personnel or ONI agents (due to e.g. psychological instability or outright refusal) were likely discarded by other means; they may have e.g. been subjected to targeted amnesia to wipe their memories of Spartan training and dropped off in groups of refugees.

Trainees who didn't make it to the final companies but remained motivated usually became either trainers or were assigned to separate ONI black ops units. Some may have volunteered for experimental augmentation programs run in parallel with the S-III program (e.g. YOKAI, JAVELIN); most would likely have accepted the offer, bitter as they were over not becoming true Spartans, even if survival in offshoot efforts was not guaranteed. It's also possible that some were put into cryo to wait for a time there might be resources or need to augment them all. Still, there were several pseudo-Spartan spec ops teams, with few to no augmentations but Spartan-level training, operating during and after the war, mostly in ONI and NAVSPECWAR. These groups would be very much their own thing and might provide and interesting contrast to the S-IIIs that "made it".

There were a small number of medical washouts from Alpha Company (though very few as severe as in the S-II program, with no fatalities), and even fewer with Beta. Augmentation complications may have prevented some Spartans from being deployed with the main companies, though a small number may have been rehabilitated in later years. As the augmentation technology improved, success rate rose to 100% by Gamma Company. Note likely improvements in the augmentation process over the years; these would not be major, but they did happen.

Most of these off-company teams would still use SPI armor, as would some of the washout teams, though "off-brand" MJOLNIR suits produced for the Asymmetrical Action Group were procured for a handful of Spartan-IIIs in the war's final years.

The Headhunters receive minor adjustments to their background to shift the focus of their presentation from "elite of the elite" to simply being specialized in a different way. Namely, they were less of an outfit for the best-performing candidates and more of a side project reserved for candidates better-suited for work either solo or in pairs than full teams; in Daybreak's version, not all Headhunters work in pairs by default. Reasons for being set aside might include antisocial kids deemed incapable of functioning in larger teams, either because they were chronic bullies, extremely closed-off, or just emotionally immature to the extreme. Virtually all of the S-IIIs were traumatized and scrappy, and many had psychological issues, but some would've been actively detrimental to team cohesion even after multiple attempts to rehabilitate them. Such cases were usually spotted fairly early on, and picked out from the general company population accordingly. Those that could bear working with another similarly antisocial individuals were paired up, though many were also deployed alone. But few if any of them received any special equipment because being a Headhunter wasn't any particular honor, it was a sign you couldn't play with others.

The Spartan-IIIs' age brackets have been dialed back from Halo: Reach ' s personnel profiles to what was indicated in Ghosts of Onyx, meaning that the overwhelming majority of the candidates fell within the 4-6 year gap upon initiation. This also means we've readjusted some of the Noble Team members' ages to fit that bracket.