James Ackerson

Colonel James Ackerson, also known by the alias Codename: SURGEON, is a UNSC Army commissioned officer who is assigned to Section Three in the Office of Naval Intelligence as a liaison officer. He enlisted into the UNSC Army and served in an Airborne Division and Ranger Division before attending an Officer Candidate School. Ackerson commissioned into the UNSC Army in XXXX, where he served in the infantry branch and commanded at many positions throughout the Insurrection. In 2516, he was assigned to a Unified Special Warfare Command special project named Project: TITAN. He served as a project operations officer and deputy project director. He served in an officer exchange program with the Office of Naval Intelligence and ultimately led him to creating the SPARTAN-III Project.

Starting in 2531, Colonel Ackerson served as the Project Director of the SPARTAN-III Project and amassed political power. He joined UNSC High Command's Special Weapons Development program and often sat alongside the leaders as a representative of ONI. Following his reassignment to Mars, he commanded a brigade during the Battle for Mars and Earth in support of the Battle of Sol System. Following the end of the Human-Covenant War, Ackerson was reassigned to ...

Early life
James Ackerson was born into a military family in Manassas, Reach on 12 June 2483. One of the parents was a local (urban/military Reacher, not indigenous Reavian), the other from Sol?

Early military career
At age 17, James enlisted into the UNSC Army. Completing basic and advanced training at Unified Combined Military Bootcamp - Manassas, he joined the 143rd Airborne Division as a rifleman in 2500. Not long after, James was assigned to a long-range surveillance platoon to serve as a radio operator by 2501. He completed one deployment to Eridanus II from 2501 to 2503 and participated in counter-insurgency operations to quarrel the growing Insurrection threat. Returning from Eridanus II in 2504, James completed the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program 1 to join the 212th Ranger Division by 2505. He served as an assistant team leader and team leader of a pathfinder platoon while deployed to Mamore. James rose to the rank of Sergeant by 2506 and received an opportunity to attend an Officer Candidate School on Reach.

After graduating from the Reach UNICOM Academy, James was commissioned into the UNSC Army as a Second Lieutenant and was assigned to the 143rd Airborne Division as a rifle platoon leader and pathfinder platoon leader on Reach between 2510 and 2512. He deployed once on Reach to support counter-insurgency operations against the People's Occupation. He then transferred to the 212th Ranger Division after completing Ranger Assessment and Selection Program 2 where he served as a rifle company executive officer and rifle company commander till 2515 where he supported Operation: TREBUCHET on Eridanus II. James completed the Infantry Advanced Officers Course and was assigned to a Unified Special Warfare Command, Special Warfare Group 39 as a ground operations officer for one rotation. Following a duty assignment with Special Warfare Group 39, he was assigned to Project: TITAN where he served in a biochemical augmentation military project supported by Unified Ground Command in 2516. During his time, he served as the deputy selection officer, battalion operations officer, battalion commander, and deputy project operations officer. After serving as a deputy project operations officer, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and served as the deputy project director in 2524.

In 2525, James was selected to participate in an officer exchange program and joined the Office of Naval Intelligence in a temporary duty post. Under Section Three, he was assigned to the Black Operations Group alongside the Covert Operations Division as a deputy group commander. He assisted in planning and executing special projects to support Operation: TREBUCHET. Under the Black Operations Group, he met Captain Aaron Gibson and Rear Admiral Ned Rich later in the Covert Operations Division.

The Covenant War
Following the start of the Human-Covenant War, James transferred to the special projects directorate under the Covert Operations Division. There, he learned about the SPARTAN-II Program under Dr. Catherine Halsey and brainstormed his own after his experiences with Project TITAN till 2528. He joined the Section Three staff as an Army Detail Officer under the command of Vice Admiral (Insert Name Here) to assist with assigning Army personnel to Section Three of the Office of Naval Intelligence. James was then recruited into the Chief of Office of Naval Intelligence Staff where he served as the deputy of the special projects office by 2530. Close to Admiral Margaret Parangosky, James arranged a meeting with Rear Admiral Ned Rich and Captain Aaron Gibson to pitch his idea of a new SPARTAN Project.

Aboard the UNSC Point of No Return in 2531, James formalized his plan of the SPARTAN-III Project and began working closely with his partners in the Covert Operations Division. He became the Project Director of the SPARTAN-III Project and began building the project under the Black Operations Group with a black budget. Becoming too big under the Black Operations Group, James created the Asymmetrical Action Group under the Beta-5 Division and began building his command group. After building his own command, he was assigned to Admiral Parangosky's staff as a special duty officer and reported directly to her on the status of the SPARTAN-III Project. Throughout the project, James oversaw the development and employment of Alpha and Beta Company. To grow his political power, he placed SPARTAN-III teams under the command of Colonel Urban Holland, someone he previously commanded during his tenure in Project: TITAN. In 2543, he joined the UNSC High Command Special Weapons Development program where he served under Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb. During the training of Gamma Company, James was given the green light to activate Delta Company and began recruiting in 2551.

In the final year of the Human-Covenant War, James became involved in handling UNSC Security Council matters. He was briefly reassigned by Cortana following a training incident in August then reinstated by Admiral Margaret Parangosky while also being called on to lead the Special Weapons Development program. Following the UNSC Security Council meeting on November 4, James was reassigned back to Unified Ground Command and to the 462nd Infantry Division, 463rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team as a Brigade Commander on Mars due to his insubordination. During the Mars Campaign, James distinguished himself in the Battle of Katagalugan by coordinating counter-attacks against the Covenant. However, his command and control center was hit by a Covenant bomb and he was medevaced to a field hospital and later to the (Insert Hospital Name Here). After being released, James reported to the Point of No Return to assist with the defense of the Sol system.

Wounded in action on Mars (limb loss/other serious injury?). Captured, even, but rescued? (Tide had an idea for a with a Gamma team deploying to rescue him). Out of action for the rest of the war. Writing about Cole on the Point of No Return in late December 2552.

Post-war career
Still out of action for a while (a few months, maybe), doesn't directly participate in ops like FORTRESS SIEGE and the retake of Soell - keeps planning his next move, especially since he sees things are changing in ONI; Parangosky is losing it, and Ackerson knows there's going to be a house-cleaning soon so he tries to downplay his association to her. Mostly doing behind-the-scenes political maneuvering for much of 2553.


 * Search for Cole - probably in the back burner for a while, but it's something he's thinking about. He may assign COALMINER or someone else on it, relates to UNSC op to recontact remote or war-era independent colonies.
 * S-III Delta Company - political troubles with funding and new ONI management, threat of cancellation with loss of Onyx, but manages to still get it going (with fewer trainees or augmentees due to budget cuts - ie maybe 100 or less augmented). Sells Delta to ONI as an augmentation and armor test project (Parangosky is still around at this point to get it started). Keeps AAG armor development projects going and snatches some more data from the likewise de-funded Project MJOLNIR while Halsey is away and Stanforth is dead. New associates; however, most of the original S-III project staff were out-system while Onyx happened due to the transitional phase between Gamma and Delta, and survived. People like Mendez, Tom, Lucy and Halsey are still assumed dead along with Kurt as of early to mid 2553 (exact date of return TBA, assume they're not back when Delta is kicked off). Ackerson eventually leaves S-III over differences with the project head, and moves on to bigger and better things.
 * New Army augmentation/armor project to rival HOPLITE? Though likely not as successful. TITAN-II? Brings in some lessons learned from TITAN and S-III. Not kids this time around, but also not Spartan-tier; more about endurance and reliance on heavy armor (ATLAS), high tech, support drones, squad/platoon/company coordination? Possibly relates to Army Airborne's VALKYRIE (resilience/endurance/sensory processing) & Marines' CENTURION (sensory processing/battlespace awareness - improvements from which likely percolates throughout other branches in post-war years, synergize with other projects, etc). Ackerson might focus on this after Delta.
 * Build up Ackerson's other associates. Holland is probably dead, but there must be other people he's gathered in his inner circle around the way.
 * What's going on with Nick Strauss and Ackerson? Why is a Major General cowed by him and how can he even intimidate him? The obvious answer is Ackerson's pull in ONI + Possible blackmail & favors - e.g. Spartan-IIIs and company castoff spec ops teams handed out to the Army as gifts, along with data on augmentations - hence postwar Army aug program.
 * Gryunjalla - BRICKLAYER was interested in looking into them and possibly making contact, so Ackerson will want to keep tabs on that, but it's probably not a major project for him.
 * Opinions on the Schismatic alliance & Treaty of Arusha: A grim necessity, maybe, but he's skeptical about things like continued joint operations. He's smart enough not to start actively undermining the treaty because he's already pissed off Hood enough, but he does want things hidden from the Elites, and is dubious at best on economic integration with the post-Covenant collective, fearing the Arbiter may use soft power to make the UNSC dependent or even undermine the UNSC's power over humanity.
 * Opinions on the Phoenix Initiative: He doesn't like it, finds it a weird compromise when the UNSC could've just stayed in charge until things stabilize again. Maybe just a few years. Or maybe a few decades. And he's not alone in this in the UNSC's officer corps - over the Insurrection and the HCW there was a general distrust of democratic civilian governments that built up in Ackerson's generation, and transferred over to many of their successors. But people like Hood are old-school, as was Stanforth, and so they still see the UNSC as an appendage of a civilian body first and foremost.

Relationships
Had a wife (fellow military?) and at least one child + one extramarital child. (+ a previous marriage, maybe) Child was estranged from father (went to the Navy?). Wife filed for a divorce in September 2552 (she was based in the Sol system, possibly Earth); her fate?

Associates/agents like COALMINER and BRICKLAYER.