Ned Rich

Rich was a high-ranking officer of the Office of Naval Intelligence and a Rear Admiral in 2531. He was the Covert Operations commander of Section Three, in charge of every field operation by ONI save the Spartan-II project of Dr. Catherine Halsey. He was born in 2491 but his hair had turned gray before he was 40 years old. In 2552, he would be 61 years old.

He was opposed to the Spartan-II program and Halsey because the project had achieved a level of success he never could have with his own projects. In 2531, he, Captain Gibson, and Vice Admiral Margaret O. Parangosky met with Colonel James Ackerson aboard the UNSC Point of No Return to discuss the creation of the Spartan-III program. Rich approved. In 2537, Rich and Parangosky authorized Beta Company to be created following the death of all Alpha Company Spartan-IIIs in Operation: PROMETHEUS.