SPARTAN-III program

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"We don't know what they're capable of. Stick with the by-the-book drills and we'll never find out either. But put them in an impossible situation, and maybe they'll surprise us."
— Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose

"Short definition of a Spartan."
— Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez

The SPARTAN-III Program was an Office of Naval Intelligence, Section-III, Beta-5 Division program to produce cheap and expendable super soldiers to fight for the survival of Humanity and the UNSC colonies.

Introduction

The SPARTAN-III Program was the successor and replacement to the Spartan-II Program. Engineered by Colonel Ackerson of the Office of Naval Intelligence, the SPARTAN-III soldiers (S-IIIs) were to be the next generation of super soldiers. Composed primarily of vengeful orphans from fallen colonies, [1] they would be cheaper to arm, train, and produce; chosen from a wider pool of candidates, and more numerous than their SPARTAN-II predecessors. They would rely on superior battle tactics, teamwork, and stealth rather than technology and equipment, to achieve their effectiveness.[2]

Purpose

The SPARTAN-II program had been a dazzling success for the UNSC. Tales of Spartan super soldiers fighting off thousands of Covenant attacks had become tales of legend. Unfortunately, there were too few Spartan-IIs to turn the tide of the war. Even worse, the director for the program, Dr. Catherine Halsey, had postponed the training of new Spartan-IIs for years due to the extremely specific genetic requirements for the children to be selected (this was one of Ackerson's issues with the program among others).

The SPARTAN-II program also had several problems and deficiencies which overshadowed its success to ONI. Firstly, the high mortality rate of the children during augmentation was counterproductive to the purpose, drive, and ambition of the program. Next, funding the Spartan program, plus their MJOLNIR Armor and training for the Spartans cost as much as a Battle Group, at least according to Captain Rich. Third, there were far too few of them for them to turn the tide of the war. Finally, the Spartan-II program had gone public for morale. Even though it was a huge morale boost to the UNSC, it was a problem for most of ONI. ONI operated in secrecy, and anything that shone light on their operations was seen as detrimental to their efforts.

The Spartan-III's were designed to be better trained, cheaper, and expendable. They would be trained in companies of 300 to 330 at a time, and then sent on suicide missions that the UNSC could not accomplish even with the elite ODSTs. Though the casualty rates of the S-III's stood at 100 percent on some missions, to ONI, all the operations were successes. They were trading lives for time against the larger and technologically superior Covenant Empire. ONI hoped that in time, enough Spartans would survive to train more and more future Spartans, swelling the ranks of available super soldiers from only thirty Spartan-II's in 2531 to a hundred thousand S-III's within ten to twenty years.[2]

Augmentation Procedures

Main article: Project CHRYSANTHEMUM

The Spartan-IIIs underwent enhancement procedures similar to those of the Spartan-IIs, but with higher success rates and much better final results due to the advances in technology. The rate of survival went up from 44% for the Spartan-IIs to 100% for the Spartan-IIIs.

SPI Armor

Semi-Powered Infiltration Armor, colloquially called "SPI Armor", was a powered armor system used by the Spartan-III's. Though far more advanced and far more powerful than the ODST Body Suits, it was less advanced and less powerful than the MJOLNIR Armor used by the Spartan-IIs. Its main benefit was that it was drastically cheaper to produce than the MJOLNIR armor. This armor was designed with an emphasis on stealth rather than raw power. It features photo-reactive panels that mimic the surrounding textures, which was developed by UNSC scientists. It has been described as "part legionnaire mail, part tactical body armor, and part chameleon." Though it lacks the energy shielding of the Mark V and VI MJOLNIR armor designs, an emphasis is put on mobility. A single "splash" from an enemy plasma weapon melts the suit's photo-reactive panels, rendering its camouflage capabilities useless. This new armor isn't "overly" powerful and a couple direct hits with plasma can burn through multiple layers of the armor, causing harm to the wearer. The Spartan-IIIs augment their protection, when possible, by confiscating Jackal Arm Shields from dead enemies, which are better capable of protecting their less bulky armor and smaller size than a Spartan-II.

Similarities can be noted between the SPI armor and the EVA armor permutation in Halo 3, especially in the helmet design and shape. These similarities, however, are purely aesthetic.

Spartan-III Roster

Alpha Company

Beta Company

Gamma Company

Headhunters

Operational History

The Operational History of the Spartan-III Program has been marked by success and tragedy. Many of the operations undertaken by the soldiers were suicide missions, but were listed as successes by the UNSC.

2536 - 2537

2539

  • Candidates for SPARTAN-III Beta Company is selected.

2545

2545 – 2552

  • Candidates for Spartan-III Gamma Company is selected.
  • October 31, 2552 - November 3, 2552 – Battle of Onyx

Spartan-III Companies

Alpha Company

Main article: Alpha Company

On December 27, 2531, the first group of Spartan-III's, known as Alpha Company, were sent to Onyx to be trained. Of the 497 candidates conscripted, only 300 became Spartans. This class of Spartans all survived the augmentations and was activated in November of 2536. Their record was at first exemplary, as they saw action at the insurrection of Mamore, the Battle of New Constantinople, and the Bonanza Asteroid Belt. Nine months after they were activated, they were massacred in Operation: PROMETHEUS. All of the three-hundred Spartans on the mission were killed. The only fire team mentioned for Alpha Company is Team Wolf Pack.[4]

Beta Company

Main article: Beta Company

Beta Company was approved right after Operation: PROMETHEUS in 2537. 418 candidates were conscripted in 2539, but only 300 became Spartans. Kurt-051 was disheartened at the loss of his first Spartans, and trained this group in unit cohesiveness along with a tougher training program. Though they were even better trained than the previous Spartans, they were similarly massacred in Operation: TORPEDO in 2545. Only two members from the entire company survived the battle.[5]

Gamma Company

Main article: Gamma Company

Gamma Company was trained with the help of the only two surviving Spartan-IIIs from Beta Company: Spartan-B292 and Spartan-B091. Gamma Company was said by Kurt to be the finest of the Spartan-III companies ever. 330 candidates were selected, on average only six years old; and at the request of Kurt, all 330 were approved. Every one of them survived the augmentation procedures.[6] Gamma Company received deployment orders only a few weeks after the First Battle of Reach, and most left Onyx before the Battle of Onyx.[7] Left on Onyx were only fifteen Spartan-IIIs who were competing for top honors. By the time the Battle of Onyx was over, seven had been killed in action. Teams Gladius and Katana were not present in the early stages of the battle, leaving only Team Saber. Team Saber was the only Spartan-III unit to fight alongside the Spartan-II unit Blue Team. With the help of their older, more experienced counterparts, they successfully fought off a Covenant attack along with destroying a Sentinel manufacturing facility. In the end, the surviving Spartan-IIIs had to escape to the Shield World.[8] The Spartan-IIIs' fates who left Onyx before the battle are unknown.

Delta Company

Main article: Delta Company

Delta Company was proposed, and Camp Currahee was being prepared for their arrival when the Battle of Onyx occurred in 2552. With the death of Spartan-051 and the disappearance of SCPO Mendez and Dr. Catherine Halsey, as well as the immediate concerns of the Battle of Earth and the partial destruction of the Onyx Shield World, it is unlikely that Delta Company will ever be trained.

Surviving Spartan-IIIs

Trivia

  • The naming convention of the Spartan-III Companies follows the Greek alphabet (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, etc). Each individual Spartan-III's identifier becomes A,B or G (Letter of Company), followed by a three-digit number between 001 and 300, such as Ash-G099. This numbering system is very much like that of the Spartan-IIs.
  • The SPI helmet seems to be one of the main inspirations of the EVA Armor Permutation in Halo 3.
  • For some reason, Ash-G099 was referred to as a Private. This may suggest that the SPARTAN-IIIs were actually Marine-esque personnel. Evidence of this includes the use of HEVs like the ODSTs, and their only known combat experience being ground-ops.
  • The number of 300 SPARTAN IIIs in both Alpha and Beta companies, who were both massacred but completed their missions and took many of The Covenant with them (with the exception of Tom and Lucy in Beta, who survived) is likely a reference to the Last Stand of The 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae.

Sources

  1. ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx page 70
  2. ^ a b Halo: Ghosts of Onyx pages 44 - 48
  3. ^ Letter from Eric Nylund
  4. ^ a b c Halo: Ghosts of Onyx pages 83 - 88 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Page 83" defined multiple times with different content
  5. ^ Prologue of Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
  6. ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx pages 96 - 120
  7. ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx page 139
  8. ^ a b Halo: Ghosts of Onyx page 369-383

See Also

v • d • e
 
Spartan-IIIs

v • d • e
 
The SPARTAN programs and related topics
Training and protocol
Technology
Non-UNSC super soldiers
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