The Office of Naval Intelligence is responsible for UNSC signals intelligence (SIGINT), human intelligence (HUMINT), counter-espionage, propaganda, and top-secret research and development programs. The agency mostly operates independently of other UNSC branches, and at times it contravenes the law and UNSC protocol to complete top-secret missions. ONI's Commander-in-Chief (CINCONI), is Admiral Serin Osman, successor and protegé to Margaret Parangosky. As it is responsible for intelligence matters across the UNSC, ONI employs members of other military branches, and even civilians, to complete the division's shadowy work. Many of its functions and subdivisions, like the Beta-5 Division and the SPARTAN-II and SPARTAN-III programs, are enigmatic, and its personnel are regarded as mysteries by mainstream naval officers. ONI is technically subordinate to the UNSC Naval Command. In practice, however, ONI's activities extend far beyond intelligence gathering, and often receives mandates and directives from HIGHCOM itself. It is also not unheard of for ONI to operate without HIGHCOM's knowledge or official authorization, as was the case with Kilo-Five's mission; indeed, CINCONI is often considered to hold real power within the UNSC. All other competing intelligence services have been snuffed out long ago to ensure ONI's supremacy - the AI Black-Box states that "...there are no rival agencies. We castrated them all. Left them cowering in our shadow". ONI has an unusually large amount of military equipment for an intelligence service, and has a strong fleet presence. For example, ONI maintains joint control of the Navy's postwar flagship, UNSC Infinity, and holds considerable sway over its crew. ONI also maintains the UNSC's prowler fleet, a major source of Covenant deployment intelligence, under the auspices of the UNSC Prowler Corps. The Office of Naval Intelligence possesses a destroyer-class prowler, the UNSC Point of No Return, which is used as a command vessel and a secure conference location. ONI also manages field intelligence with units such as ONI Recon 111 liaising with mainstream UNSC military units. ONI exerts virtually complete control over the flow of information across the space territories under UNSC control. Over the course of humanity's colonial era, a number of scattered alien artifacts built by a long-vanished civilization later to be known as the Forerunners were discovered. ONI secretly concealed all of these findings and maintained a monopoly on xenoarchaeological research into them; any civilian scientists studying the artifacts would be drafted by ONI. In order to prevent information from leaking to the public, ONI is capable of initiating system-wide data purges which erase all information on a given subject. A noted example of this is Onyx, originally surveyed as an ideal world for human settlement but erased from all UEG databases by ONI due to the alien technology discovered there. Is ONI one happy family? Oh, please. We've got four divisions, officially, and only one of them knows that we've actually got more than that. There's Section Two—made up of psyops and PR, who each kid themselves they're not like the other at all—which tells the lies; Section Zero, which thinks it spies on everyone else, tells lies to Section Two, and thinks it tells lies to Sections One and Three; Section One does stuff we can almost talk about, the interface with other branches; and Section Three does the stuff we can't talk about or else it would have to kill everyone in fascinating and groundbreaking new ways. Technically, you're not a numbered section at all. You're the praetorian guard for CINCONI, in a way, and we just call CINCONI's staff Core Four, although it's actually in Core Five of Bravo-6, and DCS reports directly to it. You'll note I didn't mention HIGHCOM, and that's because all ONI sections lie to HIGHCOM and tell it that it's the most powerful body on Earth, which generally works well at keeping the old buffers convinced that they make the decisions. Now, are you confused? I certainly hope so, because that's my mission. Tier Zero Tier Zero The most secretive section, Tier Zero's existence is not general knowledge outside ONI. Details of its role and operations are limited. Based on the records of an AI named Melissa, it is thought to be ONI Internal Affairs, charged with rooting out and eliminating illegal programs. It is very discreet in its work. The true nature and activities of Section Zero are highly classified and unknown outside the ONI command hierarchy. Zero is, essentially, an internal investigations division that polices other ONI activities. This section has gained notoriety as the section that keeps and maintains sealed SPARTAN-I Program file archives, including Avery Johnson's. As Internal Affairs it enforces the rules and ensures standards are met. It is authorized to use lethal force in the course of its operations. Tier One Tier One is the proper intelligence-gathering branch of ONI. As such, its services are most often utilized by UNSC forces. Its responsibilities include information gathering and codebreaking. Information released by Section One includes evacuation notices for colony worlds and Covenant force deployments. Tier two Tier Two is the propaganda branch of ONI; they are also responsible for psychological operations It handles communication between colonies to reduce the spread of rumors and information that would damage morale. It was responsible for releasing details of the SPARTAN-II program to the public to boost morale throughout UEG territory. Once information about the Spartans was released to the public, Section Two had to maintain the Spartans' near-mythical status within the military by listing those killed in action as MIA. It was believed that news of Spartan deaths would cripple the UNSC's already-flagging morale. Tier Two is also responsible for broadcasting pre-recorded human carrier signals from various locations into slipspace to confuse Covenant triangulation technology, preventing them from discovering Earth. Tier Three Tier Three is the top-secret projects division of ONI. It is responsible for the SPARTAN-II and SPARTAN-III programs and many other black operations. Though a few of Section Three's programs are well-known and are widely celebrated for their success, the Marine Corps and top brass of the UNSC treat most with contempt. This is especially true of the Spartans, who are regarded as "freaks" by some humans. Though its overall purpose is unknown, Section Three's Beta-3 Division is known to analyze captured Covenant technology such as the Kig-Yar point defense gauntlet. In addition to performing black operations, Section Three's Beta-5 Division operates the SPARTAN-III program, which is kept secret from the majority of Section Three. This compartmentalization is designed to ensure secrecy and security. The Delta-6 Division has oversight of a unknown number of SPARTAN-IVs in stealth operations, including counterinsurgency missions. ONI Signal Corps Main article: ONI Signal Corps The Signal Corps is tasked with broadcasting radio signals in order to confuse Covenant fleet and troop movements, diverting attention from UNSC Colonies that are evacuating. ONI Security ONI Security is the Office of Naval Intelligence's security force recruited from the UNSC Army and UNSC Marine Corps. They provide security for sensitive locations such as Ivanoff Research Station and various sites on Requiem. Known ONI Personnel DNI LP Spearhead AMD LOCUS (Section III) ADM Margaret Orlenda Parangosky ADM Serin Osman VADM Kopano N'Singile VADM Hieronymus Michael Stanforth RDML Ned Rich CAPT Veronica Dare (Section I) CAPT Aaron G. Gibson (Section III) CAPT Corinthia Hansen CAPT Lucius R. Jiron CAPT Moreland COL James Ackerson Col. Herzog CDR Hadley CDR Orez CDR Jerome G. Ortega LCDR Fhajad-084 LCDR Jack Hopper LCDR Jilan al-Cygni Maj. Akio Watanabe Maj. John Smith (Section III) Maj. Standish LT Demos LT Elias Haverson LT Wagner 1st Lt. Richard Lionel Barclay WO Lawson Cpl. Jason Morelli Avi (Section 0) Connor Brien Clarence (Section III) Dr. Catherine Halsey (Section III) Mat Kowalski Josh Smith Rani Sobeck (Section I) John Sullivan (Section II) Codename: COALMINER Codename: JACKBOOT Codename: SURGEON (Section III) Codename: USUAL SUSPECTS Echo23023 Field Officer 227-112b Field Officer 345-104b Field Officer 345-261b Mike44236 Special Officer 223-212a Unidentified Beta-5 Division operative Unidentified officer (DD-933) Jameson Locke