Military Assault Command Operations Military Assault Command Operations ( commonly abbreviated as MACO ) was a United Earth organization that existed as a part of the United Earth Military during the 2150s , prior to the founding of the Federation . The MACOs ( pronounced " MAY - ko " ) were not associated with Starfleet . As of 2153 , MACO tactics and technology were two to three years more advanced than those of Starfleet , but their combat expertise was initially limited to simulations conducted on Earth . ( ; ) The military official that oversaw the MACOs was General . ( ) MACO posts included Atlanta , Georgia and the Janus loop . Training posts included West Point in New York , as well as Jupiter Station for zero gravity / rifle training , and Luna for survival training . ( ) A detachment of troops commanded by Major J . Hayes was assigned to the Starfleet vessel for a mission into the Delphic Expanse in 2153 . Admiral Maxwell Forrest was surprised that Captain Jonathan Archer had requested military officers aboard his ship . ( ) When the MACOs first came aboard " Enterprise " , they certainly felt like outsiders , tasked to integrate with the ship ' s Starfleet contingent . ( ) The MACOs saw their first action six weeks into the mission ; in September , Hayes and a six - man team rescued Archer , Commander Tucker , and Kessick from the clutches of a trellium mining planet . ( ) By the end of their time in the Delphic Expanse , none of the MACOs aboard " Enterprise " felt like outsiders anymore . ( ) Following the foundation of the United Federation of Planets , the organization was disbanded , with personnel being offered Federation Starfleet commissions on a discretionary basis . The Federation Starfleet , just as its United Earth predecessor , continued to distance itself from the notion of being a military organization , causing deep conflict for at least one former MACO who donned a . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Mission patch . The MACO " Enterprise " mission patch depicted a shark . ( text commentary , ENT Season 3 DVD ) The mission patch was designed by Scenic Art Supervisor Michael Okuda . ( " " , p . 217 ) The patch was later used during the production of , modified to feature the name of the rather than " Enterprise " . The MACO patch was stenciled on the sides of PX70 motorcycle s used in the film and was printed onto T - shirts given to the cast and crew . MACOs after 2161 . There have been no references to any separate Earth military after the final MACO appearance in 2161 . There has only been one explicit mention of a Human holding an army rank after this point in history , and the officer in question – Colonel West – was shown to be a member of Starfleet in 2293 wearing a vice admiral ' s rank ( which would make him a lieutenant general in the army ) . Apocrypha . The novelization of " The Expanse " states that Captain Archer was initially uncomfortable with the notion of military personnel serving aboard " Enterprise " but reconciled himself to the idea , given that it seemed as if the MACOs would be beneficial to the search for the Xindi weapon . The same novelization also suggests that MACO be pronounced " Mah - co " rather than " May - co " , despite the latter being the commonly used canon pronunciation . In the " " Pocket ENT novel " Beneath the Raptor ' s Wing " , the " O " in MACO stands for " organization " instead of " operations , " making the MACOs ' proper title Military Assault Command Organization . According to the novel " The Needs of the Many " , MACOs continued to exist into the 25th century . In " Star Trek Online " , the MACOs are an elite Starfleet force , using the standard Starfleet ranks , rather than the army / marine style . They have allied with the Klingon Honor Guard to form Task Force Omega , for the purpose of fighting the resurgent Borg Collective . Starfleet player characters can obtain specialized MACO armor and weaponry through the completion of Special Task Force missions against the Borg . It is widely considered to be some of the most powerful ground equipment available .