Cerberus Squad

## Background

Operation Cerberus was created by CIA officer William Rawlins & Major Ray Schoonover to capture, interrogate & kill high-value targets. The operation would be carried out by Cerberus Squad, a team of elite US soldiers & would be centered in Kandahar.

Unbeknownst to the squad, these missions were not only illegal but were unsanctioned by United States Congress or the CIA, who Rawlins claimed were fine with it. The interrogations were led by Rawlins, who used torture to extract information & often involved the execution of the captive once the info was obtained.

Since Operation was illegal & did not have congressional approval, Rawlins & Schoonover decided to use heroin trafficking to finance the operation. Together, they smuggled large amounts of heroin from Afghanistan to the United States using the bodies of US soldiers.These drugs would then be sold on the streets by Schoonover, who became a powerful drug lord known as the Blacksmith.

The Department of Homeland Security decided to send Special Agent Dinah Madani to Kandahar to investigate criminal activity with the Afghan National Police. Officer Ahmad Zubair was prepared to make a statement but disappeared before he could testify. In fact, he had been captured by the Cerberus Squad after Rawlins purposely labeled Zubair as a terrorist. Under the guise of torturing him for information on his terrorist organization, Rawlins interrogated him on his confidant to figure out else knew about their trafficking operation. When Zubair did not reveal any information, he was executed by Frank Castle on Zubair's orders.

Insurgent groups caught on to Cerberus Squad's existence so they leaked information that a high-ranking insurgent leader was in Kandahar in an isolated compound. Rawlins ordered Cerberus Squad to attack the compound, despite Castle noting the high risk of ambush. The battle proved to be a disaster, with Schoonover losing an arm & many of the squad dying. The remaining squad members were saved due to Castle's actions, single-handedly killing the insurgents inside. When returning to base, Rawlins remained unconcerned with the heavy casualties taken leading Castle to attacked Rawlins & punctured his orbital socket in his left eye, blinding him. With the loss of confidence in Rawlins' leadership & Cerberus Squad's heavy losses, Operation Cerberus was soon shut down & Cerberus Squad was demobilized.

Rawlins returned to the United States & continued working in the CIA. Russo was recruited by Rawlins to contribute to his illegal operations, gaining a financial reward & the ability to create a private military firm to provide security. Ray Schoonover was promoted to the rank of Colonel & plotted to take over the drug empire within New York City.

Unbeknownst to anyone, Gunner Henderson secretly recorded the execution of Ahmad Zubair & sent it to NSA analyst David Lieberman. Lieberman then sent the footage to Dinah Madani. Castle was blamed for the tape's release by Schoonover, Rawlins & Russo. They decided to have him & his family killed in Central Park by tipping off three gang groups. Though Russo was ordered to have them killed, he refused but didn't stop the event from happening. Castle survived the massacre but his family did not, leading to him going on a manhunt for anyone who was involved in his family's murder.

## Trivia

* Billy Russo compared Operation Cerberus with the Phoenix Program, a CIA program during the Vietnam War.

## Notes

* The Cerberus Squad belongs to the Marvel Universe. It exists within Earth-199999.