Military Assault Command Operations

**Military Assault Command Operations** (abbreviated **MACO**, pronounced meɪkoʊ) was originally a United Earth military organization during the 2150s, prior to the founding of the United Federation of Planets. The organization was disbanded with the formation of Starfleet.

After the Dominion War, Starfleet leadership realized the need for special forces within Starfleet Security and formed the **Military Assault Command Operations Division**.

## History

After the Dominion War, Starfleet Command ordered an analyses of the performance of Starfleet Security as front-line ground troops during the war. It was discovered that Security personnel took roughly twice the casualties per capita of any other branch or even the Klingon Defense Force's ground troops. In 2379, Fleet Admiral William Ross, Commander-in-Chief of Starfleet, ordered the formation of a special operations division of Starfleet Security. The name chosen for the new division was Military Assault Command Operations, after the old United Earth organization.

Klingon Defense Force and Bajoran Militia instructors were recruited to help develop specialized training for personnel within the division. The first MACO units entered service in 2380, attached to broadly dispersed commands.

With the success of the Hazard Team Program aboard the USS *Voyager* and USS *Enterprise*-E, the program was folded into MACO and Hazard Teams became the field units of MACO in 2381.

MACO training courses were open to all Starfleet personnel who met scoring requirements, and by the late 2390s possessing MACO certification had a degree of prestige among Starfleet officers.

By 2409, some MACO units were assigned to Task Force Omega on the Borg front in the Gamma Orionis Sector. Over the next year, additional units would see action against the Undine, Elachi, and Heralds.

## Organization

The Elite Forces School was established in 2379 when the Military Assault Command Operations Division was formed. It was the training facility for all personnel seeking to receive MACO certification and was a supplementary school to Starfleet Academy. The best MACO personnel and Starfleet Intelligence agents were gathered into an elite unit known as the Blank Flag Protocol.

## Equipment and uniform

### 22nd century

Standard weaponry for MACO personnel in the 22nd century was a stun baton, stun grenades, phase pistol, and a phase rifle. MACO mission patches were a shark, a reference to the mako species of shark native to Earth.

The standard combat uniform worn by MACO personnel was a two piece uniform with matching undergarment, gloves and boots. The overall color of the combat uniform and boots was gray with white, black, and brown camouflage effects. The belt, gloves and undergarments were a brown color. This uniform was worn in and out of combat.

### 25th century

Memories of the Dominion War and renewed conflicts with the Klingon Empire, caused MACO commanding officers to realize that specialized combat equipment was needed to supplement the elite training of their soldiers. As such, polyalloy-weave combat armor was developed to protect the troops while a specialized Type III pulse phaser rifle provided the firepower needed in combat.

With revision 120.2C to the Starfleet Uniform Code, a new uniform was adopted by Starfleet. MACO personnel wore the standard service uniforms, but they were a lighter gray and had a department color of navy. Regular duty uniforms for Hazard Teams were the excursion variant. These uniforms were colored according to the terrain or the mission, although the standard uniform bore the same coloration as the service uniform.

#### Type III pulse phaser rifle

The Mark 22X Type III Pulse Phaser Rifle was developed in the early 25th century at the MACO R&D facility on Andoria for use by its field personnel. It made use of a miniaturized version of the technology found in starship pulse phaser cannons. These rifles were only distributed to MACO Hazard Teams and were for the strict use of those personnel.

#### TR-116B projectile rifle

Another armament employed by MACO Hazard Teams was the TR-116B Projectile Rifle. The initial design was developed early in the Dominion War for use in situations where conventional energy weapons would be inoperable, such as dampening fields. Colloquially known as the “T-Rex,” the rifle incorporated a specialized replicator that created tritanium bullets that were propelled by chemical reaction.

#### Tactical Eye Display

The Tactical Eye Display (TED) was an optical enhancement device that provided tactical data to its wearer. It was connected to a sensor web woven into MACO excursion uniforms.

#### Combat armor

Developed during the Last Federation-Klingon War, the polyalloy-weave combat armor, combined with its built-in personal shield, provided enhanced protection against energy and kinetic damage. The armor connected to specialized MACO armaments, namely the Type III Pulse Phaser Rifle and TR-116B Projectile Rifle, to provide increased efficiency in using the rifles. When a full set of armor was worn, it also provided limited EVA and hazardous environment capabilities, with enough atmosphere to last four hours.

## Appendices

### Connections

**Leadership:** Commander-in-chief • Joint Chiefs • Chief of Starfleet External Affairs • Chief of Starfleet Operations • Chief of Starfleet Research and Exploration • Chief of Starfleet Tactical

**Agencies:** Operations (Engineering • Judicial • Materiel Supply • Mission Operations • Personnel Management • Records Service • Shipyards Operations • Starbase Operations) • Research & Exploration (Science • Medical) • External Affairs • Tactical (Intelligence • Security • **MACO**)

**Notable units:** Ktarn Fleet • Task Force 77

**Facilities:** Deep Space K-7 • Deep Space K-13 • Deep Space 9 • Masamichi Array • Starbase 45-Keepsake • Starbase 82-Maat • Starbase 234-Beskerm • Starbase 247-Vershina

**Agencies:** Starfleet • Diplomatic Corps • Department of Temporal Investigations • Federation Security Agency

**Facilities:** 40 Eridani A Starfleet Construction Yards • Antares Ship Yards • Beta Antares Ship Yards • Copernicus Ship Yards • Laikan Starfleet Shipyards • McKinley Station • Memory Project • New Aberdeen Shipyards • Proxima Maintenance Yards • Salazaar Shipyards • San Francisco Fleet Yards • TL-9139 Starfleet Maintenance Yards • Tranquility Base • Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards

### Sources consulted

* Military Assault Command Operations article at *Memory Alpha*.
* Military Assault Command Organization article at *Memory Beta*.
* Military Assault Command Operations article at the *Star Trek Online Wiki*.