Eagle Task Force

The Eagle Task Force, or ETF, is a fictional BlackOps group that had its seeds planted in 1983 as a retaliatory force for the Beirut bombings. The ETF, otherwise known as either the 137th Tactical Fighter Wing, as they were called in the 1980s, or as the 137th Combat Wing, as they are now known, is an Elite para-military task force created by an Executive Order from President Ronald Reagan in 1983. Or, at least, that's what Brian R. Kupfer and Jye R. Meier, the authors of The Elite Eagles have put down in writing. In fact, the team is a fictional one, but that doesn't change the fact that they have a strong following. That, and they've had quite a few adventures along the way.
137th Tactical Fighter Wing 1983-1989
The 137th Tactical Fighter Wing, or 137TFW for short, started out in 1983.
It was enacted when President Ronald Reagan signed an Executive Order calling for the dedication of a secret Special Operations-type Task Force, answering only to himself, to bring about retalitory force for the Marine Headquarters barracks and U.S. Embassy bombings in Beirut. The order was handed down the chain of command until it landed on the desk of Matthew "Temnota" Hunter in the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency). Matt, no stranger to BlackOps situations, as he had been a test pilot for the Have Blue program, took one look at the stated mission objectives and knew he was going to need help planning THIS one. So he wandered down the hall to the DIA's Military Air Forces section, and grabbed one of the newest analysts there, his friend, Aaron "Valder" Fieldman. He showed Aaron the file and asked him to help assemble a planning team. Aaron picked his good friends Wahren "Wolf" Morast, a CIA agent in Computer Espionage, and Kristine "Golden Eagle" Vermes, who flew F-4Es for the Virginia ANG to help them out. While the four were planning out the mission, Aaron's roomate, John "Wizard" Terrance, a minor-league baseball player, came home, and ended up becoming a part of the whole mess.
Once the mission was planned out, the five planners were tasked with finding people to go on the mission, and consequently went through reams of files looking for suitable candidates. They prepared a list of possibilities and reported back to President Reagan.
The mission was approved, and prospective Task Force members were interviewed. In the end, there were sixty-two people that boarded planes for what had become Operation Valiant Response, and headed into the Middle East.
Operation Valiant Response was anything but a success. Of the sixty-two men that went into the theater of operations, only sixteen came out again. Our five planners, who had weaseled the President into letting them go along, survived, as did Joe Strano, Melissa Pana, Doug Danko, Adam Mason, Mitch Vannell, Alayne Engleslause, Hera Steel, Carmen Ritter, Terry Carson, Patrick O'Donnell and Eric Wayne. On the ride home to the United States, Kristine mentioned that if they were to be staying in the BlackOps business, they were going to need a name.
Six weeks later, the team was again called upon. This time, they simply had to stop a group of homicidal, drugged-up thugs who had taken a mall hostage. In Operation Clearance, the team showed their true colors as they went into action as the Eagle Task Force for the first time. This was their second mission, but there was no mistaking their cohesiveness. This team had bonded.
Two more missions would follow, as the ETF would be called upon to stop a drug smuggling ring in Montana by infiltrating them and taking them down. Along the way, the 137TFW members trained with the Navy SEALs and Marine Recon, beating equal sized squads of each in respective tests of skill.
The last mission of the 137th Tactical Fighter Wing would come in October 1989, when they would be called upon to stop a group of terrorist known as the Rising Sun, who had announced their intentions to hijack the British Airways Concorde (Pictured).
After the successful completion of this mission, President George Bush issued a second Executive Order, vaugely written, which disbanded the 137th TFW, however, the ETF was allowed to live on, in secret, with a new name.
137th Special Operations Wing 1989-2004
chronicled in Brian R. Kupfer's "" novel, published in 2001
After the disbandment of the TFW in 1989, the team moved into a little known DOD storage facility in a hollowed out mountain in the Rampart Range in Colorado. This facility was to become their new HQ, the Gorilla Mountain Complex.
They began recruiting people with the skills they were looking for in what they had decided to be their new primary roll. They were now considering themselves as a kind of BlackOps Air Superiority team, with a reduced emphasis on ground attacks and infiltration.
A notable exception to this new doctrine, however, was the ETF's two Intell Operatives, the Terror Twins who had, if anything, sharpened their skills as they became one of the deadliest Intellegence teams in the world.
Once the team started down the road to air superiority, things were never the same. As the team started training, they became proficient in the use of such vehicles as the F-15E Strike Eagle (Which was to become the trademark aircraft of the ETF), F-29A Retaliator, F-22A Raptor, F-23A Gray Ghost, A-10A/F Thunderbolt II/Warthog II, F-15C Eagle, F-14D Tomcat, A-7D Corsair II, F/A-18C/E Hornet/Super Hornet, F-4E Wild Weasel Phantom II, A-4M Skyhawk II, F-20F Tigershark II, SR-71A Blackbird, B-1B Lancer, B-52G Stratofortress, F-117A Nighthawk, and FB-111C Aardvark. In addition to these aircraft, which, through trial and error, the ETF members modified into extremelly lethal fighting vehicles, the 137CW made their own aircraft for the missions they saw a need to fulfill. It must be noted that, aside from exterior appearances, no aircraft in the team's inventory is anywhere near stock. The pilots modify the cockpits to their personal styles and needs, some going so far as to install sound systems, and the avionics are ahead of state of the art (Thanks mostly to the wheeling and dealing of Shaba and Supersonic), and each member paints the aircraft to fit their personal, ahem, style. The new aircraft the Eagles constructed, however, are another story all together. They may bear a passing resemblance to the aircraft they started out as, but in all other aspects, these are totally new fighting machines. These vehicles are unique, one-of-a-kind fighting aircraft built for a certain purpose. They are the REB-36D Peacemaker II NAWCC Eagle's Nest, the KRC-135V EagleEye, the EF-117D Night Avenger, the F-23B Black Widow II, F-23C Shadow, RF-22C Mint, and F-15SSE Drachelicht. These aircraft were concieved, then modified, by the team to make sure the Eagles would have the upper hand when it came time to play.
The Eagles first had a chance to prove their flying skills in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. In 1992-96, the team built a new, more public, headquarters, at EagleIsle, so as to detract from any attention that Gorilla Mountain might attract.
Then, in 1998, World War Three started as the Asian Military Coalition began making good all Mayhem's predictions, and then some. Then, in August 2004, the ETF is called to once again defend their homeland as an Air Force Wing, this time as the 137th Combat Wing.

The 137th Combat Wing 2004-
The 137th Combat Wing was brought into existance by yet a THIRD Executive Order, signed by the President of the United States of America in August 2004. This is the event that starts the Wing's full, coordinated involvement as a recognized unit in World War III. Given just over twenty-four hours to assemble, the members of the Eagle Task Force gather to Eagle Isle from all points of the globe. Once at the Isle, their once-again Commanding Officer, Aaron "Valder" Fieldman, lays out the situation. However, not all of the team are in the mansion. Although Wahren "Wolf" Morast, Matt "Shaba" Hunter, Mitch "Mavrick" Vannell, Matt "ElTitoBendito" Bendix, Ryan "Vyper" Wakefield, Carmen "Mikki" Ritter, Aubree "Ghost" Warren, Eric "Red" Wayne, Terry "Tron" Carson, Doug "Matrix" Danko, Patrick "Dono" O'Donnell, Kristine "Golden Eagle" Vermes, Stacy "Immortal" Anrak, David "Warlock" Samuelson, Suzanne "Daphne" Wagner, and Neal "Mukey" Hirsch are all present at the meeting, there are notable abscences. For instance, the whole NAWCC REB-36D crew are still at Gorilla Mountain with their aircraft. The Terror Twins, Adam "Mayhem" Mason and Robbie "DoughBoy" Sandler, and their cohorts, Wilhelm "Paladin" Otto and Theresa "Angel" Smith, known as Deja Vu, are already in the thick of it in Europe. Most of the Cavalry and the Raptors are still in California mobilizing. The team is caught somewhat unawares. This is where the book, The Elite Eagles, starts off. Neither Jye nor Bri are releasing much information about the Combat Wing's activities or the book's storyline.
ETF Roster, 1983-2009
Angel: Smith, Theresa
Apache: Strano, Joe
Daphne: Wagner, Suzanne
DoughBoy: Sandler, Robbie
Dono: O'Donnell, Patrick
ElTitoBendito: Bendix, Matt
Ghost: Warren, Aubree
Golden Eagle: Vermes, Kristine
Immortal: Anrak, Stacy
Jedi: Nudgens, Kenneth
Jimenez: Ayala, Jose
Leggs: Montgomery, Eveline
Matrix: Danko, Doug
Maverick: Vannell, Mitch
Mayhem : Mason, Adam
Mel: Pana, Melissa
Mikki: Ritter, Carmen
Mouse: Monahue, Stephen
Mukey: Hirsch, Neal
Paladin: Otto, Wilhelm
Phantom : Engleslause, Alayne
Red: Wayne, Eric
S.B.: Barrister, Scott
Shaba: Hunter, Matt
Shorty: Steel, Hera
Sis: Harris, Rae Ann
Tron: Carson, Terry
Valder: Fieldman, Aaron
Vyper: Wakefield, Ryan
Warlock : Samuelson, David
Wizard: Terrance, John
Wolf: Morast, Wahren

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