| Scott Mitchell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Biographical information | |
| Born | August 13, 1976 |
| Nationality | American |
| Family | William (father), mother
3 brothers, sister Jennifer |
| Physical description | |
| Hair | Brown |
| Eyes | Brown |
| Career information | |
| Occupation | Soldier |
| Rank | Captain(2008-2011)
Major(2024) General (World War III) |
| Class | Rifleman |
| Affiliations | United States Army |
| Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon series information | |
| Appearances | See Appearances in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon media |
| Actor(s) | David Cooley (Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2)
Steve Blum (EndWar, Future Soldier) |
- "You're the finest soldier ever to serve under my command. I'll never forget this."
- — General Joshua Keating to Scott Mitchell after the missile was destroyed.
Major Scott Mitchell is a long-time leader of the Ghosts, US Army's 5th SFG, leading teams in Korea, Kazakhstan, Mexico, and others. After getting wounded, he ran teams from back in Fort Bragg.
Scott Mitchell later becomes a General in the Joint Strike Force (JSF).
Contents[]
- Personality
- Behind the scenes
- Trivia
- Appearances in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon media
- Appearances in other Tom Clancy media
- Notes and references
- External links
HistoryEdit[]
Scott Mitchell was born on August 13, 1976 and raised in Youngstown, Ohio. His father William David was a factory worker, who took pride in the fact that he worked his way up to foreman at the General Motors Assembly Plant over in Lordstown. His mother, who emigrated from Latvia at age ten, was an assistant pharmacist who had been born in the Saldus district. She passed away when Scott was only fourteen.[1]
Scott is the oldest of four children, with two brothers, Nicholas and Tommy, and a sister, Jennifer. As well as a niece Lisa and nephew Brandon, and brother-in-law Gerry and sister-in-law Angela. With both parents working, Scott grew up independent and self-reliant. After his mother's death he also took on the responsibility of helping to raise his younger siblings, instilling in him a strong sense of leadership. He was an above-average student, and worked part-time as a shop assistant for a car mechanic. After graduating from high school Scott found that he could not afford to go to college. He chose to go into the service instead. Initially, he planned to serve and then go to school using his G.I Bill benefits, but he found that the army lifestyle suited him, and he became a professional soldier.[1]
Scott Mitchell completed basic training at Fort Drum.[1] Performed initial service at various stations, including peacekeeping tours in Bosnia and Kosovo. Completed Airborne and Ranger training at Fort Benning. Assigned as team leader for an OPFOR recon unit at Fort Irwin. Completed the Special Forces Selection Course and later the Qualification course at Fort Bragg. Sent for first Special Forces assignment in the Philippines, and was recruited by the Ghosts shortly afterwards just in time for deployment to Georgia. Served in Eritrea and Cuba, where he earned the Silver Star.[2] He earned his B.A. in history during his time at Fort Irwin.[1]
On his ODA assignment in the Phillipines, he cross-trained with the natives and a Taiwan force led by Captain Fang Zhi. At Basilan Island, all but three of his team was wiped out by an Abu Sayyafambush. He confronted Zhi, who stabbed him with his ancestral sword, leaving a strange scar which persisted years later.[3]
He also earned the Army Commendation medal for his time in Bosnia and Kosovo.[1]
1st Lt. Mitchell returned to the U.S. in 2005, and was recruited by the Ghosts just in time for deployment to Georgia. He went on to serve in Eritrea and Cuba, where he earned the Silver Star and was promoted to Captain. At this time, he also took a Team Leader position within the Ghosts. Recently, Mitchell was slated for promotion to Major, but delayed his promotion in order to stay with the Ghosts for their deployment to Asia.[2]
During his time in Eritrea, he was the point-of-contact for native guerrillas. During an ambush, the leader charged ahead, and Mitchell failed to save him. He later referenced the story to another officer during his Robin Sage operation.[3]
In June 2007 he was promoted to Captain. He was approached by Captain Susan Grey of the Ghosts at his promotion party.[3]
Korean Conflict (2007)Edit[]
On July 4, 2007, a North Korean Super-Silkworm Missile hit and sank the USS Clarence E. Walsh. In response, the President sends in the Ghosts to push North Korea back. Scott Mitchell leads the Ghosts on the missions assigned to them, and siding with the South Koreans in order to push back North Korea from escalating the war even further. When General Paik tries to blow up a dam to escalate the war, the Ghosts stop him and his plans temporarily.[4] As revealed in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, the missile was launched by a PMC. After two months, General Paik re-activates North Korea's nuclear stockpile and the Ghosts are sent back in to take him out. The Ghosts fight through a complex that was made as a remote command post for the North Korean President. When Scott and the Ghosts finally reach General Paik, Paik commits suicide, and the Ghosts are forced to blow up a Taipodong Missile.[4] (For more details about the war investigate Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.)
Afghanistan rescue (2009)Edit[]
After a Special Forces team was eliminated in January 2009, Mitchell led a team to rescue the survivors and two CIA agents. They field tested the Cross Com system on that mission.[3]
China mission (2012)Edit[]
In April 2012, Scott was pulled from a "Robin Sage" training operation to lead a team against the Spring Tigers, a group of rogue Chinese officials planning on annexing Taiwan. In Operation War Wraith, Mitchell led them into Hakka Castle to eliminate the officials Although he was wounded while killing Captain Zhi, the team completed the mission. They later held a reunion at the Liberator Sports Bar and Grill.[3]
AfghanistanEdit[]
Scott also led a team into Afghanistan. He had to fight the Taliban and American military politics.[5]
Korean Conflict (2011)Edit[]
In 2011, and amidst a time of disastrous famine and political turmoil, the people of North Korea are facing a time of great change. The government has invested too much into its military buildup and it has become impossible to preserve both the military and North Korea's infrastructure, so in an attempt to curb the effects of the famine, the government cuts off military funding, instead dedicating it towards the internal needs of the population. Infuriated, the North Korean military mobilizes against the government, with the brutal and charismatic General Jung Chong-Sun heading the coup.[6]
General Jung initiates a rebellion against the government, who find themselves at his mercy as he assumes control of the entire country. With total control over the military, Jung gains access to the country's nuclear arsenal, and makes preparations to start a war among the surrounding Asian powers. This prompts NATO and the United States to send a large peacekeeping force in order to shut down Jung's operations before he destabilizes the Korean Peninsula. At the tip of the U.S. spear, Captain Mitchell and the Ghosts are once again sent into North Korea to avert disaster.[6]
Throughout the conflict, Mitchell's team is ordered to disrupt and destroy General Jung's fuel supply and armor support. Mitchell personally leads the team on their first strike on an airfield, crippling Jung's air power in the area. In another mission, his team would be sent in to blow a bridge, denying Jung from quickly moving his tanks and personnel through the area, and saving SAS troopers pinned down in a nearby pagoda. Along with his Ghosts, Mitchell would also work alongside SAS trooper Daniel Stevens, German gunner Lukas Färber, and French marksman Thierry Dubois. With each strike, Jung gets more desperate in winning the war, and in one mission, Mitchell leads a raid to seize three nuclear warheads from a train before they reach civilian-populated areas.[6]
In the last stages of the game, General Jung launches a last-ditch effort to defeat the NATO forces. He invades a dam near Hamhung, and plants a nuclear warhead within the structure. If detonated, thousands of civilians would die, so the Ghosts and Capt. Mitchell are tasked with securing the dam, disarming the warhead, and pursuing General Jung before he flees to regroup his forces. The Ghosts are successful in their mission, and the war ends.[4]
Summit Strike (2012)Edit[]
Mexican Civil WarEditMitchell led the team into Kazakhstan in 2012 when Asad Rahil staged his coup. Mitchell led the team into battle against Rahil's forces and eventually stopped the rogue leader. His contact Grigoriy Koslov was killed in action, though Mitchell had warned him against pressing forward.[7]
Six years after the Korean Conflict, A US spy plane carrying Guardrail IX, a device capable of disrupting wireless communications, is shot down over Nicaragua. Intelligence discovers a plot to transfer the device to rebels in Mexico City, and the Ghosts are sent in to retrieve it. One of the rebels is identified as Colonel Carlos Ontiveros, son of Mexican General Ontiveros, and a student of Bud, Mitchell's friend and a UH-60 pilot. The mission is aborted when a coup d'état begins in Mexico City and the Ghosts are ordered to Mexico City immediately, where a summit involving the leaders of the United States: President James Ballantine, Canada: Canadian Prime Minister (unnamed), and Mexico: President Ruiz-Pena, who are signing the North American Joint Security Agreement (NAJSA). Things go horribly wrong when the rebels attack the summit, killing the Canadian Prime Minister, and causing the other two presidents to go into hiding. Scott is tasked with safely extracting both leaders.[8]
After protecting the United States, saving President Ballantine, and opening the path for an attack on the Sexican revolutionaries, Scott is ordered to retrieve the Guardrail IX and the Nuclear Football, but he only succeeds in disabling the Guardrail IX. After lending some more support to the US forces, he is then ordered to destroy the last pieces of the Guardrail IX before sneaking into the palace. General Ontiveros is there and was captured while attempting to flee, but Carlos manages to escape and hijacks Bud's Black Hawk, shooting him in the head and greatly angering Mitchell, who sees this happen on his Cross Com. Mitchell and the Ghosts then pursue Carlos, where they have a final confrontation with him, ending with Scott shooting him off a rooftop, causing him to fall to his death.[8]
Mexican Rebellion (2013)Edit[]
During a mission to extract a Mexican journalist, Black Hawk 5 is shot down by enemy RPG fire. Mitchell manages to survive and escape, but Lieutenant Rosen(Mitchell's field runner) is captured, along with Black Hawk 5 itself. To avoid the rebels showing the wreckage on TV as media manipulation, Scott is sent in to destroy the wreckage of the Black Hawk, and rescue Rosen. Both missions are successful. After this, the Ghosts are sent on a mission to obtain the two nuclear warheads. Bravo Team manages to secure one of them, but Juan de la Barrera escapes via helicopter. Scott gets on the gunner seat of Black Hawk 9,and pursues de la Barrera through the air. Scott manages to shoot down de la Barrera's helicopter, killing him, although the last nuke is not found.[9]Directly after the events of the Rebel uprising, rebel activity has caused civil unrest throughout Mexico. Despite Ontiveros being killed, the insurgency has continued under the leadership of Juan de la Barrera. The Ghosts are sent to Mexico by General Joshua Keating to investigate claims that the rebels are in possession of a dirty bomb, as well as prevent the rebellion from directly assaulting US soil. After clearing the way for additional American forces, and destroying two enemy weapon convoys, Scott learns that de la Barrera has obtained several nuclear warheads, and now has the ability to destroy any major city in the United States. With the WMD threat confirmed, the Ghosts are sent into Ciudad Juárez to search for nukes. Along the way, they link up with the loyalist Mexican Army. Together, they neutralize most of the rebel activity in the city, but one of the nuclear warheads is set off inside the marketplace, causing large amounts of radiation to pollute the city, leaving Mitchell with no other choice but to evacuate.[9]
After heading to a false location of one of the nukes, the Ghosts head back to Ciudad Juárez, where they find the last nuke. The nuke is moments from being launched, and Mitchell and his team are on a balcony overlooking the launch site. With an entire nation counting on him, Scott orders the American fighter pilot to launch the EMP, which Mitchell was directly in the blast radius of. The EMP is launched, stopping the nuke from launching, as well as sending Scott on his back, where he manages to hear a few last messages over his failing cross-com from President Ballantine, General Keating, and Rosen, moments before blacking out.[9]
In February of 2014, Mitchell was the subject of a briefing conducted by Colonel Harris to General Keyes and other top officers. They recommended an expansion of his operations.[10]
Sri Lankan crisisEdit[]
Artemis crisisEditHe guided the Ghosts during their time in Sri Lanka using the callsign "Griffin." He was responsible for briefing the team during the conflict, and told the team leader on the ground to do what he had to when capturing the Sri Lankan leader.[11]
Mitchell remains as a leader of the Ghosts. In 2021 he works with the H.A.W.X. team in several missions against Las Trinidad and Artemis Global Security.[12]
He was eventually promoted to Major.[13]
World War IIIEdit[]
- "The Space Center's defense force will do their best, but without our help they won't stand a chance. Whoever these vermin are, we can bet they came here to destroy the Freedom IV lifter. I don't think either one of us want 35 billion dollars deducted from our paychecks, Colonel, so wipe them out before they touch it."
- — Mitchell to Colonel Taylor
As a General in the Joint Strike Force, he is responsible for combat operations. He was in charge of security at the JFK Space Center on April 4, 2020 for the launch of the Freedom IV lifter. He briefed Colonel Jordan Taylor and told him to repel the assault. As the prelude to war ramped up, Mitchell was in charge of domestic defense efforts. Later, after the three-way war commenced, the General again briefed Colonel Taylor and had him choose one of the combat operations for his battalion.[14] Throughout the war, Mitchell continued to brief JSF battalion colonels on their missions.[15]
Mitchell sent Captain Alexander Brent and his Ghost team to hunt Viktoria Antsyforov, the "Snow Maiden". He failed, but brokered a deal with Mitchell, giving up his contact in exchange for the chance to go back out. His team took heavy casualties and in the end she escaped.[16]
Soon after, Mitchell reported to the President that Major Dennison had gone missing. Mitchell also was responsible for creating the attack on Fort Levski Spetsnaz base in Bulgaria and was in contact with the team leader, Captain Alexandrov. He allowed the captain to download information from the base as long as it was turned over. He later contacted him again when it came time to rescue Doctor Ragland from The Ganjin.[17]
Raven's Rock coupEdit[]
- "One international incident, coming your way"
- — Mitchell to Hunter Team after ordering air support in Russia
Mitchell ordered a team led by Joe Ramirez to disrupt a weapons shipment in Nicaragua in early 2024. A warhead explodes, killing the team, and Mitchell calls for a pickup. Mitchell then tasked Hunter Team, led by Cedric Ferguson, with "tugging at the strings" to find out who was responsible. Hunter Team later became involved in the Raven's Rock coup. Under Mitchell's orders, they assisted the Russian loyalists and rescued President Volodin. As the crisis ended, Mitchell told them to finish it. Hunter Team chased down the Raven's Rock leadership in Russia, but as they closed in on the last one, Mitchell told them orders had come from the highest levels to not to touch Ace—Ferguson took his orders literally and left "Ace" on a train track as a train approached.[13]
Some time later, Mitchell was also briefing a team who was rescuing a CIA officer in Colombia. He kept in contact with Ghost Lead Andrew Ross via his laptop. When the team discovered a link to Middle Eastern terrorists and the FARC, Mitchell worked behind the scenes to get support for the Ghost team.[18]
Eight weeks later, Mitchell stopped by the Liberator bar to greet Ross' team, who were having a reunion. He asked them if they were in for more business, and they wholeheartedly agreed. He said he would see them soon and left.[18]
PersonalityEdit[]
- "We're clear, HAWX flight. Thanks for the rescue. I won't forget this, I promise you."
- — Mitchell to HAWX flight after escaping Ciudad Jaurez
He seemed to have developed a liking to carpentry, in which he sells to other soldiers back at base. He is also known to leave base and visit his family back home in Ohio in his spare time.[3]
During his time at Fort Drum, he had high scores in linguistics and was thereby eligible for the counterintelligence service, but entered the infantry instead.[1]
Captain Mitchell has a superb reputation for ensuring the survival of his soldiers and their eventual return home.
As leader of the Ghosts, Cpt. Scott Mitchell is the consummate soldier. He leads by example and believes that respect is earned. In addition to English, Mitchell speaks fluent Spanish and passable French.[2]
Mitchell is not one for small talk, as can be seen during the Humvee sections of Mexican Rebellion, in which he becomes annoyed at Private First Class Provenanzo's repeated bombardment of questions and admiration, and usually responds with phrases similar to: "Cut the chatter and put your foot to the floor!" or, "I would be honored if you keep your eyes on the road soldier." He is a man of few words, with a gruff, stoic personality that is complemented by a dry sense of humor. He firmly believes in giving 110% in everything he does, and applies this in the field of battle. Mitchell is one of the team leaders of the 5th Special Forces Group "Ghost Recon", and is a veteran of many campaigns in foreign countries. In short, Mitchell is a Ghost, he does his job, nothing more, nothing less. Even if that means dying for his country, all is the life of the leader of the Ghosts.
He enjoys being a carpenter when he is not on duty. He delayed a promotion to Major so that he could stay with the Ghosts.[1]
Around the time of the Raven's Rock coup, he had contacts in Yemen, which aided the team led Andrew Ross.[18]
He said that the best part of going out was coming back.[18]
As shown during the briefing sessions in during World War III, Mitchell is known to impart his tactical wisdom upon the Colonels serving under him. He often injects a sense of comedy here as well, noting the strengths and weaknesses of opposing enemy commanders. Some known quotes attributed to him include:[19]
- "There are circus bears with more impressive military records, plus, they can ride unicycles."
- "Your opponent today isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. More like just a tool, and probably asking for directions to the shed."
- "If there weren't a war on, he'd be working fast food someplace. And I don't mean as a manager."
Behind the scenesEdit[]
The first Ghost Recon game had several generic soldiers that could serve as the player's avatar on any given mission. However, this combined with the first-person with no visible weapon was not conducive to establishing a connection between a player and his avatar. So one of the goals of Ghost Recon 2 was to develop a strong central player character that would become closely identified with the Ghost Recon universe. This lead to the creation of Captain Scott Mitchell, a central "hero" character who was to be assisted on missions by several other Ghosts with their own personalities.[20]
Scott Mitchell's voice and personality received a lot of attention during development because of his status as the central player character. The audio lead and a designer created a system for utilizing Captain Mitchell's voice in the game. When playing in the over-the-shoulder mode, the player can hear Captain Mitchell give orders to his team, hear his reaction when he revives a downed Ghost, and hear his interactions with Command. The briefings helped to establish him as a highly-respected commander who puts others before himself.[20]
TriviaEdit[]
- Mitchell never speaks in the Xbox and PS2 version of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter.
- Mitchell was voiced by David Cooley in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 and Steve Blum in EndWar and Future Soldier.
- In Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wii, players can select him as a character in Arcade mode.
- He appears in Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. during two missions. In the trailer, he and his team are rescued in Mexico by a pilot call-signed Chester.
- He also appears in Tom Clancy's EndWar as a General. He briefs players fighting for the Joint Strike Force, and gives a speech at the end of the JSF campaign.
- His speech in the JSF ending of EndWar is as follows:
- "Colonel, the United States of America once again emerged the victor in a great worldwide conflict. History won't soon forget what we've accomplished together, any more than you or I will forget the sacrifices of those who paid the ultimate price to defend our freedoms. It's the dawn of a new era, Colonel. Savor this victory and everything you did to help earn it. Mitchell out."
- — General Scott Mitchell in EndWar.