FOXHOUND

High-Tech Special Forces Unit FOXHOUND (sometimes "FOX-HOUND" or "FOX HOUND") was an elite black ops unit of the CIA that was established by the "Legendary Soldier" Big Boss in 1971. Although its function changed over the years, FOXHOUND specialized in covert, solo infiltrations, to cope with local revolutions, regional complications, and global terrorist activities. In "unauthorized" combat zones too politically-sensitive to intervene in through conventional means. All its members were battlefield hardened veterans, with many coming from a mercenary background. It was officially disbanded by the U.S. Government after the Shadow Moses Incident in 2005.

History
The unit was formed unofficially in 1970 by Big Boss and Roy Campbell who were both prisoners of the incident at the San Hieronymo Peninsula. The two established the group in order to take down the rebelling members of the FOX Unit, and clear the names of Big Boss, Major Zero, Para-Medic and Sigint, who were also members of FOX.

In 1971, the group was organized into an official unit within the U.S. Army (though the formation of such a unit was considered as early as 1964 ). Big Boss originally commanded the group with Campbell acting as a tactician, and the two led them in a series of intense and difficult covert operations.

In 1995, Solid Snake joined the unit and aided in the rescue of FOXHOUND agent Gray Fox from the terrorist facility Outer Heaven, and defeated its mysterious leader. This turned out to be none other than FOXHOUND's commander himself, Big Boss, who had established Outer Heaven in secret.

Due to the events of Outer Heaven Uprising, FOXHOUND's existence became public knowledge and gained worldwide fame, thanks to the actions of Solid Snake. With Big Boss presumed dead, Campbell was placed in command, and helped Snake during Operation Intrude F014. Under Campbell's command, the code name regime for FOXHOUND members was discarded, and a greater emphasis was placed on utilizing advanced technology. Some time between 1999 and 2005, Campbell retired and Liquid Snake was placed in charge. Under Liquid's command, the code name regime was reinstated, with its members choosing particular skills to specialize in, and the unit flourished, until it went "rogue" in 2005. In actuality, FOXHOUND was already under investigation long before the rebellion occured. Campbell was then forced to come out of retirement and hire Solid Snake to infiltrate Shadow Moses, and kill Liquid Snake and the renegade members of FOXHOUND.

After the incident, FOXHOUND was officially disbanded with no successor unit named or known.

Members of FOXHOUND have included:
 * Big Boss (founder)
 * Roy Campbell (co-founder)
 * Jonathan (first recruit)
 * Nikolai Stephanovich Sokolov
 * Gray Fox
 * McDonell Miller
 * Solid Snake
 * George Kasler
 * Dr. Clark
 * Naomi Hunter

Possible members of FOXHOUND:
 * Python (if defeated non-lethally)
 * Ivan Raidenovitch Raikov (if rescued from imprisonment)

During the San Hieronymo Incident, an unknown number of soldiers, officers, scientists, and engineers joined FOXHOUND who were all former members of the Red Army and FOX. All of these soldiers were given animal codenames (e.g. "Raven," "Bison") and helped Big Boss and Campbell in their mission to destroy Metal Gear and clear their names.

Members of FOXHOUND involved in the Shadow Moses Incident:
 * Liquid Snake (squad commander)
 * Revolver Ocelot
 * Decoy Octopus
 * Psycho Mantis
 * Sniper Wolf
 * Vulcan Raven
 * Next-Generation Special Forces (reserve members)

Pseudo-FOXHOUND
Examples of FOXHOUND affiliations have been seen post-Shadow Moses, when the unit was no longer thought to exist:


 * In 2009, Raiden infiltrated the offshore decontamination facility Big Shell, believing himself to be a member of FOXHOUND due to manipulation by The Patriots's AI, GW.
 * In 2014, an Army CID team codenamed Rat Patrol 01, led by Meryl Silverburgh, wore FOXHOUND insignia to disguise their true identity.
 * The Beauty and the Beast Unit had codenames that were partially inspired by the FOXHOUND members involved in the Shadow Moses Incident, with Drebin 893 once referring to them as SNAKEHOUND.

Selection and Drills
When FOXHOUND was first established during the San Hieronymo Takeover, the process of recruitment was not fully developed, due to the circumstances at the time. Potential recruits were usually abducted or rescued, and then convinced into joining the unit. However, those with skills, such as quick recovery, and the ability to adapt to changing situations in combat (quick-thinking), were highly desired, as evidenced by Big Boss's compliments to Jonathan during his recruitment.

After FOXHOUND was organised into an official unit, very strict selection procedures were adopted. Firstly, potential recruits were only chosen from those already within the military and various special forces. Recruits must also pass exams in three different aspects:

Physical
 * Basic physical ability
 * Short-distance running
 * 80 push-ups, uninterrupted
 * 100 sit-ups, uninterrupted FOXHOUND_excercise.gif
 * 50 meter free-swim
 * Underwater diving ability
 * Lone wilderness march (travelling 64 km in under 15 hours, carrying a 30 kg backpack)

Psychological
 * Mental recovery, concentration, endurance, self-control and the fortitude to overcome difficult situations
 * ESP expectancy score
 * Marksmanship
 * Recognizing and making decisions in emergency situations

Intelligence
 * Foreign languages
 * Non-domestic geography
 * Knowledge of world events
 * Advanced technology
 * Medical procedures
 * Detonation operations
 * Concealed communication
 * Foreign weaponry

After passing the selection courses, the recruits then partake in professional training exercises (also known as drills), which include:
 * Battlefield survival test (14 weeks)
 * Shooting practice (must score at least 95% for a target at 914 m [3,000 ft], and 100% for a target at 548 m [1,800 ft])
 * Guard patrol
 * Mountain climbing
 * Martial arts
 * Border crossing
 * Guerrilla combat
 * Navigation of terrain
 * Map-reading practice
 * Enemy evasion while avoiding dangers
 * Field combat medical procedures
 * Rebelling and ranger practice
 * Weapons training
 * Nautical vehicle control and navigation
 * Diving and underwater infiltration
 * Canoeing
 * Parachute skydiving practice (4 weeks)
 * Assault Paratrooper skydiving practice (HALO and HAHO)
 * 11 normal exercises
 * 15 exercises wearing full gear
 * 2 nighttime exercises
 * 2 mass-tactical strategic exercises
 * Intelligence gathering
 * Language and customs of the destination country (4 weeks)
 * Sneaking techniques
 * Improvisation of explosives
 * Utilization of hi-tech equipment
 * Communications (16 weeks)
 * Medical exam (10 weeks)

Gear and Uniforms
See FOXHOUND equipment

Units within FOXHOUND
During the inital formation of FOXHOUND, there were four primary units within the group. They were:


 * The Sneaking Unit, which specialized in infiltration missions as well as abducting or rescuing potential recruits.


 * The Spy Unit, which carried out espionage into enemy territory, transmitting intel to FOXHOUND on opportunities or events that could be exploited.


 * The Tech Unit, responsible for the development of new technologies and weapons.


 * The Medical Unit, responsible for fixing up any of the soldiers who were injured or wounded in battle.

Codename system
A FOXHOUND codename originally comprised an animal codename and a personal prefix to distinguish between those with the same animal codename. Often this prefix represents either the individual's weapon of choice or particular skill that they specialize in, but sometimes these codenames are a bit more ambiguous in nature. The original codename system appears to have awarded animal codenames based on ability (the top codename being "Fox"). However, this may have only been the case with that codename and not the others.

When David joined FOXHOUND, he was assigned the codename Solid Snake. Since Big Boss was in command of the unit at the time, and was aware of David's true lineage, he gave him the name ‘Snake’ in reference to his old codename, Naked Snake. The codename may have also been part of the ranking system, wherein "Snake" would represent soldiers with a skill level similar to Big Boss during his time with FOX. David's clone designation of "Solid" was used as his personal prefix, though it is unclear why this was used or which individuals knew the meaning behind the designation.

After Campbell abandoned the codename system, when he became FOXHOUND commander, some agents (at least Solid Snake) still chose to use their codenames. Sometime before the Shadow Moses Incident, a new codename system was implemented wherein the animal codename was also a personal identifier (Ocelot, for example, used his long time codename and added "Revolver" as his additional prefix).

It is unknown at what point Liquid received the codename Liquid Snake. It is possible that he chose the name himself as the other members of FOXHOUND did around that time. Since he may have already been aware of his relationship to Solid Snake upon joining the unit, Liquid could have chosen his name as a reference to his clone brother.

It should be noted that the name "FOXHOUND" itself is used to identify any member of the unit, regardless of rank.

Behind the Scenes

 * According to the MSX2 user's manual for Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, FOXHOUND was originally formed within NATO in 1990. However, this has since been retconned in later games in the series, where FOXHOUND is a unit within the US Army, officially established in 1971.
 * In the original MSX2 version of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2, a FOXHOUND agent was referred to as a "Fox Hounder." The name remains in the title of the BGM track, played over the end credits of Metal Gear, called Return of Fox Hounder.
 * The spelling of FOXHOUND's name continually changed throughout the Metal Gear series. It was originally "Fox Hound" in the MSX2 games, then "FOX-HOUND" and "Fox-Hound" in Metal Gear Solid and Ghost Babel, respectively, before finally settling on "FOXHOUND" in Metal Gear Solid 2, and remaining so ever since (including the later re-releases of the MSX2 games).
 * In the non-canonical game Ghost Babel, FOXHOUND's fame around the world became too great after the destruction of Outer Heaven. With its every move being watched by intelligence organizations, truly covert operations became impossible, and so the Black Chamber unit was created in response to this. Their fame was revealed to have been staged by the U.S. Government in an attempt to deny any involvement in the formation of Outer Heaven.
 * According to the Metal Gear Solid Official Mission Handbook, Decoy Octopus did not have any military experience outside of VIP decoy missions for the CIA, thus making him an exception to the qualifiers for being a FOXHOUND member. However, due to nature of the source, it is unknown whether this is canon.
 * In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Snake briefly referenced FOXHOUND's revolt on Shadow Moses Island when fighting Fox McCloud and contacting Campbell via Codec.