DOD Official

The DOD Official was an official from the United States Department of Defense during both the Lyndon B. Johnson and Geral Ford administrations.

Biography
In 1964, the DOD Official, who was the Army Chief of Staff at that time, was in attendance at Naked Snake's award ceremony of the Big Boss codename by President Johnson after the success of Operation Snake Eater. He later spoke with the DCI (after Naked Snake refused to shake the DCI's hand), proposing to create an infiltration unit like FOX in the Army to handle their top-secret sneaking missions; one that would consist of operatives possessing the combined qualities of both soldiers and special agents.

In 1970, after Gene's San Hieronymo Takeover and the DCI's death, the FOX unit was officially disbanded. Later, the DOD Official accompanied Para-Medic, Sigint, and Major Zero in handing over official documents to Naked Snake, thus allowing for the creation of Special Forces Unit FOXHOUND.

Post-San Hieronymo
At some point between 1971 and 1974, the DOD Official became the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In 1974, Big Boss ends up calling the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, after Peace Walker was activated (by a dying Hot Coldman), in order to stop him from starting a nuclear war and stating that the missile data was fake that was generated by Peace Walker as part of the Peace Walker project. The Pentagon Chairman asked for proof that it was Big Boss speaking outside of his codename to ensure that it was indeed Big Boss, so Big Boss recited how, during the award ceremony after Operation Snake Eater, he refused to shake the DCI's hand, which was more than enough to prove that it was indeed Big Boss (as there were only a few people in the room who knew about it as it was a top secret ceremony, including himself), so he decided to try and hold off the nuclear strike, and also requested that, should Big Boss be around, he'd like to shake his hand. Unfortunately, most of the Joint Chiefs of Staff disagreed with his decision, and held him at gunpoint, despite his protests that they should hold off the strike. They eventually relented when Peace Walker managed to sing "Sing" by the Carpenters while it proceeded to drown itself in Lake Nicaragua.

Behind the scenes
The unnamed DOD Official first made his appearance in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. He's modeled after the real life 1960s-era Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, although his position was not revealed until Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. The actual Army Chief of Staff in 1964 was Harold K. Johnson, who retired in 1968, while the actual Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs in 1974 was George S. Brown. The director's commentary, however, indicated that he was supposed to be Robert McNamara.

Due to a misinterpretation of Hideo Kojima's commentary in the Metal Gear Solid 3: Extreme Box DVD set, Piggyback's Metal Gear Solid 3: The Official Guide incorrectly identified the character as a younger Roy Campbell. Campbell did not appear in the prequels until Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops.

The DOD Official's first English voice actor (Fred Tatasciore) in Metal Gear Solid 3 later voiced the "Beast" voices of the Beauty and the Beast Unit in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, On a related note, his Japanese voice actor in Peace Walker also previously voiced The End.