Soviet officers

As members of the Soviet military, officers held positions of authority and maintained order at military base.

History
Shortly after the Cuban Missile Crisis, various officers of the Red Army were relocated to the San Hieronymo Peninsula, Colombia, to operate at a secret Soviet missile base, with female officers often assigned to desk work.

In August 1964, various GRU officers under the command of Colonel Volgin were stationed in Tselinoyarsk at Graniny Gorki and Groznyj Grad. EVA also disguised herself as a KGB officer held against her will by Volgin by the name of Tatyana in order to infiltrate Groznyj Grad. Ivan Raidenovitch Raikov was also one of the higher ranking officers within Tselinoyarsk, below only Volgin, to which he frequently abused his authority.

After infiltrating Groznyj Grad, Naked Snake managed to knock Raikov unconscious and disguise himself as the Major in order to infiltrate the West Wing weapons lab, but was later discovered. Raikov was evacuated from the base at some point before Snake's return to Groznyj Grad, and Volgin was eventually killed, with Tatyana eventually escaping Tselinoyarsk with Snake.

Post-Snake Eater
During détente, the Soviet officers on the San Hieronymo Peninsula, alongside the other personnel, were abandoned by the Soviet government. Their supply shipments and communication channels were cut in order to allow the world to believe they had gone renegade in the event that the missile base was discovered. Because of this, most of the officers felt sore about this betrayal, although the base's commander Colonel Skowronski, seemed to retain his loyalty to the Soviet Union despite this. In addition, Major Raikov was stripped of his rank after Volgin's demise, due to his frequent abuse of his authority, and promptly exiled to the peninsula shortly after it was abandoned, where the resident soldiers imprisoned him within the Western Wilderness and frequently humiliated him.

After Gene and his FOX unit took over the San Hieronymo Peninsula, the Soviet officers of both genders were tasked with securing the base. However, one of the officers, despite his bitterness towards the Soviet government for abandoning them, was shocked when he learned that FOX was apparently intending to launch the stolen ICBMG into Russia. The officer, after Snake stole the launch documents, was later imprisoned beneath his stationed area, the Soviet patrol base. Various female Soviet officers were frequently stationed at the security base and the warhead storage facility, although a male officer that manned the security room was present in the latter location. A female Soviet officer was later imprisoned in the warhead storage facility, due to factors such as homesickness, low morale, as well as having loyalty problems.

Colonel Skowronski, the former base commander, was also ousted from power by Gene, and was forced into hiding at the harbor. Various Soviet officers of both genders later defected to Naked Snake's resistance group in order to stop Gene. Colonel Skowronski's hiding spot was later uncovered by Python, who was searching for Naked Snake and later imprisoned within a cattle cage onboard the tanker, although he was later freed by Naked Snake. The resistance later attempted to interrogate a Soviet officer in charge of the silo in regards to the whereabouts of Naked Snake after the latter was captured.

Behind the scenes
The Officer disguise (while wearing the Raikov mask) in Metal Gear Solid 3 is the only disguise that allows for Snake to get away with actions that would normally break cover, although attack dogs will remain suspicious. If the player hides within a cardboard box while wearing the Officer disguise/Raikov mask, the guard will initially wonder what the box was there for, and eventually uncover it, although they will salute the player upon discovering him instead of sounding an alert, due to their thinking that he is Major Raikov. The player can also salute the soldiers when prompted, often to keep the player's cover maintained. If the player hits a Soviet officer anywhere while disguised as Raikov, the Soviet officer will say in a nervous tone "Forgive me for troubling you, sir!". On a slightly related note, the Officer disguise (when used with the Raikov mask) is also the only disguise where other officers won't get suspicious of Snake if seen from the front.

In Portable Ops, the player can recruit various officers. They usually carry weapons, ammunition, and rations. They also have three character models. In addition, because of the recruitment procedure of Portable Ops, the officers won't grow suspicious of the player if the player uses an officer for the mission of the same gender as the other officers (barring Raikov), given that they don't commit suspicious actions (such as rolling, pointing a weapon, or crawling). If the player either is caught by them or manages to blow their cover (depending on whether the player character is playing an officer or not), the Soviet officers will attack, which when up close, depending on the gender of the officer, the officer will either slash at the player to knock him/her down or knee the player in the groin.

Although Soviet officers themselves didn't appear in the original Metal Gear, the officer's uniform for Outer Heaven (which the player procures and has to use as a disguise to get by the checkpoints of building 2) resembled a Soviet officer uniform.

"A female officer in the Soviet Army, sent to the San Hieronymo Peninsula on a top-secret mission. Used to work a desk job, but was assigned to secure the base after the FOX rebellion. Squeamish about insects."

- Female officer A description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus:

"A female officer in the Soviet Army, sent to the San Hieronymo Peninsula on a top-secret mission. Used to be a desk jockey, but was assigned to secure the base after FOX took over. An avid equestrian."

- Female officer B description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus.

"A female officer in the Soviet Army, sent to the San Hieronymo Peninsula on a top-secret mission. Formerly a desk jockey, but was assigned to secure the base after the FOX rebellion. An unparalleled seamstress."

- Female officer C description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus.

"A high-ranking officer in the Soviet Army, sent to the San Hieronymo Peninsula on a top-secret mission. Relegated to guarding the base now that FOX has usurped the chain of command. Doesn't like sweets."

- High-rank officer A description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

"A high-ranking officer in the Soviet Army, sent to the San Hieronymo Peninsula on a top-secret mission. Relegated to guarding the base now that FOX has assumed command. Plays a mean game of darts."

- High-rank officer B description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

"A high-ranking officer in the Soviet Army, sent to the San Hieronymo Peninsula on a top-secret mission. Reassigned to guarding the base now that FOX has usurped the chain of command. Would rather be fishing."

- High-rank officer C description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus