S.W.O.R.D.:

The Special Warfare Operations/Rapid Deployment (SWORD) concept was created as a way to facilitate counter-terrorist operations throughout the territories of the TG community, the territory of its allies, and to take the fight to the territory of the various terrorist organizations themselves.

The war on terror proved not only how effective terrorist operations could against an unprepared, peace-loving Americans, it showed just how deficient CTU, the TG community, and the in house squads Special Operations Branch in particular were when it came to dealing with the frequency and ferocity of missions carried out by Terrorist supported forces.

While the 4th Force Recon, and the E1st European Division, and 32nd Strike Force, none were able to deploy and react fast enough to counter the many attacks propagated against allied forces and citizens. The E1st Team defused many hostage situations, but required a minimum amount of lead-time to train and rehearse each specific operation, and time requirements varied wildly from operation to operation. The 32nd Strike Force, while effective in procuring stolen vessels, were ill equipped and under prepared when the terrorists responsible for several hijackings switched tactics away from ship-based operations. The 4th Force Recon team were to busy conducting proactive operations and supplementing the 10th Tactical Guard team to be of much assistance with counter-terror operations.