The term Covert Action Team refers to metahuman operatives which operate for governments. Although the best example of C.A.T. remains with Task Force X, it would be a mistake to believe that they were the first or solitary group to exist.
Indeed the origins of Covert Action Teams begins with World War Two and the team known as the Howling Commandos. Lead by Jack Fury, the Commandos were the elite unit in the United States military tasked with undertaking the most dangerous and classified missions. They were so secret that the few people who were aware of them referred to them simply Team Zero.
After 1950, the United States was without a national super-team. The Justice Society had disbanded after refusing to comply with the House Un-American Activities Committee and the government propaganda machine and turned the public against costumed super-heroics.
Yet the country still needed protection from so-called super-villains and the looming threat of enhanced Communist agents. So drawing from the example of Team Zero, they created the concept of Covert Action Teams.
Team One was the first Covert Action Team that the government-sanctioned. Composed of both government-created operatives and former costumed heroes who had sworn loyalty oaths, the short-lived Team One was first tasked in fighting a Dire Wraith incursion in the 1960s.
This was followed up by a host of successive teams, created for various projects. Though originally asked with protecting the nation, they soon became opportunities to field test the latest government attempts at creating enhanced individuals. The most successful of these early teams, Team Seven, was created during the Vietnam War and continued until the early 2000s.
However, the most infamous Covert Action Team in existence is Team Ten, also known as Task Force X. Sanctioned by the shadowy Weapon Plus, Task Force X had originally served as a testing ground for soldier-enhancement projects, not unlike Team Seven. When using military personnel became problematic, the project turned to the incarcerated as test subjects. Eventually, Task Force X was offering super-villains pardons in exchange for conducting black operations for the government.
Years before the debut of the Avengers, the Office of National Emergency had fielded their own Covert Action Team. Code-named The Sword, this team helped protect the nation from the shadows. When Director Nick Fury debuted The Shield as the national super-team, The Sword was folded into the organization, become Avengers Team Omega also known as the Secret Avengers.
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