

They were used in situations where more than one operative - even though highly secret - would arouse too much attention. These units, individually known as "Splinter Cells", were small, elite intelligence-gathering forces consisting of a lone field operative supported by a high-tech remote team. These agents could gain access and control all information that are vital to the security of the United States. To do so, they introduced the "Splinter Cell" program, which was created to produce an elite recon-type unit comprised of highly-trained covert operators, who were then deployed to areas deemed either too sensitive or too risky for traditional entities to access such as the CIA or the Special Forces within various branches of the U.S.

When critical intelligence could not be obtained by passive means, NSA's Third Echelon resolved the situation by conducting so-called "physical operations" - a euphemism for direct action.
