Shadow Company

The Shadow Company is an enemy faction encountered at the end of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in the last four levels. Soldiers of this unit are distinguished by their black uniforms with both US Flag - and spade patch belonging to the USSOCOM, black balaclavas, as well as tactical goggles or Night Vision Goggles attached to their Delta-Force style helmet (the only difference is the color).

The Shadow Company appears to be either a US black ops unit or possibly even a Private Military Company (PMC) operating directly under the command of General Shepherd, serving as his personal security detail and operations force that carry out his orders without question. Shepherd however, holds no regard for their lives and considers them all expendable, even calling for an artillery bombardment directly upon their location in attempt to kill Soap and Price during Just Like Old Times.

Weapons
Shadow Company soldiers are heavily armed and extremely dangerous as they are specialized at combat. Their choice of weapons consist of mostly modern weapons. Their arsenal includes:
 * ACR
 * SCAR-H
 * MP5k
 * UMP
 * TMP
 * Vector
 * G18
 * M9
 * Desert Eagle
 * M1014
 * AA-12
 * SPAS-12
 * WA2000
 * M240
 * MG4
 * AT4
 * Riot Shield
 * RPD

Vehicles
Shadow Company has a variety of vehicles, most of them used by the US Military. These include:
 * Pickup truck
 * Up-armored SUV
 * HMMWV
 * M1 Abrams
 * UH-60 Black Hawk
 * Pave Low
 * Little Bird
 * Zodiac
 * Predator Missile

Trivia

 * They are the first enemies in the Call of Duty series that are American.


 * Shadow Company is also a documentary about private military companies and mercenaries.


 * Shadow Company was also the name of the antagonists in the film Lethal Weapon.


 * The spade symbol Shadow Company wears is very similar to the spear like symbol of the United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) as well as the symbol of the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM).


 * The "spade", visible on their arm patches, can also be seen in the Task Force 141 logo.


 * The up-armored SUVs used by Shadow Company are possibly based on BAE Systems' Armored Commercial Vehicles - specifically the Armored Chevrolet Suburban - because of the look and function of the vehicles.


 * On the license plates of Shadow Company's up-armored SUVs, it is written "G 2009IW4 V". 2009 is the game's year and IW4 is that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the fourth title of Infinity Ward.


 * In Just Like Old Times an endless stream of Humvees and M1 Abrams tanks can be seen driving along a roadway on the other side of the river. Being the supreme commander of all US military forces at this point, it is possible that Shepherd could have requisitioned these vehicles in order to support the infantry of his newly formed company.


 * Many people simply refer to them as "traitors" due to their name never being explicitly stated.


 * It is possible that some of Shadow Company's members are Task Force 141 members still loyal to Shepherd.


 * It's also possible that Shepherd used them as his pawns, since they were convinced that Cpt. Price and his men were traitors working for Makarov.


 * In Just Like Old Times if a player waits and listens to the group of Shadow Company soldiers in the cave, a conversation can be heard where a Shadow Company member and his team kill 3 "Left Over" Russians, for being aggressive after breaching Site Hotel Bravo's perimeter.
 * Strangely, many weapons sometimes can not kill them with one headshot.
 * In Just Like Old Times Shadow Company soldiers on the catwalk uses RPDs. This is quite strange as Shadow Company use mostly American weapons and weapons used by Task Force 141. Also when the Shadow Company soldiers die they don't drop the RPDs. Instead there is just a MG4 lying on the floor.