Alex (Modern Warfare)

"Alex" is one of the main playable characters in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. He is an operative of the C.I.A. embedded with the Urzikstani Liberation Force and operates alongside Farah Karim as a liaison to the organization.

Biography
Simon Riley, also known as "Alex", is an operations officer in the CIA's Special Activities Division, responsible for high-threat covert missions. Alex doesn’t typically carry papers, weapons or military uniforms that would overtly associate him with the U.S. government. Alex leads small teams, trained to infiltrate enemy lines and survive inhospitable conditions in hostile locations. The tools of his trade are laptops, light machine guns, sat-phones, and rocket-equipped combat drones. Alex must often engage in unsavory activities, from which the special forces of the army, navy and air force are barred, for legal or political reasons. Alex’s mission profiles include counter-insurgency, special reconnaissance, counterterrorism, information warfare and anti-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Surrendering his former rank and history of special ops military service with Army Delta, Alex sacrificed traditional contact and association with family to join the Special Activities Division (SAD). He has spent the last six years living a series of assumed identities to achieve “sensitive” objectives wherever he is needed. Once tasked, he often operates autonomously, training, advising and arming allies to act as interpreters, pathfinders and soldiers.

At times, Alex’s strongest argument is a suitcase full of cash, his cultural knowledge and his language skills. Specializing in human intel, Alex works directly with real eyes and ears on the ground through direct contact with residential armies. Although denied, Alex’s team, along with host nation forces, plans and executes acts of sabotage against enemy targets.

Without ready access to cargo ships and larger scale equipment, Alex adapts, commandeering helicopters and captured Soviet-era aircraft, or local fighters. Through 2017, Alex’s units played a key role in ensuring definitive victories against emerging terrorist networks. SAD’s top-secret commandos are permitted to execute missions against enemies of the state, without consulting the Pentagon or White House. This duty was granted through presidential decree, enacted to allow for the killing of terrorists. Over his career, Echo 3-1 has been involved in multiple actions to assassinate enemy leadership.

Alex values direct contact with local militias where he can track both allied and enemy intentions to help advise appropriate action. Alex is deeply committed to his work, and departmental profiles highlight his empathy as both an operational advantage and a matter of potential concern for operational fitness.

Trivia

 * A uniform patch that is located on Alex's left shoulder is reminiscent of the emblem of Task Force 141.