Task Force 141 (Original)

"Welcome to the 141. Best handpicked group of warriors on the planet."

- General Shepherd to Private First Class Joseph Allen.

Task Force 141, colloquially referred to as "The One-Four-One," is a multi-national special operations force composed of the best members of the American, Australian, British, Canadian and possibly other armed forces, usually those with previous Special Ops experience. Its members serve as the principal protagonists of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, in which their main objective is to apprehend or kill Vladimir Makarov, a Russian Ultranationalist responsible for masterminding a Russian invasion of the United States. In 2016, its members participated in notable special operations in Kazakhstan, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro, a Russian Gulag and submarine base in Kamchatka, the Georgian-Russian border, and Afghanistan. Notably, during Day 6 of the crisis of 2016, at least three Task Force 141 operatives were killed by General Shepherd, with all remaining members of Task Force 141 believed to be on the run at the conclusion of the crisis.

Composition


Task Force 141's operators are drawn from the special operations forces of Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, though mainly comprised of British Operators. The specific units that contribute operators to Task Force 141 are unknown. However, it is likely that American operatives are drawn from the various USSOCOM units, and Joseph Allen is known to have originated from the 75th Ranger Regiment. Likewise, British operatives are known to come from the Special Air Service and likely the Special Boat Service as well. Operatives from Canada and Australia are most likely drawn from the Canadian Joint Task Force 2 and the, respectively.

During the events of Modern Warfare 2, the commanding officer of Task Force 141 appears to be Lieutenant General Shepherd, a U.S. Army officer who spearheads the Task Force's operations. Additionally, British officers of the Special Air Service (and possibly Special Boat Service) such as Captain John "Soap" MacTavish and Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley serve as leaders during field missions. After his liberation from a Russian gulag, Captain John Price of the Special Air Service also apparently serves as a field commander.

Task Force 141 has at least eighty-five known members, leading to speculation that it is a company-sized formation.

Prominent Members

 * Lieutenant General Shepherd (KIA) - United States Army, appears to act as the commanding officer of Task Force 141, and spearheads its operations during the crisis of 2016. He is killed by Captain "Soap" MacTavish in Afghanistan on Day 7.


 * Captain John Price (MIA) - British 22nd Special Air Service regiment, appears to act as a field comm by Task Force 141. Designated sharpshooter, and orchestrator behind Shepherd's assassination. Now he is a wanted criminal after his actions in Afghanistan and after being rescued from a Russian gulag.




 * Captain John "Soap" MacTavish (WIA & MIA) - British 22nd Special Air Service regiment, appears to act as a field commander and designated sharpshooter. He is now a wanted criminal after killing General Shepherd.


 * Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley (KIA) - British 22nd Special Air Service regiment, technical specialist and field commander subordinate to Captain MacTavish. Condones torture as a method of interrogation. He is killed by General Shepherd and Shadow Company soldiers on the Georgian-Russian border.


 * Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson (KIA) - Playable character who participates in a number of Task Force 141's most notable special operations. Killed by Shepherd and Shadow Company soldiers on the Georgian-Russian border on Day 6.


 * Private First Class Joseph Allen (KIA) - U.S. Army 75th Ranger Regiment, a veteran of combat operations in Afghanistan, hand-picked by Shepherd to participate in a CIA undercover operation to infiltrate the Ultranationalist cell led by Makarov. Killed by Makarov after his cover is blown in Zakhaev International Airport on Day 3.

Assault Rifles

 * M4A1
 * SCAR-H
 * ACR
 * TAR-21
 * M16A4

Submachine Guns

 * UMP45
 * MP5K

Machine Pistols

 * G18

Shotguns

 * M1014
 * SPAS-12
 * AA-12
 * W1200 (Museum only)

Sniper Rifles

 * M14 EBR
 * Intervention
 * Barrett .50cal

Handguns

 * M9
 * USP .45
 * M1911
 * .44 Magnum

Launchers

 * Javelin
 * AT4
 * M203
 * Thumper

Notable military operations

 * Infiltrating a Russian base in the Tian Shan Mountain Range in Kazakhstan to retrieve an ACS module.
 * Capturing Alejandro Rojas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
 * Escaping the favela in Rio de Janeiro.
 * Eliminating hostiles and rescuing hostages at Vikhorevka 36 Oil Platform, East Russia.
 * Rescuing Prisoner 627(John Price) from a gulag near Petropavlovsk, Russia.
 * Infiltrating a Russian base near Petropavlovsk, Russia and launching an ICBM aimed at America to create an EMP.
 * Successfully retrieving a DSM from Makarov's estate.
 * Attacking Makarov's men in a boneyard near Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Trivia

 * The first person model for the Task Force 141 would always have a watch on their left hand.
 * Most Task Force 141 soldiers strangely have AK-47 Magazines in their front ammo pouch, a gun which they almost never use. Also, the AK-47 magazines seem to have holes on top of them as if the magazines were textured from an airsoft gun.
 * One reason for Task Force 141 members carrying AK-47 magazines in their front ammo pouches, is because many enemies use the AK-47, if the soldier ran out of ammo for his primary weapon, he could use an enemy's AK-47. This is unlikely however, as professional soldiers are always equipped with enough ammo and if they did run out, they would ask a squad member for some.
 * As an irregular military unit, most of the named members go by callsigns, such as "Roach", "Meat", "Ghost" etc. This would most likely have been done to preserve the identities of the operatives, as they most likely did not 'exist' on records of any kind.
 * The approval of Pvt. Allen taking part in a terrorist attack, the use of torture to extract information, the habit of not retrieving the bodies of fallen operatives, as well as many other deviations from usual military conduct strengthens the TF141's purpose of handling secret and sometimes illegal, black operations. ,
 * Although there are no official standard issue weapons for Task Force 141 members, there are a few weapons that the majority of 141 members carry. The main assault rifle used seems to be the ACR, the main SMG is the MP5K, the standard pistol carried by TF141 members is the G18, and the main sniper rifle used is the M14 EBR. The unit seems to be very independent in terms of training and equipment, as many members use weapons not standard to their respective country
 * While the British, Americans, and Australians have their flags in their colors and on their shoulder patches, the Canadians have their flag on their back in green.Canadian tf141member.jpg
 * There are no Canadian Task Force 141 models in multiplayer despite models being in singleplayer.
 * Task Force 141 is the only faction to face all the foreign enemy factions in multiplayer, as Navy SEALs and Rangers never fight against Militia.
 * Scarecrow and Ozone are randomized TF141 soldiers which look exactly like the multiplayer TF141 soldiers. Only the uniform changes at some urban maps (for example Favela).
 * All TF141 multiplayer sounds can be watched here.
 * Even though every other faction's announcer in multiplayer seem to become nervous if an enemy AC130 is incoming, Task Force 141's announcer (Ghost) reacts to this in a relatively calm, although in a bit panicking tone.
 * When playing online, a player will sometimes see that his team-mate or an enemy character can be randomly generated to look like Ghost depending on who is on the Task Force. This will sometimes occur if the player is the enemy of the SEALs in Sub Base or any other online map that includes the SEALs.
 * Choosing an LMG in multiplayer will make the player spawn with an Australian flag, choosing an SMG, or an Assault Rifle will make the player generate with a British or American flag, and choosing a Sniper Rifle will make the player spawn with an American flag.
 * Before the player unlocks the Ghillie suit, Task Force 141 sniper models will always spawn with an American flag. This can be seen in 3rd person game modes.
 * Task Force 141 (along with the Heartbeat Sensor) is jokingly referenced in a conversation between two characters in the 2010 video game Battlefield: Bad Company 2. After discovering the team has to go on a hunt for an HVT, Sarge says, "I should clear this with Braidwood," to which Sweetwater replies, "No! No, no, no! He'll just send some special ops douche-bags, with pussy-ass heartbeat monitors on their guns, instead of us!"
 * In "The Hornet's Nest" "Nikolai" asks where he should bring the team. "Soap" answers "just get us to the sub" which probably means their HQ is a submarine. This is confirmed in No Russian, where the cutscene shows General Shepherd's location, is on a submarine, Shepherd is the commander of TF141 so this theory is plausible.
 * In 3rd person game modes, the player will always see a G18 in the holster no matter what their secondary weapon is.
 * The full Task Force 141 theme tune is played during mission "Contingency."
 * The TF141's logo in multiplayer is similar to that of SAS of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Op 40 of Call of Duty Black Ops. The three logos all have a knife with wings on their logos.
 * TF141 has the most calm multiplayer announcer out of all factions, as the announcer NEVER screams or panics in any case.
 * Task Force 141 operatives in Multiplayer strangely have sometimes calm voices like Navy Seals, and sometimes very loud, nearly shouting like Spetsnaz.