Gary "Roach" Sanderson

"He's a Sgt., but reminds me of what I must've looked like coming out of selection; raw, skilled, loyal to a fault"

- John "Soap" MacTavish

Gary "Roach" Sanderson was the main protagonist and a playable character in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. He was a sergeant and a member of the multinational Task Force 141, falling under the command of Captain John "Soap" MacTavish and operating behind the scenes during the Russian invasion of the United States in 2016.

Task Force 141
Roach’s first appearance in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is in the level “Cliffhanger,” where he accompanies Captain MacTavish on a mission to infiltrate a Russian-controlled airbase in Kazakhstan. While the two climb mountains on the base's outskirts, Roach nearly falls to his death before being saved at the last second by MacTavish. The two then approach the base on foot and manage to retrieve a stolen ACS module before escaping on snowmobiles.

Capturing Alejandro Rojas
Shortly afterward, Task Force 141 goes to Rio De Janeiro on a mission to capture arms dealer Alejandro Rojas, a contact of Makarov. Roach and the other team members pursue Rojas through the Favela and eventually capture him, only to be swarmed by local Militia. The team then mounts a break out and is able to work their way to the Favela rooftops, where they jump to a waiting helicopter.

Roach, however, misses the jump and hangs on for dear life but falls off before Captain MacTavish can grab him and pull him back. He is forced to make his way back to the helicopter totally unarmed with Militia firing upon him. As the helicopter nearly runs out of fuel, he successfully makes a second jump landing on the helicopter's ladder and is extracted with the rest of the team.

Raiding a Russian Oil-Rig
While in Brazil, MacTavish and Ghost were able to extract from Rojas that Makarov has a hate-on for Prisoner #627, who is being held in a gulag off the coast of Russia. Task Force 141 initiates a two-stage operation to secure the prisoner. It begins with a raid on a Russian oil-rig platform armed with SAMs that is guarding the approach to the gulag.

Rescuing Prisoner 627
Roach and the rest of the Task Force make their way onto the platform via SDVs and proceed to neutralize the majority of hostiles and free the hostages being used as human shields. The Task Force then departs on Little Birds as U.S. Marine forces simultaneously touch down to dismantle the SAMs. The second phase of the operation then proceeds with an assault on the gulag itself. After freeing Prisoner #627, who turns out to be Captain Price, Roach and a small number of Task Force members manage to extract via SPIE rig as the U.S. Navy destroys the facility.

Assault on the Submarine Base
With Price back in the fold, Task Force 141 facilitates his plan to board a Russian submarine and use it to launch a nuclear missile at Washington, D.C. During the assault on the submarine base itself, Roach contributes significantly using an MQ-1 Predator Drone to provide close-air-support. Price is able to board the submarine and put his plan into action, air-bursting a missile over Washington D.C. and utilizing it as a massive EMP.

Infiltrating one of Makarov's safehouses
U.S. forces in Washington are able to tip the scales in their favor as a result of the blast and save the city from being carpet bombed by the U.S. Air Force. As a result, Task Force 141 turns its main focus to finding and eliminating Makarov. Ghost and Roach lead an attack on one of Makarov’s safe houses on the Georgian-Russian border.

Most of the team is killed during an ambush on approach but Roach, Ghost, Ozone and Scarecrow are able to reach the safe house and breach inside. They are unable to locate Makarov, but quickly begin to collect highly valuable intelligence from available computers, documents and photos as Makarov's forces begin to mount a counter-attack.

After a DSM with intelligence finishes downloading, the survivors head for the extraction point and General Shepherd’s forces. On approach, Roach is wounded by a close mortar strike. He appears to come close to blacking out several times before Ghost comes to his aid. Ghost ends up dragging Roach to the extraction point, where Shepherd's forces rout the Ultranationalists.

Death
Shepherd emerges from the Pave Low carrying him and asks Ghost if they have the DSM, which Ghost confirms. Shepherd then betrays the two by shooting them both with his .44 Magnum and taking the DSM from Roach's body. Both Ghost and Roach are then taken to a ditch where they are soaked with gasoline by Shadow Company soldiers. Then, Shepherd looks down and throws his cigar onto them, resulting the pair to be set on fire as a result of the gasoline.

Task Force 141

 * Tian Shan Range, Kazakhstan - Retrieves a downed ACS module with Soap.
 * Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Takes down Rojas and his assistant, fights through the Favela and barely escapes onto Nikolai's Pave Low.
 * Vikorevkha 36 Oil Platform, Russia: Phase one of prisoner extraction operation - Secures the oil rig.
 * 40 miles east of Petropavlovsk, Russia: Phase two of prisoner extraction operation - Participates in the assault on the Russian gulag and rescues Prisoner #627.
 * 14 miles SSE of Petropavlovsk, Russia - Raids a submarine base with Captain Price.
 * Georgian-Russian Border - Raids Makarov's safe house, loads a DSM with intelligence. Betrayed along with Ghost at the extraction point and killed by Shepherd.

Trivia

 * In Loose Ends he has a character model in Arctic camo with a black tactical vest, albeit without a head. His model also has four hands. The two can be seen on normal gameplay are gray, but the other two are seen tied behind his back.
 * Accordingly to Soap's Journal, Roach too had a journal. Soap wrote that he sees Roach writing in a journal after the events of Cliffhanger. He wrote "wonder if he's thinking about PT like I was".
 * Roach's nationality is never specified.
 * Roach's weapon of choice seems to be the ACR.
 * In early screenshots of "The Gulag", Soap can be seen from an angle where Roach's seat on the helicopter is visible. The seat, however, is entirely empty.
 * Roach's appearance begins and ends with the disposal of a lit cigar.
 * Roach, Pvt. Ramirez and Sat1 are the only playable characters to not speak in Modern Warfare 2.
 * Roach is the first character in the entire Call of Duty series to use a gun with his left hand.

Video
Video:Lose ends BetrayalGenerthumb|325px|rightal Shepherd's betrayal