the agency which trains and employs the black ops is known to its members as the company. the company is divided into five departments: combat, intelligence, science, technology and security. every op belongs to one department and follows that department's directives at all times, even (especially) while on missions working with other departments. as each department has goals which occasionally clashes with the goals of other departments, this often causes friction and competition between the departments. the departments' heads answer only to argus, who actually encourage inter-department competition as a means for them to "keep their edge".