Strategic Scientific Reserve
Structure
The Commanding Officer of the SSR oversees the Chiefs of each office.
History
The Strategic Scientific Reserve was formed in 1940 on the orders of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Although the United States was not directly involved in World War II at the time, Roosevelt knew that the situation was only temporary, because Adolf Hitler and his Third Reich were the greatest threat to the free world.
The commanding officer of the Strategic Scientific Reserve was Colonel Chester Phillips. The same year the Strategic Scientific Reserve was formed, he persuaded the American industrialist Howard Stark to join the agency, after a group of assassins sent by HYDRA, Hitler's special weapons division, tried to kill them both.
Shortly after, they organized the rescue of Abraham Erskine from Castle Kaufmann, where he was being held by Johann Schmidt, the commanding officer of HYDRA. Phillips sent one of his best agents, Peggy Carter, to secure Erskine's release.
The goal of the Strategic Scientific Reserve was to create an army of super soldiers that could defeat anything the Axis powers had on the battlefield. This led to Project Rebirth based on the work of their newest acquisition, Erskine, and the subsequent transformation of Steve Rogers into Captain America.
After Abraham Erskine was killed by Heinz Kruger, the top priority of the Strategic Scientific Reserve was to take down HYDRA.
In November 1943, several members of the Strategic Scientific Reserve were in Italy. When Steve Rogers discovered that HYDRA captured his friend, Bucky Barnes, he flew behind enemy lines and led a successful escape of prisoners from the HYDRA factory in Austria.
In the SSR's headquarters in London, Chester Phillips wanted to form a team of soldiers to assist Rogers in taking down HYDRA bases, but he turned down the offer, instead forming the Howling Commandos from the rescued prisoners.
Over the next year, the Howling Commandos progressively managed to destroy most major HYDRA operations, every time postponing Schmidt's planned worldwide offensive. At the beginning of 1945, Schmidt's top scientist Arnim Zola was captured and brought to the SSR's headquarters in London, where he revealed Schmidt's plans.
With the intelligence obtained from Arnim Zola, the SSR planned an attack on Schmidt's fortress in the Alps. A huge detachment of the United States Army assisted the SSR in the attack and the fortress was captured after a relatively short fight. Though Red Skull escaped with the massive aircraft bomber, the Valkyrie, with the intent to use weapons of mass destruction on the United States of America, Steve Rogers managed to board the plane and cause its fall into the icy waters of the North Atlantic.
In 1945, the efforts of the Strategic Scientific Reserve were successful. Peggy Carter and the Howling Commandos took down the last known HYDRA base in Austria, capturing General Werner Reinhardt and a weapon that became known as the first 0-8-4, the Obelisk. Reinhardt was placed in the SSR facility called the Rat, interrogated by Carter, and given a life sentence for his crimes. HYDRA was destroyed, the Axis powers were defeated, and the SSR facility in London was dismantled.
In 1951, the SSR was absorbed into S.H.I.E.L.D. as its Research Division.
Disbandment
In 1951, the SSR was absorbed into S.H.I.E.L.D. as its Research Division, under the command of Director Margaret "Peggy" Carter, a former member of the SSR.
DISBANDED/DISSOLVED
1940 - 1951
Type
Secret, Government
Alternative Names
SSR
Successor Organization
Ruling Organization
Leader Title
Founders
Comments