Military

"I hate the Army."

The U.S. Military Logo in Left 4 Dead

"Or they're gonna line us up against a wall and shoot us."

The Military is an omnibus term for the unified military forces (or what remains of them) of the United States: the country that provides the setting for Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. As a background entity, they play a part in attempting to contain the Infection, as well as scattering improvised military waypoints, outposts, and rescue areas along with military-grade weaponry for any living Survivors to defend themselves from the Infected. Unfortunately for the Military, many of its members have succumbed to the Infection and so appear (in their camouflage fatigues) as part of the huge hordes of Common Infected.

Involvement with containing The Infection

Outpost map — Map found in Whitney County displaying the military outposts still evacuating.

Throughout the three weeks of the Infection, the Military was working alongside CEDA in an attempt to fight and stop the Green Flu epidemic from spreading. As CEDA failed to contain the virus, the Military eventually took over CEDA's responsibilities as the Infection spread throughout the country. Originally, the Military's strategy was to evacuate and rescue as many people as possible, but once that became less feasible, it is evident that a political decision was taken to declare martial law. This enabled the Military to institute more direct and draconian measures to contain the threat and to attack overrun areas of the country. One such measure involved the Military forcibly separating Carriers (people who were infected by the Green Flu, but did not show any symptoms) from non-Infected Survivors (people who had not encountered the Infected) and burying Infected corpses in mass graves (refer to The Sacrifice Comic). In The Park, The Survivors encounter piles of bullet-riddled uninfected corpses next to a decontamination trailer, a fact that Nick, Ellis and Coach may remark on at the time. The reason for these executions is unknown.

At the initial outbreak, CEDA policy banned civilians from possessing firearms (something many Survivors obviously ignored and which adds further credence to the theory that CEDA's grip on the situation was loose). However when the Military took over these rules were overturned and civilians were encouraged to arm themselves for their own protection. Since it is probable that CEDA was first on the scene and operating in accordance with civil powers and legislation, its handling of the crisis appears to have been less aggressive in dealing with both the Infection and its concomitant breakdown in law and order, which could largely explain why its measures failed. Under martial law, the Military has a free hand to take whatever actions its command structure dictates, and for this reason its stance is both violent and ruthlessly direct. In this regard, several public notices seen throughout the Left 4 Dead series make it explicit that deadly force is authorized.

The arbitrary nature of martial law is well and subtly illustrated in each volume of Left 4 Dead. In The Sacrifice comic, the original Survivors are forcibly detained by the Military, escape from custody by a hairsbreadth and vow never to have anything more to do with the Military (and thus organized authority). Their experiences thus lead them to trust no one but themselves and to declare their own "independence". However, in Left 4 Dead 2, despite evidence that it once executed civilians regularly, the Military keeps a helicopter in the middle of a horde of infected to save a small band of Survivors caught on the wrong side of a bridge set for demolition. At the same time, these Survivors maintain blind faith in the Military despite physical evidence and testimonials from the original Survivors that their lives and liberty may be forfeit once they are under the Military's control. In the final chapter, only street smart, ex-con Nick has the pessimism to express the possibility that the Military will line the Survivors "up against a wall" and shoot them.

Known Personnel

Personnel at Millhaven

Major Everly (deceased)
Lt. Mora (possibly Infected, deceased)
Sergeant Downey (presumed deceased)
Sergeant Hendricks (presumed deceased)
Soldiers Jeff and Annie (presumed deceased)
Soldier Brooks (presumed deceased)
Soldier Davis (presumed deceased)
Soldier Jim (deceased)
Soldier Nate (deceased)
Soldier Peña (presumed deceased)
Soldier Rivera (presumed deceased)
Unnamed doctor (deceased)
Unnamed Soldier (killed by a Witch)
Soldier Boomer (Infected, deceased)
Soldier Smoker (Infected)
Rescue 9 (platoon of soldiers who use the APC, presumed deceased)

Others

Unnamed soldier in The Subway (deceased)
Unnamed military unit guarding third floor and rooftop at Mercy Hospital (deceased)
Unnamed military unit guarding civilian house near Riverside Park (deceased)
Unnamed military unit guarding Metro International Airport (deceased)
Unnamed plane pilot (presumed deceased)
Unnamed military unit guarding Daughtery Farm (deceased)
Unnamed parachutist at The Swamp (deceased)
Papa Gator and Rescue 7 (presumed alive)

Cities turned Outposts:

Atlanta: According to Graffiti in The Sacrifice, the Military and CEDA were holding out in Atlanta. It is unknown when this outpost was established, but according to a map found in The Hotel, it was overrun by day Twenty-One.

Veterans Memorial Bridge/Louisiana Naval Base: A double-decker bridge in New Orleans was used to get to the Louisiana Naval Base where refugees would be taken by helicopter to cruise ships out in the ocean. After the Survivors escape the bridge, it is destroyed by military F-18 fighter jets to prevent further spread of the infection. Evacuated, overrun, and destroyed by day Twenty-Four.

The Bus Station: A bus station in the heart of New Orleans that was used by CEDA as a evacuation center. The Military took over and started separating Carriers and the non-Infected. Civilians were rioting demanding to be evacuated, which escalated into chaos as the Infection continued to spread. The Military was forced to take action and shoot the civilians onsite. Overrun by day Twenty-Four.

Soldier Tank — A U.S. Soldier, that has been turned into a Tank.

Rayford: Used by CEDA as a safe outpost, the Military had a small command center at the Army Reserve building (which was destroyed). They also aided in transporting Carriers in train cars, escorting live Infected specimens and carrying supplies and ammunition; however, the train crashed. Overrun by day Twenty or earlier.

Riverside: Set up a command center in the town to monitor the situation in Fairfield. However, once the Infection spread to the outskirts of the city, the Military fled and abandoned the town completely. Overrun by day Fifteen or earlier.

Whitney County: Just outside the city of Fairfield, the Military set up a small outpost near the bridge in the county, most likely to aid the quarantine and containment of the Infection in Fairfield as well as aid fleeing refugees. Overrun by day Fifteen or earlier.

Outposts:

Command HQ: Location and Status unknown but connection lost by day Nine (presumably).

Millhaven: Used to test carriers for the Infection as well as create a vaccine. Did not successfully create a vaccine. Overrun by day Nineteen (assumed).

Safe Zone Echo: Status unknown. Established by day Fourteen or earlier, still operational as of day Nineteen.

Ships outside New Orleans: Status unknown. Presumably established on day Twenty-Four.

Other

Mercy Hospital: The Military worked alongside with CEDA and the medical staff at the hospital to help protect civilians and develop a vaccine for the disease; however, they were not able to hold out long enough. When trying to evacuate everyone by chopper on the rooftop of the hospital, they left a Minigun. A soldier's corpse is seen beside the radio.

Daughtery Farm: The Military held out here for a while but had to pull out and return to Safe Zone Echo; they were not able to find any more Survivors. However, they left a radio for any future Survivors.

Military Rescue

Zombiem 1 — An Infected in U.S. Army uniform(National Guard in the game files).

The military is still active in rescuing living Survivors, though possibly due to thinning numbers, cannot afford to station personnel at every rescue area to greet and coordinate any Survivors. Nevertheless, they usually leave means of contact, generally via radio for any living Survivors to communicate with them. As the Infected are unable to speak any human language anymore, or use technology for that matter, the military can be assured that any attempt at communications will be genuine.

Places in which the military will actively send Rescue Vehicles:

A military C-130 Hercules plane flies over the city of Newburg at the beginning of Dead Air. The plane lands at the ruins of Metro International Airport to refuel the plane; however, the co-pilot is killed by the Infected and the plane awaits for Survivors to help refuel the plane since the pilot most likely refuses to leave the safety of the plane.
Farmhouse Finale, Blood Harvest. The military set up a radio along with ammunition and weapons in a farmhouse. When contacted, they will send out a modified Patria Pasi Armored Personnel Carrier to pick up the Survivors communicating with them―if they are still alive.
The Bridge, The Parish. The military have started to evacuate Survivors onto large cruise ships out at sea, having abandoned the mainland. When contacted, the last helicopter is already ready to leave, but will delay their flight along with bombing run if the remaining Survivors on the other side of the bridge can make it to them. The helicopter is a CH-53 Sea Stallion, noticeably equipped for Carriers―Survivors who retain their humanity and are generally immune from the effects, but may still be Infected with the Green Flu and able to pass it to others who might not display such a resistance.

Technologies used in the series

The Military has been shown to be using a wide variety of vehicles that are actively in service with the military today, and some which have never been or have been pulled out of service.

HMMWVs (Humvees) - These are a common form of transport in the military, and through most campaigns in both games can be mostly found in military/evacuation areas but are also found in locations such as highways or in the streets. Oddly, they are never seen with any mounted weaponry even though it is common for them to wield various machine guns and missile launchers, although this was probably left out due to many concerns with modeling and gameplay. They are seen in woodland camouflage (in the north) and in bright desert colors (in the south) as it is likely that the desert camo are ones that were pulled out of the Middle East and the woodland camo ones belong to the National Guards.
M-35 2 1/2 Ton Truck - The M-35 Truck is the standard transport truck of the United States Military. It can be seen in both the North and the South although it is in its woodland camo in all areas that are seen. Sometimes Heavy Machine Guns are seen on the back and can be used. They are usually found in military/evacuation sites and are also scattered around (Although not as much as the HMMWVs) a bit. Oftentimes you can climb up the rear of them as if it were a ladder.
UH-1 Iroquois (Huey helicopter) - The UH-1 is a small utility helicopter first fielded in Vietnam in 1959. The News Chopper 5 and Dark Carnival's chopper are both these variants, and there is also a United States Army version used in Cold Stream and many custom campaigns. In the model files there is also a crashed one and many detailed pieces for a grey version used by the Marines (Although it bears resemblance to the UH-1Y, an upgraded model), and in Left 4 Dead 2 the model and its debris models have no textures. It is unknown why the UH-1 is seen with U.S. Army decals, as it has been replaced by the UH-60 Blackhawk, although it could indicate the military is desperate enough to pull out old models due to the numbers of vehicles being lost or abandoned.
C-130 Hercules - The C-130 Hercules is a cargo/transport plane being fielded by the Air Force. It is seen at the beginning and end of Dead Air (although it is likely that it is the same one). The one seen was apparently stopping for fuel, but the soldier who had gone out to turn it on was killed by the Infected. It has a window where a mounted weapon would usually be open, although there is nothing there (likely due to it being a rescue vehicle and a working weapon might not follow the animation correctly).
F/A-18/E Super Hornet (F-18) - The F/A-18/E is a multi-role jet fighter in use with the Marine Corps and Navy but not the Air Force. It is seen in The Parish during the first level and during the last two. It was being used to bomb targets throughout the city to cover the military retreat and destroy the bridge to slow Infection spread. It could also be that these planes bombed Metro International Airport. So far they are the only active vehicle seen not acting as a rescue vehicle.
CH-53 Sea Stallion - The CH-53 is a cargo helicopter used by the Marines . It is used as the evac in The Parish. The one used is also "equipped for carriers" although what that currently means differed from a normal CH-53 is unknown. It is also seen at the beginning of Dead Center leaving the Left 4 Dead 2 Survivors while it presumably heads to the mall. A crashed one is also seen on The Parish near the sewers.
XA-180 APC - Currently the only armored vehicle seen in the Left 4 Dead series. This is used as the Blood Harvest rescue vehicle, but does not fit the location. It has not been in US Military service before, but it is in use with some United Nations and NATO countries, meaning that they have been sent to help the military evacuate. It being the only armored vehicle seen so far is quite odd, as many armored personnel carriers could be seen as effective evacs or even as stationary guards. A plausible reason is that very few are still in the United States and it would take a long time to bring them over from the Middle East, or have been destroyed by powerful Infected like the Tank.

In addition, the Military has a fair amount of firearms which are available for the Survivors to use:

In Left 4 Dead

In Left 4 Dead 2

Sniper Rifle (Heckler & Koch MSG90A1)
Combat Rifle (FN SCAR-L)
Grenade Launcher (M79 grenade launcher)
M60
Heavy Machine Gun (Browning M2HB .50cal)
Silenced Submachine Gun (MAC-10)
MP5N
Knife

It can be noted that many of the firearms the military has been seen to use are not in major US Military Service (like the M79, M60 and M1911), although the presence of these goes towards the idea of the miltary arming their surviving troops with stored or obselete weapons as a sign of desperation.

Military Presence

Throughout the Left 4 Dead series, the Military have also shown their presence via the use of posters and signboards displaying instructions and warnings. The use of deadly force by the military is repeatedly emphasized showing their seriousness compared to CEDA. Bill also mentions that the military is speaking out to Survivors through radios, informing people of where to go. Abandoned vehicles and military weapons have also been left behind as areas are overrun by the Infected. This is seen differently in The Parish, however, as F-18 Fighter Jets are seen flying above the New Orleans skyline making their bomb runs throughout the city trying to stop the Infection.

Military Signs

These military signs can be found all around The Parish in Left 4 Dead 2.

Notes

The in-game uniform for the Military appears to be the M81 Woodland Battle Dress Uniform (BDU). However, the BDU was phased out of the Marines in 2002, replaced by the Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform with the MARPAT camouflage pattern. It was also phased out by the Army in 2006, replaced by the Army Combat Uniform with the Universal Camouflage Pattern. The BDUs should not have been worn by active personnel in the games' 2008-2009 setting.
Military trucks in the Left 4 Dead series resemble either the M35A3 Cargo Truck or the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (colloquially called a Humvee).
The Humvee near the safe room in The Park is the only vehicle that has a detailed interior. Most of the cars and trucks in the Left 4 Dead series has black or dark windows, allowing the designers to forego detailing the interior.