| Tal Yahalom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Tal Yahalom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Years of tempering in austere environments has turned him into a laid-back individual, one who has just about seen it all and has nothing left to prove. Loyalty to the mission and those around him are paramount.
Special Skills
- Marksmanship
- Qualified expert with both the M4A1 and M18 pistol while in service.
- Learned and maintained proficiency with shooting techniques and small unit tactics in accordance with the standards of the United States Special Operations Command, encompassing both close-quarters battle and at distance. Put practice into action on numerous occasions, supporting direct action operations whilst attached to a larger team.
- Communications
- Acquired and maintains both FAA Air Traffic Controller and Joint Terminal Attack Controller certifications while in service.
- Formerly tasked with conducting air traffic control, fire support missions, command and control, and forward air control as part of his duties as a Combat Controller. Is fully capable of doing everything that an air traffic control tower does, except out of a backpack and in the middle of a warzone.
- Well-versed and trained in proper radio and communications procedures. Speaks clearly, and is overall an effective regardless of medium.
- Experience
- Maintains a wide breadth of knowledge ranging from small unit tactics to equipment technicalities and basic survival skills garnered from years and years of training and field experience, and is capable of passing this knowledge onto others.
- Fire from the Sky
- As a combat controller, Tal is capable of leveraging the entire arsenal of the Air Force against targets worldwide, from precision drone strikes to carpet bombing runs. The nature of modern air support allows it to be endlessly adaptable, and the pursuit of low-collateral munitions opens up an entirely different realm of possibilities.
Special Abilities
- Telekinetic Resistance
- Trained as part of JSOC's supernatural investigations unit, Tal possesses an unusually high degree of telekinetic resistance to prevent probing or control. With strong mental fortitude, he is capable of filling his mind with clusters of thoughts irrelevant to his mission, making discerning his intentions considerably more difficult.
Equipment
- Crye Precision Jumpable Plate Carrier 2.0
- A lightweight, minimalist armor vest designed for maximum mobility, flexibility, and weight savings, featuring exchangeable front panels with support for MOLLE interfaces. For low-visibility operations, it comes in a Ranger Green or Multicam finish. It is fitted with Level IV SAPI plates that protect against up to .30-06 (7.62x63mm) armor-piercing ammunition. Loadout is mission dependent, although it typically features a subdued/IR-color US flag patch on the upper chest for identification and pouches for at least five magazines: 3 in an open-top triple shingle on the front, one stacked on top of the triple shingle in an ITW Fast Mag, and another in a flap pouch on his left-hand side. Various types of bags can be attached or strapped to the rear of the JPC, which has a total load capacity approaching 400 pounds.
- M4A1 SOPMOD Block II
- SOPMOD Block II is an unofficial moniker for the latest iteration of accessories for M4-pattern rifles in United States Special Operations Command service. Typically, like Tal's, they are built from M4A1 carbines, the fully-automatic variant of the ubiquitous 5.56-chambered M4 carbine, and feature a longer tan-colored Daniel Defense M4A1 RIS II quad-rail handguard with matching tan NWC crane stock. Mounted on the top rail are a set of Knight's Armament Company backup iron sights, along with an Elcan SpecterDR 1-4x dual-role optic. Towards the business end of the rifle is an AN/PEQ-15 Advanced Target Pointer/Illuminator/Aiming Laser (ATPIAL), which is mounted slightly behind the flip-up front sight. On the right side of the weapon is a Surefire Scout Light, hooked up to an Insight Technology pressure switch on the other side of the weapon. This switch is mounted on the top rail behind the AN/PEQ-15, allowing for easy access by the off-hand while holding the KAC forward (vertical) pistol grip. Attached to the muzzle of the 12.5-inch barrel is a KAC Quick-Detach flash suppressor, along with a KAC QD NT-4 sound suppressor. To help cope with the weight of the weapon over long periods of time as well as assisting in rapid transitions to the secondary, Tal has opted for a Frank Proctor WOTG sling.
- SIG Sauer M18
- The M18 is the compact version of the P320, the handgun that replaced the Beretta M9 as the main sidearm of the US armed forces in the late 2010s. Chambered in 9mm, the modular handgun is designed to accept red dots, flashlights and lasers, and is threaded to accept muzzle devices. Tal personally runs an open red dot, a weaponlight, and a compensator.
Owing to the RIS rail system, the design is fully modular with a wide set of optics ranging from dedicated close combat optics to fixed 4x optics, as well as most aftermarket grips, bipods, and weapon lights. There is no one "true" setup for every situation, and Tal will swap or replace attachments to suit mission needs, especially considering the weight of the weapon when fully kitted-out.
- Glock 19 MOS
- A compact handgun firing 9x19mm Parabellum pistol rounds, issued to members of USSOCOM. Acts as his backup, fitted with a pistol light and taller tritium-illuminated iron sights. Mounted under the barrel is a well-worn Surefire X300U weapon light in tan, which protrudes slightly past the end of the barrel. Owing to the modular nature of the Glock platform, he can easily fit it with a pistol-sized red dot (Trijicon RMR/Leupold DeltaPoint) as well as several different barrel devices, including compensators and sound suppressors. For storage, Tal uses a Safariland 6354 holster mounted at hip level on his Emissary gun belt.
- 1999 Jeep Cherokee (XJ)
- The Jeep Cherokee (XJ) is a compact sport utility vehicle that was manufactured and marketed by Jeep from 1983 to 2001. Sharing the name of the original full-size SJ model, but without a traditional body-on-frame chassis, the XJ instead featured a light-weight unibody design. The models were originally marketed as Sportwagons and became the precursor to the modern sport utility vehicle (SUV) as that term was not yet in use.
Tal's CCT team utilized a similar off-road vehicle with a sunroof during operations in Afghanistan, configured as a technical with an M240B machine gun mounted on the roof. Stateside, following their reassignment to JSOC's SIU, Tal and his comrade acquired a similar vehicle, although without as extensive of modifications in order to better blend in with a civilian environment. The windows are fully tinted and bullet resistant all around, and the vehicle is secretly uparmored. To cope with the stresses, the vehicle possesses a beefed up suspension and engine. The license plate, of course, is registered under a fake name during clandestine operations, and is unmarked when necessary. The trunk is easily accessible from the backseat, where equipment and weapons can be stored securely.
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A JPC 2.0 in Ranger Green.
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A Glock 19 MOS with Surefire X300U weapon light.
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An M4A1 SOPMOD Block II rifle mockup, with Elcan SpecterDR 1-4x w/ backup red dot, KAC backup iron sights, Insight weapon light with pressure switch, AN/PEQ-15, and KAC forward grip.
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The '99 Cherokee XJ, nicknamed the "Fuckmobile", during a mission in Chicago. Tal is sitting in the passenger side window, holding an M136 AT4-CS.
Background
Tal was born on May 4th, 1990, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant district in New York City to two relatively poor blue-collar workers. At the age of 19, he took up a four-year enlistment contract, somehow managing to show the aptitude to proceed down the lengthy and rigorous Combat Controller pipeline, which lasted roughly two years. Through thick and thin, in the face of a nearly 90% washout rate, he graduated from Advanced Skills Training in 2025, formally becoming a mission-ready Combat Controller and shipping out to the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron in Washington state. He participated in numerous deployments to Africa, the Middle East, and South America, and was reassigned to the 24th Special Tactics Squadron in North Carolina.