What's all this talk of Spartan-IIIs being recruited from the regular pool? When I read Gosts of Onyx, it said that they were children as well, with Beta Group being comprised of 12 and 13 year olds...which is why it was so traumatic to the two survivors...they were not even teenagers yet and they watched their friends get slaughtered wholesale. The only things it mentioned that were different than the Spartan-II programme were the disposability factor, SPI armour, and the fact that the augmentation routine had been refined so far that 100% of the candidates made it by the time Gamma Team was done.

@M-562: Can't be Forge's son, since he joined the Marines at 17 and has been a part of the Corps ever since. And he doesn't seem the type to do one night stands either.