Operation Island Thunder

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

In 2010, four years after Fidel Castro's death and the ousting of the ruling Communist Party, Cuba is undergoing a promising decommunization and democratization process and is scheduled to host their first free and fair election since 1948. Among the parties is El Frente Democratico de la Gente (FDG; "People's Democratic Front"), an anti-American Marxist–Leninist faction led by Ariel Priego that seeks to return Cuba to a one-party dictatorship. When intelligence reveals the FDG is using political violence, crime, and fraud to rig the election in their favor, the United States covertly deploys the Ghosts to Cuba to quell the FDG's activities. In Cuba, the Ghosts quickly target arms trafficking and drug smuggling operations by agents and allies of Priego to reduce his ability to forcibly influence voters. On election day, the Ghosts are tasked with providing security in Cienfuegos, and successfully repel an FDG-sponsored attack on the voting center at the town hall and a related hostage situation. The revelation of the FDG's illicit activities leads to their landslide defeat in the election. An angry Priego appeals to his backers in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to send militants to overthrow the Cuban government and install him as dictator by force, but the Ghosts repel the attack, and FARC ultimately abandons Priego to cut its losses. Desperate and cornered, Priego flees to an old fortress in a hilled section of Cuba. The Ghosts are ordered to assault the fortress and capture Priego alive, to ensure he is not martyred by FDG extremists. The Ghosts succeed, destroying Priego's escape helicopter, killing his guards, and taking Priego into custody.

In Their Own Story

The chopper blades thwack overhead as the sun bleeds orange over the jungle canopy. Sergeant Mitchell checks his M4, the familiar weight a comfort in the oppressive heat. Below, the island of Isla de los Sueños is a green hell of insurgent strongholds and hidden caches. The intel says the DFLI leader is holed up in a coastal villa, surrounded by loyalists. The Ghosts drop into the LZ, silent and lethal. Every step could be a mine, every shadow a sniper. This is their island now.

Reader's Guide

A new feature introduced in Island Thunder is the combat point system. Every time a character survives a mission they earn combat points. These points are used to further advance the characters in-game abilities including the strength of their weapons, how successfully they are able to move around enemies without being seen, how many hits they can sustain before dying, and their leadership (the stats of a fireteam member under a leader with a high leadership rating will be increased). Ghost Recon: Island Thunder was playable online until the termination of Xbox Live in April 2010. Island Thunder is still playable online using the unofficial replacement Xbox Live server system Insignia.

Did You Know?

• Island Thunder is set in an alternate democratizing Cuba in 2010, four years after Fidel Castro's death and the ousting of the ruling Communist Party.
• The expansion introduces a combat point system where characters earn points for surviving missions, used to improve weapon strength, stealth, durability, and leadership.
• Combined sales of Island Thunder and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm reached 1.1 million copies by the end of March 2004.
• The Ghosts are ordered to capture FDG leader Ariel Priego alive to prevent him from being martyred by extremists.
• Island Thunder is still playable online using the unofficial replacement Xbox Live server system Insignia.