ONI

From ILB

ONI is an acronym for the Office of Naval Intelligence (http://halosm.bungie.org/story/oni.html). In the Haloverse, ONI has spies planted throughout the military.

ONI is divided into sections and is involved not only with internal security and military intelligence but also special projects and unconventional warfare. It is under their aegis that the SPARTAN project was created. It also appears to be prone to factional strife and has a nefarious reputation as being underhanded "spooks", and seems to be influential in the upper levels of the UNSC General Staff.

There is a strong implication that ONI grew out of the current United States intelligence community via references to headquarters being in Virginia¹. The real-world headquarters of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is in Langley, VA.

Note that the acronym is a play on the Japanese word "oni", a powerful spirit whose influence is great for either good or ill. "Oni" is also the title of an earlier Bungie game.

¹ flower_delivery (http://www.ilovebees.com/outbound/flower_delivery.wav)