Colonel Katherine Powell
It is notoriously difficult for a woman to rise through the ranks of the British military; the fact that Colonel Powell has risen so high and so swiftly is a testament to her intelligence, success and ability to lead a team. She is supposed to be in the lead here too, but finds herself frustrated when her immediate supervisor continually insists upon running all decisions up the chain of command before they are finalized. Powell feels that this is impeding her ability to complete a successful mission.
Powell makes the hard decisions quickly and is able to see the need for the strategy that will save the most lives. This is why she changes the mission objective from "capture" to "kill"; when her intelligence operatives learn that the terrorists are planning a suicide bombing in a civilian location she knows that the only way to save civilian lives is to kill the terrorists. She is unapologetic in the way she works, which is why she is so successful at her role.
Lieutenant General Frank Benson
Benson is Powell's direct supervisor. He used to be a soldier and has not forgotten the way he used to think when his boots were on the ground, but he has also spent a long time behind a desk and is too quick to pass the decision making role further up the chain of command. This often delays the start of a mission which can also derail it and is the key cause of Powell's frequent frustration with him.
Benson is sensitive about his desk-bound role and quick to defend his soldier sensibilities. He may come across to his superiors as a man who has become immune to death but he is offended by this judgement, because he has been a soldier and knows exactly what death means, and does not take any mission that might cause civilian casualties lightly.
Second Lieutenant Steve Watts
Watts is really the brains behind the practical side of the mission because he is the operator of the drone technology that has enabled the surveillance of the terrorist group and also the actual attack on them. He works from Nevada where drone missiles are operated and is instrumental to the success of the mission. He is a smart man with a military mind and takes orders well even if he disagrees with them.
Jamah Farah
Farah is a Kenyan undercover operative working for Colonel Powell. It is his job to infiltrate the terrorist organization and he does this very well. Although the drones provide overhead surveillance which enables a geographical location for the terrorists to be found, it is Farah's eyes and ears that provide day-to-day intelligence. Farah learns of the imminent terror attack and the possible target of the suicide bombs, which he then reports to Powell. It is his intelligence that changes the mission objective from "capture" to "kill".
Ultimately his cover is blown and he is forced to flee the area before he is able to complete the last part of his mission, a civilian rescue before the allied missile is dropped.
