Samuel Garrett

"Garrett somehow maintains a cool head despite the mess that he's in charge of. He views mercs as a necessary evil; if he had it his way, he'd have the Deck dead or captured inside of 30 days, but it wouldn't be pretty. He doesn't care which faction wins in the end, so long as the Deck is eliminated."

- Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction game manual

Colonel Samuel Garrett is the leader of the Allied Nations forces in North Korea during the events of Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction.

Overview
Wearing military drabs, he can always be found inside the AN Headquarters, unless he is standing outside it. Incredibly influential, all of the AN forces inside of North Korea take orders directly from him, and he is the only person that can give you the Ace Contracts. When the mercenary first makes contact with the Allied Nations, Garrett refuses to speak with them as he is distracted with the the Two of Clubs shelling the HQ. When the merc stops the artillery and returns, Garrett is willing to talk to them and give them contracts.

Personality
"I just want you to explain to me why we're still getting the crap shelled out of us, and I don't want to hear the words; authorization, approval, clearance or...now who the hell is this!?"

- Colonel Garrett to Major Howard upon the mercenary's arrival

He can be very prone to anger in bad situations, such as when the mercenary first meets him and finds him frustrated due to having to go through so much red tape just to go after the Two of Clubs, who has been shelling the AN headquarters. He is constantly hounded by GSRN news reporters, and often relies on the merc to fix any problems so he can relay good news to the press. He keeps the mercenary's involvement under wraps resulting in news reports claiming that the merc's accomplishments were the results of AN forces; all of which can be heard in the in-game television reports and from the GSRN trucks found around the map. He is initially hostile towards the mercenary, mainly due to the fact that he is forced to rely on one freelancer to do jobs his own army can't legally or diplomatically get done, but as they prove themselves by eliminating the Deck he gradually begins to respect them.

Garrett's only ambition is to stop General Song, and he tries as much as he can to not sway too far from his goal. Due to being constantly monitored by GSRN, Garrett can't afford to make any mistakes or let too many AN personal die, leading him to eventually rely heavily on the merc to get tough jobs done. Garrett does have some contact with CIA Agent Mitchell Buford, despite their mutual dislike of each other, and is sometimes seen talking to him via long distance walkie talkie. At various points during the game, Garrett calls Buford a "bastard" who knows more than he lets on and is more worried about himself than actually taking down General Song. Garrett does not seem to have any connections with China or Colonel Peng so their relationship is not known and thinks of the Russian Mafia as just a nuisance and does not take any action on them, hoping they will just ignore the AN.

Trivia

 * Colonel Samuel Garret owns three fish during the events of Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. Appearing to be large goldfish, they can be found within a fish tank in the Allied Nations Headquarters in both provinces. The fish are named Solomon, Abraxus, and Marshmallow, the latter being named by Garrets' wife. Due to their equal size and color, it is impossible to distinguish them from the others.
 * His wife also sent him the exercise bike that can be found in the AN Headquarters. He states that he never uses it, though obviously he doesn't inform his wife of this.
 * Garrett is defensive of his coffee, going so far as to charge ExOps $5.50 when the merc drinks some.
 * Before the player accepts an Ace contract, they can order the Prototype Rifle, Sniper Rifle or the Anti-Material Sniper Rifle, look through the scope, and shoot him in the head. Garrett will die, but the player won't be fined, only lose some faction standing with the A.N. He will respawn on the next map respawn. Killing him with a grenade, explosive weapon, or a turret will result in a fine as well as a loss of standing.
 * Garrett is the only character in Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction who will not respond if the player attempts to melee him.
 * Garrett has three gold stars on his shoulders, giving him the rank of Lieutenant General. This is contradictory to his self-declared rank of Colonel. This is likely a design oversight.
 * He is the only African-American character in the game, excluding Chris Jacobs if the player opts to play as him. He also shares this status as the AN commander with Agent Joyce in the second game, though Joyce is a CIA agent rather than a military colonel.