Burton

"You want the best? Here I am."

- Colonel Burton entering the battlefield.

Colonel Burton was a highly experienced expert in covert operations and an American hero, who participated in numerous campaigns against the GLA.

Background
"Easy climb."

- Burton, when ordered to climb a cliff.

At all times Burton was equipped with a seemingly endless supply of demo charges (able to be activated both remotely and by a timer), a knife for assassinations and an extraordinarily powerful assault rifle. Trained to be stealthy and able to climb cliffs, Burton could slip into an enemy base undetected and wreak havoc. While he could be detected by the enemy when placing demolition charges or firing his weapon, Burton could kill individual infantrymen with his knife without being noticed.

It should be noted that General Townes planned to arm Burton with a prototypical laser rifle. But before the GLA war began he was forced to give up this plan, as a laser weapon small enough to be carried by a man had still not been successfully developed, and the project had proven costly.

Abilities
"They won't see us."

- Burton on stabbing.

Game unit
"No man can turn the tide of this battle, not even Colonel Burton."

- Kwai mocking Burton

Strategy
A master of stealth and of destruction, Burton was practically a one-man army. He was so powerful that he was even able to take on tanks and destroy buildings with C4 alarmingly quickly. When he achieves heroic status, he can tear through buildings in less than a minute with his machine gun. Garrisoned in a building, he could easily hold off entire waves of infantry and lighter vehicles with ease provided a garrison-clearing unit doesn't come along.

His stealthy knife attack made it very useful for him to eliminate infantry while staying hidden, let it be entire regiments or a lone soldier. There were no AI warnings of infantry killed by Burton, allowing him to easily slaughter infantrymen without the enemy knowing it.

Counters
"Colonel Burton? General, you should let HIM be the general. You are just sending him to an early death."

- Prince Kassad, after Burton enters the fray.

However, Burton is just a man. Anti-infantry Tanks armed with Gattling Guns represented a serious threat, provided the enemy commander was able to detect him. Burton's demolition charges could be disarmed by Workers or Dozers.

His explosives also took some time to plant, meaning he was completely defenseless in the process. Heavier vehicles can easily resist his assault rifle but still run a risk of being destroyed if they lack proper anti-infantry weapons. Chinese Land mines and GLA Demo traps can also deter him from planting C4's as he'll be injured or even incapacitated before reaching the building.

Campaign
"Got a present for ya!"

- Colonel Burton planting demolition charges

A valuable asset to the Americans, Burton was employed in many of its campaigns against the GLA. He assisted an American commander in several missions against the GLA, such as the rescue of three US pilots from the enemy's clutches in Yemen, defeating both the GLA and a rogue Chinese military commander in S-E Kazakhstan and helped in the assault on the last GLA stronghold in Akmola.

In Zero Hour, Burton helped destroy the GLA presence at the Somalian docks assisted by the US Navy fleet and teamed up with Black Lotus to destroy a GLA secret research facility at Mount Elbrus in Russia. In Iran, he helped the American task forces to destroy the GLA's fundings by capturing the oil fields and finally, he worked alongside GLA hero and defector, Jarmen Kell to assassinate GLA scientist Dr Thrax and prevent the launch of ICBMs against major American cities.

What remains of his fate by the end of the war remains unknown to this day.

Trivia
"Like ants under a magnifying glass!"

- Laser Burton


 * According to Zero Hour's sound files, General Townes was to have his own version of Colonel Burton called Laser Burton. He was supposed to be equipped with a laser-powered variant of the OICW. It was dropped for some reason however he is available in a downlodable Mods.
 * Colonel Burton might be based on Arnold Schwarzenegger staring as John Matrix in the film Commando.
 * The manual of C&C: Generals states that Burton is armed with a sniper rifle, further reinforced by the fact that his weapon is called 'BurtonSniperRifle' within game coding. However, in-game he uses a much shorter-ranged and fast-firing rifle.
 * Judging from in-game pictures, Colonel Burton appears to be armed with an OICW, whilst the cameo image shown here suggests his use of a XM214 Minigun. A model of Colonel Burton, not used probably because he would have been seen as out of place with his high detail compaired to all other units, carried what appears to be a MP5, this combination suggesting he has a very wide arsenal at his disposal.
 * He is similar to Tanya and the First Tiberium War era Commandos, due to his methods of attacking (powerful rifle and demo charges) and his attitude. He is however cloaked, unlike the aforementioned two.
 * Burton's line "Keep them coming, That was left-handed, & Got a present for ya!" was first uttered by the Commando in the original Command & Conquer.

Internal Links

 * Jarmen Kell
 * Black Lotus
 * Super Lotus