Five years after the events of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, in 2016, Private First Class Joseph Allen participates in a military operation alongside the U.S. Army Rangers, stationed in Afghanistan, by assisting them in taking back a city from insurgents. Impressed by Allen's capabilities, Lieutenant General Shepherd, who oversaw the operation, recruits him into the Task Force 141 – an elite, multi-national counter-terrorist unit under Shepherd's command. While Allen is prepared for an upcoming assignment, two other 141 members, Captain John "Soap" Mactavish and Sgt. Gary "Roach" Sanderson, infiltrate a Russian airbase in the Tian Shan mountains to retrieve an Attack Characterization System (ACS) module from a downed American satellite, narrowly escaping capture.