The History of the Suicide Squad

• The Suicide Squadron: In World War II, top pilot Richard Flag was assigned to a team of outlaws and misfits dubbed "the Suicide Squadron" (because the missions they took were considered suicide missions). Flag was able to whip the team into shape, and they became a successful, if unorthodox, band of soldiers.
• The Postwar Squad: After the Justice Society of America disbanded, the US government needed to take up the slack caused by their absense. Task Force X was forced by President Truman, and divided into two branches. The first, "Argent", was run by the OSS agent known as Control, and handled domestic crimes that would have been handled by super-heroes. The second, "The Suicide Squad", was run by General J.E.B. Stuart, and handled missions abroad.
• The Silver Age Suicide Squad: After the death of Rick Flag, his son, Rick Flag Junior, entered the Air Force, and became a fighter pilot. He later entered astronaut training, but was picked by Task Force X to lead a new Suicide Squad, to deal with the new threats facing the US during the 60's and 70's. [Note: due to "time compression" in the DC Universe, which allows Superman to remain young, the Silver Age Squad was probably formed in the late 70's.] The Silver Age Squad was made up of Rick Flag, Doctor Karin Grace (a medical doctor who had been assigned to the space program as well), physicist Jeff Bright, and astronomer Dr Hugh Evans. The four of them were quite successful in dealing with alien threats and other paranormal threats to American security, until their final mission. The Squad was sent to Tibet to search for the rumored Yeti. They found the Yeti, but were overwhelmed and had to flee. Evans and Bright elected to stay behind and hold off the Yeti so that Flag and Grace could escape. Evans perished, Bright was thought to be dead, and Grace suffered a nervous breakdown. Rick Flag did some work for an unnamed government agency infiltrating a team of second-string heroes known as the Forgotten Heroes, until he finally was called up again to lead the Squad.
• Task Force X: Congressional aide Amanda Waller was able to convince the President to start a new Suicide Squad. This Squad would be made up of metahuman agents, ones that they could control (unlike super-heroes, who rarely work well under government supervision). The agents would either be heroes who needed special assistance (like Bronze Tiger, who needed help recovering his lost memories, or Nightshade, who would need the Squad to help her save her family) or super-villains. The super-villains who participated in the Squad would be given a pardon and set free, if they survived. This incarnation had a semi-successful career, though they lost many members and few missions were complete successes. Eventually, a Senate Subcomittee discovered the existance of the Squad, and their cover was blown.
• A "New" Task Force X: After the Squad pulled off a successful mission saving a nun, the government decided that the Squad was a useful arm of the government, though Amanda Waller could not be trusted to run it. Government agent J. Danforth Kale was given Amanda Waller's job, and the Squad would continue. However, Waller had cut a deal with the Committee, and Kale was just an actor, playing the part while Waller ran the Squad from behind the scenes.
• The End of Task Force X: After the plot by the terrorist Kobra that threw the US government metahuman agencies into chaos, the President reorganized the various divisions. The government agent Sarge Steel was placed in charge of all of the agencies. The Squad was placed under his jurisdiction, though Waller would continue to run it. The other government agencies (the Atom Project, Checkmate, and the CBI) were placed on the same "level" as the Suicide Squad.
• The Squad Disbands: After the criminal syndicate "The Loa" revealed Waller was still running the Squad, she was sent to prison for contempt of Congress (among other crimes). The Squad was disbanded for an entire year. Then, with a crisis requiring the Squad's unique touch came up in Vlatvia. Steel provided Waller with a pardon and she set up a new Squad. This version was a mercenary organization with a $1,000,000 fee per mission. The government could provide criminals to the Squad, but they were no longer responcible for the Squad's actions.
• The Cabal / Task Force X Mark II: The Cabal, a secret organization inside the US government, formed a Suicide Squad of their own - one they controlled. They provided the same deal to felons that Waller did, but their missions were considerably darker (i.e. assassinations, propping up Central American dictators) than those Waller's Squad went on. Waller took her Squad on one last mission to Diabloverde to stop the new Task Force X, and then disbanded the Squad.
• The Unofficial Suicide Squad: Recently, Waller was seen organizing a group of metahumans against the criminal syndicate known as the Silicon Dragons. The team was made up of Squad standbys Captain Boomerang and Deadshot, along with the Hawaiian policeman Sam Makoa, Superboy, and hisenemies Knockout, Sidearm and King Shark. However, this appears to have been a one shot mission, and we have no evidence that the Squad has re-formed.
• All-New Suicide Squad: Until now, a new group has been recruited following the same rules as a mercenary organization but with a lower budget $500.000 fee per mission to the hole group.