Pentagon

"There's no politics here, it's just good old-fashioned revenge. There's no Pentagon. It's just you and me."

- Tony Stark's message to the Mandarin

The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington, Virginia. As a symbol of the United States military, "The Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense.

Downing of the Aerodynamic Marvel
General Turner, one of the officers in charge of assigning missions to Tony Stark during his earliest days as Iron Man, called Stark to ask him to retrieve a piece of surveillance technology in Congo.

In reality, Turner lied about the incident, as the attack shot down a prototype vehicle designed by Justin Hammer, leaving its pilot alone in unfriendly territory.

Turner's real objective was to make Stark kill the Congolese Army members in the area without blaming the United States Armed Forces, masquerading as an act of self-defense during the mission.

However, Stark was able to see past his lies and rescued the pilot without bloodshed, infuriating Turner and the Joint Chiefs.

Primary Systems Contractor
Justin Hammer's next attempt to assure himself a position as the Department of Defense Primary Systems Contractor at the Pentagon for over 25 years was the development of manned armored suits similar to that the ones developed by Tony Stark, after his contract was suspended when Stark revealed Hammer's secret attempt to duplicate the technology before the Senate Armed Forces Committee in Washington, D.C.

For that plan, he enlisted the help of convicted criminal Ivan Vanko to solve the failures of the armors, but he ended up transforming them into Drones to fulfill his own agenda.

Hunt of Bruce Banner
General Thaddeus Ross coordinated the hunt of Bruce Banner from his office at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. Banner was able to elude capture for some years, even although the United States Armed Forces located some of the safehouses used by Banner.

Ross monitored the efforts from the Pentagon, establishing an investigation report with files about his sightings, different evidences found, and continuos control of Banner's known accomplices, particularly, Betty Ross and Leonard Samson, and trying to figure Banner's intentions.

Major Kathleen Sparr informed General Ross of a severe case of Gamma poisoning by a man in Milwaukee, who suffered it after drinking from a bottle that got impregnated with Banner's blood while he suffered a cut in the bottling factory he was working on Brazil. Ross quickly deduced that Banner was hiding at the location of the bottling factory, and he should be the only caucasian working there. Both Ross and Sparr left the Pentagon in order to assembled a Military Unit to capture Banner.

Ross and Blonsky reunited in the Pentagon after the unsuccesful capture of Banner, with Blonsky reaffirming his compromise to the mission, advising Ross to choose men ready to fight Hulk without fear.

General Ross decided to disclose Blonsky the exact nature of Banner's work, an attempt to recreate the results of Project Rebirth in order to create "super-soldiers", and that Banner was unaware of Ross motivations to finance the project, as he thought he was investigating to improve radiation resistance. Ross offered Blonsky a chance to undergo an experimental procedure, administrating a dose of the Super Soldier Serum to improve his physical capabilities in order to battle Hulk next time he was located.

Ross returned to the Pentagon after another failed mission to capture Banner in Brazil, and was briefed on Blonsky's condition, who was critically injured by Hulk in the battle, with almost all his bones broken with a violent blow. Ross reviewed the TV news report about the incident, and was briefed by Major Sparr about a change in Blonsky's condition, prompting him to check it himself: Blonsky healed himself miraculously.

The effects of the Super Soldier Serum administered to Blonsky led Ross to organize a major manhunt of Banner and Betty Ross, enlisting the help of the FBI, local police departments and S.H.I.E.L.D., as now Banner wasn't fleeing, he was looking for help.

Banner's last communication with an accomplice known as "Mister Blue" allowed to track his direction and identity to that of Samuel Sterns a professor from the department of cellular biology at Grayburn College in New York City, ordering a blockade of the access to New York.

Taunting the Mandarin
"Listen, the Pentagon is scared. After what happened in New York... aliens, come on. They need to look strong. Stopping the Mandarin is priority, but it's not..."

- James Rhodes to Tony Stark

The Pentagon was involved in a heavy manhunt of the terrorist leader known as the Mandarin, suspected responsible of at least nine terrorist acts using a series explosive artifacts that left no trace.

Happy Hogan was hospitalized due to the injuries he suffered in the explosion of the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, prompting Tony Stark to publicly threaten the Mandarin, leaving aside politics and the Pentagon, as he simply wanted revenge.

Project Insight
The Pentagon was one of the intended targets of Project Insight, as many of its workers were deemed a threat for HYDRA's plans. The Insight satellites marked numerous individuals as candidates in the Pentagon. The building was not shot as Captain America and his allies were able to change the intended targets and stop HYDRA in time.

Government Storage Warehouse
Near the Pentagon the United States Armed Forces operate a Government Storage Warehouse that holds objects and prisoners which belongied to S.H.I.E.L.D. before the S.H.I.E.L.D. Civil War. Billy Koenig intercepted a call Glenn Talbot intended to make to the facility and traced it to find its location.