DMZ in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 tells its story through a set of standalone operations in Hajin. You pick them from a mission tree at your FOB. In early access, that tree holds six missions spread across three tiers, ending with an assault on a nuclear reactor.
Quick answer: At the FOB helicopter pad, press DEPLOY, choose “STORY MISSIONS” under “SELECT DEPLOYMENT”, then pick one of six missions in “SELECT A MISSION.” Three tier-one missions sit at the bottom of the tree.
DMZ story mission order in early access
The Story Missions menu draws the six operations as a tree. Tier 1 is the bottom row: Operation Critical Extraction, Operation Silent Ledger and Operation Shopping Hacks, left to right. The two tier-two missions, Operation Iron Citadel and Operation Grid Assault, sit above them, and Operation Fallen Ember sits alone at the top as the final mission. Lines connect Fallen Ember down to the two tier-two missions, and those connect down to the bottom row.
| Mission | Tier | Location | Threat assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operation Critical Extraction | 1 | Mirae General Hospital | MEDIUM |
| Operation Silent Ledger | 1 | Cheongun Village casino | MEDIUM |
| Operation Shopping Hacks | 1 | NuriGO Mall | MEDIUM |
| Operation Iron Citadel | 2 | Chang-san Air Base | CRITICAL |
| Operation Grid Assault | 2 | The Grid (financial district) | CRITICAL |
| Operation Fallen Ember | 3 (final) | Haneul Nuclear Reactor | EXTREME |
The tier-one missions run left to right in the order listed. That list of six is the full tree at launch, though new missions may arrive with seasons.
The first time you launch DMZ, you play a scripted onboarding mission called “Breaking New Ground” with the dog Rex. It comes before the story missions but is not part of the tree.
How to start a DMZ story mission from the FOB
You infil into Hajin alongside other squads, and the active objective appears on your HUD under “MISSION: OPERATION …” Once you finish a mission, its card in the tree shows a green “COMPLETED” tag, and you can play it again. Your DMZ Orders also nudge you toward the story, with one order reading “OPERATION CRITICAL EXTRACTION – Complete the Operation Critical Extraction story mission“.
Tier one missions: Critical Extraction, Silent Ledger, and Shopping Hacks
All three bottom-row missions carry a MEDIUM threat assessment and pay out 25000 cash alongside item rewards.
Operation Critical Extraction
An HVT is recovering at Mirae General Hospital, and your job is to pull him out. Bring a 2-Plate Armor Vest and a Medkit. The main objectives are Locate the HVT, Eliminate any Resistance, and Extract the HVT.
The HVT is General Kang, lying in a hospital bed. Sedate him, then wheel the bed through the building. At the elevators you have to hold off enemies while you wait for the doors to open. Push him up to the roof and into the exfil chopper. A RADIATION COUNTDOWN runs during the mission. Rewards are a Mirae key, a Defibrillator, and 25000.
Operation Silent Ledger
The enemy is funding itself with stolen printing plates kept in the casino at Cheongun Village. Recommended gear is a 2-Plate Armor Vest and a Medkit. The main objectives are Enter the Casino, Breach the Vault, and Secure the Plates.
Start the generator in the basement parking with a timed button prompt. Head up to Penthouse Security and use the parking-level camera monitor to open the vault fence. Back in the basement, attach a drill to the vault door and defend it. Loot the printing plates from the vault; cash bags can be thrown onto the truck. Carry the plates to the exfil chopper to finish. Rewards are a Gold Bar, a Counting Room key, a Polaris vehicle, and 25000.
Operation Shopping Hacks
Lieutenant Jang-a has set up camp in NuriGO Mall, which may be tied to the enemy weapons program. Recommended gear is a 2-Plate Armor Vest, a Medkit, and Night Vision Goggles, since the lower mall is dark. The main objectives are Hack the Network, Reprogram the Protocol, and Secure any Evidence.
Hack a laptop at the encampment to get the keypad code for the security office, then use it to unlock mall security. The lab door needs power from robot cores, and the HUD tracks your progress out of four. Pull the cores from the robot dogs before they explode, because damaged cores won’t work. Once the NuriGO Mall Robotics Lab opens, hack 5 lab computers and escape to the rooftop exfil. Rewards are a Coin Mining key, Night Vision, and 25000.
Tier two missions: Iron Citadel and Grid Assault
The middle row steps up to a CRITICAL threat assessment and a 3-Plate Armor Vest recommendation.
Operation Iron Citadel
The target is Chang-san Air Base, run by the North’s Lieutenant Bale. Recommended gear is a 3-Plate Armor Vest, a Medkit, and an Ammo Box. The main objectives are Infiltrate the Base, Recon Armory Ordnance, and Disrupt the Operation.
Search the base for an Air Base Access Card, then upgrade it at a terminal and go down into the Chang-san Air Base Bunker, where the HUD reads THREAT: EXTREME. Find the armory doors, then hunt down three code fragments written on notes around the bunker. The HUD logs “Known Digits” as you collect them, and the keypad takes six digits. Open the armory, plant explosives on the strike aircraft, and exfil with the armory manifest. Rewards are a Supreme Leader key, an LTV, and 25000.
Operation Grid Assault
A radio tower over The Grid, the financial district, is broadcasting drone commands for the enemy. Recommended gear is a 3-Plate Armor Vest and a Medkit. The main objectives are Access the Network, Download Network Intel, and Upload Kill Switch.
Find the drone control and hack it. Next, collect both halves of an encrypted hash key, one on the Hanex Bank roof and the other inside the Netshin Tech Complex. Upload the code on the DBN Headquarters roof while a commander attack helicopter and waves of enemies come at you. Finally, climb the tower and broadcast the kill code. Rewards are Roze’s High-rise key, a Helicopter, and 25000.
Final mission: Operation Fallen Ember
The enemy is moving on uranium rods at the Haneul Nuclear Reactor, and the threat assessment is EXTREME. Recommended gear is a 3-Plate Armor Vest, a Medkit, a Gas Mask, and Radiation Blockers. The main objectives are Breach the Reactor, Secure the Rods, and Extract Decontaminated Rods.
Unlock Reactor #1, then release and withdraw three fuel rods from the flooded reactor. One player works the console while another goes into the water. Decontaminate the rods at Reactor #2, then secure the warhead past Commander Colossus. Raise the garage door and escape on an armored patrol boat while escorting the chopper. Rewards are a Reactor door key, a Cargo Plane, and 25000.
Radiation wears gas masks down quickly here, so pack spares before you deploy.
Random Story Mission and the weekly task
Below the tree sits a “RANDOM STORY MISSION” card. It picks from story missions you have already completed, and its threat assessment can vary from Medium to Extreme. The card is marked “SQUAD FILL REQUIRED” and comes with a weekly task, “WEEKLY COMPLETION 0/3,” which asks you to finish a random story mission 3 times every week to earn rewards.
