The global incarnation of the organization known as XCOM was formed in 1993, when multiple countries came together to discuss the theoretical scenarios of future alien contact. Contingency plans were to be implemented in the event of hostilities. This led them to form the council, which would fund and support projects attempting to combat the alien invaders, with the name "XCOM". There would be a lead representative from one of the countries, which would head the council. This representative had a list of personnel for the project who could be called up when the time came.
On March first 2015 the XCOM Project was activated following the hostile first contact with the Elders thus resulting in the beginning of the First Contact War which raged on for almost a full year before the volunteer unintentionally revealed the location of XCOM's underground base by activating the ethereal device resulting in alien forces storming XCOM HQ resulting in the Commander's obduction, effectively shattering XCOM and crippling the organization. Following their subsequent abduction, the Commander is implanted with a biological chip and held in a stasis tube that preserves them exactly as they were in 2015, attended to on a regular basis by the staff of the ADVENT Administration, which took over as the dominant government of Earth following humanity's surrender. Utilizing the Commander as a living computer, ADVENT draws on their strategic and tactical expertise when controlling its forces via the network. For the next twenty years, ADVENT uses the Commander to effectively stomp out most resistance on the planet.