Col. Charlie Alvin Beckwith (January 22, 1929 – June 13, 1994), known as "Chargin' Charlie", was a career U.S. Army soldier and Vietnam veteran, credited with the creation of Delta Force, a branch of the U.S. Army. Although he is held in high regard by various members of the military Special Operations Forces, the general public know him best due to the ill-fated Operation Eagle Claw in Iran, 1980. Image File history File links Charles_Beckwith. ... Hotlanta redirects here. ... Nickname: Live Music Capital of the World Location in the state of Texas Coordinates: Country United States State Texas Counties Travis County, Williamson County Government  - Mayor Will Wynn Area  - City  296. ... The United States Army is one of the armed forces of the United States and has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Colonel (IPA: or ) is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with the corresponding ranks existing in nearly every country in the world. ... During World War II, the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (504th PIR) was a regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army. ... 327th Infantry Regiment DUI During World War II, the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment was a gliderborne regiment of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division. ... (Redirected from 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta) Official force name 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (Airborne) 1st SFOD-D (A) Combat Application Group (CAG) Delta Force Nicknames D-boys Delta boys Deltas Branch U.S. Army Chain of Command USASOC Description Versatile Special Operations Force, mainly trained for... Combatants United Nations:  Republic of Korea,  Australia,  Belgium,  Luxembourg,  Canada,  Colombia,  Ethiopia,  France,  Greece,  Luxembourg,  Netherlands,  New Zealand,  Philippines,  South Africa,  Thailand,  Turkey,  United Kingdom,  United States Medical staff:  Denmark,  Australia,  Italy,  Norway,  Sweden Communist states:  Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,  Peoples Republic of China,  Soviet Union Commanders... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... Combatants United States Iran Commanders Col. ... The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is the second highest military decoration of the United States Army, awarded for extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force. ... The Silver Star is the fourth highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States Armed Forces. ... Bronze and Silver oak leaf clusters An Oak leaf cluster is a common device which is placed on military awards and decorations to denote those who have received more than one bestowal of a particular decoration. ... The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. ... The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration and is the fourth highest award for bravery, heroism or meritorious service. ... For other meanings see Purple Heart (disambiguation). ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... This article is about a military rank. ... Much of the following must be recognised as speculation as the United States Government neither officially recognises or denies the existence of Delta Force. ... Special forces or special operations forces is a term used to describe relatively small military units raised and trained for reconnaissance, unconventional warfare and special operations. ... Combatants United States Iran Commanders Col. ...

Beckwith served as an exchange officer with the British Special Air Service (22 SAS Regiment) in the early 1960s, and came away very impressed with that unit. US Army Special Forces in that period focused on unconventional warfare, but Beckwith was highly impressed with the SAS direct-action capability. The Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) is the principal special forces unit of the British Army. ...

Beckwith commanded a Special Forces unit code-named Project Delta in Vietnam. He was critically wounded in late 1965 (he took a .51 caliber bullet through his abdomen), so badly that medical personnel initially triaged him as beyond help. Beckwith survived mainly due to his superb conditioning and iron determination. After recovery, he took over the Florida Phase of the US Army's Ranger School, transforming it from a scripted exercise based upon the Army's WW2 experience, into a Vietnam-oriented crucible. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

Delta Force was founded in November 1977 as an overseas counter-terrorist unit whose main mission is in hostage rescue, barricade operations and specialized reconnaissance. Its first mission (the aforementioned Operation Eagle Claw) ended in spectacular failure, not because of any unit shortcomings but due to a malfunction in several of the helicopters and lack of pilots trained in such operations. After the "debacle in the desert" the 160th SOAR (Special Operations Aviation Regiment) was formed specifically to provide transport for Delta Force, and eventually other Special Operations Forces, worldwide. Delta Force has since grown to become one of many counterterrorist units recognized worldwide (such as the British SAS Regiment, Australian SAS, France’s GIGN, Germany's Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (GSG9) and the Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK), and the Israeli Sayeret Matkal). Counter-terrorism refers to the practices, tactics, and strategies that governments, militaries, and other groups adopt in order to fight terrorism. ... Police often train to recover hostages taken by force, as in this exercise For the 2005 film, see Hostage (film). ... Closeup of a collection of blinker equipped barricades A barricade is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction. ... Mixed reconnaissance patrol of the Polish Home Army and the Soviet Red Army during Operation Tempest, 1944 Reconnaissance is the military term for the active gathering of information about an enemy, or other conditions, by physical observation. ... Combatants United States Iran Commanders Col. ... The Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) is the principal special forces unit of the British Army. ... The Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) is a Special Forces regiment modelled on the original British SAS and also drawing on the traditions of the Australian World War II Z Special Force commando unit, as well as the Independent Companies which were active in the South Pacific during the same... The GIGN (Groupe dIntervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale) is the French Gendarmeries elite counter-terrorism and hostage rescue unit. ... The Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (GSG 9) is the counter-terrorism unit of the German Federal Police, and is considered to be among the best of such units in the world. ... The Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK) (lit. ... Sayeret Matkal - logo Sayeret Matkal (Hebrew: סיירת מטכל - General Staff Reconnaissance unit) is the elite special forces unit of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). ...

Colonel Beckwith was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. Delta Force was formed partly in response to growing terrorist actions worldwide, and on Beckwith's own experiences when cross-training with the British 22 SAS Regiment years earlier. The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is the second highest military decoration of the United States Army, awarded for extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force. ... The Silver Star is the fourth highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States Armed Forces. ... Bronze and Silver oak leaf clusters An Oak leaf cluster is a common device which is placed on military awards and decorations to denote those who have received more than one bestowal of a particular decoration. ... The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. ... The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration and is the fourth highest award for bravery, heroism or meritorious service. ... For other meanings see Purple Heart (disambiguation). ... The Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) is the principal special forces unit of the British Army. ...

His remains are interred in the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, Texas. Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in the city of San Antonio in Bexar County, Texas. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Texas Coordinates: Counties Bexar County Government  - Mayor Phil Hardberger Area  - City  412. ...

Quotes

"My men and I have decided that our boss, the President of the United States, is as tough as woodpecker lips. "

"I was not about to be party to half-assed loading on a bunch of aircraft and going up and murdering a bunch of the finest soldiers in the world."

"I learned that Murphy is alive and well. He's in every drawer, under every rock and on top of every hill." For other uses, see Murphys Law (disambiguation). ...

See also

• Maj. Richard J. Meadows
• Eric Haney, one of the first members of 1SFOD-D and author of Inside Delta Force

Maj. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Sources

• Beckwith, Charles. Delta Force: The Army's Elite Counterterrorist Unit, Avon Books, 2000. (Mass market paperback; original work published 1983.) ISBN 0-380-80939-7