The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (Airborne) —1st SFOD-D (A)— also known as Delta Force, is a Special Operations Force (SOF) of the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC). The force's main purpose is counter-terrorism, although the force is extremely versatile.

Background

The Pentagon controls information about Delta Force tightly and publicly refuses to comment on the secretive unit. Initially, the existence of Delta Force was officially denied, even though it was commonly known that the unit took part in Operation Eagle Claw, the failed attempt to rescue American hostages from the U.S. Embassy in Iran in 1979. [1] (http://online.nps.navy.mil/vu_sample_modules/os2100_ol_mod/microsoftpowerpointprojectonebackgroundv2.pdf) [2] (http://www.usmc.mil/history.nsf/0/A192B055F6AC6625852564D70059CA7B?OpenDocument) (PDF documents)

By the 1990s the existence of Delta Force was obvious, as the U.S. military started to officially post messages around their bases regarding Delta Force recruitment, by using their official force name: 1st SFOD-D [3] (http://www.okinawa.usmc.mil/Public%20Affairs%20Info/Archive%20News%20Pages/2002/020628-recruit.html) [4] (http://www.carson.army.mil/pao/MountaineerArchive/2003%20Archive/01-16-03.pdf) [5] (http://huachuca-www.army.mil/USAG/PAO/2003scouts/The%20Scout%2013%20Nov%2003.pdf) (PDF documents) — although the U.S. military has never released any official fact sheet of the force. [6] (http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/community/makingmovies/) [7] (http://www.army.mil/soldiers/nov95/p51.html)

In 1999, writer Mark Bowden published the book ‘Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War’ which chronicles the events that surrounded the October 3, 1993 Battle of Mogadishu. The book, in a short brief, relates Delta Force's involvement in the operations that occurred before the events leading to the battle. The book was later turned into a film by director Ridley Scott in 2001.

General information

Delta Force recruits its members from all the branches of the Army, but the force mainly recruits from the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) and the Rangers. Some believe that Delta recruits from all of the branches of the military, however they are strictly an Army Unit and may be considered the Army's equivalent to the US Navy SEALs. Their main compound stands in a remote area of Fort Bragg, North Carolina; housing about 2,500 personnel. Reports of the compound mention numerous shooting facilities (both for close-quarters battle and longer-range sniping), a dive tank, an Olympic size swimming pool, a huge climbing wall, and a mockup of an airliner. It may be associated with the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center.

Operating divisions

Delta Force sub-divides into three operating squadrons, each of which comprises small groups known as "troops". Each troop specializes in HALO/HAHO, SCUBA, or other skill groups. They can each further divide into smaller units, as needed to fit mission requirements.

In addition, one of the alleged components of Delta Force is the epithetically named "Funny Platoon". Allegedly, it consists only of women, being the only part of the U.S. special operations community that accepts them. It is alleged that the unit's members are intended to be deployed alone rather than in groups, since there are some locales where women would arouse less suspicion than men. For this reason, the tactics of its members are said to emphasize the use of disguises and concealable small arms. Understandably, it is not known whether any members of the "Funny Platoon" have been involved in Delta Force operations to date.

Delta Force in modern conflicts

One of several operations in which Delta Force operators played important roles was the invasion of Iraq in 2003. [8] (http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/03autumn/noonan.pdf) (PDF document) They allegedly entered Baghdad in advance,along with SEALs from SEAL TEAM SIX, building networks of informants while eavesdropping on and sabotaging Iraqi communication lines.

In addition, the force was involved in the offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2002. [9] (http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/cepa/pubs/sep03/story13.htm) In particular, many observers strongly suspect that members of Delta Force made up one of two units involved in a raid on a residence belonging to Mullah Omar. According to The Pentagon, the level of resistance to that operation was minimal.

The Mullah was not present, but some papers and computer disks were said to have been seized in the raid. Critics later alleged that the second unit was unnecessary, claiming that it was very large and uncoordinated. As a result, they say, the defenders were alerted early and the number of friendly casualties was in fact higher than reported.

Operations

• Operation Eagle Claw - Iran, 1980
• Operation Urgent Fury - Grenada, 1983
• Operation Just Cause - Panama, 1989
• Operation Desert Shield - Iraq, 1990
• Operation Desert Storm - Iraq, 1991
• Operation Restore Hope - Somalia, 1993
  • Operation Gothic Serpent - the operation that led to the Battle of Mogadishu
• Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan, 2001
• Operation Iraqi Freedom - Iraq, 2003

Famous Delta Force operators

• General Peter J. Schoomaker [10] (http://www.army.mil/leaders/csa/default.htm) [11] (http://www.dod.mil/news/Jun2003/n06172003_200306172.html) [12] (http://www.mccoy.army.mil/ReadingRoom/Triad/06272003/Army%20Chief%20of%20Staff.htm)
  • 35th Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army. Commander of 1st SFOD-D from 1989-1992.

• Command Sergeant Major Eusebius P. Cadet [13] (http://www.usagj.jp.pac.army.mil/csm.htm)
  • Command Sergeant Major, Camp Zama Garrison, Japan U.S. Army Garrison Japan.

• Major Richard Meadows
  • Key role in establishing Delta Force. [14] (http://www.army.mil/soldiers/nov95/p51.html)

• Colonel Charles Beckwith
  • Selected by President Jimmy Carter to organize and form a highly specialized counter-terrorism unit, known today as Delta Force. [15] (http://www.campbell.army.mil/1bde/distinguished_members_of_the_reg.htm)

• Master Sergeant Gary Gordon
  • Medal of Honor, KIA in the Battle of Mogadishu. A U.S. Navy warship honors his name.

• Sergeant First Class Randall Shughart
  • Medal of Honor, KIA in the Battle of Mogadishu. A U.S. Navy warship honors his name.

Related topics

• U.S. special forces

References

1. Schlosta, Matthew. Delta Force recruiting special forces operators on post next week (http://huachuca-www.army.mil/USAG/PAO/2003scouts/The%20Scout%2013%20Nov%2003.pdf). Fort Huachuca, Arizona: The Fort Huchuaca Scout. November 13, 2003.
2. Mountaineer. SFOD-D seeking new members (http://www.carson.army.mil/pao/MountaineerArchive/2003%20Archive/01-16-03.pdf). Fort Carson, Colorado: Mountaineer (publication). January 16, 2003.
3. McGregor, James. Special mission recruiters look for elite to take up challenge (http://www.okinawa.usmc.mil/Public%20Affairs%20Info/Archive%20News%20Pages/2002/020628-recruit.html). United States Marine Corps: Okinawa Marines (newspaper). June 28, 2002.
4. Hasenauer, Heike. A Special Kind of Hero (http://www.army.mil/soldiers/nov95/p51.html). United States Army Publishing Agency: Soldiers. November 1995. Volume 50, No 11.
5. Eric Haney, former Delta Commando and founding member, 1979-1988,Inside Delta Force
6. Robinson, Linda, Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of the Special Forces