Delta Force

This article is about the Special Operations Force. For other uses, see Delta Force (disambiguation).

1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (Airborne)
US Army Special Operations Command patch worn by Delta
Active	21 November 1977 – present
Country	United States of America
Branch	United States Army
Type	Special Operations
Role	Tier One Special Operations Force
Size	Classified[1]
Part of	U.S. Special Operations Command Joint Special Operations Command U.S. Army Special Operations Command
Garrison/HQ	Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Nickname	The Unit
Engagements	Operation Eagle Claw Operation Urgent Fury Operation Just Cause Operation Acid Gambit Operation Desert Storm Operation Restore Hope Operation Gothic Serpent Operation Enduring Freedom Battle of Tora Bora Operation Iraqi Freedom

1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D) is one of the United States' secretive Tier One counter-terrorism and Special Mission Units. Commonly known as Delta Force, Delta, or The Unit, it was formed under the designation 1st SFOD-D, and is officially referred to by the Department of Defense as Combat Applications Group.^[2] This unit is an elite Special Operations Force, and an Army Compartmented Element of the Joint Special Operations Command. Delta Force, along with its Navy counterpart DEVGRU, are the United States' primary counter-terrorism units.

Delta Force's primary tasks are counter-terrorism, direct action, and national intervention operations, although it is an extremely versatile group capable of assuming many covert missions, including, but not limited to, rescuing hostages and raids.^[3]

The Central Intelligence Agency's highly secretive Special Activities Division (SAD) and more specifically its elite Special Operations Group (SOG) often recruits operators from Delta Force.^[4]

History

Delta Force was formed after numerous, well-publicized terrorist incidents in the 1970s. These incidents led the U.S. government to create a counter-terrorist unit.

Key military and government figures had already been briefed on a model for this type of unit in the early 1960s. Charles Beckwith, a Special Forces officer and Vietnam veteran, had served as an exchange officer with the British Army's Special Air Service (22 SAS Regiment) during the Malayan Emergency. Upon his return, Beckwith presented a detailed report highlighting the U.S. Army's vulnerability in not having an SAS-type unit. U.S. Army Special Forces in that period focused on unconventional warfare, but Beckwith recognized the need for "not only teachers, but doers."^[5] He envisioned highly adaptable and completely autonomous small teams with a broad array of special skills for direct action and counter-terrorist missions. He briefed military and government figures, who were overtly resistant to create a new unit outside of Special Forces, or change existing methods. Finally, in the mid-70's, as the threat of terrorism grew, Pentagon brass tapped Beckwith to form the unit.^[6]

Beckwith had estimated that it would take 24 months to get his new unit mission-ready. In the meantime, the 5th Special Forces Group created Blue Light, a small counter-terrorist contingent which operated until Delta became fully operational in the early 1980s.

On 4 November 1979, shortly after Delta had been created, 53 Americans were taken captive and held in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran. The unit was assigned to Operation Eagle Claw and ordered to covertly enter the country and recover the hostages from the embassy by force on the nights of 24 and 25 April in 1980. The operation was aborted after flying problems and accidents. The review commission that examined the failure found 23 problems with the operation, among them unbriefed weather encountered by the aircraft, command-and-control problems between the multi-service component commanders, a collision between a helicopter and a ground-refueling tanker aircraft, and mechanical problems that reduced the number of available helicopters from eight to five (one fewer than the minimum desired) before the mission contingent could leave the transloading/refueling site.^[7]

After the failed operation, the U.S. government created several new units. The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), also known as the Nightstalkers, was created specifically for Delta infil/exfil in missions like Operation Eagle Claw. The Navy's SEAL Team Six was created for maritime incidents. The Joint Special Operations Command was created to control and oversee joint training between the counter-terrorist assets of the various branches of the U.S. military.

Organization and structure

The unit is under the organization of the US Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) but is controlled by the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). Command of 1st SFOD-D is a Colonel's billet. Virtually all information about the unit is highly classified and details about specific missions or operations are generally not publicly available. A number of sources including the book Inside Delta Force by Command Sergeant Major Eric L. Haney (ret.), suggest the unit's strength ranges from between 800 to 1000 personnel, including the following operational groups:

Detachment designations

• D – Command and Control (Headquarters)
• E – Communications, Intelligence and Administrative Support (includes finance, logistics, medical detachment, research and development, technology and electronics, etc.)
• F – Operational Arm (The teams of Operators)
• Medical Detachment maintains special doctors at Fort Bragg and various other bases around the country secretly, to provide medical assistance as needed.
• Operational Support Troop, or "The Funny Platoon", is the in-house intelligence arm of Delta. They grew out of a long-running dispute/rivalry with the Intelligence Support Activity. They will infiltrate a country ahead of a Delta intervention to gather intelligence.
• Aviation Squadron, although Delta relies heavily on the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and US Air Force assets to transport them to and from operational deployments and training exercises, within the unit there is a small aviation squadron used for limited in-house air transportation. The aviation squadron consists of twelve AH-6 Attack and MH-6 Transport helicopters (although this figure may have increased). It is not known if pilots are recruited from the Air Force, 160th SOAR or if they are Delta operators trained as helicopter pilots.
• Operational Research Section
• Training wing

Delta Force's structure is similar to the British 22 Special Air Service Regiment, the unit which inspired Delta's formation. In Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda, Army Times staff writer Sean Naylor describes Delta as having nearly 1,000 soldiers.^[8] Naylor wrote that approximately 250 of those are operators trained to conduct direct action and reconnaissance missions.^[8] There are three main operational squadrons:

• A Squadron

• B Squadron

• C Squadron

These squadrons are based on the organization of the SAS "Sabre Squadron" and each contains 75 to 85 operators.^[9] Each sabre squadron is broken down into three troops, one Recce/Sniper troop, and two Direct Action/Assault troops, that can either operate in teams or in groups as small as four to six men. According to testimony given to the House Armed Services Committee on 29 June 2006 by Michael Vickers, DELTA, along with all other Special Mission Units, is scheduled to add an additional squadron and increase in size by one third.

Recruitment

Most recruits come from the Special Forces Groups and the 75th Ranger Regiment, but some operators have come from other units of the Army.^[10] Since the 1990s, the Army has posted recruitment notices for the 1st SFOD-D^[11] which many believe refers to Delta Force. The Army, however, has never released an official fact sheet for the force. The recruitment notices placed in Fort Bragg's newspaper, Paraglide, refer to Delta Force by name, and label it "...the U.S. Army's special operations unit organized for the conduct of missions requiring rapid response with surgical application of a wide variety of unique special operations skills..."^[12] The notice states that all applicants must be male, in the ranks of E-4 through E-8, have at least two and a half years of service time remaining in their enlistment, be 21 years or older and score high enough on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test to attend a briefing to be considered for admission.

Selection process

Haney's book Inside Delta Force described the selection course and its inception in detail. Haney writes the selection course began with standard tests including push-ups, sit-ups, and a 2-mile (3.2 km) run, an inverted crawl and a 100 meter swim fully dressed. The selection candidates were then put through a series of land navigation courses to include an 18-mile (29 km), all-night land navigation course while carrying a 40-pound (18 kg) rucksack. The rucksack's weight and the distance of the courses are increased and the time standards to complete the task are shortened with every march. The physical testing ended with a 40-mile (64 km) march with a 45-pound (20 kg) rucksack over very rough terrain which had to be completed in an unknown amount of time. Haney wrote that only the senior officer and NCO in charge of Selection are allowed to see the set time limits, but all assessment and selection tasks and conditions were set by Delta training cadre.^[13][14] The mental portion of the testing began with numerous psychological exams. The men then went in front of a board of Delta instructors, unit psychologists and the Delta commander, who each ask the candidate a barrage of questions and then dissect every response and mannerism of the candidate with the purpose to mentally exhaust the candidate. The unit commander then approaches the candidate and tells him if he has been selected. If an individual is selected for Delta, he undergoes an intense 6-month Operator Training Course (OTC), to learn counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence techniques. This includes firearm accuracy and various other munitions training.^[14]

Training

Operator Training Course: According to the book Inside Delta Force by Eric Haney, OTC consisted of the following events. Although OTC has probably changed since then, it remains around 6 months long.

• Marksmanship
  • The students shoot stationary targets at close range until they are able to have almost complete accuracy. They will then move on to moving targets.
  • Once shooting skills are perfected, they will move to a shooting house where they will clear rooms of "enemy" targets. At first it will be done by one student, then two at a time, three at a time, and finally four. After the students learn techniques to clear a room, "hostages" are added to the room mixed with the enemies.

• Demolitions
  • Students learn how to break into many different locks such as cars and safes.
  • Demolition and how to build bombs out of various commonly found materials.

• Combined skills. The FBI, FAA, and other agencies were used to advise the training of this portion of OTC. Sometimes commercial airliners such as Delta Air Lines would allow Delta to train on their aircraft too.
  • The new Delta Operators use both demolition and marksmanship skills at the shoothouse and other training facilities to train for hostage and counter-terrorist operations with both assault and sniper troops working together. They practice terrorist or hostage situations in buildings, aircraft, and other settings.
  • All trainees learn how to set sniper positions around a building with hostages in it. They learn the proper ways to set up a TOC and communicate in an organized manner. Although Delta has specialized sniper troops, all members go through this training.
  • The students then go back to the shoothouse and the "hostages" are replaced with other students and Delta Force members. It is known that live ammunition has been used in these exercises, to test the students, and build trust between one another.

• Trade Craft – During the first OTC's and creation of Delta, CIA personnel were used to teach this portion.
  • Students learn different espionage-related skills such as dead drops, brief encounters, pickups, load and unload signals, danger and safe signals, surveillance and countersurveillance.

• Executive Protection – During the first OTC's and creation of Delta, the U.S. State Department's Diplomatic Security Service and the United States Secret Service would advise Delta in this portion of training.
  • Students take an advanced driving course learning how to use a vehicle or many vehicles as defensive and offensive weapons.
  • They then learn techniques developed by the Secret Service and DSS on how to cover a VIP and diplomatic protection missions.

• Culmination Exercise
  • A final test that requires the students to apply and dynamically adapt all of the skills that they have learned.

Although these are the main skills taught in every OTC, no OTC classes are ever exactly the same.

Delta Force has occasionally cross-trained with similar units from allied countries such as the Australian Special Air Service Regiment, New Zealand Special Air Service, British Special Air Service, Canadian Joint Task Force 2, French GIGN, German KSK, Israeli Sayeret Matkal and Polish GROM. They cross train and deploy with US Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU).^[15] And they have helped train other U.S. counter-terrorism units, such as the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team.

Uniform

The Pentagon tightly controls information about Delta Force and publicly refuses to comment on the highly secretive unit and its activities. Delta operators are granted an enormous amount of flexibility and autonomy. To conceal their identities, they rarely wear a uniform and usually wear civilian clothing both on and off duty.^[14] When military uniforms are worn, they lack markings, surnames, or branch names.^[14] Civilian hair styles and facial hair are allowed to enable the members to blend in and avoid recognition as military personnel.^[14][16]

The Term "Operator"

Inside the United States Special Operations community, the term "operator" describes one specific individual—a Delta Force member who has completed selection and has graduated OTC (Operators Training Course). “Operator” was first used by Delta Force to distinguish between “operational” and “non-operational” personnel assigned to the unit.^[14] Other special operations forces use specific names to describe their jobs (Army Rangers, Navy SEALs, Air Force Pararescuemen); "Operator" is the specific term assigned to Delta’s operational personnel. However, since the early 2000s other special operations forces have adopted the term “operator.” SEALs have unofficially referred to themselves as operators since the Vietnam War. Author and Navy SEAL Gene Wentz makes many references to fellow SEALs as operators in his 1992 book titled "Men In Green Faces" (ISBN 9780312950521), which is about the SEALs in Vietnam.^[17]

Operations and covert actions

The majority of the operations assigned to Delta are classified and may never be known to the public. However, details of some operations have become public knowledge. There have been many occasions that Delta have been put on standby and operational plans developed but the unit was stood down for various reasons. Known operations and deployments include:

Operation Eagle Claw

Delta's very first tasking began the night after they successfully completed their operational assessment on 4 Nov. 1979 when Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Delta was immediately tasked to rescue the hostages and began training on storming the embassy with a compound mock-up built by military combat engineers at Eglin AFB, FL, while putting together a complex multi-stage rescue operation involving a rigid schedule and demanding helicopter night-flying skills using first-generation night vision goggles. The rescue force was to be inserted by Air Force special operations C-130s at night to a remote location in the desert outside Tehran called Desert One, and meet up with a group of Marine RH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters, flown in from the U.S.S. Nimitz aircraft carrier staged nearby in the Indian Ocean. The helicopters would then be refueled on the ground at Desert One by refueling specialists using specially-designed fuel bladders inside the C-130s. The refueled helicopters and the rescue force (composed of Delta and Rangers) would then fly to a hidden staging location outside Tehran and hide until the next evening. On the evening of the rescue, Delta would drive to the embassy compound using pre-staged trucks, assault the compound and rescue the hostages, and take them across the street to a soccer stadium where the helicopters would have landed to extract them and take them to a nearby airfield which the Rangers would have assaulted and captured. C-141s would then extract the entire rescue force with hostages and the helicopters would be destroyed and left behind.

The helicopters caused the cancellation of the mission at Desert One, when enough helicopters were lost from attrition due to sandstorms, pilot fatigue, and failed hydraulics that the on-site commanders acknowledged helicopter numbers were below the required minimum for that stage to go forward and recommended to President Carter that the mission be canceled, which he did. As the entire rescue force was leaving Desert One, one of the helicopters crashed into a U.S. Air Force special operations C-130 and in the ensuing explosion and panic the helicopters were abandoned en masse leaving unauthorized mission plans which fell into Iranian hands, ruining any chance of a possible second covert rescue attempt following a brief regrouping period. ^[14]

Central American operations

Delta has seen action extensively in Central America, fighting the Salvadoran revolutionary group Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front and assisting the Central Intelligence Agency-funded Contras in Nicaragua.^[14]

Operation Urgent Fury

A second Delta mission launched in the early daylight hours of the first day of Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada was to assault Richmond Hill Prison and rescue the political prisoners being held there. Built on the remains of an old eighteenth-century fort, the prison cannot be approached by foot from three sides except through dense jungle growing on the steep mountainside; the fourth side is approachable by a narrow neck of road with high trees running along it. The prison offers no place for a helicopter assault force to land. Richmond Hill forms one side of a steep valley. Across and above the valley, on a higher peak, is another old fort, Fort Frederic, which housed a Grenadian garrison. From Fort Frederic, the garrison easily commanded the slopes and floor of the ravine below with small arms and machine gun fire. It was into this valley and under the guns of the Grenadian garrison that the helicopters of Delta Force flew at 6:30 that morning.^{[citation needed]}

The helicopters of Task Force 160 flew into the valley and turned their noses toward the prison. Unable to land, the Delta raiders began to rappel down ropes dragging from the doors of the helicopters. Suddenly, as men swung wildly from the rappelling ropes, the helicopters were caught in a cross-fire from the front, as forces from the prison opened fire; and more devastatingly, from behind, as enemy forces in Fort Frederic rained heavy small arms and machine gun fire down from above. According to eyewitness accounts by Grenadian civilians, a number of helicopters that could, flew out of the valley. In at least one instance, a helicopter pilot turned back without orders and refused to fly into the assault. Charges of cowardice were filed against the Nightstalker pilot by members of Delta who wanted to be inserted, but were later dropped.^[18]

Aeropostal Flight 252

On 29 July 1984 Aeropostal Flight 252 from Caracas to the island of Curaçao was hijacked. Two days later, the DC-9 was stormed by Venezuelan commandos, who killed the hijackers.^[19] Delta Force provided support during the ordeal.^[20]

Achille Lauro Hijacking

Main article: Achille Lauro hijacking

President Ronald Reagan deployed the Navy's SEAL Team Six and Delta Force during the Achille Lauro hijack to Cyprus to stand-by and prepare for a possible rescue attempt to free the vessel from its hijackers.

Operation Round Bottle

Delta planned an operation for three teams to go into Beirut, Lebanon to rescue Westerners held by Hezbollah, but the action was terminated when negotiations appeared to promise to deliver the hostages in exchange for arms. The operation was ultimately aborted in the aftermath of the Los Angeles Times story that revealed the Iran–Contra affair.^[21]

Operation Heavy Shadow

In his book Killing Pablo, Mark Bowden suggests that a Delta Force sniper may have killed Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. There is no hard evidence of this though and credit is generally attributed to Colombian security forces.

Operation Just Cause

Before Operation Just Cause by US forces took place, there were key operations that were tasked to Special Operations Forces. Operation Acid Gambit was an operation tasked to Delta to rescue and recover Kurt Muse held captive in Carcel Modelo, a prison in Panama City. Another important operation that was assigned to Delta was Operation Nifty Package, the apprehension of General Manuel Antonio Noriega.

Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm

Delta was deployed during Desert Storm to the region and tasked with a number of responsibilities. These include supporting regular Army units that were providing close protection detail for General Norman Schwarzkopf in Saudi Arabia. Army relations' officers tried to play down Schwarzkopf's growing number of bodyguards. Delta was tasked with hunting for SCUD missiles alongside the British Special Air Service and other coalition Special Forces.

Operation Gothic Serpent

On 3 October 1993, members of Delta Force were sent in with U.S. Army Rangers in the conflict in Mogadishu, Somalia codenamed Operation Gothic Serpent.

They were tasked with securing several of Mohammed Farah Aidid's top lieutenants, as well as a few other targets of high value. The mission was compromised after two MH-60L Blackhawk helicopters were shot down by RPGs. This resulted in an ongoing battle and led to the death of five Delta operators (a sixth was killed by mortar fire some days later), six Rangers, five Army aviation crew, and two 10th Mountain Division soldiers. Estimates of Somali deaths range from 133 by an Aidid sector commander^[22] to an estimate of 1500 to 2000 by the US Ambassador to Somalia.^[23] In 1999, writer Mark Bowden published the book Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War, which chronicles the events that surrounded the 3 October 1993 Battle of Mogadishu.^[16] The book, in a short brief, relates Delta Force's involvement in the operations that occurred before the events leading to the battle.^[16] The book was turned into a film by director Ridley Scott in 2001.

Waco

1993 Branch Davidian Compound

Operation Uphold Democracy

1994 Invasion of Haiti

Operation Allied Force

1995-1998 Former Yugoslavia: 1. Dignitary protection 2. Target aquisition 3. War criminal surveillance

Counter-terrorist training

In January 1997, a small Delta advance team and six members of the British SAS were sent to Lima, Peru immediately following the takeover of the Japanese Ambassador's residence.^[24]

Seattle WTO

Members of Delta Force were involved in preparing security for the 1999 Seattle WTO Conference, specifically against a chemical weapon attack.^[25]

Operation Enduring Freedom

Delta Force and British Special Boat Service commandos at Tora Bora

Delta Force was involved in the offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001.^[26] Delta Force has formed the core of the special strike unit which has been hunting High Value Target (HVT) individuals like Osama Bin Laden and other key al-Qaeda and Taliban leadership since October 2001, the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom. One such operation was an airborne assault supported by the 75th Ranger Regiment on Mullah Mohammed Omar's headquarters at a Kandahar airstrip. Although Delta Force's mission was a failure in capturing Mohammed Omar, the Rangers had captured a vital strategic airstrip.^[27] The strike force has been variously designated Task Force 11, Task Force 20, Task Force 121, Task Force 145 and Task Force 6-26. The Delta Force have increased operations in eastern Afghanistan in 2009. "The Navy’s SEAL Team 6, sometimes called Naval Special Warfare Development Group, or DEVGRU; the Army’s 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, or Delta Force; the 75th Ranger Regiment; the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment; the Air Force’s 24th Special Tactics Squadron; plus elements from other even more secret units and intelligence organizations" has killed or captured more than 2,000 enemy insurgents in Afghanistan against the Haqqani network, which is a strong faction of the Taliban.^[28]

Operation Iraqi Freedom

This photo was taken in Mosul during Uday and Qusay's last stand. Delta Force Operators can be seen in front of 1st BDE 101st A/B DIV soldiers wearing MICH helmets.

One of several operations in which Delta Force operators are thought to have played important roles was the 2003 invasion of Iraq.^[29] They allegedly entered Baghdad in advance and undercover. Their tasks included guiding air strikes, and building networks of informants while eavesdropping on and sabotaging Iraqi communication lines. They were instrumental in Operation Phantom Fury in April 2004 when they were attached to USMC companies,^[30] usually as snipers.

Delta was present in the siege in Mosul where Uday and Qusay Hussein were killed, and were involved in the hunt and eventual capture of Saddam Hussein. It has been reported that Delta was on the ground north of Baquba on 7 June 2006 surveilling a compound where Al-Zarqawi had been staying. After a long manhunt, Delta had Zarqawi in their sights and had called in an airstrike.^[31]

See also

• List of special forces units
• Delta Force in popular culture
• List of Delta Force members
• Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division
• Task Force 121

Bibliography

• Beckwith, Charles (with Donald Knox) (1983). Delta Force.
• Bowden, Mark (1999). Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. Berkeley, California: Atlantic Monthly Press. ISBN 0-87113-738-0. About Operation Gothic Serpent.
• Bowden, Mark (2001). Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw. ISBN 0-87113-783-6. About the hunt for Pablo Escobar.
• Bowden, Mark (2006). Guests of the Ayatollah: The First Battle In America's War With Militant Islam. Atlantic Monthly Press. ISBN 0-87113-925-1. 
• Bowden, Mark (May 2006). "The Desert One Debacle". The Atlantic Monthly. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200605/iran-hostage. 
• Fury, Dalton. Kill Bin Laden. ISBN 978-0-312-56740-8.
• Griswold, Terry. DELTA: America's Elite Counterterrorist Force. ISBN 0-87938-615-0.
• Haney, Eric L. (2002). Inside Delta Force. New York: Delacorte Press. ISBN 978-0-385-33603-1.
• Naylor, Sean (2005). Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda. New York: Penguin Group. About Operation Anaconda.
• National Geographic Documentary: Road to Baghdad
• Pushies, Fred J., et al. (2002). U.S. Counter-Terrorist Forces. Unknown: Crestline Imprints. ISBN 0-7603-1363-6.
• Schauer, Hartmut (2008). Delta Force. Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-613-02958-3.

References

1. ^ Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit, Delacorte Press, 2002
2. ^ North, Oliver (2010). American Heroes in Special Operations. B&H Publishing Group. p. 9. ISBN 9780805447125. http://books.google.com/?id=CODVISdxxssC&pg=PA9&dq=tier+one+special+forces#v=snippet&q=Delta%20force%20or%20Combat%20Application%20Group&f=false. 
3. ^ http://www.military.com/Recruiting/Content/0,13898,rec_step02_special_forces,,00.html
4. ^ Waller, Douglas (3 February 2003). "The CIA's Secret Army". TIME (Time Inc). http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1004145-1,00.html
5. ^ Beckwith, Charles. "Delta Force", Avon Books, 2000. (Mass market paperback; original work published 1983.) ISBN 0380809397. (pg. 39)
6. ^ Beckwith, Charles. "Delta Force", Avon Books, 2000. (Mass market paperback; original work published 1983.) ISBN 0380809397
7. ^ Gabriel, Richard A. (1985). Military Incompetence: Why the American Military Doesn't Win, Hill and Wang, ISBN 0-374-52137-9, pp. 106–116. Overall, the Holloway Commission blamed the ad hoc nature of the task force and an excessive degree of security, both of which intensified command-and-control problems.
8. ^ ^{a b} Naylor, Sean (2006). Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda. Berkeley: Berkley Books. ISBN 0425196097 
9. ^ Sean Naylor, Expansion plans leave many in Army Special Forces uneasy, Armed Forces Journal, november, 2006.
10. ^ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/sfod-d.htm
11. ^ Mountaineer. SFOD-D seeking new members. Fort Carson, Colorado: Mountaineer (publication). 16 January 2003.
12. ^ "Fort Bragg's newspaper Paraglide, recruitment notice for Delta Force". http://us2.newsmemory.com/ee/paraglide/default.php. Retrieved 17 November 2009. 
13. ^ Beckwith, Charlie A (1983). Delta Force. Harcourt. 
14. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Haney, Eric L. (2002). Inside Delta Force. New York: Delacorte Press. pp. 325. ISBN 9780385336031. 
15. ^ "Unit Profile: 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta (SFOD-D)". http://www.specialoperations.com/Army/Delta_Force/unit_profile.htm. Retrieved 10 March 2010. 
16. ^ ^{a b c} Bowden, Mark (1999). Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. Berkeley: Atlantic Monthly Press. ISBN 0-87113-738-0 
17. ^ "Navy Special Warfare Operator (SEAL)". http://www.navycs.com/navy-jobs/special-warfare-operator.html. Retrieved 15 May 2011. 
18. ^ [Ronald H. Cole, 1997, Operation Urgent Fury: The Planning and Execution of Joint Operations in Grenada 12 October – 2 November 1983 Joint History Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Washington, DC], p.62.]
19. ^ Castro, Janice; Thomas A. Sancton; Bernard Diederich (13 August 1984). "Terrorism: Failed Security". TIME. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,926759,00.html. 
20. ^ Offley, Edward (2002). "Chapter 13 – Going to War I: Realtime". Pen & Sword: A Journalist's Guide to Covering the Military. Marion Street Press, Inc. p. 220. ISBN 9780966517644. http://books.google.com/?id=qYVi8qrEUxIC. 
21. ^ Smith, Mark (6 March 2007). Killer Elite. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312362722. http://books.google.com/?id=xMj69G2CxjwC. 
22. ^ [1]
23. ^ [2]
24. ^ Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta
25. ^ News: Delta's down with it (Seattle Weekly)
26. ^ September 2003 Engineer Update
27. ^ Norton-Taylor, Richard; Borger, Julian; Harding, Luke (27 November 2001). "Revealed: how bungled US raid came close to disaster". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/nov/06/afghanistan.terrorism8. 
28. ^ "JSOC task force battles Haqqani militants". http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/09/army-haqqani-092010w/. Retrieved 30 October 2010. 
29. ^ W:\pmtr\ventura\#article\noonan.vp
30. ^ [3]]
31. ^ [4]]

External links

• The official website of the United States Department of Defense (DoD)
• The official website of the United States Army
• ShadowSpear Special Operations: SFOD
• Special Operations.com Delta Force Article
• Transcript of Sean Naylor's speech to American Enterprise Institute
• 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment (Airborne) DELTA at Global Security

Coordinates: 35°07′14″N 79°21′50″W / 35.12047°N 79.363775°W / 35.12047; -79.363775 (Delta Force (1st SFOD-D))