Delta Force: The Army's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

1st Special Forces Operational Detachment--Delta (SFOD-D) is the military's formal name for Delta Force. Delta is perhaps America's foremost elite counterterrorist unit along with the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) and Navy SEAL Team Six. Beckwith created Delta Force after spending a year with the British Special Air Service (SAS) and seeing how the US had a void that a unit like the SAS could fill. Thus, Delta was formed with the SAS in mind.

A word of caution to people who are considering reading this book. The book tells of how Delta Force was formed...from its beginnings as a US version of the British SAS to its failed first mission freeing the hostages in the Iran. If you're looking for something on what Delta Force currently does and how its operators are currently trained or selected, this isn't the book for you. Beckwith tells us how the first Delta operators were trained and selected, but that selection process has probably changed some by now. This book is more a detailed history on the formation of the Delta Force, and not a book on its current engagements and operations (which are most likely classified anyway).

I HIGHLY recommend this book.


A "Must Read" for any Infantry or Special Ops vet   March 7, 2002
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

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Rather, Delta Force is the plain-spoken memoir of a real-life Special Forces officer's long career advancing his art, if not his army career. Charlie Beckwith was a prophet before his time, and his campaign for the creation of an SAS-style special ops unit in the U.S. Army was stymied at every turn for nearly his entire career. Branded a rogue, even a traitor to the S.F. community, in the end, of course, his ideas won out, and Delta came into being, with Beckwith as it's first commander.

There are Vietnam war stories here, but this is not a book of "there I was. . ." tales. Beckwith also offers the reader a glimpse of Army politics, but this is not a book about vain and self-absorbed senior officers. A few chapters are devoted to Delta's baptism by fire in the Iranian Hostage rescue operation, but it's not really a book about the debacle at Desert One. In Delta Force, the reader will find a memoir of one of the pivotal figures in modern ground warfare. This is the story of one tough, dedicated hombre; what he learned, and how he learned it.

I'm not sure the average reader would get all of Colonel Beckwith's humorous asides and throwaway lines. Some are pretty wry, and would probably require that the reader have a military background to even notice. This edition has a few annoying typographical errors (is proofreading truly a lost art?), and Beckwith's prose occasionally lapses from one tense to another and then back again, which creates a slight feeling of disjointedness. Given those very minor caveats, for a reader with some familiarity and interest in the operational art, this is a must read.

Sua Sponte.


Great book   September 23, 2002
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

Great book. Outlines the difficulties in getting a new idea sold in a rather inflexible/bureaucratic system.
It is a long way from identifying a requirement, to actually get someone interested to set measures to fill a deficiency. A lot of turf wars involved.
I actually expected a fact book on Delta's history/capabilities and ops involved. What I found was a really well written story of the man who pursued the issue of creating Anti-Terrorist capability within the US Forces. Now everybody will understand the vision this man had and how important this topic always was and always will be.
I liked the credit given to the SAS, that I consider the finest unit in this area of work.
I would have liked for the book to continue further than the Iran operation (especially as I actually bought the book for the purpose of getting information about the Somalia Ops), but it is clear the it ends when Col Beckwith left the unit, as he is the author. Great book that is really hard to put down.


Delta Force - An interesting read by its creator   September 2, 2002
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

This book covers the creation of Delta Force from the perspective of Col. Charlie Beckwith, who recognized the United States' need for an elite antiterrorist unit based on his experiences working with the British SAS and in Vietnam.

Both military and political aspects of the Delta Force's creation are addressed and covered with a focus on the Iran Hostage Crisis. I found the book an easy and enjoyable read. Those mainly seeking fast-paced action may find it dry, but it tells a very interesting story. As nonfiction/military history, I gave it 5 stars. It was published in 1983, and I was left wishing it covered through the early 1990s.


Page turner. Essential for Spec-ops library.   May 10, 2006
MacDhomhnaill
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

I first thought that this book would probably be a bit dull, since it didn't have a lot of combat experiences in it, but is mostly about the formation of Delta. But it's now one of my favorite reads. A real page-turner, it only took me a couple weeks to get through it. I admit that it's enjoyment is probably limited to those with a serious interest in special ops. It has an honest and candid tone that lacks the the egoism of Marzcinko's book about SEAL Six. If your interested in learning more about Delta, I also reccomend reading Eric Haney's book, and Blackhawk Down. All three are very interesting and informative books, that take you inside, are hard to put down, and inspire profound respect for those who serve their country in this capacity.