Delta Force: A Memoir by the Founder of the U.S. Military's Most Secretive Special-Operations Unit

Very good and very well done. We need to back all military and the brave men and women who keep us safe. Job well done.

Amazing book, goes deep into the creation and operations of delta force. A bit slow at parts when there's administrative stuff being discussed, but over all full of action!

"Delta Force" should be required reading for every ambitious careerist working for a large organization. Wearing camo fatigues or gray-flannel suit, this fine treatise tells the ambitious what it takes to get things done in a large organization--in this case, the largest organization-the U.S. Army. And what it takes is a very smart, relentlessly driven maverick, just what these organizations abhor. Maverick General Billy Mitchell was court-marshaled for proving to the Navy that one aircraft could take out the fleet's largest ship. Col. Charlie Beckwith is that other maverick, famous for his vision, tenacity and executive drive. He recognized, as legions of far higher-ranked "planners" did not, that the U.S. military had a huge hole in its capabilities. That hole was how to deal quickly with terrorist and other small-unit irregular trouble-makers. The tortuous chain of command alone for SEALS and other Special Ops organizations prevents them for responding quickly to emergency situations, such as an aircraft high jacking, where every minute counts. And that same tortuous chain is also replete with know-it-all desk jockeys, anxious, willing and able to add their two cents worth of directives to an operation. By the time permission is received, the plan has become monstrous (with each branch of service jealously demanding a piece of the action), and it is far too late. The plane has either long since taken off or been blown-up and the hostages killed. The book describes in fascinating detail the twists and turns Beckwith endured to start up the still secret Delta Force. It lists name, rank and serial number of the Generals who did everything in their power to prevent what they saw only as poaching on their hallowed turf, even as they refused to admit they could not possibly handle the tasks Delta set out to achieve. And what an inventory of skills the Delta boys developed. Primary among them is deadly accuracy with any firearm under any situation. Sound impossible? Not when you consider the time spent training in realistic live-fire situations. Hours, and days and months of repetition. (This super marksmanship probably explains why Delta Force dropped the .45-cal pistol from their inventory and switched to the less-deadly 9mm. Every shooter knows that nothing stops a man in his tracks like the wallop of a .45. But those shells are large and limit a pistol's capacity. With their incredible accuracy, any round passing through the eye socket of a perpetrator will get the job done. So they might as well use the smaller round and have more of them to shoot. Some will gripe that this book proves the U.S. Military is an incompetent dinosaur with the reflexes of sloth in winter. But the subtext is that Beckwith did effect change. The military did listen, and the military did act. Delta Force exists now as-along with the British SAS from which it was copied-the finest small-unit antiterrorist force in the world.

By far the best, most interesting military book ive ever read, will probably be one of my favorites forever. Excellent story about the formation of Delta Force. Ive gained so much respect for them as a whole. Ill read this again for sure. Buy buy buy!

This book is one that I had a hard time putting down. My wife would yell downstairs, “are you coming upstairs to bed?” Yes I just want to finish the chapter that I’m reading. Two hours later I’d find my bed and pillow and I couldn’t wait for the following day so that I could pick up Delta Force and continue where I had left off. 5 stars

Charlies book is in route as we speak.My husband had the honor of serving under Charlie back in Vietnam so we're waiting with great anticipation to read this. It is factual that Charlie had to deal with a lot of red tape political bs to get certain projects( jobs) done.There was a period of time before Delta Force was officially formed where Charlie did some of his best, most amazing work.Some might term it as "Black Ops" as at the time it was a highly secretive mission involving saving the lives of thousands of trafficked children in South East Asia during the Vietnam war.These children aged 3 to teen years were taken away from their families & kidnapped from their villages by traffickers.They were treated worse than any animal in captivity. They were held in underground dirt pits in isolated areas of the jungle,starved and abused in ways sexually by their captors that we as civilized people can't comprehend even in our worst nightmares. I've been told that it was a horrific scene & no government was up to dealing with at the time.Charlie, a father himself wanted to do something about it.He took this task on willingly despite the fact that initially he got zero cooperation from the higher ups.He found a way somehow to get this project up & running with a group of 5 specially selected young men pulled from various military branches. They were named "The Angel Girls" and my husband was one of them being the youngest member. To anyone who complains about having to read through Charlies distaste with having to deal with the knuckleheads in government, he wasn't being a whiner nor was he making any of that up.It must have been hugely frustrating to see horrific injustices being perpetrated on innocent victims,the inadvertent casualties of wartime and not be able to help. Despite whatever obstacles he faced the project did come to fruition & justice was served to those who deserved it.The lives of thousands of children in southeast Asia were saved.Most importantly Charlie made sure that each & every child was returned to his her or her village back into the arms of their grateful parents.Some folks want to only talk about what happened with Charlie & what appeared to be an unsuccessful mission under Jimmy Carter but honestly but I'm not going to let Charlie go down like that.Charlie wasn't one to brag about all of the amazing, wonderful things that he was involved in, that wasn't his style.I will tell you this, by all accounts Charlie Beckwith was a true American hero,a good man deserving of respect and honor.

This was an informative story of Delta Force's creation and the struggles and obstacles that the founders faced. This is not a Rambo story, nor does it give juicy details of Delta Force missions. The more you read, the more you realize just how big the Army is and how entrenched the bureaucracy is. At times the book can be quite boring, and it's difficult to keep up with all of the Army staff mentioned in the book. Charlie Beckwith's whining also gets old, and the way he carried himself after Delta's first mission was disappointing. I'd be interested in hearing other accounts of Delta's creation in order to validate this man's tale.

Strictly average. Not much of a personal angle. The colonel has just been pretty exhausting.

La Delta Force (de son vrai nom 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta ou 1st SFOD-D) est une des principales unités américaines dédiées aux missions spéciales ou secrètes. C'est la principale unité anti-terroriste de l'armée américaine. Elle assure en fait une grande variété de missions, y compris parmi les plus clandestines. Ce livre raconte la naissance de cette unité spéciale, de la plume même de son fondateur, Charles Beckwith, qui finira sa carrière dans l'armée américaine avec le grade de colonel. Beckwith a d'abord servi dans l'infanterie, avant d'intégrer les troupes aéroportées américaines puis les forces spéciales. Il est conseiller militaire au Sud-Viêtnam dès 1960. Beckwith participe également à un programme d'échange avec le 22 SAS Regiment britannique, dont il prendra le meilleur pour créer la Delta Force. Il participe d'ailleurs avec les SAS à la campagne anti-insurrectionnelle contre les communistes en Malaisie, pendant laquelle il contracte une leptospirose, qui lui est presque fatale. Beckwith rentre ensuite aux Etats-Unis et écrit de nombreux rapports pour promouvoir la création d'une unité sur le modèle des SAS au sein de l'armée américaine, sans succès. Devenu officier opérations du 7th Special Forces Group, il révolutionnaire l'entraînement de l'unité en mettant l'accent sur la formation conventionnelle du Béret Vert et non sur la guerre non-conventionnelle et la formation d'unités militaires au sein de pays amis, comme c'était le cas jusque là. Au Viêtnam, Beckwith commande le groupe des Special Forces baptisé Projet-DELTA, destiné à opérer des reconnaissances en profondeur dans le territoire vietcong, des opérations d'assassinat ou de sabotage, de collecte de renseignements, etc. A nouveau blessé, il prend ensuite part aux Etats-Unis à l'entraînement de l'US Army Ranger School, le transformant à partir de son expérience au Viêtnam. Après l'offensive du Têt, en 1968, Beckwith prend la tête d'un bataillon de la 101st Airborne Division qu'il mène dans de nombreuses opérations de combat. A son retour aux Etats-Unis, il prend la tête d'un programme d'entraînement à Fort Bragg, en Caroline du Nord. Beckwith, cependant, n'a toujours pas été entendu par l'armée américaine dans son souhait de création d'une unité d'élite destinée à opérer sur les coups durs de manière très autonome. Il va falloir la nouvelle menace posée par le terrorisme international, dans les années 70, pour que ses arguments soient pris en compte. La Delta Force est créée en novembre 1977 avec une vocation anti-terroriste, d'opérations spéciales et de reconnaissance spécialisée. Sa première mission se termine malheureusement sur un échec tragique : Eagle Claw, l'opération commandée par le président Carter pour libérer les otages américains en Iran le 24 avril 1980, s'achève avant même d'avoir commencée en raison de pertes liées à des accidents d'appareils de transport dans l'opération. C'est après cette débâcle dans le désert iranien que fut formé le 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, destiné à transporter la Delta Force et les autres unités spéciales américaines. Le Joint Special Operations Command, un organisme de coordination et de planification des opérations spéciales, fut aussi créé sur recommandation de Beckwith au moment des investigations du Sénat pour expliquer l'échec de l'opération Eagle Claw. Voici un témoignage de première main sur la Delta Force qui se lit comme un roman, étant donné que le colonel Beckwith cherche à vanter les mérites de son unité. La partie consacrée à l'échec de l'opération Eagle Claw est pourtant très intéressante. L'épilogue revient sur les missions et les composantes actuelles de l'unité (en 2000). Une source primaire à compléter par des travaux plus secondaires.

As a past SFO and veteran, I started reading this book and just couldn't put it down. The experiences, hardships, mind games, tactical and political mapping, resonated heavily with what I experienced in 1986 (during my service). Although from a different country, different military (Special Forces also), the challenges and situations were eerily similar. I was pleasantly surprised to see a fellow operator, officer, going through the "same" hurdles, pain and growth that we went through. Highly relatable, I would recommend this to anyone who is/has been in the military or is in a working environment where planning, and management is involved. The hardest part of coming out of the military is the civilian mindset. A massive challenge to integrate back into a world that generally has no direction, even though everyone talks about it. A really good read, well priced and definitely a gem in my library of assorted books. As an MD I have used what I learned in the military to enhance my multiple Medical Practices and the relationship built through competency and professionalism with all of my staff. Anyone running a business, or managing people will relate to the contents of this book and learn something about the specialised units in the military and the fundamentals that make them successful at carrying out their missions.

Über die Anfänge, die komplizierte Planung und den Aufbau eine Spezialeinheit, welche Weltruhm erlangen sollte. Sehr fesselnd geschrieben, mit einer Menge interessanter Details.

This is superbly detailed, very honest, and ground-level up account of how COL Beckwith's original exposure to the British SAS brought about a revelation of understanding & belief in the US Army. The military and personal politics of the development of Delta are expressed and exposed, as is the very certain decision snd commitment to the Delta project. All that aside, this book is enthralling. And for COL Beckwith, the SAS motto remains held up highest: Who dares, wins