Best of the best, Delta unit called top
weapon in war against terrorism
By Jon R. Anderson,
Stars and Stripes
Elite. Daring. Covert. Super secret.
All of those words have become cliché when describing the United States’ special
operations forces.
And while many people may often think of the Green Berets as the Army’s Special
Forces, when Army leaders begin to move their "special forces" to fight the war
on terrorism, they will call upon men and women with other colored headgear as well.
From the pilots who carry A-Teams deep behind enemy lines to the Rangers storming an
airfield, the Army has a number of weapons ready, willing and able to bring the fight to
terrorists.
But perhaps the group that is the most feared and least known is the Army’s Delta
Force.
Delta, formerly called 1st Special Operations Detachment, culls its members on an
invitation-only basis from among the ranks of the Rangers, Special Forces — even Navy
SEALs and Marine Force Recon — forming a unit, say insiders, that truly is the best
of the best.
Modeled after the British Special Air Service, Delta is the Pentagon’s sharpest
weapon when it comes to the anti-terrorism fight.
"You really don’t get much better than Delta Force," said Michael
Vickers, a former Special Forces soldier and later a CIA field agent before becoming an
analyst for the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment in Washington, D.C.
"They are very, very experienced — it’s hard to overstate it," he
said.
When the Delta Force found itself in the middle of an all-night battle on the streets
of Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993 that left scores of U.S. dead and wounded, Delta operators
were back to work the next day.
"It was like some horrendous siege of the Alamo," said Vickers, "but
they were ready to go right back out the next day, as if it was just another day’s
work."
Just finding the right blend of physical stamina and mental toughness required for such
missions has been a tall order for Delta.
"Imagine screening 2,000 records," said one former Delta soldier. "From
there, you’ll accept about 200 to 400 for actual consideration. From there, about 100
actually go through the selection course. And in the end, only about 10 will make
it."
In the shadowy battle against terrorism, where the smallest detail can mean the
difference between life and death, even today — 20 years after the unit was first
created — the Defense Department still refuses to confirm or deny that Delta exists.
Even former Delta operators, like David L. Grange, now a regular commentator on CNN,
won’t say much about the unit. Retiring in 1999 shortly after commanding the 1st
Infantry Division, Grange spent most of his career in special operations units like Delta,
Special Force and the Rangers.
"There’s just not that much I can talk about," said Grange. "The
unit is very good at hostage rescue and snatch missions."
Under its umbrella, Delta is said to consist of three operational — direct action
shooting — squadrons, a support squadron, a signal squadron, an aviation platoon, and
what is often referred to as the Funny Platoon, believed to be one of the few special
operations units allowing female operators among the trigger pullers.
Other weapons
If Delta Force and Special Forces units are like a surgeon’s scalpel, the Army
Ranger battalions are like a baseball bat.
"They’re like 82nd Airborne Division on steroids," Vickers said.
Their airborne light-infantry expertise, make it all but certain the Army’s three
Ranger battalions will be key if leaders decide to seize airfields or need a perimeter of
highly trained security around snatch operations.
Those are exactly the kinds of missions Rangers performed in Grenada and Panama,
jumping in so low — to avoid radar detection — that reserve parachutes were
discarded because there would have been no time to pull them. And in Somalia, Rangers
backed up Delta Force commandos in the hunt for tribal warlords there and fought
side-by-side with them when things turned ugly.
When it comes to special operations units getting where they need to be, the Army 160th
Special Operations Aviation Regiment is the usual choice. The Army’s most experienced
pilots, the Night Stalkers, command a fleet of the military’s most exotic
helicopters.
The AH/MH-6 Little Bird, for example, can swoop between all but the narrowest city
streets with its high-volume mini gun and rocket launchers blazing.
Commanding special ops
In his 1983 book, titled simply, "Delta Force," Col. Charlie Beckwith blamed
the failed 1980 rescue of U.S. embassy hostages in Iran on interservice rivalry, and an
unhealthy dose of bad luck.
The worst sand storms in years plagued the mission from the start, but complicating
matters was the fact that Marine Corps pilots were flying Air Force helicopters off of
Navy ships.
"In Iran we had an ad hoc affair," explained Beckwith. "My
recommendation is to put together an organization which contains everything it will ever
need, an organization which would include Delta, the Rangers, Navy SEALS, Air Force
pilots, its own staff, its own support people, its own aircraft and helicopters."
Beckwith challenged leaders to "make this organization a permanent military unit.
Otherwise, we are not serious about combating terrorism."
Not long afterward, the U.S. Special Operations Command was established among the
Unified Combatant Commands putting essentially everything Beckwith had recommended under
one umbrella.
Less known, however, is the small command that was established within that
organization.
Located in a remote part of Fort Bragg, N.C., and heavily guarded and fenced off far
from curious eyes, sits the Combat Applications Group (Airborne) compound.
Supporting it are several units even more secretive than Delta Force itself.
In the aftermath of the Iranian rescue disaster, military officials saw a need for
units like Delta to get better intelligence on the ground before missions are launched.
With most of its Iranian spy handlers held captive in Tehran, the CIA had been of little
help during the embassy take over.
Spy satellites and radio intercepts can only provide so much information. So it was
decided to create<TB>a new unit that would train its members in the spy craft of
studying targets inside hostile areas.
Initially dubbed the Intelligence Support Activity, the unit drew its members largely
from those able to speak foreign languages with the fluency of the native born and capable
of blending into potential hot-spots unnoticed.
"Like Delta, ISA is another special mission unit," said former CIA agent
Vickers. "I can’t really say much about them, but they were created out of a
need to provide intelligence in support of special operation, kind of a hybrid between
Special Forces and military intelligence."
Like Delta, the Army refuses to acknowledge the unit exists, but cryptic recruiting
messages can be found among intelligence Army units. Officials answering the number
provided declined to identify which unit applicants would be assigned to and asked
politely that their number not be published.
"There’s good reason to keep things quiet," says Vickers of all of the
military’s most elite units. "When you’re in the counterterrorism business,
you’re very concerned about identity."
Just as terrorists must secretly study their targets before attacking, so too must the
units given the dangerous mission of taking them down prepare and work in the shadows away
from the public eye.
Added Vickers, "The less that’s known about them — and how they do their
jobs — the better."
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