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.
Delta was formed after numerous, well-publicized terrorist incidents in the 1970s. These 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 member of the US Army Special Forces had served as an exchange officer with the British Army's Special Air Service (22 SAS Regiment). 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." 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 terrorism grew, Pentagon brass tapped Beckwith to form the unit.
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.
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. Learn more about Delta force
