: A founding member who later detailed the unit's early days and grueling selection process in his memoir, Inside Delta Force .
The genesis of Delta Force lies in the frustration of Colonel "Chargin’ Charlie" Beckwith. Following an exchange program with the British Special Air Service (SAS) in the early 1960s, Beckwith recognized a critical gap in the U.S. Army. While the Green Berets were excellent at unconventional warfare and training indigenous forces, the U.S. lacked a dedicated "special mission unit" for counter-terrorism and direct action. For over a decade, Beckwith lobbied a reluctant Pentagon bureaucracy, facing resistance from traditionalists who believed the Army did not need such an elite tier. It was only after the rise of global terrorism in the 1970s—notably the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Olympics—that the military brass finally relented. first delta force members
The answer wasn’t volunteers off a form. It was a painstaking, man-by-man selection. : A founding member who later detailed the
That’s right. The entire first operational squadron of Delta Force consisted of . For over a decade, Beckwith lobbied a reluctant
But here’s the legacy: Those 19 original operators, plus the 120 or so who joined in the next year, didn’t quit. They rebuilt. They fixed the flaws. And by the 1983 Grenada invasion (Operation Urgent Fury), Delta was already executing advanced missions that conventional units couldn’t touch.
The story of the first Delta Force members begins with Beckwith’s time as an exchange officer with the British Special Air Service (SAS) in 1962. He was struck by their selection process and organizational structure, which prioritized individual initiative and specialized skills. Upon returning to the U.S., Beckwith spent years lobbying for a similar "Tier One" unit, eventually gaining authorization to activate Delta Force on . The Founding Fathers
Want to go deeper? Read “Delta Force” by Colonel Charlie Beckwith or “Inside Delta Force” by Eric Haney (one of the original operators).