Delta Force (37 page)

After our ad hoc effort into Iran, I'd done a lot of soul-searching and was convinced that a permanent joint task force was vital if our government was going to continue to be serious about combating terrorism.

As I returned to the Stockade, I recalled the recent discussion I had had with General Sam Wilson when we designed on the blackboard in my office a tier-type organization, which would fall under the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Our proposed organization consisted of Army, Navy, and Air Force elements that would train and act together in the event of another crisis.

The rest of that day and through the night Buckshot, Logan Fitch, Country, and I worked on the proposal, completed the necessary charts, and collected the supporting documentation.

General Meyer looked over the proposal the next noon. He made one structural change then took the chart, which showed the entire proposed organization for a Joint Special Operations Command, and left the room.

I don't know where he went, but ten minutes later, when he returned, he was smiling. “Now, go back to Bragg, Charlie. Start putting some meat on the bones.”

EPILOGUE

by C. A. Mobley

Delta Force doesn't exist.
¹

It is not based out of Fort Bragg. It never ferreted out and destroyed secret SCUD missile sites in Iraq, nor did it help plan security for the Atlanta Olympics. General Noriega was never a Delta Force target, and regular Army forces rescued Kurt Muse from his Panamanian jail cell. Delta Force helicopters never orbit over American cities while operators practice their trades on abandoned buildings.

At least not officially. The Department of Defense will not comment on Delta Force, but will admit that within the Department of Defense there are special mission units that are trained, equipped, and targeted to respond to a number of scenarios, including acts of terrorism and events involving weapons of mass destruction. That's their story and they're sticking to it.

But if Delta Force
did
officially exist, you'd recognize it as the organization Colonel Beckwith created. Just look for the most potent stand-alone special forces unit, one made up of superb soldiers honed to a killing edge by grueling training and esprit de corps equipped with the latest in high-capacity weapons, frequency-hopping communications, and lethal technology. You won't see them coming, because Delta Force operates with dedicated stealth air assets skilled at inserting and extracting teams without attracting attention. You won't know
where they are. Surprise is a primary tactical advantage, and Delta Force operations remain shrouded in secrecy to avoid disclosing operational capabilities to the wrong people. But whenever you see a hostage extraction that seems to take place overnight with no planning and no publicity, you'll know Delta Force has been there.

Like most military units, Delta Force is evolving. Building a military force is like stocking a toolbox.
²
Sometimes you need a sledgehammer, the sheer raw power of divisions supported by mechanized infantry, mortars, and tanks. For other missions, only an ice pick will do.

If he were here today, Colonel Beckwith would probably be planning the
next
Delta Force. It would be an ice-pick force, one that borrowed heavily not only from existing special forces but from civilian organizations as well. Colonel Beckwith would insist that it remain as shrouded in secrecy as his present-day Delta Force is, although he'd certainly understand and use the deterrence potential of publicity to attempt to prevent violence (and as a tool to ensure funding). He would make use of every new technological toy that he could get his hands on, and he would take his team on a wider range of missions. One chain of command would encompass not only field operators but intelligence, logistics, air support, and transportation as well. Delta Force analysts would coordinate and evaluate products from outside Army, military, and civilian agencies.

But why would the next Delta Force look like that?

Military organizations tend to be reactive, and they take mistakes seriously. The price of a lesson learned is counted in bodies rather than dollars. Analyzing an organization's past provides valuable clues about where it's headed.

Although everything about its composition, chain of command, and operations is classified, Delta Force probably executed the missions listed below. Let's look at those, see how they went, then speculate on how Delta Force has incorporated those lessons into its structure.

First, a caveat. Information is classified for good reasons and divulging it unnecessarily will get people killed. For that
reason, I am relying solely on open-source unclassified material and information already published in the press. Bear in mind that the operations you're most likely to hear about are the ones where something went wrong, and there are probably many other operations that we'll never hear about. With that in mind, let's look at Delta Force's past in order to project what the next generation Delta Force might look like.

Missions:
Hostage rescue is the meat and potatoes, Delta Force's
raison d'être
, beginning with the unit's first major operation, rescuing American hostages in Iran in 1980 and continuing on to the present day. The unit is particularly adept at extracting hostages from aircraft, and probably maintains close ties with major structural and component manufacturers both in the United States and overseas in order to keep its data bases current. Strong working relationships with both area experts and translators drawn from all parts of the U.S. government are probably in place, although Delta Force's preference would be to use its own unit assets whenever possible. Under current budget restrictions, however, Delta Force probably makes it a point to train regularly with analysts and linguistics experts associated with predictable trouble spots, perhaps even providing them with quasi-military training enabling any civilian to at least nominally pass inspection as a member of the military. Publicized missions indicate that international politics is one of the major problems Delta Force faces. According to publicized accounts, the Algerian government refused to allow the forward-deployed Delta Force to participate in TWA flight 847 rescue operations, as did the Italian government in the rescue of Gen. James Dozier. Given Delta Force's expertise in airline hostage scenarios, it is probable that the unit has developed additional cover stories, public affairs relationships, and media affiliations that allow it to operate under cover of other governments' forces. Most certainly Delta continues its liaison with the British SAS and the other overseas contacts
that Colonel Beckwith developed, and those relationships have expanded to include operations in other parts of the world. The less mention you see of Delta Force, the more likely the unit has been there.

Additionally, there are indications that Delta Force trains extensively with the two other American hostage-rescue teams, the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, or HRT, and SEAL Team Six, and the reasons should be obvious. Federal regulations prevent military units from operating inside the United States in law enforcement situations, but do allow some forms of coordination and support. In a domestic hostage situation, the FBI's HRT would be the lead agency. Delta Force might be tasked to draw up the plan of attack itself, provide insight into the terrorists' motivations, or serve as technical observers. For instance, if a mortar were needed to punch through a cement wall, Delta Force might provide the equipment, aim it, and show the FBI weapons agent how to push the button that actually fires the weapon. For offshore (perhaps an oil platform outside the twelve-mile limit) or marine hostage rescues, Delta Force would operate closely with SEAL Team Six. The SS
Achille Lauro
cruise-liner mission probably cemented the relationship between the elite Navy SEAL community and Delta Force. The cruise liner seized by terrorists had a large American contingent onboard, and both SEAL Team Six and Delta Force were forward deployed and poised to act. Before permission could be obtained from the Italian government, the terrorists negotiated safe passage with the Egyptian government. During their trip to Egypt onboard an Egyptian Boeing 737, U.S. fighters forced the aircraft to land in Sigonella, Italy. Italian
carabinieri
interfered with Delta Force's operations and the terrorists escaped. Given Delta Force's determination never to repeat a mistake, the unit probably insists on absolute operational authority for missions conducted with foreign law enforcement authorities.

In addition to developing coordinating relationships with other hostage-rescue agencies and units, Delta Force clearly believes that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. According to one source, “Since the early 1980's, only one in
three acts of terrorism has been identified in time to affect the outcome.”
³
The unit has built upon its core competency of hostage rescue to include preventive measures as well. Safeguarding senior officials and counterterrorism operations
⁴
now constitute regular missions for the elite unit. Delta Force also teaches other nations its unique brand of ice-pick-to-the-brain terrorist prevention. Surveillance of terrorist camps in countries such as Libya and training the rogue nation's neighbors on effective deployment of Stinger missiles kept Libya in check during Operation Manta in the early 1980s.

Preventing trouble may not be as glamorous as killing terrorists and saving tourists, but Delta Force undoubtedly is willing to forgo adrenaline rushes in order to stop trouble before it starts. The unit measures success in live hostages, not dead terrorists.

Transportation:
Perhaps no lesson is as deeply engraved in Delta Force's corporate memory as the failure of Desert One. After recruiting and training the special breed of helicopter pilots needed to support his fledgling force, fighting for the assets to make Desert One succeed, Colonel Beckwith's overwhelming frustration and anger over the mission echo throughout the first edition of
Delta Force
. Routine planning now places heavy emphasis on the environmental factors expected onscene. Contingency planning covers the entire range of possible climates, ranging from broiling heat and sand to arctic scenarios, with tropical-storm and typhoon conditions thrown into the middle. If anything's going to stop Delta Force in the future, it won't be the weather.

Delta Force's transportation requirements fall into two basic categories: getting there and onscene. Special command and control arrangements allow the unit priority access to the long-range transport aircraft that now come under the command of the unified Transportation Command. For onscene operations, the Air Force Special Operations Command has dedicated Pave Low helicopters, MH-60G Pave Hawk armed escort helicopters, AC-130H Spectre gunship for precision air cover, MC130E and H specially modified Combat Talon cargo planes
to transport paratroopers and refuel helicopters. While the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) continues to provide helicopter services to Delta Force, Delta Force now reportedly has its own squadron. In addition to the standard special-operations helicopters—and perhaps someday the V-22 Osprey—Delta Force has helicopters painted in civilian colors with false tail numbers, enabling it to join the gaggle of news helicopters that invariably deploy to spots of interest. There may also be aircraft camouflaged as civilian law enforcement units since one of Delta Force's hottest priorities is expanding its capabilities in urban terrorism environments. Few standard-issue military pilots outside Delta Force's inner circle practice in the tight quarters of narrow passageways between towering office buildings. Handling the wind currents howling down man-made canyons and identifying hot landing zones in civilian environments requires exceptional judgment and experience.

Weapons:
Delta Force has always concentrated on its shooters and today's force is no exception. The close-range weapon of choice is no longer the .45, but a variety of 9-millimeter pistols and the Heckler & Koch MP-5 machine gun. In 1987, Delta Force reportedly moved into a new facility at Fort Bragg in an area formerly known as Range 19. The new facility houses at least six weapons ranges: demolition, popup target, and sniper facilities among them, along with a variety of mock-up buildings and aircraft. The force's expertise in explosives and techniques for forced entry has grown exponentially since Colonel Beckwith's day.
⁵
Global positioning systems and over-the-horizon targeting packages can substantially increase both the range and accuracy of longer-range weapons.

Intelligence and Coordination:
The first go/no-go checkpoint for a potential Delta Force operation is whether the hostages have been located. There's nothing more frustrating for Delta Force than to be forward deployed and poised to act but
at a standstill because intelligence sources cannot locate the hostages.

Delta Force has always had particular intelligence needs that couldn't be satisfied by ordinary intelligence efforts. Hard experience with faulty intelligence has resulted in the creation of an internal intelligence organization that understands the particular needs of Delta Force. The analysts provide tailored products, including advance infiltration into the target area for last-minute updates.