Sunday 23 June 2013
Sunday 16 June 2013
| 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (Airborne) | |
|---|---|
 USASOC patch worn by Delta Force | |
| Active | November 21, 1977 – present |
| Country |  United States of America |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Type | Tier One Special Operations Force |
| Role | Special Operations |
| Size | Classified[1] |
| Part of |  United States Special Operations Command Joint Special Operations Command United States Army Special Operations Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Fort Bragg, North Carolina |
| Nickname | The Unit |
| Engagements | Operation Eagle Claw (Iran hostage crisis) Invasion of Grenada United States invasion of Panama Gulf War Somali Civil War Operation Gothic Serpent Afghanistan War Iraq War
|
Sunday 2 June 2013
Selection process
Haneys book Inside Delta Force described the selection course and its inception in detail. Haney writes the selection course began with standard tests including push-ups, sit-ups, and a 2-mile (3.2 km) run, an inverted crawl and a 100 meter swim fully dressed. The selection candidates were then put through a series of land navigation courses to include an 18-mile (29 km), all-night land navigation course while carrying a 40-pound (18 kg) rucksack. The rucksack's weight and the distance of the courses are increased and the time standards to complete the task are shortened with every march. The physical testing ended with a 40-mile (64 km) march with a 45-pound (20 kg) rucksack over very rough terrain which had to be completed in an unknown amount of time. Haney wrote that only the senior officer and NCO in charge of selection are allowed to see the set time limits, but all assessment and selection tasks and conditions were set by Delta training cadre.[14][15] The mental portion of the testing began with numerous psychological exams. The men then went in front of a board of Delta instructors, unit psychologists and the Delta commander, who each ask the candidate a barrage of questions and then dissect every response and mannerism of the candidate with the purpose to mentally exhaust the candidate. The unit commander then approaches the candidate and tells him if he has been selected. If an individual is selected for Delta, he undergoes an intense 6-month Operator Training Course (OTC), to learn counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence techniques, in which the individual maintains very little contact with friends and family for the duration. Training includes firearm accuracy and various other munitions training.[15]
Recruitment
Most recruits come from the Special Forces Groups and the 75th Ranger Regiment, but some operators have come from other units of the army.[10] Since the 1990s, the Army has posted recruitment notices for the 1st SFOD-D.[11] The Army, however, has never released an official fact sheet for the force. The recruitment notices placed in Fort Bragg's newspaper, Paraglide, refer to Delta Force by name, and label it "...the U.S. Army's special operations unit organized for the conduct of missions requiring rapid response with surgical application of a wide variety of unique special operations skills..."[12] The notice states that all applicants must be male, in the ranks of E-4 through E-8, have at least two and a half years of service time remaining in their enlistment, be 21 years or older and score high enough on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test to attend a briefing to be considered for admission.
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