Editing Delta Force (section)

==History==
[[File:Charlie Beckwith.jpg|thumb|left|Delta Force's founder [[Charlie Alvin Beckwith|Charles Beckwith]] in 1980]]
[[File:Delta-schwarzkopf-hires.jpg|thumb|left|Delta Force bodyguards in civilian clothing providing close protection to General [[Norman Schwarzkopf]] during the [[Gulf War]], 1991]]
Delta Force was created in 1977 after numerous well-publicized terrorist incidents led the U.S. government to develop a full-time counter-terrorism unit.

Key military and government figures had already been briefed on this type of unit in the early 1960s. [[Charles Alvin Beckwith|Charlie Beckwith]], a [[Special Forces (United States Army)|Special Forces]] (Green Berets) officer and [[Vietnam War veteran]], served as an [[exchange officer]] with the [[British Army]]'s 22 [[Special Air Service]] Regiment during the [[Malayan Emergency]]. On his return, Beckwith presented a detailed report highlighting the U.S. Army's vulnerability in not having a SAS-type unit. U.S. Army Special Forces in that period focused on [[unconventional warfare (United States)|unconventional warfare]] providing training and medical care to indigenous resistance fighters, but Beckwith recognized the need for "not only a force of teachers, but a force of doers".{{sfn|Beckwith|Knox|2000|p=[https://archive.org/details/deltaforcearmyse00beck/page/39 39]}} He envisioned highly adaptable and completely autonomous small teams with a broad array of special skills for [[direct action (military)|direct action]] and [[counter-terrorism]] missions. He briefed military and government figures, who were resistant to creating a new unit outside of Special Forces or changing existing methods.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=Jon E.|date= 1997|title=The Handbook of the SAS And Elite Forces. How The Professionals Fight And Win. |publisher=Robinson Publishing Ltd |page=39 -Tactics And Techniques, American Army Special Forces|isbn=1-85487-675-9}}</ref>

Finally, in the mid-1970s, as the threat of terrorism grew, [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]] and Army senior leaders appointed Beckwith to form the unit.{{sfn|Beckwith|Knox|2000}} Beckwith estimated that it would take 24 months to get his new unit mission ready. Beckwith's estimate came from a conversation he had had earlier with Brigadier [[John Watts (British Army officer)|John Watts]] while in England in 1976. Watts had made it clear to Beckwith that it would take eighteen months to build a [[squadron (army)|squadron]], but advised him to tell Army leaders that it would take two years, and not to "let anyone talk (him) out of this." To justify why it would take two years to build Delta, Beckwith and his staff drafted what they dubbed the "Robert Redford Paper," which outlined its necessities and historical precedents for a four-phase selection/assessment process.{{sfn|Beckwith|Knox|2000|p=142-143}}

Delta Force was established on 19 November 1977, by Beckwith and Colonel Thomas Henry.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Goolsby |first=Denise |date=14 July 2016 |title=Palm Springs man was Army Delta Force co-creator |work=[[The Desert Sun]] |location=Palm Springs, Cal. |url=http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2016/07/14/palm-springs-col-tom-henry-us-army-delta-force-army-rangers/86963120/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220720024352/https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2016/07/14/palm-springs-col-tom-henry-us-army-delta-force-army-rangers/86963120/ |archive-date=20 July 2022}}</ref> In the meantime, Colonel Bob "Black Gloves" Mountel of the [[5th Special Forces Group (United States)|5th Special Forces Group]] created a unit to bridge the short-term gap that existed until Delta was ready, dubbed [[Blue Light (counter-terrorist subunit)|Blue Light]].{{sfn|Beckwith|Knox|2000|p=131}} The initial members of the unit were screened from volunteers and put through a specialized selection process in early 1978, involving a series of [[land navigation]] problems in mountainous terrain while carrying increasing weight. The purpose was to test candidates' endurance, stamina, willingness to endure, and mental resolve. The first training course lasted from April to September 1978. Delta Force was certified as fully mission capable in fall 1979, right before the [[Iran hostage crisis]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Stew |date=9 July 2021 |title=Delta Force: Missions and History |url=https://www.military.com/special-operations/delta-force.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621062559/https://www.military.com/special-operations/delta-force.html |archive-date=21 June 2022 |website=[[Military.com]]}}</ref>

On 4 November 1979, 52 American diplomats and citizens were taken captive and held in the U.S. embassy in [[Tehran]], Iran. Delta Force was tasked to plan and execute [[Operation Eagle Claw]], the effort to recover the hostages from the embassy by force on the nights of 24 and 25 April in 1980. The operation was aborted due to helicopter failures. The review commission that examined the failure found 23 problems with the operation, among them unexpected weather encountered by the aircraft, [[Command and control|command-and-control]] problems between the multi-service component commanders, a collision between a helicopter and a ground-refueling [[Aerial 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 trans-loading/refueling site.<ref name="bowden desert one">{{Cite web |last=Bowden |first=Mark |date=May 2006 |title=The Desert One Debacle |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200605/iran-hostage |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519082253/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/05/the-desert-one-debacle/304803/ |author-link=Mark Bowden |archive-date=19 May 2022 |website=[[The Atlantic Monthly]]}}</ref>{{sfn|Gabriel|1985|p=[https://archive.org/details/militaryincompet00gabr/page/106 106]–16}}

After the failed operation, the U.S. government realized more changes were needed. The [[160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne)]], also known as the "Night Stalkers", was created for special operations requiring air support. The Navy's [[SEAL Team Six]], an earlier incarnation of the current [[SEAL Team 6|Naval Special Warfare Development Group]], was created for maritime counter-terrorism operations. The [[Joint Special Operations Command]] was created for command and control of the military's various counter-terrorism units.