On November 19, 1977, the United States Army officially established the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, commonly known as Delta Force. This elite unit was conceived to address the growing threat of international terrorism and to provide the U.S. military with a dedicated counter-terrorism capability.

The inception of Delta Force is largely attributed to Colonel Charles Beckwith, a seasoned Special Forces officer and Vietnam War veteran. In the early 1960s, Beckwith served as an exchange officer with the British Army’s 22 Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) during the Malayan Emergency. This experience exposed him to the effectiveness of small, highly trained units capable of executing specialized missions. Upon returning to the U.S., Beckwith recognized a critical gap in the Army’s capabilities and advocated for the creation of a similar unit. He emphasized the need for “not only a force of teachers, but a force of doers,” highlighting the necessity for teams adept in direct action and counter-terrorism operations.

Beckwith had one hell of an interesting life, to put it mildly. In college, he played football for the University of Georgia Bulldogs. He was so good he was approached by the Green Bay Packers to go pro, but he turned that down to pursue a military career. In 1960, Beckwith was a captain with 7th Special Forces Group. At that time, he spent two years in Laos during Operation Hotfoot. Next he was an exchange officer with the SAS where he commanded 3 Troop A Squadron.

Project Delta recon soldiers, 1965. Beckwith is in the front row, second from right.

He believed so strongly in the SAS model that the young officer petitioned the Army for years to create an SAS-type unit. For the longest time, his efforts were brushed aside, but Beckwith would not quit. Back in the States, Beckwith reinvented Special Forces training stating “Before a Special Forces Green Beret soldier could become a good unconventional soldier he’d first have to become a good conventional one.” He took control of training for 7th Group and rewrote the book for Special Forces training utilizing many of the skills he learned while with the SAS.

Beckwith volunteered to go back to Vietnam in 1965. That’s when he was selected to command Operational Detachment B-52, or Project Delta. He would train and lead his men through extremely challenging long range reconnaissance missions in South Vietnam. In 1966 then Major Beckwith took a .50 caliber round to the abdomen. The wound was so devastating that he was triaged as beyond help by medical personnel. Beckwith wasn’t having any of that and made a full recovery. After additional tours of Vietnam, he returned to Fort Bragg to run the US Army Special Warfare School.

Despite Beckwith’s persistent efforts, it wasn’t until the mid-1970s, amid a surge in global terrorist activities, that the Pentagon and Army leadership authorized the formation of such a unit. Beckwith estimated that it would take 24 months to develop the unit to full operational capability. To justify this timeline, he and his team drafted the “Robert Redford Paper,” outlining the requirements and historical precedents for a comprehensive selection and assessment process.

In the interim, Colonel Bob “Black Gloves” Mountel of the 5th Special Forces Group established a temporary counter-terrorism unit known as Blue Light to bridge the gap until Delta Force was operational. By early 1978, Delta Force began its selection process, rigorously evaluating candidates through demanding land navigation exercises in mountainous terrain, testing their endurance, stamina, and mental resilience. The first training course spanned from April to September 1978, culminating in Delta Force being declared fully mission-capable in the fall of 1979.