Delta Force: A Memoir by the Founder of the U.S. Military's Most Secretive Special-Operations Unit

Very good and very well done. We need to back all military and the brave men and women who keep us safe. Job well done.

Amazing book, goes deep into the creation and operations of delta force. A bit slow at parts when there's administrative stuff being discussed, but over all full of action!

"Delta Force" should be required reading for every ambitious careerist working for a large organization. Wearing camo fatigues or gray-flannel suit, this fine treatise tells the ambitious what it takes to get things done in a large organization--in this case, the largest organization-the U.S. Army. And what it takes is a very smart, relentlessly driven maverick, just what these organizations abhor. Maverick General Billy Mitchell was court-marshaled for proving to the Navy that one aircraft could take out the fleet's largest ship. Col. Charlie Beckwith is that other maverick, famous for his vision, tenacity and executive drive. He recognized, as legions of far higher-ranked "planners" did not, that the U.S. military had a huge hole in its capabilities. That hole was how to deal quickly with terrorist and other small-unit irregular trouble-makers. The tortuous chain of command alone for SEALS and other Special Ops organizations prevents them for responding quickly to emergency situations, such as an aircraft high jacking, where every minute counts. And that same tortuous chain is also replete with know-it-all desk jockeys, anxious, willing and able to add their two cents worth of directives to an operation. By the time permission is received, the plan has become monstrous (with each branch of service jealously demanding a piece of the action), and it is far too late. The plane has either long since taken off or been blown-up and the hostages killed. The book describes in fascinating detail the twists and turns Beckwith endured to start up the still secret Delta Force. It lists name, rank and serial number of the Generals who did everything in their power to prevent what they saw only as poaching on their hallowed turf, even as they refused to admit they could not possibly handle the tasks Delta set out to achieve. And what an inventory of skills the Delta boys developed. Primary among them is deadly accuracy with any firearm under any situation. Sound impossible? Not when you consider the time spent training in realistic live-fire situations. Hours, and days and months of repetition. (This super marksmanship probably explains why Delta Force dropped the .45-cal pistol from their inventory and switched to the less-deadly 9mm. Every shooter knows that nothing stops a man in his tracks like the wallop of a .45. But those shells are large and limit a pistol's capacity. With their incredible accuracy, any round passing through the eye socket of a perpetrator will get the job done. So they might as well use the smaller round and have more of them to shoot. Some will gripe that this book proves the U.S. Military is an incompetent dinosaur with the reflexes of sloth in winter. But the subtext is that Beckwith did effect change. The military did listen, and the military did act. Delta Force exists now as-along with the British SAS from which it was copied-the finest small-unit antiterrorist force in the world.

By far the best, most interesting military book ive ever read, will probably be one of my favorites forever. Excellent story about the formation of Delta Force. Ive gained so much respect for them as a whole. Ill read this again for sure. Buy buy buy!

This book is one that I had a hard time putting down. My wife would yell downstairs, “are you coming upstairs to bed?” Yes I just want to finish the chapter that I’m reading. Two hours later I’d find my bed and pillow and I couldn’t wait for the following day so that I could pick up Delta Force and continue where I had left off. 5 stars

Charlies book is in route as we speak.My husband had the honor of serving under Charlie back in Vietnam so we're waiting with great anticipation to read this. It is factual that Charlie had to deal with a lot of red tape political bs to get certain projects( jobs) done.There was a period of time before Delta Force was officially formed where Charlie did some of his best, most amazing work.Some might term it as "Black Ops" as at the time it was a highly secretive mission involving saving the lives of thousands of trafficked children in South East Asia during the Vietnam war.These children aged 3 to teen years were taken away from their families & kidnapped from their villages by traffickers.They were treated worse than any animal in captivity. They were held in underground dirt pits in isolated areas of the jungle,starved and abused in ways sexually by their captors that we as civilized people can't comprehend even in our worst nightmares. I've been told that it was a horrific scene & no government was up to dealing with at the time.Charlie, a father himself wanted to do something about it.He took this task on willingly despite the fact that initially he got zero cooperation from the higher ups.He found a way somehow to get this project up & running with a group of 5 specially selected young men pulled from various military branches. They were named "The Angel Girls" and my husband was one of them being the youngest member. To anyone who complains about having to read through Charlies distaste with having to deal with the knuckleheads in government, he wasn't being a whiner nor was he making any of that up.It must have been hugely frustrating to see horrific injustices being perpetrated on innocent victims,the inadvertent casualties of wartime and not be able to help. Despite whatever obstacles he faced the project did come to fruition & justice was served to those who deserved it.The lives of thousands of children in southeast Asia were saved.Most importantly Charlie made sure that each & every child was returned to his her or her village back into the arms of their grateful parents.Some folks want to only talk about what happened with Charlie & what appeared to be an unsuccessful mission under Jimmy Carter but honestly but I'm not going to let Charlie go down like that.Charlie wasn't one to brag about all of the amazing, wonderful things that he was involved in, that wasn't his style.I will tell you this, by all accounts Charlie Beckwith was a true American hero,a good man deserving of respect and honor.

This was an informative story of Delta Force's creation and the struggles and obstacles that the founders faced. This is not a Rambo story, nor does it give juicy details of Delta Force missions. The more you read, the more you realize just how big the Army is and how entrenched the bureaucracy is. At times the book can be quite boring, and it's difficult to keep up with all of the Army staff mentioned in the book. Charlie Beckwith's whining also gets old, and the way he carried himself after Delta's first mission was disappointing. I'd be interested in hearing other accounts of Delta's creation in order to validate this man's tale.

This book is a detailed explanation of the development of Delta Force and all of the red tape and political maneuvering that had to be done in order to get the famous, yet secret, unit off the ground. The story was told by Charlie Beck with, who's dogged determination and relentless focus kept the idea alive, even when the top military brass didn't yet see the value of such a specialized unit. I must say, however, that it wasn't the book I expected. I had hoped for a gutsy history of military operations and secret missions told by someone who was behind enemy lines. This was not the story I was seeking. However, it is an interesting journey from Charlie Beckwith's early military experiences training with the British SAS and how that experience eventually led to the development of what is arguably the most elite fighting force in US Military history. Military history buffs should enjoy this book, as well as those interested in the preparation, maneuvering, and timing required to move the slow-to-change military brass forward with new ideas and how the fierce determination of one man can move mountains and overcome insurmountable obstacles to leave a legacy that impacts our military to this day