Key Point: Delta Force employs a variety of specialized weapons, including handguns like the M1911-A1 and Glock 19, carbines such as the M4A1 and M16A4 with grenade launchers, sniper rifles like the McMillan TAC-50 and Barrett M107A1, and machine guns including the M249 SAW.

Delta Force: Inside the U.S. Army's Elite Counterterrorism Unit

In the spirit of (mostly) good-natured interservice rivalries, pundits can endlessly debate which unit in the U.S. Armed Forces’ Special Operations community is the most badass of the bunch. The U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps alike all have their worthy contenders.

But if I had to narrow it down to a top two, I’d have to go with the U.S. Navy’s legendary SEAL Team 6 DEVGRU (whom I’ve already written about in a separate piece), and the current topic, the U.S. Army’s 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D), better known simply as Delta Force.  

A Rough Start

Delta Force was officially created on November 19, 1977, by COL Charles Alvin “Chargin’ Charlie” Beckwith, a special forces (Green Beret) officer who, prior to his service in the Vietnam War, had served as an exchange officer with Britain’s elite Special Air Service (SAS) in 1962 during the Malayan Emergency. He noted that America lacked an analogous dedicated counterterrorist (CT) unit and used the SAS as his model for Delta.

 Alas, Delta’s first real-world operational mission ended in tragedy: Operation Eagle Claw aka “Desert One,” the horrifically failed attempt in April 1980 to rescue American hostages in Iran after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in that country. Long story short, eight U.S. servicemembers lost their lives, and four others were injured.

Life After Desert One

The silver lining behind the cloud of Operation Eagle Claw was that the U.S. special operations community in general, and Delta Force in particular, were restructured, streamlined, and came back leaner, meaner, and stronger than ever. Since then, Delta has participated in almost every large and small U.S. military involvement in the past four decades—In secret more often than not.

The most successful Delta mission that’s been publicized was the October 2019 raid that resulted in the death of then-Islamic State head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. There was, of course, also the Battle of Mogadishu in October 1993, which went on to be portrayed in the book and movie Black Hawk Down; therein, Delta snipers Master Sergeant Gary Ivan Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randall David “Randy” Shughart were among the eighteen American troops who perished that day, but not without putting up a hell of a fight and killing scores of bad guys in the process. Both Gordon and Shughart were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for their sacrifices.

Today, Delta is considered a tier-one special operations group, and much about the unit remains highly classified; indeed, to help maintain that air of secrecy, U.S. Army budget documents often reference the relevant line item as Army Compartmented Elements (ACE). (Other nicknames and euphemisms include Combat Applications Group, CAG, D-Boys, the Dark Side, the Other Side of the Fence, Task Force Green, or simply the Unit.)

My colleague Brent M. Eastwood, himself a former Army officer who once attached to a Special Forces battalion as a public affairs specialist, writes in an October 27, 2024, article for The National Interest titled “Unstoppable Delta Force: The Very Best Special Forces Unit on Planet Earth”:

“The selection process is classified and changes as combat needs evolve. One book – Inside Delta Force – describes intense, long-range land navigation courses to evaluate physical attributes. Then the trainee must pass a complicated mental evaluation period that includes psychological interviews and oral performances in front of boards. Roughly 10-percent of each class is selected [in other words, a 90 percent attrition rate!] … If selected, the trainee goes on to a six-month Operator Training Course. This is comprised of several units of skills development from clearing rooms and close-quarter combat to picking locks and improvising explosives. The counter-terrorism missions and hostage rescue operations are rehearsed. There is even a block of instruction on espionage tradecraft that is likely similar to CIA clandestine officer training.” 

Weapons of Delta Force

As per the Buffalo Rifles website…

· Handguns:

o   M1911-A1 .45 ACP

o   SIG Sauer P226 "P226R Mk 25" 9×19mm

o   Glock 19 9×19mm

· Carbines and Assault Rifles:

o   M4A1 and M16A4 5.56×45mm NATO

§  M203 40mm grenade launcher attached underneath these rifles

o Mk 17 SCAR 7.62x51mm NATO

 ·  Sniper and Anti-Material Rifles:

o   McMillan TAC-50 .50 BMG

o   Barrett M107A1 .50 BMG

o   M24 7.62x51mm NATO

o   M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System (SASS) 7.62x51 mm NATO

·  Machine Guns

o   M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) 5.56x45mm NATO

About the Author: Christian D. Orr

Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor for National Security Journal (NSJ). He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch , The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, and Simple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS). 

Image Credit: Creative Commons.