Operations

Grenada Fort Rupert and Richmond Hill Prison

The following information provided courtesy of Rexer.

1979

Worked with the FBI at the Pan American Games in Puerto Rico as part of an anti-terrorist team set up to anticipate possible terrorist activity at the event.

1980

April - Members of Delta Force participated in the all too familiar botched rescue operation in Iran. What had been months of planning and training went to waste, when at a refueling spot in the Iranian desert (code-named 'Desert One'), a helicopter crashed into a tanker aircraft. The end result was 8 dead servicemen, plus scores of others injured. The mission objective was to rescue American hostages trapped in the American embassy by Iranian Revolutionary Guard. This was to be Delta's "Entebbe," or "Mogadishu," but it went down in counter-terrorist history as one of the greatest tragedies.

1981

March - Delta is called to storm an Indonesian airplane in Bangkok, hijacked by 4 terrorists. A team of Delta operators is flown there and performs the rescue without a hitch, killing all four terrorists.

May - After reconnaissance photos from SR-71 airplanes and spy satellites, identified a probable POW camp in central Laos, an operation was planned to rescue the POWs if further intelligence proved that they were indeed there. Delta would take part in the operation, and would co-operate with the Intelligence Support Activity. When a private mission, headed by Bo Gritz, went looking for Americans at the same camp, and found nothing, a whole debate was sparked in Washington over the validity of the information. The mission was apparently called off.

1982

A six-man Delta intelligence squad is sent to Italy to aid in the search for Brig. Gen. James Dozier, who was kidnapped by terrorists. Italian commandos eventually located the terrorist hideout and rescued the General.

A small contingent of Delta Force troopers is sent to Honduras to act as security guards for an intelligence gathering operation, code-named Queens Hunter, over Nicaragua. The Delta Force troopers were armed with Uzis, and wore windbreakers and baseball caps. They stood ready to repel an attack against the safe house they were stationed in, which also held intelligence specialists.

1983

Delta Force is deployed along with SEAL Team Six and other special forces units to Grenada during Operation Urgent Fury. Their primary objectives were the liberation of civillians imprisoned at Richmond Hill prison, and Fort Rupert, housing senior advisors of General Austin. Inter service rivalry and poor intelligence caused the rescue mission to be aborted twice. At Fort Rupert however, the mission was executed swiftly and professionally, and the objectives met.

Delta operators were stationed in Beirut as early as 1983, and one operator died in the 1983 bombing of the US Embassy.

1984

December - Delta is summoned to storm a hijacked Kuwaiti airliner, but, the dreaded Mr. Murphy of Murphy's Law decided to show up, and logistics problems caused Delta not to be deployed.

Delta is also alleged to have participated in Operation Manta in Lybia, in which French special forces and Delta inserted small teams to plant surveillance equipment around terrorist training camps. It is rumored that Delta was deployed to train Chad's troops in sophisticated weapons systems, like the Stinger, which would be used to shoot down Libyan aircraft.

Delta Force elements provide security at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

1985

June - When TWA Flight 847 was hijacked by Shiite extremists from Athens, Delta loaded up and headed to Algiers, where the hijacked airplane was landed. Unfortunately, the Algerian government refused Delta to mount a rescue operation in the country, resulting in the death of a US Navy diver and the taking of Jewish passengers hostage. The TWA plane was then flown to Beirut and the hostages dispersed around the city, making a rescue impossible. It was after this mishap that President Ronald Reagan declared that "America doesn't deal with terrorists."

October - Another tale of political problems and counter-terrorism in Italy. After being hijacked by four terrorists, the Italian ship S.S. Achille Lauro with about 400 hostages, was piloted around the Mediterranean for a few days. Since a large portion of the hostages were American, Delta and SEAL Team Six were placed on full alert. They were eventually deployed to Sigonella Naval Air Station in Sicily. To make a long story short, the terrorists murdered a hostage, negotiated with Egypt for a safe passage and loaded up aboard an Egyptian Boeing 737. They were escorted by Force 777 (Egypt's counter-terrorist unit) to make sure that no other unit would attack the terrorists. Upon taking flight, the airplane was intercepted by US fighters and forced to land at Sigonella. The airplane was received by a joint force of Delta and SEAL 6 operators, in full tactical gear. As General Stiner approached the airplane to apprehend the terrorists, a Carabinieri unit showed up and demanded that the terrorists be turned over to the Italians. America wasn't going to give up that easy, so while Stiner and the Carabinieri commander yelled at each other, the Italians were pointing their weapons at the Americans, with half the US Task Force aiming back, the other half still keeping their eyes on the aircraft. The terrorists were eventually turned over to the Italians, which allowed them to escape for fear of terrorist retaliation.

Mid-Late 1980s - Although classified, it has been rumored that Delta Force had been active in Beirut, Lebanon, looking for US hostages. One MH-60 pilot claims that his unit was placed on alert status, and the pilots briefed on flying over Lebanon, radar threats and similar information. They were supposed to insert teams of Delta Force operators which were going to rescue hostages. The plan was never carried out.

Delta operators were stationed in Beirut throughout the 1980s as intelligence gatherers and embassy guards.

Another rumor was that Delta Force operators were involved in direct-action counter-narcotics operations in the jungles of South America, but this has not been verified as far as I know.

1986

Another security job falls to Delta at the Statue of Liberty Centennial celebration.

1987

Delta is called up to assist the FBI with rioting prisoners in the federal peniteniary in Atlanta. This was the first time a JSOC unit was allowed to do a domestic operation. Allegedly, the prisoners got word that Delta Force was coming down, and they surrendered.

1989

Once again, Delta and ST 6 are deployed together to Panama, in Operation Just Cause. Their main task was the apprehension of General Manuel Noriega, wanted on drug trafficking charges. The Delta operators, in civilian wear, but sporting MP5s under their jackets, searched the city and harbor for Noriega, but he was 1 step ahead of them every time. On one occasion an 8-man Delta team burst into a brothel, where Noriega was purportedly hidden away. Running upstairs, they smelled his characteristic cigars, and the bed was still warm. They were informed that he'd left less than an hour ago.

1990

Delta is deployed to Iraq, in support of Operation Desert Storm. Along with the 22nd SAS Regiment, they were responsible for destroying mobile 'Scud' missiles. Delta operators also served as Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf's bodyguards.

1993

1st SFOD-D is summoned to Waco, Texas, to plan an assault on the Branch Davidian compound, with more than 80 "hostages" inside. Recently, it has been revealed that three Delta Force operators were present at Waco as advisers to the FBI. This revelation comes after years of denial by the Justice Dept. that the US Army was involved in the ordeal.

October 1993 - Delta's most recent large deployment, was in Somalia. Just before the US troops pulled out, a joint Delta-SEAL-Ranger-Nightstalkers Task Force made an attempt at capturing the warlord Aidid. Unfortunately, the operation went wrong from the beginning. As one of the Ranger teams was fast-roping from a Blackhawk, a soldier fell, getting critically injured. Within minutes, the Rangers and Delta operators found themselves in a vicious firefight with Somali militia. Delta's end went off fine, and ended up capturing 20 of Aidid's top lieutenants. As the support convoy of Hummers and trucks that was to take them back to base neared, gunfire erupted from all sides. At the same time, a 160th SOAR MH-60 Black Hawk was coordinating the attack from the air, was struck by an RPG missile, causing it to crash. The Hummer convoy was rerouted to help the pilots, but got lost in the city. In the next five hours the soldiers found themselves in a fight for their lives in what was described as, "the largest fire-fight since Vietnam." Driving around the city helplessly, the convoy was badly decimated by RPG and gun fire. Finally, with the help of Pakistani and Malaysian peacekeepers, Task Force Ranger evacuated its dead and wounded and was flown back to base. The death toll at the end was 18 dead Rangers and Delta Troopers, with more Rangers being wounded. More information on this operation can be found in the book Black Hawk Down.

1994

Delta takes part in Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti. Delta operators served as bodyguards for visiting UN officials and diplomats, working together with the Polish CT unit, "Grom."

Mid-1990s - Some Delta operators are sent in to Bosnia to act as bodyguards for visiting state officials.

1996

In conjunction with the HRT, Secret Service, BATF and various other law enforcement agencies, Delta Force stands by in case of terrorist attack at the Olympic Games in Atalanta. They, together with a large number of local SWAT Teams and National Guard troops (without guns), formed the largest peacetime security force in history.

Mid-Late 1990s - Delta and SEAL Team Six contingents are deployed to Bosnia to plan and participate in the apprehension of the accused war criminal Radovan Karadzic. Surveillance was carried out, but the actual assault never was.

1997

Small advance team sent to Lima, Peru immediately following the takeover of the Japanese Ambassador's residence in January 1997 along with six members of the British SAS.

1998

Spring 1998 - Delta, SAS and other NATO special operations units are deployed to Kosovo in support of Operation Allied Force. They are supposedly there to gather intelligence, target Serbian tanks and buildings, and rescue downed NATO pilots. They have also allegedly co-operated with the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) to follow Serbian troop and armor movements.

June 1998 - US officials acknowledge that US and UK special operations units have been training for 'snatch' operations, in preparation for a possible mission to apprehend Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic.