Summary of Charlie A. Beckwith & Donald Knox's Delta Force

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

#1 I was a hotshot Green Beret captain with Special Operations experience. I had served a tour two years earlier in Laos. I had been recruited to join the British Parachute Regiment, and I was expecting to pass along to our community information from the SAS.

#2 I was assigned to A Squadron, commanded by Major Peter Walter. I was taken to A Squadron Headquarters, where I was introduced to my temporary troop sergeant, Gypsy Smith. I was shocked by the condition of the barracks. It looked more like a football locker room than an army barracks.

#3 I was adrift in a world that I thought I knew. I couldn’t predict what would happen next in any given situation. Everything I had been taught about soldiering was turned upside down.

#4 I began to see the picture. The squadron was not playing games. They were deadly serious. They’d had a lot of experience, going back to World War II, whereas our own Army Special Forces hadn’t been established until 1954.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669384892

IRB Media

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Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I was a hotshot Green Beret captain with Special Operations experience. I had served a tour two years earlier in Laos. I had been recruited to join the British Parachute Regiment, and I was expecting to pass along to our community information from the SAS.

#2

I was assigned to A Squadron, commanded by Major Peter Walter. I was taken to A Squadron Headquarters, where I was introduced to my temporary troop sergeant, Gypsy Smith. I was shocked by the condition of the barracks. It looked more like a football locker room than an army barracks.

#3

I was adrift in a world that I thought I knew. I couldn’t predict what would happen next in any given situation. Everything I had been taught about soldiering was turned upside down.

#4

I began to see the picture. The squadron was not playing games. They were deadly serious. They’d had a lot of experience, going back to World War II, whereas our own Army Special Forces hadn’t been established until 1954.

#5

I was nicknamed Blisters after a forced march. I was in the lower third of the class. I was too proud to wear a proper beret, so I wore the American-made green beret around the area.

Insights from Chapter 2

#1

I joined the Special Forces in 1958. I saw that soldiers just didn’t come down to Bradbury Lines, knock on the door, and join the regiment. I knew that wasn’t right. Men should earn the right to wear a distinctive badge.

#2

The SAS is a special forces unit that is used to train other armies how to handle situations like the ones they will face in the real world. I thought that the SAS's characteristics of being strong-minded and resolute could be applied to the U. S. Army's Special Forces.

Insights from Chapter 3

#1

I was assigned to the 4th Squadron, and I was the last man in the squadron to get instructions marked Crab Stakes. I was angry and embarrassed. Yet, Peter Walter was very keen, very clever. I began to understand what he was trying to do in the fourth month of training.

Insights from Chapter 4

#1

The SAS was invited by the French in September to undertake a combined exercise with one of their crack paratroop battalions located in Corsica. The French were extremely professional, and the lessons learned at the hands of the Viet Minh and the Fellagha were not wasted on their officers and NCOs.

#2

I was asked to visit London and find out what the American government had to say about the situation in Malaya. I returned to Bradbury Lines to