There are many things that I fervently admire about our 26th president of the United States. Topping that list, he was awarded the congressionally mandated Medal of Honor, frequently termed “the Medal of Honor (MOH),” and the highest award in the U.S. military for selfless bravery. As with many soldiers, the award is often awarded […]
From King to Clown: Even Delta Force operators have bad days
LifestyleI was round about the third week into a four-week Army leadership school in the base hills of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. We were schlepping about, conducting Small-Unit Tactics (SUT). It was a mini Ranger school — a very… mini… Ranger school. We were conducting raids, ambushes, and movement to contact patrols in the day […]
Dreager LarV: The Spec Ops combat diver’s secret weapon
FeaturedEditor’s note: The following piece on the Dreager LarV was written by retired Delta Force Master Sergeant George E Hand IV. While this piece discusses special operations equipment, it does not reveal any classified information. Recreational SCUBA diving with standard compressed air can give a diver about an hour of bottom time. That of course […]
A crash course in survival gear from a Delta Force legend
Special OpsHere’s a seemingly unfair question to ask: “If you’re only allowed to carry along one single piece of survival gear with you into a survival situation what would that piece be?” NO FAIR!! I agree, it’s not fair. What’s more is it isn’t a realistic question to ask. It would be great to have parameters added–at […]
Delta Force Jump Haters Club: Not all operators like skydiving
Military AffairsCharles R. and I both belong to an exclusive club in the Delta Force — the Jump Hater’s Club. There was a small number of members in that club. Some members held their membership secret from the rest of the men of the Force. Some were in the club and didn’t even really know that […]
Why does America need Delta Force? An operator’s perspective
ArmyEditor’s Note: The following piece on the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, also known as Delta Force, was penned by legendary Delta operator, Master Sergeant George E. Hand IV (retired). The Delta Force, like so many other organizations, is the answer to a problem. If you can consider that our country’s civic police force is […]
Grunt life before Delta Force: Destroying tanks and sleeping floors
LifestyleI remember the night because I remember the day that preceded it so well in my grunt life. It was a day of practicing anti-tank techniques during my army infantry basic training. On that day we gathered at what was termed the Anti-Tank Maneuvers. It looked innocuous enough; nothing out there really, save a few […]
Delta Force Parachuting: Clark the air god
HistoryAnd then came Clark. He was what we called a Sky God. He was a master high altitude parachutist and was always under a canopy or pacing a parachute canopy for the next jump. He was a Sky God… and he would be the first to tell you all about his superiority. Me, I was […]
Grunt’s Life: There was a snap in the air
LifestyleThere was a snap in the air that morning; I say, it was deep winter in the foothill region of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. I stood there outside the field mess tent waiting for some hot anything to be served up. I was quite positive that I had donned every stitch of cold weather gear […]
Night jumps and cracking ice: A true story of Green Berets in Alaska
Military AffairsI was in the First Group of the Green Berets (Airborne) in Ft. Lewis, Washington. We were stationed there together with another battalion of our same group, just the two of us on an army base. The other battalion had a mission that took it to the Philippines, Thailand — Southeast Asian countries where the […]
