In November 1977 the Special Forces Operational Detachment Delta - Delta Force -, the USA's specialist anti-terrorist and hostage rescue unit came into being. The driving force behind Delta Force was Colonel Charles Beckwith, a Special Forces officer who had been extremely impressed by Britain's SAS during an exchange tour in the early 1960s. For several years he badgered the Pentagon into setting up a similar unit in the US Army. Selection for the new unit was very much SAS style, with hard physical, mental and psychological challenges weeding out nine out of 10 applicants. Once selected, the successful candidate is sent on a five month 'Operators' course, where he is introduced to the many and varied skills; than an anti-terrorist commando is expected to master. These include assault tactics, hostage management, communications, observation using the latest high-tech equipment, climbing, small boat work and parachuting.
Since the majority of Delta Force candidates are from Special Forces or Ranger units they already possess many of these skills, but even so they learn a lot before moving to their operational troop. Delta Force is organised into operational squadrons, each squadron is broken down further into troops. Marksmanship is a prime requirement in Delta Force and Force members train up to four hours a day, five days a week. Such intensive training leads to very high shooting standards: Delta snipers are expected to make nine first-round hits out of 10 at 1,000 yards, and score every time at 600 yards. Like other elite counter-terrorist units, Delta Force has built its own 'House of Horrors' which simulates various kinds of combat situations, from hostage taking to aircraft hijacks. Hijacks are a favourite terrorist activity, so Delta Force has practised assaults on airliners, and regularly runs training exercises at New York's KennedyAirport and at other large international gateways. Delta receives terrorist intelligence from US Government organisations such as the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the FBI, and from contacts with other anti-terrorist units around the world. Its members also make exchanges with the British SAS, Germany's GSG-9, the French GIGN and other similar units.
Delta Force was set up in less than a year, becoming operational in the middle of 1978. Just over a year later, the Force was alerted to a possible rescue mission as the US Embassy in Teheran was seized and the embassy staff held hostage. This was far from the mission they had trained for: penetrate hundreds of miles into hostile territory, making an assault in the middle of a major city and then getting clear with 100 or more freed hostages.
Months of intensive training went into 'Operation Eagle Claw' as the rescue mission was called, planned for the 25th of April. It was to involve Delta Force, Special Forces units from Germany, US Marine Corps helicopter Pilots, US Navy helicopters and ships and US Air Force air support. The mission was a disaster, although through no real fault Of the men who took part. Command and control of the many disparate parts of the rescue operation were shambolic. The big MH-53 helicopters could not cope with the desert sand, and there were not enough of them. After three had broken down the mission had to be aborted. To add to the whole affair, a collision at the 'Desert One' airstrip deep inside Iran killed eight men and destroyed a C-130 and a helicopter. Research Delta Force
The FIM-92a (Stinger) is an American man-portable shoulder-fired infantry air-defence missile. It was first used by British SAS troops in the Falklands conflict. The FIM-92a is a 1524 mm long missile powered by a solid propellant dual thrust rocket motor with a separable boost motor, that carries a 3 kg high explosive warhead and flies at a speed of mach 2 to a range of 5 km. It uses optical aiming and passive infrared homing guidance. Research FIM-92a
The Ingram MAC-10 is an American sub-machine-gun designed in the 1960s by Gordon B Ingram. Because of its small size and high rate of fire it is difficult to control and subsequently was rejected for use by most security and armed forces, including the SAS who tested it. The MAC-10 was originally chambered for the .45 ACPcartridge, and now the 9 mm Parabellum cartridge which is fired at between 1050 and 1150 rounds-per-minute from a 30-round box magazine. Research Ingram MAC-10
The Special Air service (SAS) began life in the desert. It was founded by David Stirling, a lieutenant in the Scots Guards, who had fought with No.8 Commando in the Mediterranean. Injured during parachute training, he drew up plans for a new type of long-range commando organisation while hospitalised in Cairo. He presented them through General Neil Ritchie to the perceptive commander of British Forces in the Middle East, General Auckinleck, and was rewarded with promotion and command of the 'L' detachment,
Special Air Service Brigade. The unit designation was a fiction intended to deceive but the SAS had been born. Stirling planned the SAS as a strategic force, attacking targets deep in the enemy heartland where they thought they were safe. From air bases in North Africa to the valleys of southern France, the SAS inflicted constant damage and tied down thousands of enemy soldiers guarding installation and sweeping the countryside for these elusive raiders. The SAS was disbanded after the war, but resurrected within two years. A territorial regiment, 21 SAS, was created and some members volunteered for a new organisation, the Malaya Scouts (SAS). The latter were formed for counter-guerrilla operations against the communist rebels in Malaya. In 1952, this unit was redesignated 22 SAS and spearheaded the jungle war. Stirling's original belief that a small elite force could achieve results out of all proportion to its size was proved correct a second time. As the British Empire disintegrated, the SAS were involved in guerrilla wars from Asian
jungles to the Middle East. From 1969 the regiment was committed to action much closer to home, as handfuls of men were detached to Northern Ireland. SAS involvement was on a small scale until Prime Minister Harold Wilson publicly announced in January 1976, that he was sending in the SAS. This was without reference to the regiment, which had very few men available at the time. A counter-terrorist role was developed in response to the massacre of Israeli athletes in Munich during the 1972 Olympic Games. In 1980 the world saw the SAS in action for the first time when they were unknowingly filmed storming the Iranian Embassy in London, releasing the hostages and executing all but one of the terrorists. Later the SAS were again at the centre of controversy for the assassination of civilians suspected of being members of the IRA in Gibraltar, a move which had the full backing of the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, though not the British press, most notably ThamesTelevision which produced a documentary entitled 'Death on the Rock',
a program many believe led to Thames losing their broadcast license shortly afterwards. Research Special Air Service
Access Charge is a cost assessed to users for connection ability to the interexchange, interstate message tolltelephone networks of IEC's by the user's LEC, to send and receive calls beyond the immediate local exchange area. May be per minute fees levied on long distance companies, Subscriber Line Charges (SLCs) levied directly on regular local lines, fixed monthly fees for special telco circuits (i.e. WAL, DAL, T-1), or Special Access Surcharge (SAS) on special access circuits. Research Access Charge
SAS is an abbreviation for Special Air Service
SAS is an abbreviation for Small Astronomy Satellite
SAS is an abbreviation for Space Activity Suit
SAS is an abbreviation for Scan Actuator Subassembly
SAS is an abbreviation for Scandinavian Airlines System
SAS is an abbreviation for Single Audio System
SAS is an abbreviation for Solar Array System
SAS is an abbreviation for Sparse Array System
SAS is an abbreviation for Speaker Authentication System
SAS is an abbreviation for Statistical Analysis System
SAS is an abbreviation for Survival Avionics System Research SAS
The balaclava is a knitted or sometimes crocheted helmet-like head covering, with various degrees of facial covering. Balaclavas are popular for disguising the wearer's identity among criminals and members of the armed forces such as the SAS. Research Balaclava
Abbreviations
Research Delta Force
