No. 134: Inside Delta Force

Inside Delta Force by Eric Haney

I checked this book out from the library to use as research for my awesome NaNoWriMo book. But I really really liked it as a story too. It seems like it would have been super cool to be in Delta Force in the 70's and early 80's because I guess everyone had sweet mustaches. (As an aside, the only kind of facial hair you can have in APD is a mustache. Aaron and I have an agreement, he is free to grow a mustache, but as long as he has it, he has to sleep on the couch.)

The book included a lot about the Delta selection and training programs which are totally hard and crazy and awesome. He also had many many stories about the missions he went on, including Beruit, Greneda, rescuing hijacked planes and other very cool things. There were also many things that were not cool - like his theory that the US government purposely left POWs in Vietnam, and that the Sandenistas were led by U.S. soldiers. Not good things, but really interesting. I might have to read this book again, after a little research, so I can get a better handle on the stuff he talks about.

I thought his writing style was very interesting. You can tell he is a soldier writing a book about being a soldier, and not a writer writing a book about being a soldier. The dialogue seemed really authentic and his descriptions had a unique point of view.

I am not sure if he has written anything else, but I did hear that the TV show "The Unit" was based on Delta Force as portrayed in this book. I guess technically Delta is a secret unit, even though everyone knows about them. Thanks to this book I guess, and the movie Black Hawk Down (the guy Hoot played by Eric Bana) which was a great movie.