Inside Delta Force

Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit is a 2002 memoir written by Eric L. Haney about his experiences as a founding special forces operator in the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (also known as Delta Force) the U.S. Army's counterterrorist unit. Haney recounts the formation and early operations of the unit, as well as his own recruitment, selection and training. Haney also evaluates the impact of inter-service rivalries and potential overlap created when Delta Force was formed, including the challenges of dealing with the Central Intelligence Agency. Central to the book is Haney's participation in Delta Force's first operation – the aborted 1980 Desert One mission to Iran to free American hostages.

Inside Delta Force formed the inspiration for the CBS television series The Unit, in which Haney was involved as a writer, producer, and technical advisor.

Criticism
Since the publication of Inside Delta Force in 2002 and Haney's subsequent success with The Unit television show, three of his former Delta colleagues accused him of embellishing his accomplishments within the unit and fabricating several of the events depicted. Some of the criticism directed at Haney has focused on him stating he was a "founding member" of Delta Force; it is acknowledged among former operators that there was only one "founder", Colonel Charlie Beckwith, who helped establish the unit and was its first commanding officer. Haney's use of the term "founding member" is to indicate that he was among the first operators assigned to the 1SFOD-D.

One such colleague, Logan Fitch, who first wrote publicly of the Eagle Claw mission for Penthouse Magazine in 1984 in which he was also highly critical of Beckwith, called Haney a "crass opportunist" for capitalizing on his past for personal gain. Despite the falling-out between Haney and these former Delta members, Haney has stood behind the accuracy of his book.

Another member criticized Haney for revealing too much about Delta Force's training, tactics and early missions. A U.S. Army historian has questioned whether this was an issue, given that the information contained in Haney's book was current in the late-1970s and early-1980s and that Delta Force would certainly have changed their procedures since that time. Moreover, operational information offered by Delta veterans had been made public before, such as in Black Hawk Down, Mark Bowden's book about the Battle of Mogadishu in which Delta operators participated, and most notably, Beckwith's own book of the formation and training of the unit.

Reviews

 * Michael F. Dilley, Infantry Magazine, Summer 2002
 * Col. J. H. Crerar, Army Historical Foundation