Charles Beckwith

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Colonel Charles Alvin Beckwith (22 Jan 1929–13 June 1994), was a career U.S. Army soldier and Vietnam veteran, credited with the creation of Delta Force, a branch of the U.S. Army. Although he is held in high regard by various members of the military Special Operations Forces, the general public know him best due to the ill-fated Operation Eagle Claw operation in Iran, 1980.

Beckwith served as an exchange officer with the British SAS in the early 1960s, and came away very impressed with that unit. US Army Special Forces in that period focused on unconventional warfare, but Beckwith was highly impressed with the SAS direct-action capability.

Beckwith commanded a Special Forces unit code-named Project Delta in Vietnam. He was critically wounded in late 1965 (he took a .51 caliber bullet through his abdomen), so badly that medical personnel initially triaged him as unsaveable. Beckwith survived mainly due to his superb conditioning and iron determination. After recovery, he took over the Florida Phase of the US Army's Ranger School, transforming it from a scripted exercise based upon the Army's WW2 experience, into a Vietnam-oriented crucible.

Delta Force was founded in November 1977 as an overseas counter-terrorist unit whose main mission is in hostage rescue, barricade operations and specialized reconnaissance. Its first mission (the aforementioned Operation Eagle Claw) ended in spectacular failure, not because of any unit shortcomings but due to a malfunction in several of the helicopters and lack of pilots trained in such operations. After the "debacle in the desert" the 160th SOAR (Special Operations Aviation Regiment) was formed specifically to provide transport for Delta Force, and eventually other Special Operations Forces, worldwide. Delta Force has since grown to become one of many counterterrorist units recognized worldwide (such as the British SAS (22nd), Australian SAS, France’s GIGN, Germany's Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (GSG9) and the Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK), and the Israeli Sayeret Matkal).

Nicknamed "Chargin' Charlie", Colonel Beckwith was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. Delta Force was formed partly in response to growing terrorist actions worldwide, and on Beckwith's own experiences when cross-training with the British SAS (22nd) years earlier.

His remains are interred in the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, Texas.