They are the Army's most elite top-secret strike force. But you won't hear about their heroics on the news, no headlines about them can appear in the papers, and no one—not even their families—can know who they are. First Special Forces Operational Detachment-D—Delta Force, America's supersecret counterterrorist unit. On paper they do not exist, but without them, our lives wouldn't be the same. In this exclusive behind-the-scenes account, founding member Eric L. Haney, Command Sergeant Major, USA (ret.), takes you into the grueling selection and training process of Delta Force. From learning how to open a padlock with a soda can to rescuing a hijacked airplane, these men are masters of espionage and warfare. They are the anonymous heroes who protect us every day from threats we'll never know existed. "In this rapidly changing and dangerous world, U.S. Special Forces are vital to the security of all Americans. CSM Eric Haney is perhaps the World's foremost expert on military special ops. Read INSIDE DELTA FORCE and learn what we are really up against." --Bill O'Reilly, Anchor, Fox News Channel "A book that could not be more timely, written by a warrior who knows what he's talking about.." --James Webb, author of Fields of Fire and Lost Soldiers “A rousing chronicle of what it’s really like to be a special-ops guy.” --Esquire “Compelling memoir...a book that you won’t want to put down.” --Playboy “Perfect for military enthusiasts.” --Kirkus Reviews Eric L. Haney, Command Sergeant Major, USA (ret.), served for more than 20 years in the United States Army's most demanding combat units. Today Haney lives and writes in the relative peace and quiet of Marietta, Georgia. Introduction I am a nomad, son of an ancient line of nomads. The larger part of my family line is made up of the Scots-Irish, a people descended from that peculiar mixture of the Celts of the northern British Isles and the invading Danes and Norsemen. The result was a landless, illiterate, anarchic, and warlike people who were always difficult, if not downright impossible, to govern. They were a race the British Crown rightfully viewed as dangerous rebels, and consequently exiled to the New World by the tens of thousands. On arrival in the American colonies, these people fled as far as possible from government control, many of them crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains, and migrating from there throughout what eventually became the highlands of the southern United States. They were the original "backwoodsmen" of American history. In their new home these renegade peoples tended to travel together in interrelated clans that also married and bred quite readily with the Cherokee and Creek Indians of the region. Both sides of my family were landless sharecroppers and mountain people as far back as I can determine. There is no written record of ancestry, for my parents were the first of our people to read and write and to own a little property. Inherited wealth may be something easily squandered, but inherited poverty is a legacy almost impossible to lose. What did I receive from this lineage? Things I consider to be very valuable: a good raw intellect and a good tough body. A sense of independence and a realization that wherever I am is my home. A sense of humor. A sense of personal honor that results in a touchiness common to our people. We are easily offended and prone to violence when offended. When the only thing you own is your sense of honor, you tend to protect it at all costs. I inherited a sense of wanderlust and a curiosity about the world. I inherited a warlike attitude; we have always been good soldierly material if properly disciplined and broken in. I inherited a sense of spirituality rather than "religion," which has served me well, especially in trying times. I am self-confident and resilient. My psyche is self-cleansing. I love life. I grew up in the mountains of north Georgia during the fifties and sixties. It was then part of the "third world," and some say it still is. Electricity came to our home when I was a young boy. Indoor plumbing followed some years later. Though I have some fair native intelligence, I never received any direction in school and was often an indifferent student. But I loved to read and would consume all my textbooks at the start of the year and then coast after that. I preferred roaming the mountains, hunting, fishing, and exploring. I would become the first of my family to graduate high school, and for us that was considered a pretty good achievement, as our expectations weren't very high. It isn't that my parents were against education, it's that neither of them had gone further than elementary school and they just didn't have the ability or the understanding to help. Though we may not have been scholars, we did know how to go into the military. I had grown up listening to the war stories and tales of my family and friends and I was determined to join up just as soon as I was able. I