I have been reading a few military books recently, so naturally I would eventually come to read something about Delta Force. What better narrative than from one of the original members? Inside Delta Force was written by Eric Haney who was part of the first couple groups of guys to make it through Delta Force selection and become a member of the teams. The book covers selection, training, and a sample of some of their missions during the late 1970s and 1980s.

I had heard this book was one of the definitive things to read if you were interested in how their selection works (or at least worked at one point). It seems to be mostly a matter of mental attrition through grueling rucksack treks. There is definitely a physical component to being able to navigate through the woods for hours at a time, day after day. There is no denying that. However, the real challenge seems to be mental. For most people, the hardest part has to be pushing yourself, alone, against an unknown standard, in pain, always with a way out if you would just say the word. I cannot say one way or another how I would stack up against that challenge without being there.

The next part of the book about their training is pretty crazy. I am sure it is only a glimpse into what completely goes on. Clearly there are a lot of training methods that are classified, not to mention that things have evolved in the past 30 years or so. But, nonetheless, just a glimpse into how they train is serious business.

The type of missions they go on has also probably evolved quite dramatically over time as there are many fewer airplanes being hijacked nowadays. Again this insight into our elite counter terror unit was eye opening. The only downside of the book was the style was pretty similar to American Sniper. By this I mean that it was choppy, and written almost like a conversation you would have in a bar, remembering the good ol days. That is not a bad thing per se, it is easy to read, but it is a bit simplisitic in style.