At counter terrorism, who is better, the Delta Force or SEALs Team Six ?

SEAL Team Six and Delta Force

You have to know my friend that Delta Force and SEAL Team Six are Special Missions Units (SMU) under the umbrella of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), and both specialize in counterterrorism and can be trained in techniques of Close Quarters Combat (CQB), high-value target extraction, hostage rescue, explosives, espionage,  marksmanship and other specialized operations.

In addition, the Seal Team Six operators receive training for specialized maritime operations, in accordance with their naval heritage. Because of this reason, the group more likely to be tasked with sea-based missions.

The Competition between the two units :

Both Delta Force and SEAL Team Six are known for being highly secretive, even within the military, and we all know the public will never know details about the vast majority of what both units do. But in recent years, high-profile successes have thrust SEAL Team Six in particular into the media spotlight. In the wake of the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan, a list of names of the SEALs involved was even leaked to the press but never published.

When it comes to the two most admired, most intimidating special ops forces in the world, it’s natural that some rivalry would exist between them. Both Delta Force and SEAL Team Six have successfully pursued high-value targets in the ongoing war on terror, but when it came to the most high-value of them all-Al Qaeda leader, Team Six became the subject of global fascination.

Some on the Delta side complained that Team Six got the go-ahead on Operation Neptune Spear because Navy admirals commanded both JSOC and the U.S. Special Operations Command and some even blamed the SEALs themselves for courting the spotlight after the raid.

But despite any rivalry, and despite the differences between the two units, they’re ultimately both on the same side in the fight against terrorism, and even work together on many missions.

Delta Force :

The Culture :

Delta Force generally chooses its candidates from the 75th Ranger Regiment and other Special Forces. The Unit also selects individuals from other branches of the military, including the Coast Guard, National Guard, and even Navy SEALs.

Given that operators in Delta Force come from different military branches, they bring different cultures to the unit. Even the two main Army groups that join Delta, the Rangers, and Special Forces, bring different cultures, missions, and training backgrounds and they retain these after joining Delta Force. So, the diverse background of Delta’s operators means the unit is really its own distinct the entity, In addition, the vast majority of Delta Force operators are infantrymen.

The dog, whose name unknown, chased Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi into a tunnel and cornered him. With no place to go, the terrorist leader blew himself up along with three of his children, who he was using as human shields. The dog’s injuries highlighted the importance of military working dogs in special operations. Often, they will enter the danger zone with a camera on their backs before humans do so. "The dog is a war veteran and a valued member of the team," a currently serving soldier assigned to Delta Force told the Washington Examiner.

Training :

Delta Force to hold its selection twice every year, in the spring and fall, at a one-month course somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains. More than 120 candidates undergo a grueling regimen of exercises that test physical fitness, endurance, and mental strength. In the end, more than 95 percent of candidates are not selected. Those who do pass these hurdles enter an arduous 6 month Operator Training Course (OTC), which some 30-40 percent can fail to complete.

The missions :

1-Operation Eagle Claw - In 1980, during the Iran Hostage Crisis a failed attempt at a rescue due to aviation equipment error led to the death of 8.

2-Operation Just Cause - Panama invasion to capture Noriega and protect some 35,000 Americans living in Panama.

3-Operation Urgent Fury - Grenada prisoner rescue from the Richmond Hill prison.

4-Operation Gothic Serpent - Part of the Battle of Mogadishu (1993) where U.S. helicopters were shot down and two Delta Operators SFC Randall Shughart and MSG Gary Gordon were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for their efforts that day.

5-Gulf War - Iraq invades Kuwait and the US-led alliance defeats Saddam Hussein and his Army, pushing them back into Iraq. Than Operation Red Dawn - Locating and capturing Saddam Hussein.

6- War in Afghanistan - Special Forces operators aided in defeating and dismantling the Taliban in Afghanistan.

SEAL Team Six:

Training :

The Navy SEAL is the most well intelligent and well-trained Operatives in the US Military. They are heavily trained in underwater demolition, asset protection, urban operations, and other advanced training specialties.

BUD/S is a 24-week training challenge that develops the SEAL candidates mental and physical stamina, that can and will push even the most genetically gifted and athletic applicants to their up limit time and time again.

BUD/S consists of a three-week orientation followed by three phases, covering physical conditioning (7 weeks), combat diving (7 weeks), and land warfare (7 weeks) respectively. But roughly 75 percent of BUD/S does not make it to graduation.

Even after graduation of BUD’s, the newly pinned SEALS don’t stop training. They are subsequently sent to other schools to broaden their lethality and specialties based on what their newly assigned team needs or wants. This can include Sniper School, EOD, Breaching school, etc.

The SEAL Team, Six selection process is a six-month course similar to Delta’s OTC but held only once a year. Some 50 percent of candidates don’t complete the course but remain part of the SEAL organization. Because DEVGRU operators are all selected from within the SEALs

A Navy Seal has to do 6 steps to become a Navy Seal. ", Step 1: Naval Special Warfare Preparatory school  (Navy SEAL Overview).  Step 2: Basic Orientation - An introduction to BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition).  Step 3: First Phase - Basic conditioning.  Stage 4: Second Phase – Combat Diving. Stage 5: Third phase. Warfare Training- Land Warfare Training. Stage 6: Seal Qualification Training.

The Culture :

SEAL Team Six selects its candidates only from within the existing SEAL team units. Even if a candidate doesn’t pass the daunting selection process to become a DEVGRU operator, he will still remain a SEAL.

The Missions :

1-Rescue of aid workers in Somalia (2012) :

American aid worker Jessica Buchanan and her Danish colleague, Poul Thisted, were working for the Danish Relief Council when they were kidnapped in late 2011 and held for 3 months by armed men in north-central Somalia. On the night of January 25, 2012, an Air Force Special Ops plane carried around 20 operators DEVGRU to a location about 2 miles from where the hostages were being held. After parachuting down and walking through darkness to the camp, the SEALs managed to surprise the kidnappers, killing all nine of them within minutes. Buchanan and Thisted were evacuated in helicopters to an American base in Djibouti, where they received medical treatment.

2-Killing of Osama bin Laden (Operation Neptune Spear) (2011) :

when helicopters from the Army’s deposited some 20 SEALs, along with a Belgian Malinois combat dog, at the compound of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. After methodically clearing the first and second floors of the compound, the SEALs advanced to the third floor, where they found the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and killed him.

3-Rescue of Captain Richard Phillips from Somali pirates (2009):

After four Somali pirates took him, hostage, in 2009. Three of the pirates fled the ship in a small lifeboat with Phillips and headed for the Somali coast, with U.S. Navy ships in pursuit. During the standoff that followed, a contingent of Navy SEALs parachuted into the area and boarded the destroyer, USS Bainbridge. When it looked as if the pirates were about to shoot Phillips, the crisis came to a dramatic end. Three SEAL snipers on the fantail of the Bainbridge aimed and squeezed their triggers simultaneously, killing all three pirates in the bobbing lifeboat some 90 feet away.

Conclusion :

Both operators have their own specialty and uniqueness, Delta Force is primarily a tier-one counter-terrorist unit, specifically directed to kill or capture high value units (HVU) or dismantle terrorist cells, Delta Force remains extremely flexible and can engage in direct action missions, hostage rescues, and covert missions working directly with the Central Intelligence Agency, as well as high ranking protective services of our senior leaders during visits in war torn countries.