Whats the Meaning of delta in the army's delta force?
As you may know, the military alphabet goes something like
Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, etc. etc. etc.
Because Delta Force is offiially SFOD-D, or Special Forces
Operational Detachment - Delta, it is technically a rung of the
broader "Special Forces" of the Army.
In the Special Forces there are:
A Teams : SFOD-A or Special Forces Operational Detachment -
ALPHA
B Teams : SFOD-B or Special Forces Operational Detachment -
BRAVO
C Teams : SFOD-C or Special Forces Operational Detachment -
CHARLIE
A teams being the 12-man teams of Green Berets that actually do
all or most of the on the ground fighting, teaching, etc. And the B
and C teams being command and support elements.
So when Beckwith came up with the idea for the new specialized
Counter-terrorist unit he wanted to create, being that it was going
to be a "Special Force", it probably just made the most sense for
him and the high-ups in the army organizationally to just add it to
the rungs of the already established Special Forces and call it
"SFOD-Delta".