The Difference Between DELTA and SEAL TEAM SIX

2015-11-06T15:19:06-05:00

From SofRep:

With the death of Usama bin Laden last year at the hands of some secret squirrel frogmen in Pakistan, there came a nation wide interest as to who killed UBL. “Navy SEALs” was released to the public whether via the White House or the Department of Defense.

But it was those “subject matter experts” such as Sean Naylor, Jeremy Scahill, etc. who made sure to correct the media that it was actually the SEALs of JSOC, aka DEVGRU or simply SEAL Team 6. I even heard the mention of “Task Force Blue” on CNN. Amazing…

As the days after settled down, the internet/blogging community kept asking the same two questions. The first question from those not in “the know” was simply – “Who is SEAL Team 6??” The second question was by the ones who were in the know as well as the entire US Army Special Operations Command – “WTF the SEALs?? Not Delta?! That’s BS! blah blah.”

To be honest I was one of those asking the second question. The UBL operation and the choice of the unit lead to the topic of “What is the difference between Delta and ST6?” by many individuals out there. 100% of civilians and 99% of the military will tell you there is no difference and that they are identical. For those who served in the JSOC task forces overseas will all tell you that the case is just not so.

Culture

You can tell a lot about a unit by its foundations or its core. Almost 100% of the ST6 shooters came from the SEAL Teams whilst Delta is comprised of personnel from the Ranger Regiment, Special Forces, the conventional Army, as well as even members of other military branches (there have even been ST6 members who have vetted for Delta over the years).

For Delta, the majority come from the 75th and SF; two VERY distinct units with completely different missions and cultures.

On one side you have members who grew up in a unit whose sole purpose in life was to skull stomp terrorists with the utmost violence and on the other side you have a unit whose expertise in Foreign Internal Defense and Unconventional Warfare makes them masters in the art of training, advising, and force multiplying (the way future wars will be fought). Combine these two elements into one, and you have an incredibly versatile unit in your arsenal.

This alone is a major difference between both units.

To give you an example: In the 1980s when the U.S. was heavily involved with the war in El Salvador; our government sent in Special Forces ODAs to help organize and train their conventional military. In that same time frame, we also deployed teams from Delta to organize and train the El Salvadorian Counter-Terrorist units. It’s the strong SF backgrounds by many of Delta’s operators that made that operation possible.

Although the SEALs have been tasked with some FID over the years; none of them really prefer to do it (just ask Brandon) and they don’t do it on the same proficiency as Army SF. I personally think ST6 is a little more one-sided then Delta because the incredibly majority of its members all grew up on the Teams doing the same missions and undertaking the same training.

Just as SF and the Rangers are vastly different from each other, so are the SEALs from both those units as well. Culturally, Delta’s composition naturally leads it to be its own distinct unit completely separate from others. And on that same side; ST6 because of its composition and culture will always be “another SEAL team” with different capabilities and responsibilities, regardless of its other fancy name: DEVGRU.

Training and Selection

One major difference between both units is the way they select their members. In my opinion it’s apples and oranges.

Delta’s selection process is very simple: Twice a year the unit holds the one-month selection course somewhere in the Appalachian mountains. The course attracts over a hundred candidates primarily from the Ranger and SF communities, but from other components as well.

The Rangers and SF soldiers who attend are already some battle hardened seasoned shooters who have attended numerous grueling selection and training courses previously. And yet the failure rate is still over 90%. Even just finishing the course is not enough as there is a commander’s review board/interview at the end that determines if this person should be accepted into the unit.

If the candidate is accepted, he attends the 6-month Operator Training Course (OTC) which still manages to wash people out who can’t keep up with stressful training curriculum – I understand 60-70% pass. If you want to get into the specifics on selection and OTC, you can read plenty of books including Inside Delta Force, Kill bin Laden, and The Mission, The Men, and Me.

ST6s selection process is very interesting in my opinion. It’s comprised of two parts: the Review and Green Team. The Review portion consists of the SEAL submitting his application for entrance to Team 6. After which his name, team designation, and picture is posted on a wall in a corridor at Dam Neck and it is up to the individual ST6 members to give that candidate a check sign or a minus sign to signify if he should be allowed to undertake the selection process.

If the SEAL is accepted, he attends the 6-month long “Green Team”. Green Team is very similar to Delta’s OTC and is held once a year. 50% do not complete the course. At the end of Green Team; the graduates are part of a draft process which is held by different representatives from the squadrons. Because ST6 are almost all SEALs – many of the Green Teamers and the ST6 members know each other from past assignments or training. It’s in this process that the graduates get “drafted” into their respective squadrons.

NOTE: I mention that “almost” all members of ST6 are SEALs and not “all” because ST6 is rumored to be open to members of the Marines as well as long as they attend BUD/s (they don’t need to attend SQT). I don’t have any concrete information if any are on the team.

Operational Capabilities

Both units operate in the same spectrum of special operations; counter terrorism, hostage rescue, direct action, and counter-proliferation. Most of the time they can be interchangeable with one another. Both units have been widely known to conduct exchange programs with one another.

The team that I worked with in Iraq had a ST6 sniper attached to them. He defended an Iraqi police station from being overrun by insurgents during the Battle of Mosul in 2004 from a hotel rooftop. To answer your question, yes, he was a bad ass. In a place like Iraq where most of the combat was conducted in urban and close quarters environments, you really can’t tell the difference between a Delta operation verses a ST6 operation.

Afghanistan has shown to be a different case. Many times during an assault against an objective in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan a simple clandestine HVT snatch and grab operation can turn into a major ambush. When this happens, the operation just turned conventional.

There is no “special” way to react to an ambush or contact that is taught only to SOF units and kept hidden from other units. React to ambush is a basic infantry battle drill, and when shit hits the fan you better believe a Delta operator will be doing the same thing an 11-Bravo private from the 101st is doing on an Afghan objective somewhere else. Here is where some of the “cultural” differences play a major part in how both units operate.

The vast majority of Delta are infantrymen by MOS or were infantrymen at some point in their careers. SEALs are not or never were infantrymen nor have they spent time training as infantrymen; they are a maritime special operations force that focuses on direct action and special reconnaissance.

My time in Afghanistan in 2005 was wrought with boredom and non-existent combat, so I have never been on an Afghan objective with ST6 (I got my feet wet in Iraq with Delta).

To put it best; my good friend, a squad leader with the Rangers, who has hit countless objectives side by side with ST6 expresses that the unit is incapable of making the switch from “operators” to “basic infantry grunts” when the need to do so arises. It’s not a fault of the unit but simply a by-product of where the shooters were “raised.”

As this became an issue, especially with the resurgence of the Taliban in mass (circa 2008), JSOC commanders created a very symbiotic relationship between ST6 and the Rangers. The two units complimented each other and have had a very close relationship in Afghanistan ever since.

Hope this paints a non-classified picture of the fundamental differences between AFO Neptune and AFO Wolfpack. See what I did there?

Also check out this Facebook page: It includes the fallen Delta and ST6 as well as other members of the community over the years.

One team, one fight – tombstones don’t have unit designations.

Read more: http://sofrep.com/5447/differences-delta-and-seal-team-6/#ixzz3qkE8Yq8k

The Difference Between DELTA and SEAL TEAM SIX | SOFREP

With the death of Usama bin Laden last year at the hands of some secret squirrel frogmen in Pakistan, there came a nation wide interest as to who killed UB

Response by SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA made Nov 6 at 2015 6:35 PM

2015-11-06T18:35:14-05:00

Great information, thanks for sharing!

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 6 at 2015 6:45 PM

2015-11-06T18:45:03-05:00

Delta: Army..........SEAL TEAM SIX: Navy. That's all the difference I need to know. Both equal BAMFs.

Response by CAPT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 7 at 2015 7:00 PM

2015-11-07T19:00:00-05:00

Interesting article, albeit fictional. And stupid.

Response by MAJ Keira Brennan made Nov 9 at 2015 11:00 AM

2015-11-09T11:00:56-05:00

Based on what I learned being assigned to a staff billet at SOCOM. Army Delta troops keep their mouths shut. Sorry, I am OLD and remember this.

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/10/world/mission-to-somalia-tv-army-on-the-beach-took-us-by-surprise.html

Hey, I am only kidding (slightly).

MISSION TO SOMALIA; TV Army on the Beach Took U.S. by Surprise

For a military establishment acutely conscious of its vulnerability to post-cold-war budget cutters, the landing at Mogadishu was the ultimate photo opportunity. But having finally secured an elusive spotlight, the marines discovered that they had too much of a good thing. As Navy Seals and Marine reconnaissance teams came shore under the glare of television lights, the spotlights and flash attachments gave away their positions, interfered...

Response by PO3 Donald Murphy made Aug 17 at 2016 10:01 AM

2016-08-17T10:01:20-04:00

From my days in the Navy, "Six" is an operational name. So any SEAL assigned to carry out mission X is referred to as SEAL Team SIX if its on one coast, Team TWELVE if its on another. There are not "six" SEAL teams. The numbering was a Cold War ruse to make the Russians believe we had more than we did. The Russians paid us back by changing hull numbers on the same ship making us think their fleet was bigger. Same game.

Response by SPC David Burgo made Sep 20 at 2017 6:59 PM

2017-09-20T18:59:21-04:00

I'll tell you this, I went out with my Army Reserve unit (368th Engineering Battalion) with a CSM and additional brass, I never seen a more highspeed personnel, as well as many contractors than my previous military training lead me to believe. My RLB was across from some Navy Oak leafs, (clusters?) and I'm not gonna lie, their (NAVY/Airforce) doors where kicked in by the CSM and some loud situations were conveyed. Other instances with Air force pilots and similar instances happened, I'm not Blue falconing anything, but popping Bin Laden should be considered a joint effort by ALOT of military efforts from all branches... Intel is intel, I did my job, and I seen with my own eyes, the same with all branches of service with alot of interaction "obviously" within my own branch of service. Fuck Kandahar and all those fobs in 2011. Poopoo pond still stinks in my mind... I'll tell you this, in my motorpool, I interacted with various "rangers" and even Seabees, with regards to duties. Lol, who popped bin laden? I'm almost sure it was Pakistan, I knew (had a feeling) he was there before I even Mobilized for the tour of duty. Fact of the matter is, my Unit or anyone else on base, didn't even gave a shit after he was popped. As for myself, it was good to watch some vids at the USO of people back home celebrating. While were at it, how many contractors were there in Afghanistan? How many Nato armies? How many "Terps"? CIA?!?! (Recruiting on base in Kandahar!!) All I know is I came home with 9 medals from ONE tour of duty. And a service connection for my penance. Seriously folks, I don't even think TRUMP knows who killed UBL.

Response by 1LT Tom Wilson made Sep 20 at 2017 11:33 PM

2017-09-20T23:33:09-04:00

The Army Special Forces are the Jedi Knights of the US military establishment. They established the performance curve for Delta Force. The US Army Ranger School is the prep school for the 75th Rangers, which are shock troops, and the Special Forces qualifying school, which operates in a different paradigm.

The SEALs began as the salvage divers the Navy carries around to keep itself afloat and the UDT "Frogmen" emerged out of that capacity and a lot of contact with the Special Boat Services during WWII and the example of the Italian torpedo riders with re-breather equipment. Unlike the Ranger School, which is designed to proliferate Ranger qualified individuals throughout the Army to raise the general performance by example, osmosis and leadership intent, the SEALs are trained as part of an intact vote to be deployed on that basis.

The Ranger School was created within General Marshall's reform agenda, which he initiated in 1942, and continued past the "Be All You Can Be" Army reforms after Vietnam and past the horizon of the Co-IN agenda in Afghanistan and Iraq Army reconstruction into the future. The Ranger School was a result of change in Army doctrine arising from the lessons learned from the Wehrmacht in 1947. This set a tranformation in motion that was fulfilled when Colin Powell became the first Ranger Qualified Chairman, JCS. The performance capacity this transformation represents is at least 70 years ahead of anything the Harvard Business School has to offer: the current organization performance model of the MBA program was state of the art when women began playing half-court basket ball. Fortune 500 corporations have nothing comparable to female Rangers.

The SEALs were something of the Admirals' newest whiz-bang in Vietnam. Hell Week was held for UDT volunteers at Little Creek, VA and they became Frogmen until sometime in the middle 60s, when the Navy wanted a little bit of the PR sugar the Green Berets had garnered before the Diem brothers were assassinated.

The Beach Jumpers were an associated Naval capacity: these people would infiltrate into very dangerous, NVA controlled areas and set up loud speakers and mixers and do propaganda road shows during the night. Then swim home.

Response by 1SG Dale Cantrell made Sep 12 at 2018 6:10 PM

2018-09-12T18:10:44-04:00

Men do the duty, no whining , no tv deals, no books written , just thank God you can protect this country and sometimes have a little doing it

Response by SFC Michael Robison made Sep 12 at 2018 11:01 PM

2018-09-12T23:01:15-04:00

Last time I checked... Delta Hadnt had 13-17 people claim to kill the same guy! JS

Response by HA Jace Gallagher made Sep 13 at 2018 12:22 PM

2018-09-13T12:22:20-04:00

Mad respect for both. I was a Corpsman who trained with Marsoc Marines and I still couldn't get in the SEALs. By train with I don't mean any official course, just a bunch of MARSOC guys beating the crap out of me to help me get physically and mentally stronger.

Response by Louis Puig made Sep 13 at 2018 12:59 PM

2018-09-13T12:59:35-04:00

God bless you all

Response by SFC Hugh Soule made Sep 13 at 2018 3:47 PM

2018-09-13T15:47:55-04:00

Yes

Response by CPL Mike Pullen made Sep 13 at 2018 6:14 PM

2018-09-13T18:14:06-04:00

My utmost respect for both. Hooah.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 13 at 2018 7:05 PM

2018-09-13T19:05:56-04:00

Very well written... makes me proud to serve amongst greensuiters!

NSDQ!

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 13 at 2018 9:18 PM

2018-09-13T21:18:34-04:00

Now do the difference between Delta and ISA.

Response by SPC Jay Pfeifer made Sep 14 at 2018 1:04 AM

2018-09-14T01:04:01-04:00

Great Read!!!

Response by SPC Jay Pfeifer made Sep 14 at 2018 1:04 AM

2018-09-14T01:04:23-04:00

Great Read!!

Response by SSG Curtis Mcneill made Sep 14 at 2018 7:31 AM

2018-09-14T07:31:06-04:00

Both are great units as long they gets the job done that’s all that matters. Glad they are on our side America Strong

Response by SN Matthew Forsyth made Sep 14 at 2018 2:21 PM

2018-09-14T14:21:43-04:00

If it absolutely positively has to be blown up overnight, call the seals. Hostage rescue scenarios call delta. Need to start a revolution somewhere call the green berets.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Sep 14 at 2018 2:41 PM

2018-09-14T14:41:32-04:00

I have often wondered why the Seals were involved in several land operations.

Response by SPC John Murray made Sep 14 at 2018 4:18 PM

2018-09-14T16:18:05-04:00

Very well written article..

Response by SPC William Hinesley made Sep 15 at 2018 11:23 AM

2018-09-15T11:23:55-04:00

Hooah

Response by PO2 Hauke Powers made Sep 15 at 2018 2:57 PM

2018-09-15T14:57:05-04:00

both units have very unique and distinct abilities..even though many see more of a SAME similarity, these units are as different as night and day....yet BOTH work AND operate together SO WELL. Having met several members at Little Creek, I was amazed at how ORDINARY they looked...how they blended into the rest of the world...they were extremely humble yet proud at what they have accomplished in their lives and careers. They spoke more of their families and friends than bringing up tales of adventure. I have to tip my hat to BOTH UNUTS for what they do and how they serve this great nation of ours. May God keep them safe....

Response by COL FrancisTimothy Riley made Feb 12 at 2019 12:15 AM

2019-02-12T00:15:58-05:00

One the best short answers I ever read on the differences between these elite fighters . All Americans all the way.