Editor’s Note: Geo’s memoir, “Brothers of the Cloth,” a true account of special mission unit soldiers, has sold out in hardcover and will soon be coming out in paperback! You can keep an eye out for it here. My Glock 17 is 30 years old now. It is the first and last pistol I […]
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Delta Force Operator on the Evolution of the Rifle
Editor’s Note: Geo’s memoir, “Brothers of the Cloth,” a true account of special mission unit soldiers, has sold out in hardcover and will soon be coming out in paperback! You can keep an eye out for it here. In the beginning, Man created the gun and the cartridge. The gun was without form and […]
When the ‘Spooge’ replaced flashbangs in Delta Force
“Spooge” somehow became the nickname for the cans of spray adhesive we used to stick paper targets, bull’s eyes, and the like to a target silhouette downrange. It simply was the quickest and most convenient way to quickly attach paper to cardboard and get on to the business of sending maximum rounds down range on […]
The time my Special Forces team accidentally burned down a Korean forest (Pt.1)
I was a grunt, a ground-pounder, a door-kicker, a knuckle-dragger, a dog face, and a devil dog. I’ve been dogged-out and dog-tired, I’ve rucked until my dogs were barkin’ while it rained cats and dogs. I’ve had a dog in the fight, lived a dog’s life, gone to the dogs, been in the doghouse, and […]
How two Delta Force jumpers collided at 24,000 feet in accelerated free fall and lived
“The sky, even more than the sea, is terribly unforgiving for even the slightest mistake.” (Author Unknown) Let’s get one thing straight: I hate jumping. Don’t get me wrong, the whole concept and execution is sexy enough, but I was simply cursed with a wicked bout of acrophobia. Two or three days prior to an […]
Surviving Delta Force Selection and Assessment (Pt. 2): If Boots Could Talk
Read Part 1 of Surviving Delta Force Selection here. Having completed the first leg of the 40-mile forced march in twice the amount of time allowed to pass the selection phase, I was sure I was behind the power curve, but felt strong and fast and in good spirits. I felt confident that I could […]
Surviving Delta Force Selection and Assessment: Part 1
I was stationed in Key West, Florida, at the U.S. Army Special Forces Combat Diver Academy as a SCUBA instructor. I had intentionally sought out that assignment to avoid a mandatory levy into the Special Warfare Center (SWC)—duty that all Green Berets inevitably faced in their careers at some point. Rather than get stuck in […]
Watch: What does it take to become a Delta operator?
While covering a story recently, I had the opportunity to tour some facilities with a number of current and former elite operators hailing from various military branches and government agencies. Although these men may have different abbreviations on their identification cards, the community of people with their unique skill set and level of expertise is […]
A former Army Delta Operator’s Glock 17 setup
My Glock 17 is thirty years old now. It is the first and last pistol I ever bought. I retained it primarily for personal home defense, as I was up to my neck in pistols at work. When I retired from Delta, I decided to apply the essential modifications to my Glock as I had […]
What the Army does with its surplus M1911 pistols and M1 Garands
Image Courtesy of George Hand Have you ever wondered what happens to the Army’s surplus firearms? They’re made available for civilian purchase through the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP). The transferring of surplus rifles and handguns from the Army’s arsenal to the CMP began in 1996. Since then, more than 700,000 guns have been offered to the CMP […]