Project DELTA
US Reconnaissance Project formed during the Vietnam War
Project DELTA was the first of the Reconnaissance Projects, which were special reconnaissance (SR) units named with a Greek letter. The Reconnaissance Projects were originally formed by the U.S. Mission as Project Leaping Lena and one month later transferred to Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) during the Vietnam War to collect operational intelligence in remote areas of South Vietnam.
Project DELTA was established at Nha Trang in 1964 and consisted of six reconnaissance hunter-killer teams each composed of four United States Special Forces (USSF) and six Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces (LLDB) and later supported by the 91st Ranger Battalion (later redesignated the 81st Ranger Battalion). It was designated Detachment B-52, 5th Special Forces Group.
Mission
DELTA's mission included operational and strategic reconnaissance into long-held Viet Cong areas and the direction of air strikes on them. They were also to conduct bomb damage assessment, conduct small scale reconnaissance and hunter-killer operations, capture and interrogate VC / NVA, tap communications, bug compounds and offices, rescue downed aircrew and prisoners of war, emplace point minefields and other booby traps, conduct psychological operations, and perform counter-intelligence operations. They were to focus on base areas and infiltration routes in the border areas.
History
DELTA originated as LEAPING LENA which was established on 15 May 1964 in order for the USSF to train LLDB teams for missions in South Vietnam. During LEAPING LENA, five teams of eight LLDB soldiers were parachuted into Laos but only five men survived the experience. The US did not participate.
The public source identifies “Project DELTA” as uS Reconnaissance Project formed during the Vietnam War. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Project, DELTA and Reconnaissance.
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This entry incorporates text from “Project DELTA” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.