Eric L. Haney

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Eric L. Haney (born August 22, 1952) is a former soldier of the United States Army counterterrorism unit, the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1SFOD-D), also known as the Delta Force.

He has been writing about terrorism, guerrilla war, and special operations in recent years.

Haney is the author of Inside Delta Force, a memoir of his service in the elite unit, in which he also writes about his participation in the aborted 1980 Operation Eagle Claw effort to free American hostages. He was a co-executive producer of CBS television show The Unit, directed by David Mamet and inspired by Haney's special operations experiences.

Haney served as a technical advisor on Mamet's 2004 film Spartan, starring Val Kilmer.

Early life and education

Haney was born on August 22, 1952, and grew in rural Lindale, Georgia, just outside Rome's town center. In 1970, he graduated from Pepperell High School.

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Military career

Haney joined the Army straight out of high school in 1970 and became a platoon sergeant by the time he was 22 years old. He served as an infantryman in the 75th Ranger Regiment for many years and was planning to become an instructor. He applied for and was accepted to train with a new elite counter-terrorism unit that the Army was establishing in 1977. Haney was one of only 12 soldiers to win out of a total of 163 soldiers. This unit was operational in 1978 as the 1st SFOD-D, or Delta Force, with Haney joining the team at least 13 months later; following further education and operational readiness, he became a full member of the unit. Colonel Charles Beckwith had the unit established and organized less than 19 months before Haney became the unit's asset and manager. Haney served in the unit until 1986, where he was embedded in a variety of special operations in Latin America and the Middle East.

Haney resigned from Delta and joined the 193rd Infantry Brigade in Panama after being promoted to Command Sergeant Major, the rank he held until his retirement in 1990.

Operation Eagle Claw, launched by the US in 1980 in an attempt to end the Iran hostage crisis with a commando attack. Haney was one of Delta's participants. He was inside a parked C-130 tanker/transport plane that caught fire and exploded when a Navy RH-53D helicopter piloted by a Marine aircrew collided with it after the mission was called off and the unit was set to extricate. Following the failure, he and other Delta executives were advised to "take a break" in order to avoid media scrutiny.

In 1981, Haney and two Delta Force agents were sent to Honduras to prepare Honduran Special Forces. They were sent on a trip to intercept and destroy a force of Honduran communist guerrillas that had infiltrated from Nicaragua. According to reports, the 100 or so rebels were being led by an Nicaraguan Sandinista Army advisor.

Haney wrote that his team, made up of Delta operators and Honduran special forces troops, followed the guerrillas to a mountain sanctuary in the jungle. Haney noticed a guerrilla using a radio during an assault on the hilltop. He shot and killed him as the leader. David Arturo Báez, a Nicaraguan-born US citizen and former Army Special Forces soldier Haney had met during his Delta selection procedures, Haney later discovered him.

Báez may have joined the Sandinistas or been serving in the United States as a CIA agent up until his death, according to Haney's memoir. "Enrique 'Keekee' Sáenz', a Mexican word, is linked to him in Haney's book.)

Several former Delta workers, including his Squadron Commander, have denied the event and said it was a fabrication. Baez's family, on the other hand, said they had heard accounts of his death that match those in the book.

In his book, Haney said that his unit was first ordered to evacuate Vietnam war POWs, and that the missions had been cancelled at the last minute. He said he came to believe that government executives were scrubbed on orders from government officials, who were afraid of embarrassment and career destruction if word had broke that they'd left prisoners behind. He also said that years after the war ended, a senior north Vietnamese diplomat asked him why the US never attempted to retrieve their POWs back after the war ended.

Haney was deployed with other Delta Force members to prepare local Lebanese as part of the US Embassy security detail during the 1982 Marines operation in Lebanon. Later, he and his colleagues were tasked with finding and removing snipers aimed at US Marines deployed as part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission.

Haney, Haney, and other Delta agents were given permission by the United States to search Richmond Hill Prison in 1983, which is believed to hold political prisoners. Their helicopters were shot by heavy enemy fire and they learned the jail was deserted. The mission was called off.

In 1989, the United States invaded Panama's Republic of Panama for Operation Just Cause. Haney, the 193rd Infantry Brigade's Command Sergeant Major, was the Chief Sergeant Major. Along with C Co. 5/87th Inf, he was involved in a firefight. (Light) "Panthers" 193rd Inf. Brigade, in which Panamanian forces attempted to assassinate newly elected Panamanian Vice President Ford. Panamanian forces suffered heavy losses, although no American troops were killed, but no American troops were wounded. This took place at the DNTT (Direction Nacional de Transporte Terrestre), which was the National Police's Headquarters.

Post-military career

Haney started working as a freelance security consultant and instructor after being retired from the Army in 1990. He served in the United States and abroad as a bodyguard, instructor for military and police services, and private kidnap rescuer.

Haney's private sector positions include: leading ransom talks and ransom exchange for a kidnapped oil executive in Colombia, as well as assisting governments in two Middle Eastern countries in expanding their special forces capabilities. Following his return from exile in 1994, he served as personal security detail leader for several high-profile companies, including Saudi Prince Khalid al Faisal and Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Haney began a contract aviation firm in Liberia in the 1990s and began doing security consulting work in Algeria on a gas pipeline project. Haney was approached a few years later about assisting and directing a coup attempt in another African nation. He claims to have thwarted the coup in the aftermath.

Haney became a regular television commentator on military affairs and terrorism after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, appearing on CNN, Fox News, CBS News, The O'Reilly Factor, and MSNBC. He has voiced reservations about Operation Iraqi Freedom's planning and execution.

In 2004, Haney appeared on The Learning Channel as the host of a television series titled "Spymaster USA."

Haney was employed as a writer, producer, and technical advisor for the CBS television series The Unit, which was loosely based on his book. Haney also appeared on the show as an Army recruiting officer.

General Meade, the USF's commanding officer, made a cameo appearance in the 2010 film Iron Man 2.

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