On clandestine radio operations…

Most Project Delta commanders had a special radio operator accompany them when in the field. Early in his command, MAJ Charles Beckwith always took Don “Val” Valentine along. Valentine revolutionized the way Delta operatives communicated in the field. For example, on the ground,… pic.twitter.com/VddxOG2zIZ

— Bud Gibson (@TheReconCast) January 6, 2026

Most Project Delta commanders had a special radio operator accompany them when in the field. Early in his command, MAJ Charles Beckwith always took Don “Val” Valentine along. Valentine revolutionized the way Delta operatives communicated in the field. For example, on the ground, Recon men often had to make radio contact while operating within just a few yards of the enemy. Listening to the airborne radio relay was usually not a problem—it was the answering that always worried them. When close to the enemy, they couldn’t always answer, so they’d just “break squelch” by pressing the “push-to-talk-button,” to indicate they could hear but that it wasn’t safe to reply. The first time it happened to Valentine, he told the Recon man to hit his push-to-talk button three times for “yes” and twice for “no.” Then he posed direct questions answerable by a simple yes, no or “no response.” Initially, he thought of questions as the scenario unfolded, but by the next day he had managed to devise a list of direct questions a radio operator could use in a similar situation, to remain informed even when given map coordinates. Valentine’s procedure was integrated into unit Standard Operating Procedures, used frequently by Project Delta radio operators on radio relay flights. After Valentine rotated back to the United States, Beckwith’s Commo man became Terry “Rolex” Morrone. Delta veterans recall one operation, when a Recon team had been out of radio contact with the FOB for much too long, and the radio relay man had called repeatedly, yet failed to make contact. Finally, when the team leader answered, he spoke much too softly to be heard over the aircraft engine noise and it seemed his Vietnamese teammates were chattering loudly behind him. The irritated airborne radioman growled, “Speak up! I can’t hear you through all your Vietnamese troops talking!” Very slowly a faint voice came back. “T-h-e-y-a-r-e-n-o-t-m-y-t-r-o-0-p-s.”