Blue Light (counter-terrorist subunit) Blue Light (counter-terrorist subunit) Blue Light was an American counter-terrorist subunit of the 5th Special Forces Group that existed into the late 1970s. According to Col. Charles Beckwith's memoirs, this counter-terrorist group was formed by U.S. Army Special Forces leadership to fill an important counter-terrorism gap until Delta Force became operational. He stated that the unit was disbanded when Delta Force went operational. Beckwith's memoir, "Delta Force", reports that commanders of the 5th Special Forces Group were asked by top brass of the Pentagon to quickly organize a Green Beret counter-terrorist unit to fill in until Delta Force was fully
Counter-terrorism the militant Irish Fenians in the 1880s, the Home Secretary, Sir William Harcourt, established the first counter-terrorism unit ever. The Special Irish Branch was initially formed as a section of the Criminal Investigation Department of the London Metropolitan Police in 1883, to combat Irish republican terrorism through infiltration and subversion. Harcourt envisioned a permanent unit dedicated to the prevention of politically motivated violence through the use of modern techniques such as undercover infiltration. This pioneering branch was the first to be trained in counter-terrorism techniques. Its name was changed to Special Branch as it had its remit gradually expanded to