Weird incidents with South Korea’s elite Tuk Su Bu Dae unit

During my time in Delta Force, we were privileged to host many countries’ elite units for some joint training and team building. I have written of my time training with the Polish GROM and now I want to recount two memorable incidents we experienced hosting the South Korean version of Delta – the Tuk Su Bu Dae – at our home compound at Ft. Bragg, NC for training and familiarization.

Tuk Su Bu Dae means “special unit.” From its body of special operations soldiers, the Koreans maintain a small unit of men whom they consider to be especially deft at their craft, naming them the elite of their elite soldiers.

Early on in their stay, they observed – rather than participated – in Personal Security Detachment (PSD) training. The PSD is assigned to a Very Important Person (VIP) to ensure that the person is safe and precluded from harm, be it deadly or damaging to the person’s reputation. That harm could be even falling down stairs or getting caught in pouring rain. Yes, it is like a detachment of butlers running interference for a VIP.

The day of our PSD training was going great, up until the evening when the Koreans used what they had observed to set up a secure profile and shoplift merchandise from the Ft. Bragg Post Exchange (the Fort’s retail store).

Two of the Koreans were snatching goods and others, wearing suits and carrying walkie-talkies following the PSD training, were stationed in the periphery keeping a lookout for the swiping team.

As bad luck would have it, the store’s security CCTV cameras captured the dastardly deeds of the Koreans and they were rounded up by the Military Police (MP) and taken to the MP main station to sort the situation. Our Unit was notified and sent a delegate to claim the Koreans, bringing the little thieves back to the Delta Compound, much to the embarrassment of all involved.

I attribute the incident to kids behaving badly. As a result, two of the Koreans were sent back to their command in Seoul, Korea.

On a later day, the rest of the gang accompanied us to Close Quarters Combat (CQC) training at one of our compound’s many shooting houses.

Related: Delta Force escapades with Poland’s elite GROM special operations unit

We cycled a few of our teams through some basic live-fire iterations while the Koreans observed. Finally, it was the Koreans’ turn to make a run through the shoot house.

First, the Korean senior detachment officer made a walkthrough of the house. He checked target placement in each room, then rallied his men into a circle. There he drew a likeness of the target house in the dirt with a stick, showing where each enemy target figure was placed. Sure, we called that “gaming the scenario,” a thing we never did… but who were we to judge?

Just before the Koreans stormed the house, one of the Delta safety personnel entered through the back door, pulled out an enemy target figure from the corner of the last room, and then returned to his overwatch position on a catwalk above. According to the security personnel, they were just curious to see what the Koreans would do about the target missing. –

Then came the five-second countdown and the Tuk Su Bu Dae detachment piled into the house, guns a-blazin’. Lo and behold, when the soldiers finally burst into the last room, they fired two shots each into the completely empty corner where the enemy target used to be. Then they proceeded to report that the house was all clear of enemy combatants.

Sure, it was shocking to us all that they would fire into the empty corner – it would have been our remedy if they hadn’t shot at all, though the Koreans train to a different mindset. There really should be an element of free thinking involved in CQC training, a thing that Delta trains heavily in. Men think before they shoot and arrive at their own conclusion to shoot or not. Many of us refused to acknowledge that the Tuk Su Bu Dae detachment was really even engaging in CQC; they were just goose-stepping their way through a totally canned scenario.

The week culminated in a run through the obstacle course, which was devastating to the Tuk Su Bu Dae men due to their lackluster upper-body strength. Despite the good and bad, and the early departure home for the shoplifters, the whole experience was just another good story to tell around the Thanksgiving table for years to come.

By Almighty God and with honor,

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Feature Image: Men from South Korea’s Army Special Warfare Force. (Photo by Jeong Seung Ik/Republic of Korea Army Special Warfare Force)

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