Major General Eldon Arthur Bargewell (August 13, 1947 – April 29, 2019) was a United States Army General officer. He served as commander of the U.S. Army's Delta Force unit. Early life and education Bargewell was born in Hoquiam, Washington and graduated from Hoquiam High School in 1965, enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1967. He completed the Special Forces Qualification Course in 1968. During the Vietnam War Bargewell was accepted into MACV-SOG where he served at the "Command And Control North (CCN)" Forward Operating Base 4 at Da Nang and served as Non-Commissioned Officer Team Leader for Reconnaissance Team "Viper" (all CCN teams were named for states or snakes). While serving with CCN, Bargewell earned the Distinguished Service Cross in September 1971 for his actions in combat in saving his team and getting them to safety. Career Bargewell graduated from Officer candidate School and received his commission in 1973. In addition, he completed a Bachelor of Science degree in resource management at Troy State University. Bargewell's first assignment was as a member of the 2nd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Lewis, Washington, where he later served as rifle platoon leader and executive officer. As a captain, Bargewell was assigned as Rifle Company Commander with 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry. In 1981 Bargewell volunteered for and completed a specialized selection and operator training course for assignment to Delta Force where he would serve as Operations Officer, Squadron Executive Officer, Troop commander, Squadron Commander (twice), Deputy Commander and unit commander from July 1996 to July 1998. While in Delta Force Bargewell participated in Operation Acid Gambit during the invasion of Panama, including the daring rescue of American citizen Kurt Muse from the Modelo prison. After the successful extraction of the hostage the MH-6 Little Bird transporting Muse as well as several Operators crashed behind enemy lines wounding many of them; however, they managed to seek cover in the city until they were recovered by an APC. He commanded a Delta Force Squadron (A Squadron) during Operation Desert Storm in western Iraq. In 1998 Bargewell became Commanding General of Special Operations Command Europe, followed by assistant chief of staff for SFOR military operations in Sarajevo. Bargewell returned to the continental United States, and served as director of the center of operations, plans, and policies of United States Special Operations Command. In 2005, Bargewell became Director of Strategic Operations at Multinational Force Iraq.