I haven't used action queries very much, but I want to confirm that if I create a delete query, that I can't just delete a field in the selected row. The delete query will delete the entire row, even if I just include one field in the SQL construct.

Example:

strSQLDELETE = "DELETE FIELD1 FROM [TABLEA] WHERE FIELD1 = 'SomeValue'
CurrentDb.Execute strSQLDELETE

This will in fact delete the entire row and not just Field1 (assuming that there is more than one field in TableA)

Yes, in the past when I have used delete queries, I have only put the Primary Key field in the Where clause. It will delete the ENTIRE record.

That is correct ...
If you want to delete a value in field in a record and retain the record .. you need to use an Update Query instead ...
You update the value to a Null (or whatever value you want it to be) ...

RDH