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Richard Marcinko

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Richard Marcinko
File:RichardMarcinkoBW.jpg
Richard Marcinko as Commanding Officer of SEAL Team 2
Nickname(s)Dick
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service / branchUnited States Navy
Years of service1958-1988
RankCommander
CommandsSeal Team 2
Seal Team 6
Red Cell
AwardsSilver Star
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star with Valor Device and three Gold Stars
Navy Commendation Medal (2)
Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star
Other workCEO of SOS Temps, Inc. and Red Cell International, Author, Talk Show Host
File:RogueBW.jpg
Richard Marcinko Commanding Officer of SEAL Team 6

Richard 'Dick' Marcinko (born November 21, 1940 in Lansford, Pennsylvania), is a former United States Navy SEAL and author.

Career

After enlisting in the US Navy in 1958, Marcinko worked as a teletype operator at Naval Support Activity, Naples, Italy.[1] The restless young sailor got into a fight with another sailor and sent him to the hospital.[1] According to his biography, his commanding officer sent him to UDT training as punishment, where Marcinko wanted to go, anyway; he went so far as to claim that he found the rigorous training "perversely enjoyable".[1] During his first assignment to UDT-21, his superior was Chief Petty Officer Everett E. Barrett. Barrett was a crusty, gruff-talking man and Marcinko often said he was the most profane man he ever knew. However, Barrett was mentor to Marcinko and encouraged him to enter Officer Candidate School (OCS). Barrett taught his young protege to look after and mentor the men who served under him. He referred to this leadership technique as "Barrett's First Law Of The Sea." Marcinko always revered Barrett and mentions him in every book he has written. In fact, he dedicated one of his novels to Barrett and the first Navy SEAL Roy Boehm as two leaders who always led from the front.[1]

Marcinko was commissioned as an Ensign upon graduation from OCS in December of 1965.[1] In June of 1966 he transferred to SEAL Team Two and received orders for Vietnam.[1][2]

Vietnam

On May 18, 1967 Marcinko led his men in an assault on Ilo-Ilo Island where they killed a large number of Vietcong personnel and destroyed six of their sampans. The US Navy referred to it as "the most successful SEAL operation in the (Mekong River) Delta." Subsequently Marcinko was awarded the first of his four Bronze Stars, as well as a Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star, from the ARVN.[1] Upon arriving in the United States at the completion of this tour, he was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade.[1]

Marcinko immediately returned to Vietnam after a few months stateside, again with SEAL Team 2 as the officer in command of Eighth Platoon. During the Tet Offensive his platoon was sent to assist the US Army Special Forces at Chau Doc.[1] What began as an urban street battle turned into a rescue mission of American nurses trapped in the city's church and hospital.[1]

After completing his second tour in Vietnam, and a two-year stateside staff assignment Marcinko was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and subsequently assigned as the Naval Attache to Cambodia in 1973.[1] After serving for 18 months and upon leaving Cambodia for orders stateside, Marcinko became the Commanding Officer of SEAL Team Two.[1]

SEAL Team Six

During the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979, Marcinko was one of two Navy representatives for a Joint Chiefs of Staff task force known as the TAT (Terrorist Action Team). The purpose of the TAT was to develop a plan to free the American hostages held in Iran which culminated in Operation Eagle Claw. In the wake of the operation's disaster at Desert One, the Navy saw the need for a full-time dedicated Counter-Terrorist Team and tasked Marcinko with its design and development.

Marcinko was the first commanding officer of this new unit which he named SEAL Team Six (purportedly to confuse other nations into believing that the United States had three previous SEAL teams that they were unaware of). The men in the unit were handpicked by Marcinko himself from across the US Navy's Special Operations personnel. SEAL Team Six would be known as the US Navy's premier counter-terrorist unit. It has also been compared favorably to the US Army's Delta Force.[1][3] Marcinko held the command of SEAL Team Six for three years from 1980-1983 instead of what was typically a two-year command in the Navy at the time.[4]

Red Cell

After leaving command at SEAL Team Six, Marcinko was tasked by Vice Admiral James "Ace" Lyons, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, to design a unit to test the Navy's vulnerability to terrorism. The name of the unit was Naval Security Coordination Team OP-06D. In 1984 Marcinko hand-picked twelve men from SEAL Team Six and one from Marine Force Recon and the unit was unofficially named Red Cell.[4]

This team tested the security of naval bases, nuclear submarines, ships, civilian airports and a U.S. embassy. Marcinko was directed to use his team to test the Navy's anti-terrorist capabilities. As a result he was able to infiltrate seemingly impenetrable, highly-secured bases, nuclear submarines, ships and other purported "secure areas", including the U.S. Presidential plane Air Force One. They took and disappeared with out incident. This was all to show that the replacement of Marines as Security by "Rent a Cops" agencies started by retired military personnel and awarded contracts would result in a vulnerable military, which it was.

Among the other claims Marcinko makes are the assertions that Red Cell successfully captured nuclear devices from United States Navy facilities, and proved the viability of plans to penetrate and attack nuclear-powered submarines, to destroy the subs by using them as improvised dirty bombs and to capture launch codes for nuclear weapons aboard the subs by using mild torture against personnel in custody of launch codes. Former members of Red Cell, notably Steve Hartmann and Dennis Chalker, maintain that these exercises were a cover to move SPECWAR operators around the world for covert missions against real-world terrorists.[5]

Civilian life

Marcinko has since published a VHS and DVD movie account of his "Red Cell" operations. In doing so he embarrassed several superior officers, whom he accuses of involvement in his subsequent conviction for misappropriation of funds and resources under his command.

His experiences led him to write his autobiography, The New York Times best-selling Rogue Warrior, and subsequent fictional sequels, some of which are co-written with ghostwriter John Weisman.[1]

He is currently CEO Red Cell International and formerly of SOS Temps, Inc., a private security consulting firm based in Washington, D.C.. He had a politically conservative talk radio show America on Watch with Dick Marcinko which was broadcast live. He is also recently a spokesman for the Zodiac boat company's Zodiac Maritime Training Academy.

Marcinko has partnered with Bethesda Softworks to produce a Rogue Warrior video game for PC, PS3, Xbox 360, that is set for release in April 2008.[6] He has also collaborated with Strider Knives on two knife designs called the RW-1 and RW-2; RW signifying "Rogue Warrior".

Criticisms

Marcinko has come under criticism from individuals within the Special Operations community who feel that he airs too much dirty laundry, and lets his ego get in the way of truth.[citation needed] There have been discrepancies pointed out by other famous United States Navy members including Senator Bob Kerrey and his old team member Jim Watson. Additionally, as a result of a lawsuit, "Larry Bailey" in the first edition of the book became "Adam Henry" (hint: it is an annular orifice often referred to in the military as ""your Six") in later editions. [citation needed] Marcinko served time in federal prison under charges of defrauding the government over the price of contractor acquisitions for hand grenades. Marcinko maintains that he was the subject of a witch hunt for his work with Red Cell to show the fraud perpetrated on Military Security; his detractors claim that he was able to beat any other charges with support from powerful government figures, as well as underhanded legal tactics.[citation needed] Marcinko details his arrest and confinement in the last chapters of his autobiography.[1]

Military awards

Marcinko's ribbon bar
Marcinko's ribbon bar

Bibliography

Non-fiction

Fiction

  • Red Cell (1994) (with John Weisman) ISBN 0-671-01977-5
  • Green Team (1995) (with John Weisman) ISBN 0-671-79959-2
  • Task Force Blue (1996) (with John Weisman) ISBN 0-671-89672-5
  • Designation Gold (1997) (with John Weisman) ISBN 0-671-89674-1
  • Seal Force Alpha (1998) (with John Weisman) ISBN 0-671-00072-1
  • Option Delta (1999) (with John Weisman) ISBN 0-671-00068-3
  • Echo Platoon (2000) (with John Weisman) ISBN 0-671-00074-8
  • Detachment Bravo (2001) (with John Weisman) ISBN 0-671-00071-3
  • Violence of Action (2003) ISBN 0-7434-2276-7
  • Vengeance (2005) (with Jim DeFelice) ISBN 0-7434-2247-3
  • Holy Terror (2006) (with Jim DeFelice) ISBN 978-0743422482

Articles

Filmography

Advisory

Participatory

Video Game

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Marcinko, Richard (1992). Rogue Warrior. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-70390-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Fawcett, Bill (1995). Hunters & Shooters. New York: Avon. pp. 259–280. ISBN 071-00100699. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: length (help)
  3. ^ Halbertstadt, Hans (1995). US Navy SEALs in Action. Osceola, Wisconsin: Zenith Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-0879389932.
  4. ^ a b Chalker, Dennis (2003). One Perfect Op: An Insider's Account of the Navy Seal Special Warfare Teams. New York: William Morrow Publishing. p. 130. ISBN 0-380-97804-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Marcinko, Richard (1999). The Real Team. New York: Pocket. ISBN 0-671-02465-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ http://ps3.ign.com/objects/849/849721.html Accessed Aug. 1 2007

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