Richard Marcinko

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Richard Marcinko
Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry
Alma materAuburn University at Montgomery
U.S. Naval Postgraduate School
Other workCEO of SOS Temps, Inc. and Red Cell International

Richard Marcinko (November 21, 1940 – December 25, 2021) was a

SEAL Team Six. After retiring from the United States Navy
, he became an author, radio talk show host, military consultant, and motivational speaker.

Early life and education

Marcinko was born November 21, 1940, in Lansford, Pennsylvania, and was of Croatian and Slovak descent.[1] His father was a Croat from Herzegovina—the southwestern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina along the border with the Croatia, which is mostly inhabited by Croats—and his mother from Slovakia. At a young age, his family moved to New Brunswick, New Jersey.

After dropping out of high school, Marcinko tried to enlist in the

United States Marines, who rejected him due to a lack of a high school diploma. Marcinko successfully enlisted in the United States Navy in September 1958 as a radioman. He was accepted into the Underwater Demolition Team/ Replacement (UDTR) training in June 1961, and graduated in class 26 in October 1961.[2] Marcinko served with UDT-21 until he was selected for an officer commission in 1965. After graduating from Officer Candidate School in December 1965, he was commissioned an ensign. He was later reassigned to SEAL Team TWO in June 1966.[3]

He also received a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from the Auburn University at Montgomery and a Master of Arts degree in political science from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.[4]

Naval career

Vietnam War

In January 1967, Marcinko deployed to

Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.[5]

Marcinko returned to Vietnam with SEAL Team Two after a few months stateside as officer-in-charge of 8th Platoon from December 1967 to June 1968. During the

U.S. Army Special Forces at Châu Đốc.[1] What began as an urban street battle turned into a rescue mission of American nurses and a schoolteacher trapped in the city's church and hospital.[6]

After completing his second tour in Vietnam and a two-year stateside staff assignment, Marcinko was promoted to

naval attache to Cambodia in 1973. After serving in Cambodia for 18 months, Marcinko returned stateside and assumed command of SEAL Team Two from 1974 to 1976.[7]

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 debacle, the Navy saw the need for a full-time dedicated counter-terrorist team and tasked Marcinko with its design and development.

Marcinko was selected by Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Thomas B. Hayward as the first commanding officer of this new unit. At the time, the Navy had only two SEAL teams. Marcinko purportedly named the unit SEAL Team Six in order to confuse other nations, specifically the Soviet Union, into believing that the United States had at least three other SEAL teams that they were unaware of. He personally selected the unit's members from across the existing SEAL and Underwater Demolition Teams, including a special counter-terrorist tactics section of SEAL Team Two, codenamed MOB-6. SEAL Team Six would be the Navy's premier counter-terrorist and hostage rescue unit, like its Army counterpart Delta Force.[1][8] While typically a two-year command, Marcinko commanded SEAL Team Six for three years, from August 1980 to July 1983.[9]

Red Cell

After relinquishing command of SEAL Team Six to CDR Robert Gormly, Marcinko was tasked by Vice Admiral James "Ace" Lyons, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, with the design of a unit to test the Navy's vulnerability to terrorism. This unit was the Naval Security Coordination Team OP-06D, unofficially named Red Cell.[9]

Personal life

Kickback trial and imprisonment

Marcinko was indicted for conspiracy, conflict of interest and lying to the government on July 13, 1989, in connection with a kickback of $113,000 paid to Ramco International, a company set up by Marcinko and former SEAL John B. Mason, by Accuracy Systems, a Phoenix, Arizona-based arms manufacturer owned by Charles M. Byers.[10][11] Byers was convicted of conspiracy and conflict of interest on October 20, 1989, but Marcinko was acquitted of conflict of interest.[11]

Marcinko was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the government on January 24, 1990.[12] The jury in that trial also acquitted Marcinko of a separate count of bribery.[12]

On March 9, 1990, Marcinko was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and fined $10,000 under charges of defrauding the government over the price of contractor acquisitions for

hand grenades.[13] Marcinko maintained that he was the subject of a witch-hunt for his work with Red Cell and that the fraud committed revealed the weaknesses of military security. Marcinko detailed his arrest and confinement in the last chapters of his autobiography.[1]

Civilian life

Marcinko published a VHS and DVD movie account of his "Red Cell" operations.[14]

His experiences led him to write his autobiography,

best-selling Rogue Warrior, and subsequent fictional sequels, most of which are co-written with ghostwriter John Weisman.[1] With Weisman he co-authored a three-book series on leadership, management and team-building for business executives.[15][16]

In 2005 he wrote an op-ed criticizing what he called "the liberals attack on the activities at GITMO prison, or Abu Ghraib detention centers", claiming that "manipulation is what has been practiced at our detention centers".[17]

At the time of his death, he was CEO of 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 was a spokesman for the Zodiac boat company's Zodiac Maritime Training Academy, and served as a consultant on FOX's television series 24. He briefly collaborated with Strider Knives on a series of knife designs referred to as the "RW" signifying "Rogue Warrior" from 2008 to 2010.[18]

Death

Marcinko died from a heart attack at his home in Fauquier County, Virginia, on December 25, 2021, at the age of 81.[19][20][21][22]

Awards and decorations

Bibliography

Non-fiction

Fiction

Marcinko's fiction adventure novels depict himself as recounting the events of the story as they happen, in a timeline with his autobiography as the starting point. John Weisman co-wrote with him from Red Cell to Detachment Bravo in 2001. Jim deFelice became his writing partner from Vengeance to Blood Lies.

Articles

  • "Ethics in the War against Terrorism" for World Defense Review, July 15, 2005

Filmography

Advisory

Participatory

  • Red Cell (VHS & Special Edition DVD)
  • Advanced Hostage Rescue (VHS & DVD)
  • Navy SEAL: Tides of SPECWAR (DVD)

Video game

Marcinko partnered with

PS3 and PC. Marcinko himself is the protagonist and is voiced by actor Mickey Rourke. In the game, Marcinko is sent on a classified mission into North Korea to disrupt an anti-ballistic missile program.[23] Released in December 2009, the game was critically panned, with critics citing poor AI, excessive use of expletives, numerous bugs, poor graphics, a short single-player mode and limited multiplayer mode.[24] Since its release, Rogue Warrior has been listed as one of the worst video games of all time.[25]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-671-70390-0
    .
  2. ^ "A True Hero – Richard Marcinko". Archived from the original on May 16, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  3. ^ "Richard Marcinko obituary".
  4. ^ Ortiz, Miguel (August 22, 2022). "Cdr. Richard Marcinko, the first commanding officer of SEAL Team SIX, dies at 81". We Are The Mighty. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  5. ISBN 978-0-87364-531-7
    .
  6. ISBN 978-0-312-62803-1
    .
  7. ^ Kelly (2003), p. 211
  8. ISBN 978-0-87938-993-2
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 0-380-97804-0
    .
  10. ^ Howe, Robert F. (July 14, 1989). "Navy Retiree, Arms Maker Indicted". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  11. ^ a b Howe, Robert F. (October 22, 1989). "Grenade Maker Guilty in Kickback". The Washington Post.
  12. ^ a b Broder, John M. (January 26, 1990). "Ex-SEAL Unit Head Convicted of Fraud". Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  13. ISBN 978-0-671-86762-1
    .
  14. ^ Richard Marcinko, director (1993). Red Cell: The True Story with Richard Marcinko (VHS/DVD). United States: Loti Group.
  15. ^ Carvajal, Doreen (May 9, 1999). "Ideas & Trends; Fighting Words Become Best-Sellers". New York Times.
  16. ^ "THE NEW YORK TIMES BUSINESS BEST SELLERS". New York Times. September 1, 1996.
  17. ^ "Ethics in the war against terrorism". Archived from the original on October 30, 2005. Retrieved July 20, 2005.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  18. ^ Shackleford, Steve (2009). "New Knives for 2009". Blade's Complete Guide to Knives. 33 (3): 90.
  19. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  20. ^ Edwards, Jessica (December 26, 2021). "Founding commander of SEAL Team 6 dies at 81 in Virginia". navytimes.com. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  21. ^ Lenthang, Marlene (December 27, 2021). "Richard Marcinko, first commanding officer of SEAL Team Six, dies at 81". NBC News. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  22. ^ "Richard Marcinko obituary". The Times. January 24, 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  23. ^ Rebellion Developments (December 1, 2009). Rogue Warrior (Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360). Bethesda Softworks.
  24. ^ "Rogue Warrior Review for Xbox 360". Retrieved March 17, 2010.
  25. ^ Gamerankings.com

External links

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