Richard Marcinko

Richard Marcinko, a U.S. Navy SEAL commander and Vietnam War veteran, was born in Lansford, Pennsylvania. He later became the first commanding officer of SEAL Team Six.

In September 1958, Richard Marcinko successfully enlisted in the United States Navy as a radioman after being rejected by the Marines due to a lack of a high school diploma.

In October 1961, Richard Marcinko graduated from the Underwater Demolition Team/ Replacement (UDTR) training in class 26.

In December 1965, Richard Marcinko graduated from Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as an ensign. He was later reassigned to SEAL Team Two, where he played a significant role during the Vietnam War.

In June 1966, Richard Marcinko was reassigned to SEAL Team TWO after being selected for an officer commission.

On May 18, 1967, Richard Marcinko led his men in an assault on Ilo Ilo Hon (Ilo Ilo Island), where they killed a large number of Viet Cong and destroyed six of their sampans. This action was later recognized as the 'most successful SEAL operation in the Mekong Delta' by the U.S. Navy.

During the Tet Offensive, Richard Marcinko ordered his platoon to assist U.S. Army Special Forces at Châu Đốc, which turned into a rescue mission of American nurses and a schoolteacher trapped in the city's church and hospital.

In 1973, Richard Marcinko was promoted to lieutenant commander and assigned as the naval attache to Cambodia for 18 months.

During the Iran hostage crisis in 1979, Richard Marcinko was tasked with designing and developing SEAL Team Six after the failure of Operation Eagle Claw.

Richard Marcinko was selected as the first commanding officer of SEAL Team Six, a new unit established by Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Thomas B. Hayward. Marcinko handpicked members from existing SEAL and Underwater Demolition Teams to create a premier counter-terrorist and hostage rescue unit.

Richard Marcinko was indicted for conspiracy, conflict of interest, and lying to the government in connection with a kickback scandal involving a Phoenix-based arms manufacturer. He was later convicted of conspiracy to defraud the government in 1990.

On March 9, 1990, Richard Marcinko was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and fined $10,000 for defrauding the government in contractor acquisitions for hand grenades. He believed he was targeted due to his work with Red Cell, highlighting military security weaknesses.

Three years after his conviction, Marcinko works as a security expert in Japan. A chance run-in with a nuclear smuggling operation at Narita Airport leads to him being brought back into the Navy to investigate. His team of SEALs uncover a plot by a former Secretary of Defense to deliver American nuclear warheads to an ultra-right wing Japanese movement.

A British aircraft carrier is bombed at its decommissioning ceremonies, killing the head of the British Admiralty and the US Chief of Naval Operations. Marcinko's group, now called the Green Team, are sent to track clues that the bombing is part of a plan by a British noble of Arabic descent to incite a major Islamic fundamentalist campaign against the West.

A few months after the events of Green Team, Marcinko's group rescues the Secretary of the Navy from a violent militia group but runs afoul of cowardly politicians. With covert backing from the current JCS Chairman, the team probes the militia's connections into a subsequent theft of weapons from National Guard armories. They discover that the weapons are meant to arm militias across the country for an American Revolution-style war whose kickoff is timed with the anniversary of the Waco siege.

When Marcinko discovers that one of his close friends is killed in Russia, he goes off on a mission to find out who did it. Further digging uncovers clues to a plan to arm Syria with weapons of mass destruction and use it on Israel.

In 1998, Marcinko's SEALs raid a Chinese freighter in the South China Sea and uncover a plot involving weapons shipment to rebel movements in Southeast Asia and advanced US-made electronic countermeasures systems. The mission escalates as they discover a planned invasion of Taiwan by China.

In 1999, an entrapment operation in the Mediterranean reveals neo-Nazi activity in Germany, connections with a leading business magnate, and a planned coup d'état. Marcinko's team, with the help of Germany's elite KSK special forces, launches an attack on a castle in the Black Forest to retrieve stolen nuclear weapons.

Marcinko is hired to train Azerbaijan's security forces after a successful rescue operation in the Caspian Sea. Evidence of an Iranian-Russian plan to control the Caspian's oil deposits emerges, leading Marcinko's team to intervene and prevent the scheme.

Richard Marcinko's SEAL lineage, trained by him, answered the nation's call on September 12, 2001, following the 9/11 attacks. His men ultimately played a role in holding Osama Bin Laden accountable a decade later.

After a nuclear shipment is hijacked, Marcinko and his security team intervene to stop a former Army colonel from carrying out a nuclear threat against Portland, Oregon.

Marcinko's private security team conducts anti-terrorist security exercises at US facilities, facing revenge messages from a loved one of someone he once killed.

Red Cell International, overseen by Marcinko, thwarts a bombing attempt at a NATO conference in the Vatican, linking it to a larger campaign against the Catholic Church.

Kim Jong-il hires Marcinko to find his missing illegitimate son, leading to a complex situation involving the CIA, a North Korean nuclear weapon, and a hostage situation.

Marcinko partners with Bethesda Softworks for the release of the video game 'Rogue Warrior', where he is the main character sent on a mission to disrupt an anti-ballistic missile program in North Korea. The game receives heavy criticism for various shortcomings.

Marcinko's security company uncovers a plot to hijack India's nuclear weapons during security preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India.

Marcinko is hired to rescue a former SEAL's daughter abducted by Mexican drug cartels. The investigation leads to the discovery of a real-estate scam involving American senior citizens and a plot by the cartels to shelter Hezbollah militants and assassinate the US Secretary of State.

A failed CIA operation targeting an al-Qaeda-backed terrorist cell involved in money laundering connects to a plan to detonate a cruise liner in a US harbor. Marcinko's Red Cell International and SEAL Team Six collaborate to thwart the threat.

Richard Marcinko passed away from a heart attack at his home in Fauquier County, Virginia, on December 25, 2021, at the age of 81. He had a significant impact on the military and security consulting industry.

Richard Marcinko, also known as Demo Dick or the Rogue Warrior, passed away. He was a legendary Navy SEAL Commander known for his controversial yet colorful personality and contributions to the SEAL community.