Founder of Seal Team Six dies aged 81: Richard Marcinko was tasked with setting up special forces unit after 1979 Iran hostage crisis, named it 'six' to fool Russian forces and spent 15 months in jail for $100,000 kickback scandal

Daily Mail (U.K.) ^ | December 26, 2021 | Natasha Anderson

[Cecily]

The first commanding officer of SEAL Team Six - the US military's vaunted counter-terrorism unit that would hunt down and kill Osama Bin Laden - died Sunday at age 81.

Richard 'Dick' Marcinko was tasked with designing the counter-terrorist team after the Iran hostage crisis in 1979.

Marcinko, along with another Navy representative, was on a task force to help free the American hostages in Iran, but were unsuccessful.

The mission, known as Operation Eagle Claw, highlighted deficiencies within the US military command structure and revealed the need for a full-time counter-terrorist team.

Marcinko launched the United States' third SEAL team in August 1980, calling it SEAL Team Six in order to fool the Soviet Union's KGB into thinking there were three other SEAL teams they didn't know about. He commanded the unit until July 1983.

[Cecily]

His book Rogue Warrior was interesting.

RIP.

[Aut Pax Aut Bellum]

Marcinko was a bad ass...RIP

[LegendHasIt]

Good Bye, Demo Dick; Godspeed.

[Carriage Hill]

You’re Home now, American Warrior. RIP.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

LOL…we had two SEAL teams and he named his “SEAL Team Six” to fool the Russkies. Love it!

[Captain Walker]

What on earth was a guy that old doing on the Bin Laden raid? (I guess he really wanted to go.)

[Captain Walker]

Oh, wait.

[Antihero101607]

May the Sharkman of the Delta RIP.

[laplata]

RIP

[2CAVTrooper]

The article states he was their first CO, not that he was on the raid with them

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Richard Marcinko wrote a lot of colorful books. The USN probably had half a dozen editors to make sure he didn’t accidentally leak classified information. At that level of exposure, I wouldn’t put it past them to have ghost written books fed through him, specifically to feed out fake info to bad guys.

Tom Clancy wrote convincingly enough so that foe and friend were fooled. There is intelligence value in that.

[piasa]

Ping.

[jimjohn]

Demo Dick.

Still have his novels.

RIP, my friend

[telescope115]

It was. His telling of one of his parachute jumps had me laughing til I had tears in my eyes.

[tatown]

Demo Dick’s books are fantastic. RIP

[cyclotic]

A friend of mine was on his original Team 6.

I knew him over ten years before he told me.

[ealgeone]

I've known one SEAL. I asked him what is most memorable mission was. All he did was smile and answer by saying, "we did some neat stuff."

You could tell he wanted to say what it was but held off in doing so due to his oath. Gotta admire that.

[cyclotic]

I know of one of his missions. It was kind of well known.

[matthew fuller]

Yes, that was the one I read first, (from memory I think that was his first, and a very interesting book) and after that he wrote a “lemon” that was not worth reading. I don’t remember the name of that one.

[Irish Eyes]

*