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This team tested the security of naval bases, nuclear submarines, ships, civilian airports, and an American embassy.
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In 1984, Marcinko hand-picked twelve men from SEAL Teams and one from Marine Force Recon. This unit was the Naval Security Coordination Team OP-06D, unofficially named Red Cell. Red CellĪfter 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. While typically a two-year command in the Navy at the time, Marcinko commanded SEAL Team Six for three years, from August 1980 to July 1983. SEAL Team Six would be the Navy's premier counter-terrorist unit, like its Army counterpart Delta Force. Navy's special operations community, including a special counter-terrorist tactics section of SEAL Team Two, codenamed MOB-6. He personally selected the unit's members from across the U.S. 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. At the time, the Navy had only two SEAL teams. Marcinko was the first commanding officer of this new unit. 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.
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The purpose of the TAT was to develop a plan to free the American hostages held in Iran which culminated in Operation Eagle Claw. SEAL Team Sixĭuring 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). After serving in Cambodia for 18 months, Marcinko returned stateside and assumed command of SEAL Team Two from 1974 to 1976. 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.Īfter completing his second tour in Vietnam and a two-year stateside staff assignment, Marcinko was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and assigned as the Naval Attache to Cambodia in 1973.
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During the Tet Offensive, Marcinko ordered his platoon to assist U.S. Marcinko returned to Vietnam with SEAL Team TWO after a few months stateside as Officer-in-Charge of 8th Platoon from Dec 1967 to June 1968. For leading it, Marcinko was awarded the first of his four Bronze Stars, as well as a Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star. This action would be called the "most successful SEAL operation in the Mekong Delta" by the U.S. On May 18, 1967, 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. In January 1967, Marcinko deployed to Vietnam with 2nd Platoon, SEAL Team TWO for a six month tour of duty.
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