Books: Richard Marcinko

Anybody read his books? I thought they were GREAT! Enjoyed them very much. Comments?

I read a number of them a couple years back. I found them to be fast paced and interesting. It would seem he is the real deal and provides some insight into a world most of us will never experience nor would we be prepared to do so! :green:

I read the first, autobiography (ahem), then the second fiction. I also skimmed the leadership secrets in the library.

I have read interviews with Marcinko, and talked to a former ROTC fellow who met him--for drinks what else? I have also read "exposes" or just chapters out of other SEAL 6 autobios about Marcinko by those who knew him and worked with him.

He created quite a "wake" so to speak. Raging alcoholic characters like Charlie Beckwith, creator of Delta, come off as sober, humble introverts by comparison.

Marcinko's claim to have been set up by the Navy over the flash bang grenade contract kickback for which he went to prison is a bit disingenuous. He is far from the first or last government official to get caught taking taxpayer money or bribes.

Still, history is full of crazy people--like J. Edgar Hoover--who organized something larger and better than themselves. The fact that SEAL 6 (renamed DevGroup after Marcinko's book outed them) is still a respected unit says something about Marcinko, I suppose.

I met him a few years back at a signing. He autographed all my books and took photos with me and my wife. I had the impression that if I offered to pick up the tab for drinks and dinner he would have joined up. Oh yeah, he showed up to the signing in a Hawaiian shirt, shorts and flip-flops.

I know several guys who served with him. Their opinions differ greatly. I get the impression that even though he maintains he treated everyone alike, he had his favorites within the unit. His favorites will sing his praises til eternity while his non-favs think he's an egotistical meglomaniac.

All of that to say, I've read most of his stuff. I like them enough.

I've read most of them and they rock. Although I never got to meet him I wish I could have.

His writing style just makes me laugh! Hard hitting yet funny. He looks pretty mean in his pictures. I don't think "Pinky da Turd" liked him much!

Cowritten with John Weisman, the books are unique in tone and funny. Interviews with Marcinko suggest that, while very proud of his career, he tries to demystify himself and special operations, where others would try to build on the mystique and the whole James Bond aura of counterterrorism.

While I have read that SEAL 6 guys have referred to themselves as Jedi Knights, I'm certain somebody like Marcinko would not have tolerated that type of grandiosity. The commander of SEAL 6 to take over from Marcinko also wrote an autobiography and seemed very down to earth and low key. Of all the SEAL 6 autobiographies, Marcinko's is the most over the top.

The Warrior's Soul--Chuck Pfarrer, SEAL 6 officer during Achille Lauro hijack
One Perfect Op--Dennis Chalker, SEAL 6/RED CELL who stormed Grenada, a favorite of Marcinko
Combat Swimmer--Captain Robert Gormly, SEAL 6 commander after Marcinko (chapter 22 Audits and Investigations: The Marcinko Legacy)
Combative Fundamentals: An Unconventional Approach--Jeff Gonzales, SEAL 6, how to fight with a gun. Gonzales, like Chalker, does firearms training.

A few other books have been written by SEAL 6 members, but these are the ones I remember.

One thing I always liked about him was from the first (autobiography) book where he recounts a story of an Ensign possibly a LT, who was going to be booted (he was an ROTC officer and his term was up). Marcinko was CO of Seal Team 2 at the time. For those who haven't read it basically he tasked the team with getting this guy up to speed then sent him off to BUD/S, Jump School and every other school he could find so that the Navy would lose track of him and forget about booting him. Fifteen years or so later the guy was piped aboard (a Navy thing) as CO Seal Team 2.

As for the allegations and investigations, I think he got shafted. He lost his protection net at Navy HQ and everyone he'd ever ticked off came calling.