Red Cell The Last Mission, A True Story - RIP Richard Marcinko 

My Marcinko story from the mid 90's. I was working in Los Alamitos and was having lunch at this place across from the race track. I walked out and lit up my after lunch smoke next to the paper stands and standing there waiting for a lady to come out of the restaurant was Richard Marcinko. I turned to him a said how you doin' and turned to me and said "better than you if you keep smoking those things".

Marcinko! He's most likely in Valhalla right now organizing a "Team". Total bad ass and thank God he was on our side. PURE WARRIOR

You seem to be the only veteran to mention the passing of Richard Marcinko. I watch other RU-vid channels run by veterans and not one mentioned Richard Marcinko's passing. Just odd. Semper Fi Marine.

Red Cell embarrassed so many Navy brass and flushed their chances of promotion by demonstrating lapses in security, that it became one of many reasons charges were drummed up against Marcinko later.

Ft. Jackson 1995 or 1996 i was fotunate emough to be selected as the single MP assigned to his PX visit for a book signing (ironic for sure I know) I was with him for 2 hours. He got out of his limo with a bandage on his elbow. After becoming a bit familar with one another I asked him what happened to his elbow. He replied, someone at the airport insisted I was past my prime" I then said, "And Im assigned to your book signing as a security detail" lol. Very personable and it make it an experience I'll nevr forget. RIP sir.

In the mid 80's, I was stationed at a US Army airfield in West Germany. After I had been there for a year or so, a new guy on guard duty decided it would be fun to shoot a sheep out by the flight line. We had a German sheep herder who kept the grass low with his sheep grazing. After that shift, it was found that he was missing one round of ammo. He didn't fess up to it, so they locked us all down to find that bullet. Took a week, until someone ratted him out. After that. the Colonel decided none of us should have ammo on guard duty. At the same time, he decided to contract the local Polezei unit to patrol the inner perimeter fence at night, every once in awhile. The Colonel and the commander of the guard didn't tell us this. One night, I'm out with a new guy patrolling the back of the air field when I hear voices in the trees. I left the young kid back with the radio, and I approached the noises. I issued the challenge, and the voices stopped, but they didn't have the password. Two Polezei officers stepped out from the tree line, apologizing in German, which I did not understand, at the time. I aimed my empty M-16, I had a mag in it, at the two officers, and called back to the new guy, and told him to get the Sergeant of the Guard out to our location, pronto. While waiting on reinforcements, I had the two Polezei get on the ground and lie face down. I did this with an empty weapon! Pretty soon I heard a Cut V, a military pick up truck, hauling the mail out to our position. When they came up, the Sergeant jumped out and ordered me to let the Polezei officers up off the ground. That's when he decided to inform me that the Polezei were performing guard duty too. I expressed my concern to him not telling us this, while we were pulling guard duty. I tried to ease the tension by apologizing to the Polezei, and showing them that my weapon was empty. They did not find it as funny as I did. They talked with the Sergeant, who spoke German. He turned to me and said, "These officers would like to take you out for a couple beers." To which I replied, "I'm not going anywhere with those guys!". The next morning, when the blotter came out, and the Colonel read it, I was relieved of all further guard duty assignments, and the soldiers were given ammo on guard duty, again. The word was that the Colonel said, "Well, it's obvious this soldier doesn't need any more guard training. Take him off the roster as a reward for his diligence to duty." I spent the next year without having to pull guard duty. It was sweet.

Richard Marcinko: A true warrior! RIP!!

Hell of a story man it's cool hearing stories about the old corps. Semper Fi

I served with this great man on a mission in Africa , he was the most awesome awesome leader I ever had the pleasure of serving with, God bless him his memory and all of his endeavors Semper Fidelis 🦅🌎⚓

He grew up in my hometown, Lansford, Pa

I was fortunate to have met him at a book signing in 1995. Was an honor. Too bad I didn't think to bring a camera; would have loved a photo with him. I was on Naval Weapons Station Goose Creek, SC when Red Cell came through.... I spoke with him about that. A true American.

Red Cell was my absolute favorite book I must have read it 5 times or more. I have the entire collection. I brought the first two books with me to read during 'selection' and training. RIP Cmdr Marcinko

Rest In Peace. Like him or not the man helped form what we have now. He was a fore runner and a warrior.

Great story, Mike!! I was on Barracks Duty for my first two years in the Corps down at North Island (84-86) and we always heard about the Red Cell (we referred to them as Red Teams at the time, I think), so we were always training with the Red Team threat in the back of our minds. I was on Barracks Duty when the original Red Dawn came out and we had a super gung-ho Plt Cdr who made us all go see it on a day off. It was pretty awesome being a young Marine in SoCal in the 80's!! Good times!!! S/F!!

I read his first book back in the 90's. Seaql Team...read them all ever since. It grieves me to hear of his death. RIP Dick... An amazing man, warrior & Patriot

Red Cell member Steve Hartman was my supervisor at the Navy Yard and I've been trying to find him.

His team took over key parts of our base in the late 80's! Great and educational exercise although they terrorized more than one person and made some senior officers look inept. ( I got lucky and escaped being taken prisoner). RIP ⚓🙏

Lucky for me my father was in Vietnam with him, got to hear some good stories

Marcinko was like the 'town tamer' sheriff in the old west that was indicted for murder in every town he cleaned up. He did such a good job in red cell that he embarrassed a lot of the brass by exposing their incompetence that he was targeted by NCIS that attempted to hang him by hook or by crook. Much the same way they went after Eddie Gallagher.

Infantry marine or army like me you get fucked with on guard duty. Red Cell is a necessity for all military branches and in the police department should be used he was ahead of his time

Mike, I was there with Marine Barracks, NWS Seal Beach during that RedCell Op.....that was a wild time, I was in the 1st Guard Section, (I was also the Motor-Transport NCO for the Barracks-call sign 101) had the privilege to drive Marcinko and his boys around before and after the operation, one of the Team-6 Chiefs was a former Marine, hung out with him for a while. I was also there during the theft of the Law Enforcement Drug-Bunker evidence, wild times for sure. Remember that Boot that was on post on the South Side that shot a couple Canadian Geese with his M16, and another boot discharge his 12ga inside the duty hut (accidental?) I have never been in a more radical crazy unit then this one before Seal Beach and after....did 12yrs in the Corps, got out after my return from Desert Storm.

His autobiography is some of the best reading ever. RIP.

It was great watching your video. Cool to hear you mention M.C.A.S. El Toro. My Mom (R.I.P.) was stationed there in 1955-56, after Parris Island. Once in awhile growing up I would hear her mention it from time to time, but not till our High School years we were able to truly understand what it meant to her to have served in the Corps. Semper Fi!

Thanks for the story marine! A good man passed, thank you and all that served this nation!

Great story! My Dad was an E-7 (CPO) in the Navy and would have to serve as the OOD (Officer Of the Day) every so often (can’t recall; once a month?). He told me that their issued Colt Govt Model .45 was to be kept unloaded, per Naval policy. But he kept his loaded, just in case.

Will never forget the time in the Navy I got an NJP, suspended. The C.O. of my shop was a Mustang Marine, and he told me this, despite me being a Sailor: "You're not a Marine until you've been Masted, and I had 3 of them." RIP CMDR Marcinko.

RIP Richard Marcinko you are a true patriot and a hearo to this great country! Thank to you Marcinko you took the Seals and turned them into a force to fear! GOD bless USN and your family 💖🙏🎖⚓🕊

Chesty Puller was visiting a Marine base and was asked what he would like to see. Puller replied "Take me to the Brig--I want to see some real Marines". Or as the story goes. Sounds like 'ol Chesty.By the way, the guards on the USS Cole were forbidden to load their M16's. When I stood Boatswains Mate of the Watch in port, I had a 1911 in an old WW!! black holster with two clips of ammo on my web belt. I always loaded the pistol and the Officer of the Watch never said a damn thing. This back in 1971 and 72. My My MY how things have changed! I loved your story! Marcinco pissed off the Big Brass off so bad by showing their deficencies and they fuc8ed with him with bullshit charges. Too bad we don't have more like him.

Good story. I saw the 60 Mins piece back in early 90s. Of course I ran out and bought Marcinko's book immediately. I think 'torture' is a word thrown around too freely these days. I saw the vid on TV and I wouldn't necessarily call that torture. More like 'roughed up' a little. IMHO.

He was a Great leader in my opinion. Your story takes me back to my shipboard days and being a part of the Security Alert Force. I remember being told during security drills that if you actually inserted a magazine then someone better be shooting at you! Weapons were basically never to be loaded. Good story.

That event is my favorite part of the book. i grew up in socal, about 15 miles north of SBNWC, if you wanted to go to the beach, passing the base was the shortest route. Also crazy to read someone write about an area that you live in... to include the huge retirement village that used to be across the road. i believe i even saw his insertion point/launch boat in the estuary/bridge location on PCH. normally local fishermen were allowed to enter that area (in very small 2-3 man boats) on the weekends. One day while driving that PCH/bridge, i saw a medium sized yacht sitting on the seaside of the bridge.. too large to make it into the area and thats what stuck with me, it didnt look right. was it them?? i dunno, but i like to think that it was. great little shout out to "the bull" too, i wish that place was still around! RIP Frog-Man!

Believe it or not these guys saved thousands of American lives. If Red Cell and admiral Lyons and Cmdr Marcinko were still around; we’d be ahead of our enemies.

Great story- thanks for sharing with us. Interesting story about the unloaded weapons. In the USAF I guarded nukes and AF1. Our weapons were loaded at all times. Marcinko was a legend.

Don’t feel ashamed. It was the 80s. Cocaine was everywhere back then. I was on a South American UNITAS cruise in the Navy and how could you NOT do cocaine, especially in Colombia 🤣 😂

Sharkman will be missed!

Great story. Esp when u said u got busted doing coke w some girls!! I was in the Navy and had to go see the CO for underage drinking and starting an altercation at the base E-club. Got 45 days extra duty and a 200 fine. I wish i could have me CDR Marcinko. It would have been a huge honor.

I’ve read all Marcinko’s books. R.I.P. Rouge Warrior.

Cool story, thanks for sharing and your service!!!!!!!!!!

I had the honor to meet Mr. Marcinko when I lived in the DC area in the 1990s. He was a very interesting man, indeed...

Ah the joys of guard duty, challenging skunks in the pitch black woods in OK or wondering if those scurrying noises you're hearing in the jungle outside Rodman are iguanas or some narcos looking to score whatever's in the bunker you're guarding. Good times, not.

I only accidentally found out yesterday on a New York site, had to search for news... For those who may not know, he started the post-gulf war, action hero (highly realistic fiction) genre book category and the british SAS commander Andy McNab followed almost immediately, who was also as good as RM....it was really just the two of them in the '90s into the 2000s. Others tried, but just didn't have the knack for it.

Red Cell was still operational in 1985. Only person I ran into that took one look at me and I knew he had just ran through, in his head, how he was going to kill me.

Did those Marines ever get caught , drugs ever recovered? Cheers 🍻 Awesome story

great story. pray your well in life. I hope others like don Shipley does a story on mr marchinko America heros Patriots great Americans hope this guy got a honorable discharge. god bless all our troops. god bless america happy new year. America

Busted? Not the end of the world. I served with a guy (Navy) that made E-4 and E-5 twice in his four years in. You weren’t lying though. Those Chiefs with the red hash marks on their uniforms were the ones you could really learn from 😉

I got there to Seal Beach shortly after Red Cell hit and you nailed it with the command staff. Worst Command I ever encountered. Maj T, Capt B, all the way down, UNSAT. I remember at least 3 Marines that were caught buying things they couldn’t afford on their pay grade. We also had a particular Sergeant W. that was constantly scouring the base looking for “bales” of weed. Rumor was that although it was only a few that initiated the theft, several more Marines got involved after that. I didn’t know it started of from a snitch, I have since seen 2 Marines I was stationed with on television. One became a professional body builder and one, a cook ironically was actually on WifeSwap years ago. Small friggin works. Semper Fidelis Mike.

R.I.P. Yes, I have Studied Mike. NOoo YIT! I got cleared to "Re" do Security entrance systems at Seal Weapons storage Bunkers in the early 2000's or late 90's? Later in about 2017 around 5 am I took my fishing boat out in "THICK" Fog alone from HB 1st or 2nd time right Up The Middle while Sailers loaded out a vessel with cranes, and with a Navel gun boat with a pig and ma duce with about a crew of four, not happy I was pitching lures at the south jetty rocks? But I could not see what was going on till I was right in amongst them?

The idea of Marines or Soldiers not having loaded weapons is ridiculous.

Killer story. I never knew about Red Cell until he passed. Just watched a series on here about him. Fascinating dude.

Rip Dick. Read rogue warrior when I was 16 and have been a fan for years

I love my Navy Seals. Thank you. Barbara ♥️

This is amazing. I live right down the street from the naval weapons seal beach now. I'm right on Westminster road. I work over by the old El Toro base so this story really hits home for me. I was in the Corps a few years after this in 88 and never heard any of this? Crazy jarheads always up to no good. That's a 100% fact.

Red Cell! 🥰 intelligence! Taught me, go into corporation's and report back as a Temp. Intelligence. Recon.

He shaped my entire you get outlook on life. I thought of him as a mentor. I always wondered what other seals thought of him. He did innovate alot of modern special ops

Some of us, get out alive.

Interesting story Thank you and Rest In Peace to the greatest SEAL ever!!!

Great story man. Ya your right about being very young in the military. Your straight up about portraying yourself. RIP to Demo Dick. (Slow Salute rendered) He was a hell of a Seal! I first heard of him through the old SOF magazine. He was the real deal.

We love you Demo Dick Thank You for your sacrifice to this great nation.

Thank You Michael. Cheers!

My nephew Mike is a security forces Marine. Good boy.

I learned a lot from him, when I got in security. Damn.

I fly outa Los Alamitos AAF all the time (government employee, NOT military) and always look down at Seal Beach NWS directly south of the field. I always think of Marcinko and the stories he told in both Rogue Warrior and Red Cell about that place. Amazing books.

What the hell did this have to do with Red Cell? This is just click bait.

I remember Richard - and even Red Cell - because it was based in my home town. (Not Alexandria VA - but Indian Head MD - my home town - I grew up there, went to elementary and high school there and spent my young adulthood there.) Okay - why Indian Head? Indian Head has history - long and extensive history - I called it - as a civilian - "reach out and touch someone" history; started BEFORE torpedoes - with cannons - in 1890. Turns out that the Navy diving school was based there - and became legendary itself. (As we all know, UDT (Underwater Diving Teams - the predecessors of SEALs) had a stop at Navy Diving School enroute to UDT. With NAVSCOLEOD - the Naval EOD SChool - also on site- it makes hiding about thirty SEALS - which is how big Red Cell was - a piece of cake.) The ONLY incident that Red Cell EVER got into in Indian Head itself was after it was shuttered - and like a lot of military installations do when shuttered, it was environmental in nature - in other words, it involved the EPA and the state equivalent - MDE - Maryland Department of the Environment. Far from news to me. (As to WHY it's not news to me, Google-search environmental issues involving Andrews AFB between 2000 and 2005 - I was working there - for a government contractor - between 2001 and 2003 - and was NOT involved in the messes uncovered - but did know about them.) I've read most of Richard's books - including "Rogue Warrior"; in fact, I re-read "SEAL Force Alpha" earlier today - I have it in hardcover.

He was among the baddest of badasses.

I read his book Rogue Warrior. Crazy stuff, may he rest in peace

"Noone has a bad thing to say about him." -except the officers who he made look bad by infiltrating their bases & exposing their shotty security.

Howdy Marine, Party Seal Beach, We were loading bombs and fuel we had 24 hrs off went into town and went to a punk rock bar. Well shit where could a guy go drink till you stank and all these punks screaming SLAM DANCE. We got in to it and was asked to leave, After that in the PI or where ever if we heard yelling HAVE A SLAMING DAY we knew our shipmates were in trouble. Adak,AK was just as bad as seal beach for the marine's cold and wet and BS up the ass. 80's were fun alot of cops and robber shit, piss test's and the new NAVY , drink was getting a bad rap. Anyway we survived. Good times . see ya

Richard Marcinko. May he rest in peace. Another Warrior to guard the the gates of Heaven waiting for the final call for battle.

great shit bro. im a 20 year vet, love your shit , dont stop telling it they way you lived it

Hey ...what about the drugs ? Were they ever found ?

No worries, I made PFC and Lance Corporal twice each, with EPD and half pay for two month each.

You're clearly a brother who's just being absolutely truthful, and this is a great story, man. I have to take a bit of an issue with the word "tortured," when it comes to what the guys actually did. They pushed the edge of the reality envelope, to get peoples' attention, but the Cell didn't actually cross over into anything that was "real world" violence when they ran ops. They hurt people's egos and feelings. What a pile of journalists, civilians and brass might call "torture" is essentially just somebody getting their fking feelings (and maybe a little skin) bruised. Anyway, Dick was an incredible guy and was truly one of the smartest, sharpest, hard charging, knuckledraggers I've ever had the privilege of knowing, and this was a great story. It's a shame you didn't get some time with him to compare notes on this op. I think he would've had fun reminiscing with you.

1980, the year I joined. I can relate to alot of the BS in certain duty stations, certain billets. There was alot of crazy sht going on back then, even today in the upper echelons. I always had little respect for so-called intelligence outfits, why? Because they cause a lot of unnecessary BS most of the time. Check out Kay Griggs here on YT, she busted out everything I'm talking about here. Things are never as they seem, then and now, it's a wonder any of us made it out alive. Lol Always Faithful

21 year , Navy Veteran Retired , Rob Mahar R.I.P.

"I Did Read" his book! it was an officer on the Admirals' staff? in the book, as "I recall" Kicked off his Shit Storm, as "I recall?" Phunny!! "I got Hired" through a sub-contractor to "Up Grade" Seal Beach bunker security around 2005, 06, or 07 as a Journeyman Electrician with history of Haz Classified Environments, and Security classified areas. The Sub and Security took to Long, better gig came sooner. I Never connected my dots?

Thank you for story about this. Military Commander must look past there EGO. The move up the Ladder, what JOBS there getting after Retirement. They must look at the weak points in there base security. When you look at Red cell from the 80s, this is so important in today's world. The MAN was ahead of his times. R.I. P.

Marcinko is another prime example of how much badass soldiers Croats can be

I’ve read almost all of Dick’s books over the last 30 years. True patriot! God bless him

I heard that at one time, in the french army/military, or maybe just the Legion, if you LEAGALLY killed some one while on guard, you got a black shoulder cord and exempted from guard duty for ever. If not true, it should be true.

Read Demo Dick's book and positively LOVED IT!! Thank you for posting this video

Served under LCDR Marcinko back in da days as a young tadpole. Original Plank Owner, excellent teacher, Warrior, leader, friend. Until Valhalla...

Happy Super Bowl

what an incredible life he lived and story. i really wish he was around his prime right now in these days with 6 with how everything has gone on. be interesting to see what may or may not have happened in it all

Good story. Thanks for sharing Devil Dog.

RIP Dirty Dick. He was one of the greatest!

Outstanding if I was to ever run into you in real life I would tell you some really interesting stories

This really bumbs me out, well God just elevated him to a whole new level of Ghost Status, imagine Him coming with Christs RETURN!! SALUTE MLLH&R PEACE OUT BROTHER!! RIDE HARD WITH THE ANGELS AND SAINTS ALWAYS!! GOD BLESS YOU AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE. HOO-YAH TO THE 3RD POWER!! 2ND TO NONE!!

I was stationed in Edzell, Scotland in 88-90 when Team six conducted penetration ops spanning about a week. Interesting times.

Ah yes Devil dogs from the 80s 15 year corporals being chased out,mind ya that they went up and down the ranks. The new marine corps,very shinny and full of new concepts(post Vietnam). Total shit show until Beirut...........

Like to thank him for his Service to his country God Bless the United states of America Boo Ya SEALS Team Cmdr

People wouldn't believe it. Though I know it's true. We used to say what happens on deployment, stays on deployment. 25 or so years later? No biggie. We bootlegged alcohol from the base in Keflavik Iceland on the 1990/ 1991 6 month deployment. Myself and a bunch of other sailors and Icelandic people. Including some Shore Patrol and even Icelandic police. I made more money than I did in pay from Uncle Sam. So did a bunch of other people. I found out years later that it's also used as an Intelligence Gathering opportunity by, well we all know who. The network was already in operation before my 19 year old butt got there, I was just recruited into it . All while being "investigated" by NIS on another level lol. People wouldn't believe this kind of stuff goes on. But it does. 😂 When we got back to the States and NASB, Brunswick, ME when it existed, I bought a 1971 Blue Chevy Chevelle Malibu and put thousands of dollars into it. Used to park it at the main gate MA Station for a few months in 1991, after getting into trouble for having a radar detector on my visor one morning coming into the base. 😂 I wonder if the Marines still have that full fledged Bar in their barracks. Right across from the Squadron barracks? Every week, for 6 months, buying it from the Annex Liquor Store, at about 10$ a bottle, selling at about 120$ a bottle ! We would trade for ration cards, and fill a trunk from the Hertz rental, a Subaru Station Wagon, and make deliveries all over Iceland, mainly the Capital Reklavic.

THANK YOU for your service!!!!!!!

R.I.P. Richard Marcinko ,

RIP he was THE man, who formed SEAL team 6, and absolutely performed the correct security deficiency training to the gov and military, showing them embarrassing times. Political fallout from this was embarrassing to officers, base commanders etc. As far as the drugs... Terrible of the people, bringing them into bases and out into the Fleet air wing etc. I know many of them that got busted and sent to levenworth... Which they damn sure deserved... People have died from them drugs in the military... The dealers were scumbags, as are those aiding or turning a blind eye to it.

Last time I saw Dick, was summer 2012. We were poolside watching our respective kids play while staying at a Cedar Point Ohio water park next to the Amusement Park. He used an electric chair to mobilize from time to time.

Keep sharing more stories.

Great Story! I enlisted in the Corps just a few years after this incident, the stories were still a hot topic..

Mike, first- Semper Fi brother!. I too was in in MCSF back then we called it Barracks Duty. I am not doubting your story at all... But I do know that, even back then, there was no entering a conventional weapons bunker without detection. From cameras to silent alarms, on the bunker doors, motion detectors etc., all being monitored at some form of a control center. This would indicate that the conspiracy to hit that storage bunker went much deeper than the Marines who entered it. They had to have had help/support from someone in the control center ignoring the alarms and cameras. As you well know, that compromise of, even a conventional bunker, would have alerted the QRF (or BAF as was called it back then) as a "crash call actual"... Again, I do not doubt your story at all... there were some sketchy Marines back in the 80's... and I could add some pretty cringe stories to yours... LOL Some things to note however, while you were at Seal Beach, I was on Coronado, guarding gates, conventional bunkers and nuclear storage bunkers and nuclear maintenance and inspection compounds- and we carried all weapon platforms loaded. Now, we did not have a round chambered, but there definitely was a loaded mag in all of our duty weapons. When we trained (and we trained a lot as you noted) on live fire ranges, the first order of business was to charge the weapon as a matter of muscle memory. Its interesting that your work schedule was 6/6... We did the 4 on 8 off for 48 hours and then rolled into 2 days of training... Often times we would go from our duty days right to Camp Pendleton for training. Other times, since we were on Coronado, we'd go run beaches, the SEAL O-course, run scenarios or have 2 days of class room training... and then have 2 days off. That cycle brought about 72's and 96's every few months or so. As to Red Cells... while others have done videos about that Teams 100% success rate- those success rates were only bragged about by Marcinko himself- which he did a lot of. When they attempted to hit us (our Security Force Co.) they did not fair as well. We caught them in the process of their surveillance on our unit twice. After the second time they moved to the soft side of the base and harassed the sailors in the port areas and at the PX (which technically was on base, but outside the gates). Your stories brought back some memories for sure.. Semper FI...

Even during deployments we had to account for eve6rt single round.. We loved getting attached to SF.. because they didn't and we'd get cases of F-off rounds.. they even had mk19 rounds and no mks with them..lol