Richard Marcinko, SEAL Team 6's First Commander, Dies

Richard Marcinko, the first commanding officer of Navy SEAL Team 6, died on Saturday at age 81, according to the Navy Seal Museum’s Facebook page.

"The SEALs who knew Dick Marcinko will remember him as imaginative and bold, a warrior at heart," retired Navy SEAL Adm. Eric Olson told Navy Times. "He was a spirited rogue for sure, but we are better off for his unconventional service."

Marcinko was born Nov. 21, 1940, in Lansford, Pennsylvania, and enlisted in the U.S. Marines before being rejected because he did not have a high school diploma, according to Fox News.

He would eventually earn a bachelor's degree and master's degree in international relations and political science, respectively.

Marcinko led the SEAL team in the May 1967 assault on Iloilo Han, which has become known as the Navy’s most successful SEAL operation during the Vietnam War, according to the Navy Times. Marcinko deployed a second time with SEAL Team 2 during the Vietnam War, with his platoon assisting Army Special Forces during the Tet Offensive.

During the Iran hostage crisis in 1979, Marcinko was one of two Navy representatives on a task force for a rescue mission. After it failed, the Navy tasked Marcinko with designing and developing a dedicated counterterrorist team, which he named "SEAL Team 6," even though the Navy actually only had two others, to make other countries believe there were additional SEAL teams, according to the Navy Times.

After retiring from the Navy, Marcinko became CEO of his private security company, SOS Temps Inc., according to his Amazon author profile.

He also created Richard Marcinko Inc., a motivational training and team-building firm; and Red Cell International, Inc., which carries out vulnerability assessments of high-value properties and high-risk targets, according to Amazon.

He was also the author of several books, including his 1993 New York Times bestselling autobiography, "Rogue Warrior," which would lead to several spinoff novels, according to Fox News.