Navy SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden founded by Auburn graduate (Talbot)
Published: Wednesday, May 04, 2011, 8:30 AM Updated: Wednesday, May 04, 2011, 9:31 AM
By George Talbot from al.com
U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six — the elite special forces group that took down Osama Bin Laden on Sunday — was founded by an Auburn University graduate.
Richard Marcinko, known affectionately as “Demo Dick,” includes a master’s degree in political science from Auburn on his extensive resume.
Marcinko, 70, built the Navy’s premiere counter-terrorism unit in 1980, following a tragic failure by the U.S. military to rescue a group of American hostages in Iran.
That debacle — known as Operation Desert Claw — contributed to President Jimmy Carter’s defeat by Ronald Reagan later that year. It also highlighted the Navy’s need to upgrade its special forces capability.
Marcinko, a combat veteran in Vietnam, was tasked with creating the elite unit and served as its commanding officer from 1980-83.
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