Category: Military History

The 9D5 Helo Dunker was a staple of training helicopter aircrew safety training for decades. It enjoyed a dread reputation though. Here is a first-]hand account of what that training was like for a Helicopter Rescue Swimmer while attending Aircrewman Candidate School in Pensacola.

Alvin York did what seemed impossible: he killed some 20 German soldiers and captured 132 of them— single-handedly.

Our family moved every three years during my formative years. We were in Yokosuka, Japan, when President Kennedy was shot and killed. It was a Boy Scout Jamboree day. Our troop produced a display on first aid, and I staffed the booth. My uniform was ironed and creased, and my merit badge sash had fifteen […]

Charms candy sounds quite… charming, but the marines believed that eating these would summon all the havoc in the world.

In 1915, the war between the Germans and the Russians once caused what was known as “The Attack of The Dead Men.”

Some stories during the war were not big enough for everyone to know but were remarkable enough to be told. James Ward’s was one of them.

These are some of the men who made history through their amazing long sniper shots that took down the enemies.

In 1989, the legendary F-14 Tomcat got its second taste of air to air combat when two F-14A models brought down two Libyan Mig 23s over the Gulf of Sidra. In 1981, a pair of Tomcats did the same thing, knocking two Libyan Mig 21s out of the air.

In this final part of the Dick Marcinko interviews, Dick makes the prediction that terrorists will hit the United States with a Dirty-Bomb as the tactics of the terrorists shift from mass casualty attacks to economic warfare against our power grid, water supply and ports.

Dick Marcinko talks about their operations against Air Force One security when they put a 500lb bomb close to the aircraft. When it was discovered EOD failed to account for it being boobytrapped. Dick also has a lot to say about the misuse of SEAL Teams as door kickers and the detrimental effect it will have on their core skills in waterborne operations.

In part seven of the Dick Marcinko interviews, Dick tells us about the formation of Red Cell, a command set up to test the defensive capabilities of military and government installations against terrorist attacks. Rather than employ the expertise and gear available to a SEAL Team in testing these facilities, Marcinkos team operated with nothing more on hand that a good “Second Story Man” would have at his disposal.

In part six lf the Dick Marcinko interviews, we learn that training SEALs to fly airplanes was a big problem for the Navy brass. And speaking of brass, SEAL Team Six had a bigger budget for ammunition than the entire Marine Corps.