''Rogue Warrior'' is an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

by career US naval officer Richard "Dick" Marcinko, who spent his career struggling to win acceptance for special warfare

SEAL Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

units within the Navy establishment. It covers the early history of the SEAL units, his participation in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, the Iran hostage rescue attempt in 1980 and the

U.S. invasion of Grenada The United States invasion of Grenada began at dawn on 25 October 1983. The United States and a Caribbean Peace Force, coalition of six Caribbean nations invaded the island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fur ...

and the founding and early history of two

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

counter-terrorist units,

SEAL Team SIX The Naval Special Warfare Development Group (NSWDG), abbreviated as DEVGRU ("Development Group") and commonly known as SEAL Team Six, is the United States Navy component of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). The unit is often referre ...

and

Red Cell Red Teams or Red Cells are United States government terms for the National Security Co-ordination Team (NSCT). These teams or units are designed to test the effectiveness of American tactics or personnel. In 1984, Red Cell was formed after Rich ...

. While commanding Red Cell, he was directed to use them to test the Navy's anti-terrorist capabilities and to expose the security weaknesses of U.S. properties around the world. During the tests, Red Cell was often able to infiltrate supposedly impenetrable, highly secured bases, nuclear submarines, ships and other "secure areas", including the Presidential plane

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...

. In doing so, he claims to have embarrassed several superior officers, whom he accuses of involvement in his subsequent conviction for misappropriation of funds and resources under his command. Marcinko also delights in recalling the gross behavior of the SEALs, such as eating the brains of a live monkey to impress some of his Cambodian allies. Based on the success of the book, Marcinko went on to author a series of novels placing himself as the protagonist and entitling the series ''Rogue Warrior''. The book also spawned a 2009 video game which features Marcinko as the protagonist.

References

Books about counterterrorism American autobiographies 1992 non-fiction books Works about SEAL Team Six Atria Publishing Group books {{mil-bio-book-stub