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At the height of the Cold War, why did a small elite group of SEAL operators known as Red Cell break into a heavily guarded US nuclear submarine base undetected? And after disposing of the centuries, why did they start laying down explosive charges in highly sensitive areas and even in a hospital wing? To cap it all, they even managed to gain access into one of the top secret submarines where they laid even more explosive charges. To add to the mystery, the unit didn't just quietly withdraw from the base, but their commander went and sat down with the base commander and informed him of what they had done. The leader of this daring operation was Richard Mareno calls sign demo dick, a larger than-l life character in the history of the US
military. Born in 1940 in Lansford, Pennsylvania, he dropped out of high school, joining the Navy in 1958. At first, he was a radioman, but then applied for underwater demolition team replacement training, which was a precursor to the Navy Seals. In 1965, he completed officer candidate school, was promoted to Enson, and joined SEAL Team 2 in 1966. He then spent two tours in Vietnam, earning a number of medals, including the Silver Star, the first of four Bronze Stars, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, among others. Allegedly, after several successful operations, the North Vietnamese put a bounty on his head, dead or alive, preferably dead. This was just the beginning of his career. After returning home from Vietnam, he spent 2 years as
leader of Seal Team 2 before international events would change his and the US military's life. In 1980, Operation Eagle Claw was initiated. It was an attempt to rescue American hostages that were taken in the aftermath of the revolution in Iran. also called the Desert One incident. The operation was a total failure and resulted in the death of eight service personnel. Marino himself called the operation one big waste. He had other things to say, but those aren't advertiser friendly. In the wake of this disaster, military leadership saw the need for a specialist group of counterterrorists that can be deployed rapidly to hotspots around the world.
Marino was given the task of creating this new unit and gave it the designation of SEAL Team 6. The name was a bit of a cold war deception. There were no teams three, four, or five, but the Soviets didn't know that. It was here that he ran into his first major controversy. Marceno wasn't a by the book sort of leader. He had an interesting way to build camaraderie among the newly formed team. They would drink copious amounts of alcohol and get into bar fights. Some would later say that Seal Team 6 under Marso's leadership was him and his drinking buddies getting into trouble. But the top brass was pleased enough with the results. Marso ran the team from 1980 to 1983. After he left Seal Team 6, he was given another and arguably more
important task. With fears of terrorism at what was then a historic high, he was sent to test the security at several vital naval bases. To do this, he created Red Cell, a team of 12 fellow SEALs and one force recon marine. They would infiltrate supposedly secure areas and fake terrorist attacks to highlight security flaws. As crazy as their exploits may have seemed, and don't worry, we'll talk about them in a minute, this was not a free-for-all. Each operation was carefully planned in advance with specific parameters that must be adhered to at all times. The base commander would be notified of these attacks ahead of time. Neutral observers would monitor all activities and there was even a naval lawyer
assigned to Red Cell to make sure everything was on the level. So what exactly did they do? Their first operation was a trial run of Red Cell attacking Norfolk Naval Station which involved smoke bombs, booby traps, and simulated explosives planted around the base. It showed shortcomings in the base's security, but was more of a trial run to see how Red Cell would interact with base security, mostly to make sure no one would actually get hurt in the confusion. The dress rehearsal was a great success. So, it was time for the main event. In June 1985, Red Cell hit their first real target, the submarine base of New London, Connecticut. During the days of preparation, they discovered a list of glaring security flaws,
including no gate at the entrance to the base, rusty chainlink fences that could easily be broken, and a huge portion of the base's perimeter that had no barrier at all, only a 100 ft cliff and some vegetation. At the base of this cliff was the ordinance facility, which itself was protected only by a single chainlink fence. The base personnel were also less than inspiring. Red Cell flew light aircraft over the submarine pens with no response from the base's security. They then rented a boat, sailed it close enough to take pictures of supposedly classified material. They also did this while the boat was proudly waving the Soviet flag in plain view. After these preparations, the base's commander was
notified of the operation and red cell struck. The base was put on high alert, but this wasn't enough. The attackers climbed down the cliff, entered the ordinance facility, eliminated a sentry without drawing attention, metaphorically speaking, before breaking into the building, planting dummy explosives on both nuclear materials and torpedoes before calling it a day. The next day, they infiltrated the base again, including a four-man team that swam ashore, changed into civilian clothes, then made their way to the sub pens, planting more fake explosives on a submarine's hydroplanes, and entered another, planting more demolition charges around the vessel. Another team gained entry to the base and planted explosives in the hospital,
headquarters, and communication buildings, all without any real resistance. Oh, and the whole thing was video recorded. So once the exercise was over, Maringo sat down with the base leadership and was more than happy to point out every flaw in their security measures. During Labor Day weekend of the same year, Red Cell launched another attack. This time aimed right at the heart of the American government. Their target was Point Mugu Naval Air Station in California. They managed to infiltrate the base through weak security at the gates, then placed fake explosives in the air intakes of several FA18 Hornets, took out the main communications antenna, and even took several hostages at an off-base cafeterium. And this isn't the wildest
part. They then stole a weapons carrier, loaded a fake 500lb bomb on it, concealing the device by covering it with the latest of Cold War technology, a plastic tarp. The tarp covered bomb was then placed in the parking lot of the officer's barracks where it sat undisturbed for the holiday weekend. They then saw an even bigger opportunity. Then President Ronald Reagan liked to take his vacations at his ranch about 125 mi away. So sitting there on the tarmac was Air Force One. Red Cell drove the weapons carrier next to the plane, simulated activating the explosive, and simply walked away. There were no shortages of controversy, however. During one exercise in 1986, Ronald Sheridan, a civilian security
officer at a naval installation, was woken at 3:00 a.m. about a potential threat to the base. He was well aware of Red Cell's existence. So, when he left his house, he wasn't surprised when a man held him at gunpoint and flashed a badge at him. Sheridan's wife was about to shoot the man with her personal revolver, but he assured her that it was all part of the exercise. He was then taken to a nearby motel where he was supposed to be photographed and videotaped as proof he was captured. According to Sheridan, the eight or nine men that captured him began to beat him and even forced his head into a toilet, supposedly to make the incident appear more real, but this was totally unnecessary violence that served no
purpose. Marso and others denied this happened. Either way, after this and other controversies, Marino was relieved of his command, and he retired from the Navy in 1989. In 1990, he was convicted of defrauding the government and given a 21-month sentence, of which he served 15. In 1992, he published his autobiography, Rogue Warrior, which became a bestseller, and also authored a series of fiction novels. Marso was also a security consultant, talk show host, and technical adviser for movies and TV shows. Richard Marino would pass away on December 25th, 2021 at the age of 81. Though there's no shortage of controversy about his career and his exploits may have been more than a little embellished, there is no doubt
that he was one of the most colorful characters in American military history. Gactical for
