Adam Schwarze dreamt of being a Navy SEAL since he was a child, but followed a unique route to the SEALs through the US Marines and deployments in the Middle East. As SEAL officer-in-charge for nearly a decade, Adam Schwarze is committed a fighting force that often goes unrecognized for its heroic missions.
Over the decades, one of the most storied elements of the force has been SEAL Team Six. Also known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, this unit was an outgrowth of the initial two Navy SEAL teams, which were established by President John F. Kennedy in 1962 and deployed across eight platoons during the Vietnam War.
In 1980, after Operation Eagle Claw failed in its mission of rescuing 53 American hostages from Tehran’s American Embassy, the Navy tasked Commander Richard Marcinko with creating a SEAL unit able to adaptively respond to unfolding terrorist crises. Marcinko had commanded a SEAL Platoon in Vietnam and had a 6-month timeframe in which to create a viable counterterrorism operation.
There were only two SEAL teams in existence at the time, but Marcinko named the new squad SEAL Team Six, with the aim of causing the Soviet Union to overestimate US capacities. The team was made up of a pair of assault groups, with the Gold Squadron identifying with crusaders and knights and the more renegade Blue Squadron hoisting a Jolly Roger pirate flag.
The team undertook numerous successful missions in theaters ranging from Baghdad to the mountains of Afghanistan, but its clandestine, high-impact nature resulted in it only rarely being acknowledged by the US Department of Defense. Silver Squadron and Red Squadron assault groups were eventually added to the original two groups, and one of SEAL Team Six’s most high-profile missions was the 2009 rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, who was captured by Somali pirates and held aboard the MV Maersk Alabama.
Over the decades, one of the most storied elements of the force has been SEAL Team Six. Also known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, this unit was an outgrowth of the initial two Navy SEAL teams, which were established by President John F. Kennedy in 1962 and deployed across eight platoons during the Vietnam War.
In 1980, after Operation Eagle Claw failed in its mission of rescuing 53 American hostages from Tehran’s American Embassy, the Navy tasked Commander Richard Marcinko with creating a SEAL unit able to adaptively respond to unfolding terrorist crises. Marcinko had commanded a SEAL Platoon in Vietnam and had a 6-month timeframe in which to create a viable counterterrorism operation.
There were only two SEAL teams in existence at the time, but Marcinko named the new squad SEAL Team Six, with the aim of causing the Soviet Union to overestimate US capacities. The team was made up of a pair of assault groups, with the Gold Squadron identifying with crusaders and knights and the more renegade Blue Squadron hoisting a Jolly Roger pirate flag.
The team undertook numerous successful missions in theaters ranging from Baghdad to the mountains of Afghanistan, but its clandestine, high-impact nature resulted in it only rarely being acknowledged by the US Department of Defense. Silver Squadron and Red Squadron assault groups were eventually added to the original two groups, and one of SEAL Team Six’s most high-profile missions was the 2009 rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, who was captured by Somali pirates and held aboard the MV Maersk Alabama.
