OZARK -- Legendary Navy SEAL Richard Marcinko shared some tips with Chandler Stockton, a young Ozark student who signed out of school to meet him Friday and ask about how to become a SEAL.
Marcinko’s first tip: Get back to school. Marcinko said Navy SEALs need a thorough education and the ability to think on their feet.
“Stay healthy, get good grades, don’t lose focus,” he said.
Marcinko also told Stockton that determination is a key part of becoming a SEAL.
“There’s two words you don’t know – ‘I quit,’” he said.
Marcinko, who formed SEAL Team 6, the counterterrorist team responsible for killing Osama bin Laden, visited Ozark on Friday for a meet-and-greet with local residents. Marcinko spoke to the press before attending a lunch in the Ozark Civic Center.
Marcinko is retired from the military and now is an author and consultant and has made frequent appearances on news programs.
Marcinko said modern warfare has led to a shift in importance from large units to smaller, more specialized forces used to achieve highly-specific missions. Marcinko said as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down, it’s highly likely that special forces groups like SEAL Team 6 will continue to be active there.
Marcinko also said that hotspots such as Yemen, Indonesia and Africa will likely require the use of special forces units.
“There’s plenty of job security in special operations,” he said.
Marcinko described members of elite forces such as SEAL Team 6 as people who like to be challenged and are likely to get into trouble if bored.
“We’re social misfits who like to make music together,” he said.
Marcinko said he originally thought the low-key disposal of bin Laden’s remains by burial at sea was the wrong move, but has changed his mind as he sees that it reduced his status as a rallying point for al-Qaeda.
Marcinko also said he felt the conflict in Libya has come to a successful resolution, and that the U.S. needs to pursue a more realistic foreign policy, and demand results for the money it gives to foreign nations.
He also challenged the “knuckle-dragger” stereotype sometimes associated with special forces troops, saying that the level of knowledge needed to use the highly technical equipment and perform the complex operations used by units like the SEALs required members of these units to be highly educated and well-rounded.
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