Richard Marcinko first exploded out of the clandestine world of special forces/unconventional warfare with his #1 New York Times bestselling autobiography Rogue Warrior?. Now, after coauthoring five consecutive New York Times bestselling Rogue Warrior novels based on the exploits of his SEAL Teams, he calls upon the warriors who served by his si... more »de to tell their own stories. The Real Team tells it like it is: how highly motivated individuals come to the Teams, how they train, and how they fight in the four corners of the globe.

From the sea, from the air, or from the land -- SEAL Teams attack the enemy from any direction, any time, with weapons ranging from a K-bar knife to an AK-47. Here, for the first time the real life models for such characters as Indian Jew, "Doc" Tremblay, Duckfoot Dewey, the Golddust Twins and Prince Valiant narrate their journeys from the civilian world to BUD/S training, their first experiences under fire, and how they turned from newbies to seasoned veterans, from loyal U.S. servicemen to rogue warriors whose only rule was that the warrior does not give up. Ever.

Thomas Capel, the real life counterpart of Nasty Nicky Grundle, remembers the day he turned down an appointment to the Naval Academy in order to finish his BUD/S training, and his first combat experiences in Nicaragua: "I'm standing in waist-deep water. There's no cover or concealment. I dropped the gun down, reloaded the weapon and came up shooting. The Sandinistas are caught between fire in front of them and off to the right side. Within the first couple of seconds, I'm laying down 200 rounds of ammunition. I was cutting down trees."

Steve Hartman, the fictionalized Stevie Wonder, talks about how it felt to become a member of Red Cell: "Being part of the Teams was like going home. After all those years in the Navy, it was fantastic. The Teams are warriors. There's community, loyalty, dedication. And anything goes."

The Real Team also reveals the Rogue Warrior's secrets for Team selection and Team Maintenance. From setting up an ambush to making a HAHO -- high altitude, high opening -- parachute jump, from the Philippines to Desert Storm, the stories in the book are about real men and real missions, and about the SEAL mentality of teamwork, training, loyalty, and never-say-die aggression. For it is the spirit of the real Teams that shaped these extraordinary individuals and positioned them for success -- in every battlefield and every endeavor they would face in life.