Some of these axes would have been made by Daniel Winkler, a gunsmith (but it would be better to call him an artist) from North Carolina who also forged the blades for the film "The Last of the Mohicans". Team 6 members would use Tomahawks customized with the effigy of Native Americans engraved on the blade.
Winkler has obviously denied his "working relationship" with the SEALs, stating that his Tomahawks are purchased only by private collectors. But it's almost certain that the 'Six' go into battle even with axes.
Dom Raso, former operator of the 6 Team, confirmed the use of Tomahawks to "unhinge small locks and in the" mortal body ". Any tool necessary to protect yourself and your brothers - added Raso - blade or gun, it doesn't matter if he brings us home safely.
As divers during the Second World War, over the years the Navy SEALs have evolved into one of the most lethal bodies on the planet.
Team Six, contrary to what one might think, is relatively recent. It was created in the 1980, after the failure of Operation Eagle Claw, the clumsy American intervention, which took place on the 24 in April of that year, organized to save the 53 hostages held captive in the Tehran embassy.
That failure had two consequences. The first (and most dramatic) was the fate of the American hostages, released only 444 days later. The second was the creation of the Delta Force and the SEAL Team Six.
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The United States Navy asked the commander Richard Marcinko (photo on the right), a legend of the SEALs, a Vietnam veteran with a Silver Star, a Legion of Merit, four Bronze Stars, two Navy Commendations and one Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, to build a unit that could respond quickly to global terrorist crises and win against any contemporary and future enemy.
The choice of the name was not accidental, but an attempt, in the middle of the Cold War, to throw off the Russians. The SEAL corps, in the 80s, consisted of only two teams. Marcinko, hoping that the Russian analysts would overestimate the size of the SEAL force, chose to call the new team with the number 6. SEAL Team Six was born, probably the most deadly and secret unit in the world and which, even today, officially not exists.
The unit carries out the most dangerous missions, those considered too risky for conventional troops. Initially, the 6 Team was structured in two assault groups: Blue and Gold. The blues soon earned the nickname "Bad Boys in Blue", due to the numerous arrests for brawl, drunk driving and extreme sports accidents.
Years later, William H. McRaven (another legend of the Seal), who became head of the Special Operations Command, worked hard to oppose the culture of unconsciousness, inherited (perhaps it would be better to say inculcated) from Marcinko.
Celebrated the episode of Ryan Zinke, former officer of the 6 team and now a member of the Republican Congress of Montana. After a team training mission aboard a cruise ship ahead of a potential intervention to free hostages, shortly before the start of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Zinke accompanied an admiral on inspection.
The high officer - Zinke tells - began to inspect the boat and entering the main hall, he was shocked at the sight of those men with long hair, full of tattoos, with unkempt beards and earrings. Who are the Six, asked the admiral?
He has them in front of him! replied Zinke.
Years later, the Navy put in place some behavioral procedures to limit the "bravado" of the best soldiers in the world.
They are always out of their minds - says Zinke - but it is no longer the same as before, even if they are considered superstars, let's not forget that they are men who risk their lives every day and no one will ever know anything. That is why a SEAL or a Delta can afford not to follow the classic protocol of the troop: no officer of any other branch of the army would allow itself to recall it.
Enrollment is also different. Delta Force members, for example, often begin as regular infantry. Then they become Army Rangers and then enter the Special Forces. Finally they try to enter the Delta. For the SEAL Team 6 the procedure is quite different. After several years in the regular SEAL teams, an operator can try for the 6 Team. Everyone wants to join the elite of the elite, but half of those who succeed in being admitted to the course, will abandon.
Each SEAL (and it should be remembered) is a Hunter Killer and represents the best of the best, but the 6 Team 'pursues the highest value objectives and takes on the task of freeing the hostages in enemy territory'.
What do the Six do, for example? They hunt down terrorists who try to buy nuclear warheads, but their every mission is covered by military secrecy.
Despite all the operators being held in silence for life, many, after the raid against Bin Laden, indulged in expressions and revelations, provoking indignation in the SEAL brotherhood.
The Navy has suspended 11 operators for the dissemination of the classified tactics of Team 6 used later in some films and for a video game "Medal of Honor: Warfighter".
Franco Iacch
Click here to read the first part: "Only the wicked should fear us, for them we are death"
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(photo: US Army / web / US DoD)
