commander, were asked to join the fledgling group. With prior experience from these operators, aggressive leadership, and an accelerated training program, SEAL Team Six was declared mission-ready just 6 months later.During the 1980s, SEAL Team Six participated in a number of operations. SEAL Team Six members were responsible for the rescue and evacuation of Governor Sir Paul Scoon from Grenada during Operation Urgent Fury. Four SEALs were lost to drowning during helicopter insertion offshore. Other aspect of the operation included the securing of a radio transmitter which resulted in heavy contact with Grenadian forces. Six deployed to the site of the Achille Lauro hijacking in anticipation of a possible assault on the vessel in 1985. The unit also took part in Operation Just Cause in 1989 as part of Task Force White, which included SEAL Team Two. Their primary task, along with Delta Force, was the location and securing of Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega.A great deal of controversy was also generated in the 1980s, due to charges of misappropriation of funds and equipment by team members, as well as the conviction of unit founder Commander Richard Marcinko on charges of conspiracy, conflict of interest, making false claims against the government, and bribery. He was sentenced to nearly 2 years in a Federal penitentiary in addition to being forced to pay a $10,000 fine. Despite this turn of events, Marcinko was still revered in some SEAL circles as an almost mythical figure. This status was attained, in no small part, to a best selling-book series, which centered on fictional maritime special operations and counter-terrorism.The unit was also active during the 1990s. The unit again operated in Panama as part of a secret operation code-named "Pokeweed," which had as its goal the apprehension of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. The mission was unsuccessful due to poor pre-assault intelligence. By some accounts, the unit was deployed from the US aircraft carrier USS Forrestal offshore, although other sources dispute this claim (the ship's summary history discloses no operations in Panamanian waters during 1990). In 1991, SEAL Team Six reportedly recovered Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide under cover of darkness following the coup that deposed him. Later in 1991, the unit was also part of contingency planning for the shooting down Saddam Hussein's personal helicopter with Stinger missiles, although this operation never got beyond the planning stage. The unit reportedly deployed to Atlanta, Georgia as part of a large US counter-terrorist contingency plan for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Whatever the case, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) is generally responsible for domestic counter-terrorism and was the primary response unit for the event.By 2000, the US government described DEVGRU as having been established to oversee development of naval special warfare tactics, equipment, and techniques. This, of course, was only partly true. While the unit was under the direct command of Naval Special Warfare Command, however it was also a component of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) at Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina). JSOC served as a joint command for other counter-terrorism units as well,