NDCQ - Not Dead Can't Quit

By Robert Rousseau, About.com Guide

Richard "Mack" Machowicz of the Deadliest Warrior.

Courtesy of Spike TV

Spike TV's Deadliest Warrior television program will kick off its third season on July 20, 2011. Simply put, there will be changes to the hit show, and one of them will be Richard "Mack" Machowicz. The man they call Mack is a former Navy SEAL, having put in 10 years with the special forces. He will join biomedical scientist Geoff Desmoulin and medical consultant Dr. Armand Dorian in hosting the show.

"First of all, it's a really cool show; it's a really cool idea," Mack told About.com's Robert Rousseau when describing what got him interested in the Deadliest Warrior. "You've got two great warriors, and they've come through history. You get a chance to look at everything that they do, their strategy, their tactics, their weapons. You essentially create a conflict situation, at the end you have a clear resolution of who the deadliest is, and everyone gets to argue about it."

You'd think a man that participated in tactical operations with both SEAL Team ONE and TWO might be past the point of learning when it comes to battle strategy. But the way the show is set up allows him to ask questions and grow. "I learn more about strategy and tactics; I learn more about field craft; I learn more about weapons use; I learn more about the commonalities of what makes a great warrior a great warrior," he said.

However, there is little doubt after talking to co-host Geoff Desmoulin or hearing Mack talk himself, that he's doing some teaching as well as learning. We're talking about a guy that was attached to the SEAL training cadre as the Leading Petty Officer of Land, Mountain, and Arctic Warfare, which he summed up as encompassing, "how you perform on land.... So it's really strategies and tactics." Mack is also a certified instructor in the Naval Special Warfare Combat Fighting Instructor Course, with experience in a variety of martial arts styles. Add that to his work as a Naval Special Warfare Scout/Sniper and you have a guru in more ways than one. And it's just those experiences that lead to his philosophy on warriors, something that will likely be obvious to viewers throughout the new season.

"The big thrust (this season) is the warrior behind the weapon now too. Because it's not deadliest weapon, it's deadliest warrior... It's really about how do you execute strategy and tactics in a battle space. How do you set up the moment and execute in that moment and have the attitude of not dead can't quit until you accomplish the task at hand, is what makes a great warrior a great warrior.

In the end, Mack feels like he is "the luckiest guy on the planet Earth," for getting to talk battle strategy on the Deadliest Warrior. Only time will tell, but betting people are probably putting a lot of money on him helping to improve an already interesting show and concept.