Remember FutureWeapons?

[Firefly]

Back in the mid-2000s?

Turns out the guy who did it died of Brain Cancer.

Richard Machowicz.

I loved the show. It was a bit cheesy here and there, but before YouTube was a thing FutureWeapons was a way to see some stuff you otherwise wouldn't.

I remember the first look at the Tavor, the MP7, the HK416, and the Magpul Masada. They hyped it up to be this high speed rifle that could change calibers and well we all know how that turned out.

I did not know until today. Pretty sad. He wasn't that old, but he accomplished quite a bit in what time he had.

I sorta recall his "Accuracy of a sniper rifle, firepower of a machine gun" line becoming a meme of sorts (though it was used in the AR-10 commercial from the 50s when Mean Gene Stoner himself stormed the beach of Cali with his AR-10).

Say what you will, but he did help present weaponry in a positive light.

[JC5188]

I remember the show and Mac. Liked them both. Had no idea he had died.


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[HKGuns]

That is shocking, he was far too young to die and always came off as in great shape on those shows.

RIP shipmate.

[WillBrink]

Well that sucks. I always remember seeing his show on the Tavor, which made it seem like the best thing since the invention of gun powder. I have no data off hand to support this, but I suspect rates higher in SOF, I assume to exposure to all manner of nasty carcinogenic stuff. Rates of some cancers lower in the mil than matched civilian population, while some higher. Note bolded...

Army Times

After looking at 10 years’ worth of cancer data, researchers at the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center found that service members tend to have higher rates of melanoma, brain, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, breast, prostate and testicular cancers than civilians.

They also found interesting differences across the services. Airmen are more likely to suffer skin cancer than other service members, for example, while sailors are the most likely to have lung cancer. Coast Guardsmen have the highest rates of testicular cancer, while Marines tend to the have the lowest cancer rates overall.

Cont:

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/07/21/study-troops-have-higher-rates-of-some-cancers/

[Leaveammoforme]

Dang.

Not to stick my head in the sand, but I'd rather believe he picked up a job we'll never know about.

"Mack the Whisper'er"

He was a true soft spoken professional unlike most of the boisterous, self worshiping personalities running amuck now.

The show that I remember most was when he used a .408 to put a group on steel at around 2500 yards.


https://youtu.be/zL0fI4xKMbA

ETA;

The end of the above video brought tears.

"Mission accomplished, threat removed, time to go home"

-Mack

[SkiDevil]

Hooyah, Petty Officer Machowicz!

God speed and fair winds Brother.

May God bless you and watch over your family.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Machowicz

BIOGRAPHY:
Machowicz was born in 1965 in Detroit, Michigan. According to his biography on the Discovery Channel's site,[2] "he participated in numerous tactical operations with SEAL Team ONE and TWO. While operating at SEAL Team TWO, he was a Naval Special Warfare Scout/Sniper, as well as being attached to the training cadre as the Leading Petty Officer of Land, Mountain and Arctic Warfare." He reportedly had practiced many forms of martial arts for more than twenty years and received multiple black belts. He was a certified instructor in the Naval Special Warfare Combat Fighting Instructor Course, as well as a Naval Special Warfare Scout/Sniper.

On January 2, 2017, aged 51, Machowicz died of brain cancer in Pearland, Texas.[3][4][5] He was survived, immediately, by his wife, Mandy Leggio Machowicz, two daughters, and his parents. His funeral mass was celebrated on January 6, 2017 at St. Helen Catholic Church, Pearland, Texas.

https://sofrep.com/71499/a-tribute-to-fallen-navy-seal-richard-mack-machowicz/

[Rogue556]

The show had it's corny moments, like most TV shows do, but I still really enjoyed it. It was one of the few shows I'd go out of my way to watch. He was in a video posted on retired SEAL Don Shipley's youtube channel not to long ago. (For those who don't know, Don goes around busting phony SEALs in his free time and it's rather entertaining).

Jump to 5:44 to listen to MAC talk about his cancer treatment.

https://youtu.be/wQU7Q86hJpU

Listening to him talk about it makes you realize how much of a fighter that man was. Truely inspirational.

RIP.

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[Det-Sog]

Roughly my age. Way too young.

RIP.

[HKGuns]

The show had it's corny moments, like most TV shows do, but I still really enjoyed it. It was one of the few shows I'd go out of my way to watch. He was in a video posted on retired SEAL Don Shipley's youtube channel not to long ago. (For those who don't know, Don goes around busting phony SEALs in his free time and it's rather entertaining).

Jump to 5:44 to listen to MAC talk about his cancer treatment.

https://youtu.be/wQU7Q86hJpU

Listening to him talk about it makes you realize how much of a fighter that man was. Truely inspirational.

RIP.

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Shipley is a riot, but intense as hell. No way you want to cross him.

[eodinert]

I watched it too, but everything they featured was always the best thing ever...whatever it was. The Atchisson AA 12 episode comes to mind.

Still, better than a lot of other stuff in the genre.

[Moose-Knuckle]

Mac fought a long hard battle.

I kept up with his health via Craig Sawyer's updates on FB.

Great guy and a great show.