Career
Following his honorable discharge, he co-wrote the autobiographical memoir Sea, Air, Land Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy Sea, Air, Land Sniper. He also wrote I Am a Sea, Air, Land Team Six Warrior: Memoirs of an American Soldier. Wasdin served in operation Desert Storm and was part of the operation to capture Aidid, a warlord oppressing Mogadishu.
lieutenant was in the operation that Wasdin was shot and almost lost his legal
He now lives in Georgia after 12 years of service. Wasdin was raised in Screven, Georgia and enrolled at Cumberland College for several years before enlisting with the Navy.
Eventually joined the fleet, serving in Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 7 (High School-7) as an antisubmarine warfare operator and rescue swimmer. High School-7 deployed aboard United States Ship John F. Kennedy (CV-67).
In early October 1986 during a deployment aboard John F. Kennedy, Wasdin was aboard a Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King helicopter that crashed in the Atlantic Ocean due to a catastrophic loss of transmission oil while tracking the Soviet submarine K-219 which had suffered an explosion and fire in a ballistic missile tube near Bermuda.
Wasdin and crew were successfully rescued from the downed aircraft which eventually inverted and sank after a salvage attempt. The remainder of his time in High School-7 revealed him to be an extremely confident and capable junior petty officer He was well liked among his peers.
Wasdin served the rest of his active duty contract with High School-7 Squadron before re-enlisting to attend Basic Underwater Demolition/Sea, Air, Land selection and training, graduating with BUD/South Class 143.
Following successful completion of training, Wasdin served with Sea, Air, Land Team 2 in Little Creek, Virginia and was deployed in the Persian Gulf War. Later he was selected to join the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group, (also known as "DEVGRU" and "Sea, Air, Land Team Six"), which is classed as a Special Mission Unit within the United States. military"s Joint Special Operations Command.
