Two other pirates poked their heads above deck to see what was going on.
Each sniper had a square of Velcro on each side of his Win Mag. Attached to the Velcro was a signaling device. When a sniper had a pirate in his sights, he pressed the device, sending a signal back to the SEAL commander that shone as a green light. One light for each sniper.
Over their radio earpieces, the snipers heard their commander give the execute order: “Stand by, stand by. Three, two, one, execute, execute.” From the Bainbridge’s fantail, the three snipers each simultaneously fired one head shot. The three pirates fell. An assault team motored to the lifeboat and freed Captain Phillips. Other SEALs apprehended the pirate negotiating on board the Bainbridge.
Once again, the SEAL Team Six sniper standards have been tested—and the standards remain high. Most of the snipers’ missions remain classified to the general public, their own families, and even fellow SEALs. It is difficult for people to comprehend or appreciate the incredible amounts of training and risks those men undergo. For the most part, their commitment, sacrifice, and patriotism will continue to remain hidden.
SPECIAL OPERATIONS WARRIOR FOUNDATION
The Special Operations Warrior Foundation was founded in 1980 as the Colonel Arthur D. “Bull” Simons Scholarship Fund to provide college educations for the seventeen children surviving the nine special operations men killed or incapacitated in April of that year at Desert One in Iran during the failed attempt to rescue American hostages from the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. It was named in honor of the legendary Army Green Beret, Bull Simons, who repeatedly risked his life on rescue missions.
Following creation of the U.S. Special Operations Command, and as casualties mounted from actions such as Operations Urgent Fury (Grenada), Just Cause (Panama), Desert Storm (Kuwait and Iraq), and Restore Hope (Somalia), the Bull Simons Fund gradually expanded its outreach program to encompass all special operations forces. Thus in 1995 the Family Liaison Action Group (established to support the families of the Iranian hostages) and the Spectre (air force gunship) Association Scholarship Fund merged to form the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. In 1998 the Warrior Foundation extended its scholarship and financial aid counseling to cover training fatalities as well as operational fatalities since the inception of the foundation in 1980. This action immediately made 205 more children eligible for college funding.
The Warrior Foundation’s mission is to provide a college education to every child who has lost a parent serving in the U.S. Special Operations Command and its units in any branch of the armed forces during an operational or training mission. These personnel are stationed in units throughout the United States and at overseas bases. Some of the largest concentrations of special operations forces are at military bases at Camp Lejeune and Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Hurlburt Field, Florida; Coronado Naval Station, California; Dam Neck, Virginia; MacDill Air Force Base, Florida; Fort Lewis, Washington; Fort Stewart, Georgia; Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Little Creek, Virginia; Fort Carson, Colorado; Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico; Royal Air Force Mildenhall, United Kingdom; and Kadena Air Base, Japan.
The Warrior Foundation also provides immediate financial assistance to special operations personnel severely wounded in the war against terrorism.
Today, the Warrior Foundation is committed to providing scholarship grants, not loans, to more than seven hundred children. These children survive more than six hundred special operations personnel who gave their lives in patriotic service to their country, including those who died fighting our nation’s war against terrorism as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and the Philippines, as well as Operation Iraqi Freedom.
To date, 121 children of fallen special operations warriors have graduated from college. Children from all military services have received or been offered Warrior Foundation scholarships.
Contact information:
Special Operations Warrior Foundation
P.O. Box 13483
Tampa, FL 33690
www.specialops.org
E-mail: [email protected]
Toll-free phone: 1-877-337-7693
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Howard’s Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for all my blessings. Thanks for the guardian angels that kept me alive while in harm’s way.
I’m very thankful for the people of Wayne County, Georgia, who have always stood behind me and been a source of strength, motivation, and inspiration.
Special thanks to my patients, who have allowed me to be their chiropractor. I love you all.
Thanks to my coauthor, Steve Templin, who resurrected a dead project in this book and worked tirelessly to perfect it.
I’m truly blessed to have been given two careers that were/are exceptional and that I truly loved. I’m happy every day to come to work and help people, which, as corny as it sounds, was the reason I became a SEAL in the first place.
God bless America and our fighting men and women.
Steve’s Acknowledgments
I’ve been blessed. During Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training with Class 143, I first met Howard Wasdin. We’d finished another brutal day of training, and Howard asked, “Who wants to go with me for a jog on the beach?” I thought he was nuts. Hadn’t we had enough for the day?! Even nuttier were the guys who followed him. Howard and I became friends. We hung out with the guys in Tijuana on Saturday, and he dragged me to church on Sunday. Our paths split when I injured myself and rolled back to Class 144, but I never forgot him.
Years later, waiting for a flight at Los Angeles International Airport, I slipped into the bookstore to kill some time and soon found myself in the middle of a war zone—I had picked Mark Bowden’s excellent book Black Hawk Down. I looked in the index to see if any SEALs were involved. To my surprise, I ran across Howard’s name. No way. I thought for sure somebody would write the rest of his story, and I’d be one of the first to buy it. Years went by, though, and no book. Thanks to Facebook, I hooked up with Howard again. I’m fortunate he waited to tell his story. Coauthoring his biography has been the ride of a lifetime—thanks, Howard!
I’m also blessed that my wife, Reiko, and children, Kent and Maria, have given me a taste of heaven. Of course, I couldn’t have come into this world without my mother, Gwen, who has always been there to support me and let me do my own thing; some of my fondest early memories are exploring the Arizona desert alone before I was old enough to attend school. I’m thankful to my father, Art, for the times he was there for me. My grandfather Robert taught me how to negotiate 10 percent off a can of paint at the hardware store. Grandpa loved me like a son, and I loved him like a father. I’m sure he’s looking down on this book with a smile—writing has been my dream since early elementary school. Carol Scarr gave Howard and me excellent writing advice on earlier drafts and has been a great friend.
It would be difficult to write and research without the support of Meio University, where I am an associate professor. Scott Miller of Trident Media Group showed Howard and me all the professionalism an agent can show and more. He read our manuscript during his Easter vacation; when he returned to work, he found us our first publisher within twenty-four hours. Marc Resnick at St. Martin’s Press outshined the others to seal the deal and has maintained his enthusiasm, making this process a joy.
I’m deeply honored that General Henry Hugh Shelton (Retired) took time from his busy schedule to give support. Also, the Delta Force major who wrote Kill Bin Laden, Dalton Fury, offered his help early on, for which I’m grateful. Kudos to Marine sniper Jack Coughlin, author of Shooter, for his encouragement. Thanks to Randy “Kemo” Clendening (former SEAL Team Two operator) for assistance, too.
I’d like to thank Debbie Wasdin for her friendship and help. Eryn Wasdin chauffeured me and made me smile.
While I worked with Howard to finish up the book, Tammie Willis, a licensed medical massage therapist at Absolute Precision, gave me the best massage I’ve ever
had—you’re awesome, Tammie. The rest of the Absolute Precision staff was wonderful, too: Miki, Kelly, and everyone.
Thank you to the people of Wayne County, Georgia, who made me feel at home during my stay.
REFERENCES
Boesch, R., with K. Dockery. “Master Chief Boatswain’s Mate Rudy Boesch, USN (Ret.).” In Hunters and Shooters, ed. B. Fawcett, 1–32. New York: Avon, 1995.
Bosiljevac, T. L. SEALs: UDT/SEAL Operations in Vietnam. Boulder, Colo.: Paladin Press, 1990.
Bowden, M. Black Hawk Down. New York: Signet, 2001.
Carney, J. T., and B. F. Schemmer. No Room for Error: The Covert Operations of America’s Special Tactics Units from Iran to Afghanistan. New York: Ballantine Books, 2002.
Chalker, D., and K. Dockery. One Perfect Op: An Insider’s Account of the Navy SEAL Special Warfare Teams. New York: HarperCollins, 2002.
Couch, D. The Warrior Elite: The Forging of SEAL Class 228. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001.
Coulson, D. O., and E. Shannon. No Heroes: Inside the FBI’s Secret Counter-Terror Force. New York: Pocket Books, 1999.
Eversmann, M., and D. Schilling, eds. The Battle of Mogadishu: Firsthand Accounts from the Men of Task Force Ranger. New York: Presidio Press, 2006.
Gormly, R. A. Combat Swimmer: Memoirs of a Navy SEAL. New York: Dutton, 1998.
Lechner, J. O. Combat Operations in Mogadishu, Somalia, Conducted by Task Force Ranger. Fort Benning, Ga.: United States Army Infantry School, 1994.
Loeb, V. “After-Action Report … In Somalia with the CIA.” Washington Post, February 27, 2000.
———. “Confessions of a Hero.” Washington Post, April 29, 2001.
Marcinko, R., and R. Weisman. Rogue Warrior. New York: Pocket Books, 1992.
Maren, M. “Somaliarchive: The Mysterious Death of Ilaria Alpi.” http://www.netnomad.com/ilaria.html (accessed September 20, 2010).
Murphy K. M., II. Multi-National Combined Arms Breaching (MOUT) in Somalia. Fort Benning, Ga.: United States Army Infantry School, 1994.
Norris, T. Medal of Honor Series: Thomas Norris. Pritzker Military Library. January 29, 2009. http://www.pritzkermilitarylibrary.org/events/2009/01-29-thomas-norris.jsp (accessed September 20, 2010).
Norris, T., and M. Thornton. Medal of Honor Series: Thomas Norris and Michael Thornton. Pritzker Military Library. November 9, 2006. http://www.pritzkermilitarylibrary.org/events/2006/11-09-thornton-norris.jsp (accessed September 20, 2010).
Pfarrer, C. Warrior Soul: The Memoir of a Navy SEAL. New York: Random House, 2004.
Rysewyk, L. A. Experiences of Executive Officer from Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment and Task Force Ranger during the Battle of the Black Sea on 3–4 October, 1993 in Mogadishu, Somalia. Fort Benning, Ga.: United States Army Infantry School, May, 1994.
Stubblefield, G. with H. Halberstadt. Inside the U.S. Navy SEALs. Osceola, Wisc.: MBI Publishing, 1995.
Walsh, M. J., with G. Walker. SEAL! New York: Pocket Books, 1994.
INDEX
The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your eBook. Please use the search function on your eReading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.
Abbas, Abu (a.k.a. Muhammad Zaidan)
Abed, Ahmed Hashim
Absolute Precision Chiropractic
AC-130 Spectre
defined
accidental discharge (AD)
AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell”
Achille Lauro hijacking (1985)
ACOGs (Advanced Combat Optical Gunsights)
Adere, Aden
Adidas GSG9 assault boots
Advanced Combat Optical Gunsights (ACOGs)
Advanced Field Skills and Mission Employment phase of Scout Sniper School
Agency. See CIA
Aidid, Mohamed Farrah
ambushes of Pakistani forces
ambush of CNN Somali crew
attempts to capture lieutenants
attempts to locate and capture
Battle of Mogadishu
food supply and
shooting down of QRF helo
surveillance and capture of Atto
Air Force Cross
AK-47s
defined
Alamo, The (movie)
al Qaeda
America
amoxicillin
Andrews Air Force Base
Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB)
Army Airborne School, Fort Benning, Georgia
Army Intelligence Support Activity
Army Rangers. See Rangers
Army Special Operations Command
Aspin, Les
asset, defined
AT-4s
defined
Atef, Mohammed
Atlanta Summer Olympics (1996)
attention to detail
Atto, Osman Ali
capture of
Clinton’s release of
surveillance of
Australian mouse
Australian Special Air Service
Awale, Abdi Hasan (a.k.a. Abdi Qeybdid)
Awale, Mohamed Assan
Bailey, Larry
Bainbridge
Bakara Market
Basic Conditioning phase of BUD/S
Basic Fields Craft phase of Scout Sniper School
Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training. See BUD/S
Battle of Mogadishu
author Wasdin shot
briefing
first ambush
map
memorial service for fallen soldiers
QRF rescue
second ambush
Super Six One down
Super Six Four down
BDUs (Battle Dress Uniforms)
defined
becket bend knots
Beckwith, Charlie A.
beef sticks
Bell OH-58 Kiowas
Beltway sniper attacks (2002)
betadine
Bethesda, Maryland, Naval Hospital
Biehn, Michael
Bin Laden, Osama
Black Hawk Down (Bowden)
Black Hawk Down (movie)
Black Hawks
Battle of Mogadishu
Blackwater
blasting caps
blowout kits
defined
Body Shop (Little Creek, Virginia)
Boesch, Rudy
booger-eaters, defined
boonie hats
Bowden, Mark
bowline knots
Boykin, William G.
Bravo Two Zero
Brunswick, Maine, Naval Air Station
BS (bull excrement)
defined
BTR-60s, defined
BTR-60 PBs
defined
BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training)
defined
First Phase (Basic Conditioning)
graduation
Hell Week
indoctrination phase
obstacle course
physical screening tests
re-enlistment incentive ruse
Second Phase (Land Warfare)
surf passage training
Third Phase (Dive Phase)
Burruss, L.H. “Bucky”
Busch, Dan
Butcher, Kenneth
cadre
defined
cambuulo
cammies (camouflage)
defined
Campbell Barracks
Capes, Marni
CAR-15 (Colt Automatic Rifle-15)
defined
Carley, Norm
car sales
Casanova
Battle of Mogadishu
Mogadishu Mission
nickname of
at Scout Sniper School
Silver Star of
TCS op
caving ladders
defined
CCTs (Combat Control Teams)
defined
cellulitis
Central Intelligence Agency. See CIA
Chalker, Denny “Snake”
Charles de Gaulle
Checkpoint Pasta
chemical weapons
chemlights
defined
Cheuy, Roger
childhood of author Wasdin
chiropractic
Christians in Action. See also CIA
defined
CIA (Central Intelligence Agency)
defined
Mogadishu Mission
Vietnam War and
Clendening, Randy
Clinton, Bill
clove hitch knots
CNN
Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachments (LEDETs)
Coburn, Mike
Colombia
Colonel Arthur D. “Bull” Simons Scholarship Fund
Commando Hubert
Condor (CIA operative)
Consiglio, Robert
Coors Light
correct dope, defined
COs (commanding officers)
defined
Couch, Dick
Coulson, Danny
Cousteau, Jacques-Yves
CQCs (close quarters combat)
defined
Crescent (Garrett Jones)
SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper Page 29