Review: SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper

SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper by Howard E. Wasdin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Seal Team Six is a look inside the super secret organization that is the very elite of the elite American special forces. The author, Howard Wasdin recounts his experiences as a Seal Team Six sniper. He gives us an insight into the history of the American Special Forces and how they evolved into the elite units they are now. In addition to providing that history, Wasdin also recounts the training and conditioning that he had to experience to make the cut, as well as operations that he was active in, including the events that make up the movie, Black Hawk Down.

Wasdin gives us his history, a troubled one where he faced near constant physical abuse at the hands of his father. Thankfully instead of permanently damaging him, it gave him the mental toughness and inner resolve to overcome all obstacles. Traits that he would need as he climbed the ranks of the special forces elite, eventually hitting the top run, Seal Team Six Sniper, and then his eventual fall from the military after devastating wounds received in Mogadishu.

I really liked this book, there were points when I simply could not put it down. Wasdin is a real person, a person who has lived through difficult things. He doesn't pull any punches. You could get the sense that his thoughts on issues were real, and are probably reflected by many of his team members, like their frustration at the lack of Presidential leadership by Bill Clinton, and the corruption of the United Nations, which lead directly to the deaths and critical wounding of so many American soldiers and Somali people. You may not agree with all of his feelings on the matter, but it's important to recognize those feelings. Sometimes Wasdin comes across as arrogant, some of his choices were poor. I appreciate the fact that Wasdin shares those moments with us in the book, it makes him a human being. By the end of the book, I don't believe anyone can doubt his humility and caring sides as well.

I highly recommend this book. Some who lean very far to the left will have difficulty with some of the thoughts and opinions that Wasdin expresses, but if nothing else, the history of Seal, and the insights into the men who make up the Special Forces is well worth the read.



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