After Nicholas Sparks, I promised myself to get back to the grit I usually like to read, so I dug "I Am A Seal Team Six Warrior" out of my borrowed crate of books. I needed some kick-ass inspiration that would tell me to quit being a sissy and get out there for my distance runs and to bust out some push-ups just for fun. I found it with "Seal Team Six Warrior."
Usually I get annoyed with authors and their frilly, unnecessary language, so I was refreshed and even a bit taken aback when I realized there were no spare words in this book. It was so stripped down that it almost felt naked. I was almost embarrassed for the author at times because it just stated the facts so plainly that at times I actually wondered if I was reading it right and I even wondered if there was some hidden metaphor and I'd realize later that it was EXACTLY as Wasdin had intended it.
Wasdin told about being raised in an abusive household and how he felt it helped mentally prepare him for his training as a SEAL. He also used such a matter-of-fact tone that at times it would have seemed that he was bragging, but then there were so many flashes of humility through naivete that I realized he was just writing as he saw it without trying to make himself look cooler (or conversely, less-cool) that he really was.
Wasdin told about the multiple phases of training and supervised torture that was considered preparation for missions. With this, I particularly enjoyed the pictures he provided, even though some of them had his fellow-soldiers' faces blacked out-- no doubt to protect their identities. Other pictures, provided by the Department of Defense and the State Department were very revelatory-- they showed the training conditions, some of the weapons and some of the terrain.
I particularly enjoyed Wasdin's anecdotes of fellow SEALs and snipers-- including a water rescue in which he returned in merely his underwear and how to create the best ghillie suits. The key: don't use too many grasses because they dry out quickly and then become a giveaway. Wasdin also does a nice job telling about their co-operations (or challenges) with Delta Force, the CIA and other government agencies; he tells of their egos getting in the way in such a way that he's remorseful and still pride-filled.
As the book progresses Wasdin tells a lot about the key players his team was after while dealing with Desert Shield (Iraq, Iran & Kuwait) and later with in Somalia. There were lots of names of key players thrown out, but I felt like few stuck with me, and at the same time I was reminded of the large similarities of Wasdin's team's challenges and what I hear about daily regarding insurgents in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the rebels and dictator within Syria (and last year-- with Egypt). His story, while almost twenty years old, is still timely and a great tool for connecting our previous conflicts with today's conflicts.
While I was reading this book with my high school students in mind, and I do feel that they'd be interested in this book, I feel this book would best connect with a freshmen military science class or even a political science class studying the Middle East and Somalia because of some of the deeper connections that could easily loose readers without some of this background knowledge (I was once a poli. sci & military science student so I feel that I may be a little exceptional in my connection). Once I settled into the style of the book, I flew through it in just a couple of days and I noticed earlier this evening that Wasdin & Templin have another book out about Seal Team Six and it's about the outcasts, but it may need to wait until I finish a few other books I have waiting to be read and returned to their owners.
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