Scott Waddle, a native of Austin, Texas, graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1981, earning a Bachelors of Science degree in Chemistry. Following graduation he was commissioned an Ensign and embarked on a twenty-year career in the submarine force, serving aboard Atlantic Fleet Trident Ballistic Missile boats Alabama and Kentucky and Pacific Fleet fast attacks San Francisco and Greeneville.

In June of 1998, after earning a Masters of Science degree from the National Defense University in Washington D.C., Scott Waddle was hand picked from a highly competitive field of 250 officers to command the USS Greeneville, an improved Los Angeles class fast attack submarine. In March of 1999 Waddle became the Commanding Officer of the Greeneville in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

On the fateful day of February 9, 2001, Commander Waddle's life was forever changed when he gave the order to perform an emergency surface maneuver that inadvertently caused the 9,000 ton submarine to collide with the Ehime Maru, a 500 ton Japanese fishing vessel, killing nine people on board. Against the advice of his attorney and the Navy's direction, Scott Waddle took responsibility for the accident. In October of 2001 he was honorably discharged from the Navy and retired from active duty as a Commander.

Commander Waddle published a book called "The Right Thing".

He resides in North Carolina with his wife Jill.

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