Scott Waddle, a native of Austin, TX, graduated from the United States Naval Academy in May 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 where he served aboard Atlantic Fleet Trident Ballistic Missile boats Alabama and Kentucky and Pacific Fleet fast attacks San Francisco and Greeneville.

In June 1998, after earning a Masters of Science degree from the National Defense University in Washington D.C., he was hand picked from a highly competitive field of two hundred fifty officers to command the USS Greeneville, an improved Los Angeles class fast attack submarine. In March of 1999 he relieved as 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 nine-thousand ton submarine to collide with the Ehime Maru, a 500 ton Japanese fishing vessel, killing nine people on board.

Against the advise of his attorney and the Navy's direction, he took responsibility for the accident. In October 2001 he was honorably discharged from the Navy and retired from active duty as a Commander.

Scott is employed by ABB Inc., a global power systems company, as a project manager. He resides in Raleigh, NC with his wife Jill and daughter Ashley.