Highway to Hell by John Geddes

[SO19]

Just finished reading this one and have to recommend it to others. Its one man's account of the extraordinary private army hired to fight in Iraq.

His wealth of experience definitely shows through in this book. John Geddes in an ex-Para and ex-Blade.

Well worth a look.

John Geddes fought in the Falklands War with the Parachute Regiment and saw action in the ferocious Battle of Goose Green. He was then selected for the SAS where he served in Air Troop with distinction. He is a veteran of covert operations worldwide including the Balkans, Northern Ireland and Africa. His last tour with the SAS was in South America where he conducted devastating, lethal undercover operations against cocaine cartels. Since leaving the SAS as a Warrant Officer he has been involved in security work in the Congo, Nigeria, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. He now runs a company training personnel mainly for security work in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Peds]

Just to add my two cents, I finished this one around a month ago and was infotained all the way through. I would recommend, also, giving it out to friends who might not understand and appreciate the whole PMC scene over there and the work they do.

A decent mix of fact and justly-deserved "my balls are bigger than yours" story-telling.

[harry hackedoff]

You two probably don`t remember the Colonel Callan incident in Angola, many moons have passed since then and many buffalo.
There was a serious quid to be made in Iraq in the immediate aftermath of what Elmer laughingly refers to as "Regime Change". Don`t know if that`s still true though. The bigger companys probably are still paying top dollar for the right blokes and they have the logistic and tactical support in place to carry on operating. There`s a lot of dross as well, picking up contracts that the big boys don`t want, bottom feeding with lowest priced tenders. Their guys are seriously exposed.
General public(nice bloke) first got to hear about mercenaries in the Angolan war, everyone who had served in any military capacity from the cubs up was off to make a fortune in Africa. It all went tits, and the phrase "Fools Rush In...." was much used.

[SO19]

I'm familiar with Costas Georgiou H, he was court martialed for robbing a bank while on tour in NI.

[Sully]

I'm familiar with Costas Georgiou H

Hmm, I thought he was slotted in the mid 70's If that's not the case and the present tense is intentional then I'm sure I could get you a few bob for his address from a fella (ex para/ex 'firepower' team member) who doesn't think too highly of him. Chats with the said merc mean that it was never going to be something I'd consider.

There`s a lot of dross as well, picking up contracts that the big boys don`t want, bottom feeding with lowest priced tenders. Their guys are seriously exposed.

Heyup H check out this book about Blackwater:

http://www.blackwaterbook.com/

Seems like everybody's exposed - the Fallujah incident that kicked off the escalation there seemed either bad drills (which is bad) or a set up (which is worse). And the good ole god fearin' people from Great Dismal Swamp NC appear to be suing the relatives (or at least their lawyers) of the men killed in that fiasco. Smart blurks.

[harry hackedoff]

And what`s wrong with that?
It`s only a crime if you get caught
Daddy was a bank robber
But he never hurt nobody
He just loved to live that way
He loved to steal your money

I'm familiar with Costas Georgiou

Mate, your love life is your business

[harry hackedoff]

Cheers Sull, my last was to young SO18.5
Where the fark have you been mate

[harry hackedoff]

And George got the black cap/ long drop along with several others, he was a waste of kit mate. The trials certainly focussed peoples attention

Thanks for the links mate
BTW I bought that knife It`s a bewdy

[Sully]

"Ayo Ghorkali"

Sitrep sent by other means H.

This is quite interesting about 'Col Callan'

http://www.cvni.net/radio/e2k/e2k031/e2k31article.html

Seems like one of his old oppos was trying to slot Pablo Escobar - still at it aged 64