Customer Reviews

An Unorthodox Soldier

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a brave book, free of the bitter blood and guts filling current works in the category. There's a lot more serotonin than testosterone here. The work isn't about bravery under fire; it's about the ideas a very professional man has about his occupation, Soldiering. And his industry, - War.
In our present international state Spicer's Peace Making makes more sense than the U.N.'s Peace Keeping. In a world where our leaders run around like rock stars continually checking their popularity poles, Tim Spicer takes a hard look at the best way to save lives, civilian and military. He lays out how war actually works covering the necessary facts and not drowning the reader in details. There's no harping on the cold hard facts of being a soldier; he relates the conditions as if it's of no more importance than a weather report.
While the world leaders are busy ranting and consoling, the man with the gun seems to be the only one thinking. Spicer's case for P.M.C's is well organized and placed in relevant areas within the story of his experiences as a soldier. It brings up important questions that eventually must be dealt with. The logic is irrefutable, men are a P.M.C.'s assets; companies don't waste assets the way governments have been known waste soldiers. The cold logic of his arguments is like the truths he reveals, a little hard to take at times.
Far from being the unfeeling hard [nosed] commander, his anguish bleeds through when he tells the tale of how badly two of his men were treated in Ireland and his frustrated anger is clear when dealing with several government double crosses. He seems to find these more insulting than frightening because they are so hopelessly flawed. It's almost as if he were saying, "And these are the guys running things?"
Throughout it all there is humor, passion and suspense and not all questions are answered. I find myself still wondering where the knife, compass and money was? Spicer doesn't tell us or the enemy everything.
All said, though this might not be considered a woman's book, I found Spicer's work strangely comforting, even hopeful.

This book is an interesting story covering the military service of Lt Col Tim Spicer as an Officer in the Scots Guards and later as the Managing Director of Sandline. Colonel Spicer saw active service in Northern Ireland and the Falklands and was awarded the OBE for service as the OC 1st BN Scots Guards during a deployment to Northern Ireland. He also served in Bosnia as Staff officer to General Rose during the Serbian encirclement of Sarajevo and other cities when the UN attempt to keep the warring factions apart.

Although it is interesting to read the view of a protaganist the book is a thinly disguised advertisement for Private Military Companies (PMC) as a potential solution for security issues faced by legitimate Governments in Third World countries.

Colonel Spicer gives a brief coverage of the Sandline operation in Papua New Guinea which failed when one of the major stakeholders, the PNGDF Commander, changed sides and promoted a mutiny by his troops which resulted in the Sandline Contract being cancelled by the new PNG Government.

He also brushes over the Sierre Leone affair which caused upheaval in UK when Sandline was accused of illegal arms shipments.

The reader is also asked to accept that PMCs provide an efective solution for many of today's security problems. Colonel Spicer maintains that a professional, self regulated private miliatry force under legal contract to a legitimate government can provide earlier resolution to emerging security problems and thereby reduce the reliance on the UN and Major world powers to provide the military resources required to control the situation.

It is necessary to read between the lines to identify that the future for Soldiers of Fortune will be more closely linked to PMCs which can be regulated and therefore provide a higher quality of service.

I recommend the book to those interested in the profession of arms for a glimpse into the future where the mercenary or professional soldier will be used more often then the "levy" or conscript.

This book gave me new insights into the military action going on in 3rd world countries. It also made me aware of the concept of the private military corporation. The style of the book is somewhat dry and tedious. Spicer is a very methodical and thorough man which no doubt serves him well as a commander, but he could have used a professional writer to make the book more exciting. He is on a mission to get more respect for private military corporations, and uses the book to further this goal.

In summary, I would say if you are looking for a fun read, this is not it. But it is required reading for those interested in the PMC conecept.

This an interesting book, focusing on the merits of the modern Private Military Company/Contractor (PMC) and why the common perception of such a military resource is outmoded. Ironically, it is the quality of the governments cited as arbiters of high moral standards which is repeatedly called into question: From the political expediency that branded Guardsmen Fisher and Wright as murderers, to the incredibly senseless actions by the British Foreign Office under the leadership of the now deceased Robin Cook over the Sierra Leone/Sandline affair, which almost led to the imprisonment of Lieutenant-Colonel Tim Spicer for allegedly breaching UNSCR 1132.

Sandline is no more. But Lieutenant-Colonel Tim Spicer is now at the head of Aegis, the most prominent PMC operating in Iraq, where many of the services alluded to in his book are being effectively deployed in the manner he envisaged.

Readers should be aware that more than a first person narative of events this book contains a point of view of Mr. Spicer towards PMC's (Private Military Company). I was expecting an action packed biography and instead found myself reading about a PMC named Sandline. Sandline is a company that no longer exists and Tim Spicer explains why it doesnt. He lays out all sorts of historical backgrounds and current facts in support of privatizing war. To be fair I enjoyed learning about the nature of military contractors and enlightened my position in support towards them. Someone interested in some action should probably stay away. If you are interested in a more political point of view towards mercenaries this is a great book for you.

This book provides information on the start up of a Private Military Company (PMC). The author provides good topics for discussion regarding how PMC's may be used in less than stable regions of the world. Current events in the southern part of Africa and Iraq have seen the prolific use of PMC's by not only small governments, but also large militaries, like the United States.

This book obviously is good topic for debates regarding the pros and cons of UN peacekeeping, how they have failed, and how PMC's may be used to protect the weak from the thugs and bandits that prey on them.

The one downside of this book is the very small font print. Larger font print would have made the book much easier and enjoyable to read. If one has poor vision, this book would be very difficult to read.

Overall, the book provided a good viewpoint on PMC's and the questionable efforts of the UN in protecting those who are in need.

The autobiography is interesting but what I found particularly thought provoking is the discussion of what the future holds for government armies and the new world of terrorism and insurgencies. What Col. Spicer predicted 7 years ago as a need for private security forces to be used by legitimate governments has come to pass. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to understand the complicated future of the modern military.

This is a brave book, free of the bitter blood and guts filling current works in the category. There's a lot more serotonin than testosterone here. The work isn't about bravery under fire; it's about the ideas a very professional man has about his occupation, Soldiering. And his industry, - War.
In our present international state Spicer's Peace Making makes more sense than the U.N.'s Peace Keeping. In a world where our leaders run around like rock stars continually checking their popularity poles, Tim Spicer takes a hard look at the best way to save lives, civilian and military. He lays out how war actually works covering the necessary facts and not drowning the reader in details. There's no harping on the cold hard facts of being a soldier; he relates the conditions as if it's of no more importance than a weather report.
While the world leaders are busy ranting and consoling, the man with the gun seems to be the only one thinking. Spicer's case for P.M.C's is well organized and placed in relevant areas within the story of his experiences as a soldier. It brings up important questions that eventually must be dealt with. The logic is irrefutable, men are a P.M.C.'s assets; companies don't waste assets the way governments have been known waste soldiers. The cold logic of his arguments is like the truths he reveals, a little hard to take at times.
Far from being the unfeeling hard [nosed] commander, his anguish bleeds through when he tells the tale of how badly two of his men were treated in Ireland and his frustrated anger is clear when dealing with several government double crosses. He seems to find these more insulting than frightening because they are so hopelessly flawed. It's almost as if he were saying, "And these are the guys running things?"
Throughout it all there is humor, passion and suspense and not all questions are answered. I find myself still wondering where the knife, compass and money was? Spicer doesn't tell us or the enemy everything.
All said, though this might not be considered a woman's book, I found Spicer's work strangely comforting, even hopeful.

I found the writing in this book to be spotty. The first few chapters provide a introduction to the world of the PMC (of which Tim Spicer has play a large role in). Although the book was published in 1999,previous to his founding of Aegis, I wish that he would have continued with his thoughts on PMCs. As a major player in the industry, Spicer's vision on the industry as a whole would be very interesting to read.

This is indeed a fascinating insider's story of one of the first European PMC's. I first read Singer's Corporate Warriors, and found it very interesting to compare and confront the views of the two authors on the topic of "private armies". I have to add that I was rather disappointed by the almost systematic (spelling?) errors in the (non English) names of persons or places in the BiH chapter. Was it so difficult to check and correct this before publishing the book?