Zero Footprint
The True Story of a Private Military Contractor's Covert Assignments in Syria, Libya, And the World's Most Dangerous Places
by Simon Chase; Ralph Pezzullo
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Pub Date Jan 12 2016 | Archive Date Feb 12 2016
Description
Armored cars, burner phones, top-notch weaponry and top-secret missions -- this is the life of today's private military contractor. Like author Simon Chase, many PMCs were once the world's top military operatives, and since retiring from outfits like US Navy SEAL TEAM Six and the UK's Special Boat Service, they have devoted their lives to executing sensitive and hazardous missions overseas.
Working at the request of U.S. and British government entities as well as for private clients, he takes on jobs that require "zero footprint," with no trace of their actions left behind. Chase delivers firsthand accounts of tracking Bin Laden in Afghanistan and being one of the first responders after the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. We see his teams defuse terrorist bombs, guard dignitaries, and protect convoys traveling through perilous territory -- and then there are the really big jobs: top-secret "zero footprint" missions that include searching for High Value Targets and setting up arms shipping networks.
The missions in Zero Footprint will shock readers, but so will the personal dangers. Chase and the men he works with operate without government backup or air rescue. If they die serving their country, they remain anonymous. There are no military honors or benefits. Contractors like Simon Chase are the unsung heroes in the war against terrorism, a strong, but largely invisible force -- until now.
Advance Praise
“Zero Footprint is a gut-wrenching look into a necessary evil in the war on terror. It may offend your sensibilities, but sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. I sit in no judgment of these highly skilled warriors as I have seen the beast that they are up against.”—Howard Wasdin, author of SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper
“Chase’s incredible story will leave its readers with a true appreciation and respect for the training and missions these so called “shadowy figures,” the “unsung invisible force” simply known as PMCs, were so often assigned.”—Don D. Mann, SEAL Team SIX (ret.), and author of Inside SEAL Team SIX
“From the mountains of Tora Bora to the mean streets of Baghdad and Benghazi, Simon Chase has fought in the shadow places of this earth and lived to tell the tale. Zero Footprint is his harrowing story, intense, frightening, and eventually heart-breaking. One of the best counter-terror memoirs I’ve ever read.”—Chuck Pfarrer, SEAL Team Six Assault Element Commander and author of Philip Nolan, The Man Without a County
“Powerful and fascinating . . . Simon Chase and Ralph Pezzullo have written an exciting account of a career reserved only for a few of the finest in the world.” —Joel Vargas, Assistant Director for Law Enforcement Operations & Head of Intelligence, International Association of Airport & Seaport Police (InterPort Police)
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780316342247 |
| PRICE | $28.00 (USD) |
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Average rating from 6 members
Featured Reviews
Randal W, Reviewer
An incredible story! Chase (alias), a British Special Forces soldier who found himself an early retirement due to injury, continues his career as a private military contractor (PMC). Taking assignments as varied as a bodyguard for rich people, to stints with other special forces soldiers (retired SEALs, Delta Force, etc) in war zones throughout the Middle East. The author had many hair-raising adventures, it is amazing that he has packed so much living into one life. The chapters detailing incidents in Iraq, the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan, and Benghazi Libya were spell binding!
Mr. Chase has an excellent ability to narrate, and the descriptions are so vivid that you feel you are there with him. If he can manage to stay clear of harms way long enough to write a sequel, I will be first in line to purchase it!
On a side note, I was flabbergasted at the amount of money spent on PMC's. Bear with me while I give a quote from the book: "In November 2003, the US Congress established the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund, which allocated $18.4 BILLION (!!!) to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure... That was on top of the $54.4 BILLION Congress had provided that year for Operation Iraqi Freedom, the $92.1 BILLION it set aside in 2004, the $58 BILLION in 2005, and so on..... The money was huge. So was the number of firms that showed up to bid for contracts - 181, according to a US GAO report - eventually employing AS MANY AS 190,000 CONTRACTOR AND SUBCONTRACTOR PERSONNEL." Wow! To paraphrase an old line, "Take a a billion dollars here, and a billion dollars there, and pretty soon you are talking about real money here". And equally incredible is the process used to circumnavigate Congressional Oversight by hiring the PMC's. And the fact that these PMC's are pretty much out there on their own; no backup from the regular military, and no disability pensions or life insurance if the situations go bad. In fact, the government can deny any knowledge of these people, no matter how heroic their deeds may be. This book was a real eye-opener for me. I highly, highly recommend this one!
(In the interest of fairness, I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for a fair review. But in this case, the review cannot do justice to how good this was!)
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