Sand, Sun and Hired Guns - 60 Days in Karbala (Hardcover)

Some soldiers don't like to sit still. In 1968, at age 17, Alex Dunsire joined the British Royal Artillery Regiment, and the next year switched to the Parachute Regiment (jumping out of an aircraft the first time he was ever in one). By 1971 he was in Northern Ireland during the thick of that conflict, thence off to Cyprus.
Hearing about the secret war in Oman, he qualified for Air Dispatch and supported SAS teams in the desert. He subsequently trained with the U.S. 82nd Airborne and German Fallschirmjagers, joined a freefall team, and became an APC instructor for the 1st Armoured Division. He also earned his Commando Dagger and an extra pair of Wings from Estonia. But time caught up with him, and by 2003 he was over 50, out of the Army, watching in frustration as Anglo-American forces invaded Iraq. Then one day he received a phone call from a former colleague in the Parachute Regiment: "Hey mate, guess where I'm phoning from? Bleeding Baghdad. It's a job creation scheme over here. You want the work, get your arse into gear."
Considered too old for the Army, Dunsire could still be a mercenary, and after a short search he found a new employer: Blackwater International. Based in North Carolina, Blackwater is a crack outfit run largely by former U.S. Special Operations personnel. With his vast experience and savvy, the "old Limey" was the first foreigner to pass through the company's rigorous training and within months was in the thick of action, in Iraq.
In "Sand, Sun, and Hired Guns," Dunsire describes with great insight and no lack of humor the life of the modern mercenary in the swirling storm of insurgency and sectarian violence that is today's Iraq. The text isaccompanied by dozens of full-color photos that bring the reader straight to the action.
On his first tour, Dunsire found himself in Karbala during the uprising of the Mahdi Army. Stationed with his team of mercs along with Eastern European troops, witless Iraqi soldiers, and the occasional AC-130 gunship overhead, he helped hold a Fort Apache outpost amidst a series of attacks from fanatic assailants. Despite being wounded (friendly fire from a nervous Bulgarian) Dunsire with his team was able to calmly hold his ground until the U.S. 1st Armored broke the back of the uprising. With a superb eye for detail to match his rare experience, Dunsire relates the sights, smells and color of combat in today's Iraq. His fascinating perspective unveils the life of a modern merc, while lending insight into the motley array of other combatants vying for control of Saddam Hussein's former domain. At this writing, ALEX DUNSIRE is on his sixth tour of Iraq as a private contractor.