Nicht aus der Schweiz? Besuchen Sie lehmanns.de
Mercenaries, Gunslingers and Outlaws - Robert M. Kurtz

Mercenaries, Gunslingers and Outlaws

Two Years as a Security Contractor in Iraq

(Autor)

Buch | Hardcover
216 Seiten
2025
Casemate Publishers (Verlag)
978-1-63624-510-2 (ISBN)
CHF 52,25 inkl. MwSt
  • Noch nicht erschienen (ca. Mai 2025)
  • Versandkostenfrei
  • Auch auf Rechnung
  • Artikel merken
Retired after 12 years in the military, Robert Kurtz had never deployed to war, so when he got the opportunity to deploy to Iraq as a private security contractor, he did not hesitate. The two and a half years he spent in Iraq and the people he met would change his life profoundly.
Mercenaries, Gunslingers, and Outlaws is the story of 2½ years as a security contractor in Iraq. It’s not just a story about firefights and surviving IEDs while protecting American contractors, although those kinds of stories are there, it shares an account that covers the full spectrum of some of the most profound experiences of his life.

Rather than a chronological account, the book is broken into sections covering an amazingly wide range of experiences and topics. The chapters within each section are relatively short and tell complete stories, much like vignettes, that keep the reader turning the pages. The reader experiences IEDs, high-speed crashes, firefights, run-ins with Iraqi security forces, the stress and uncertainty of being surrounded by locals, any one of whom could be an insurgent or suicide bomber, the tactics used to stay alive on the roads, and the inevitable human cost in lost and destroyed lives.

Some sections tell the stories of the people he met and worked beside: former U.S. Army Green Berets, British Royal Marines, a former Lebanese Christian Militiamen captured by the Syrians when he was 16, British Gurkhas from Nepal, South African counter-terrorist commandos, a former member of the French Foreign Legion, and even a Buddhist monk. There are stories of heroic figures who were larger than life, of outlaws who came to Iraq because they didn’t fit in anywhere else and ended up not fitting in there either, and then there are the Iraqi people who invited the author into their homes.

Robert Kurtz is a veteran with a graduate degree and 15 years as an international private security contractor. Besides Iraq, he has worked in hot spots worldwide including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian West Bank, and Lebanon. He was on assignment in Cairo during the 2011 Arab Spring riots and has overseen the evacuations of Americans from Haiti, Yemen, Egypt, and Afghanistan. He has provided security at events attended by former Presidents and high-visibility public figures. An expert in all aspects of personal and operational security, he has written over 150 articles for online magazines on firearms, security, travel safety, and military topics, as well as his time in Iraq. In his life he has climbed mountains, explored ghost towns and abandoned mines, commanded a tank platoon, and crossed the North Atlantic during winter storms.

Chapter One: Arriving in Iraq

1. Just What is a Private Security Contractor?
2. We’re Not in Kansas Anymore
3. Colorful Characters
4. The Land of Not Quite Right
5. Just Like the Wild Geese
6. Life On the Road
7. Gurkhas
8. Firepower
9. Working with Russians
10. Sex in the City
11. Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)
12. Working with Expats
13. Locals
14. Iraqi Insecurity Forces
15. Losses
Epilogue

Erscheint lt. Verlag 31.5.2025
Zusatzinfo 16
Sprache englisch
Maße 152 x 229 mm
Themenwelt Literatur Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
Sachbuch/Ratgeber Geschichte / Politik
Geschichte Allgemeine Geschichte Zeitgeschichte
Geisteswissenschaften Geschichte Regional- / Ländergeschichte
Geschichte Teilgebiete der Geschichte Militärgeschichte
ISBN-10 1-63624-510-2 / 1636245102
ISBN-13 978-1-63624-510-2 / 9781636245102
Zustand Neuware
Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt?
Mehr entdecken
aus dem Bereich
der Westen, der Osten und ich

von Adam Soboczynski

Buch | Hardcover (2023)
Klett-Cotta (Verlag)
CHF 29,90
Gewalt, Umwelt, Identität, Methode

von Tom Holert

Buch | Softcover (2024)
Spector Books OHG (Verlag)
CHF 49,95
der Osten, der Westen, der Zorn und das Glück

von Ines Geipel

Buch | Hardcover (2024)
S. Fischer (Verlag)
CHF 36,40