Chase Simon - Zero footprint : the true story of a private military contractors covert assignments in Syria, Libya, and the worlds most dangerous places

AQIal-Qaeda in Iraq

AQIMal-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

BDUbattle dress uniform

CASEVACcasualty evacuation

CHUcontainerized housing unit

COBcollocated operating base

COBRCabinet Office briefing rooms

CONOCcontractors operation center

COPclose observation platoon

CPclose protection

DBADefense Billing Act

DFACdining facility

DIADefense Intelligence Agency

DLdrill leader

DODDepartment of Defense

DOSDepartment of State

DSDiplomatic Security

DShKDegtyaryov-Shpagin, large-caliber machine gun

EFPexplosive force penetrator

ENDEXexercise termination

EOexecutive order

EUEuropean Union

EVACevacuation

FFDfirst field dressing

FIBUAfighting in built-up areas

FNforeign national

FOBforward operating base

FSAFree Syrian Army

GPSglobal positioning system

GRSGlobal Response Staff

GUFgraduated use of force

HHHis Highness

HRHHis Royal Highness

HVThigh-value target

IEDimprovised explosive device

IFAKindividualized first-aid kit

IMOinformation management officer

ISIIslamic State of Iraq

ISISIslamic State of Iraq and Syria

KMSKeenie Meenie Services

LNlocal national

MANPADSman-portable air-defense system

MBITRmultiband inter/intra team radio

MI6Military Intelligence, Section 6

MREmeal, ready to eat

MTmobile security team

MWRmorale, welfare, and recreation

NANorthern Alliance

NGOsnongovernmental organizations

NRONational Reconnaissance Office

NVGsnight-vision goggles

OBEOrder of the British Empire

OBLOsama bin Laden

OICofficer in charge

OPobservation post

OPSECoperational security

ORBATorder of battle

PCHPacific Coast Highway

PCOProject and Contracting Office

PKMPulemyot Kalashnikova, modernized machine gun

PMCprivate military contractor

POpresiding officer

PSCprivate security contractor

PTphysical training

PTIphysical training instructor

PTSDpost-traumatic stress disorder

QRFquick-response force

RLTreconstruction liaison team

RPGruchnoy protivotankovyi granatomyot, handheld antitank grenade launcher

RTAroad traffic incident

RVrendezvous point

SADSpecial Activities Division

SAFSyrian Armed Forces

SASSpecial Air Service

SBSSpecial Boat Service

SCIFSensitive Compartmented Information Facility

SETsecurity escort team

SFspecial forces

SIRserious incident report

SOCASerious Organised Crime Agency

SRTsecurity reconnaissance team

SSGSyrian Support Group

SVRSluzhba Vneshney Razvedki, foreign intelligence service of Russia

3ICthird in command

TLteam leader

TOCtactical operations center

2ICsecond in command

UPurban observation post

USACEUS Army Corps of Engineers

USAIDUS Agency for International Development

USF-IUS ForcesIraq

USFIUS Forces, Interior

USGUS government

I f you havent found yourself in the middle of the shit in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, or Syria recently, you probably have little understanding of what we do. Or that were sometimes called upon to perform missions too sensitive and top secret for even Delta Force or SEAL Team 6.

Were mostly guys, and some women, who live in your neighborhoods, drive fast cars, work out a lot, and spend long periods of time away from home. We tend to keep to ourselves and avoid socializing with the neighbors. Some of you probably suspect that were spies or former convicts, drug dealers, or maybe even Internet entrepreneurs.

What we really are: PMCsprivate military contractors, or operators. There are hundreds of thousands of us living in the United States working for companies like G4S, DynCorp, Unity Resources Group, Erinys, Triple Canopy, and Aegis Defense Services. They hire us to do the dirty and dangerous jobs the military and intelligence services cant or dont want to do. Some of us are former Tier 1 operatorsSEALs, Delta Force, marines, or Army Rangerswith extensive combat experience. My background includes fifteen years of service in the British Royal Marines, British special forces, and the Special Boat Service (SBS).

We defuse terrorist bombs, guard dignitaries, protect convoys traveling through perilous territory, battle drug runners, provide security to oil facilities, fly manned reconnaissance planes, and maintain military aircraft and equipment.

In my case, Ive fought beside Afghan and Syrian rebels, rescued kidnapped children from inside Pakistan, battled Somali pirates, shoveled the ashes of my best mates off the streets of Baghdad, tracked down al-Qaeda high-value targets (HVTs)including Osama bin Ladenand performed other zero-footprint missions for the US government. One of those zero-footprint missions put me in Benghazi on September 11, 2012, the night Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans died.

Its a hard transition from military to PMC. In the former, we were hailed as heroes. As private operators, were regarded as shadowy figures or mercenaries who are in it solely for the money, which isnt always true. Maybe the pay is better, but were pretty much doing the same work and employed by the same governments. And were motivated by the same standard of service to the ideals we hold true.

As PMCs we operate deep undercover without government backup or air rescue, public credit for what we do, or military honors when we die in combat. Maybe, as some commentators have suggested, were unsung heroes in the war against terrorism. Thats not my call.

My decade-plus career as a military contractor began during a black-cab ride to London in 1999 with my mate Pete. My first assignments were cakewalks with a laugh or two along the way compared with some of the brutal missions that would follow after 9/11. But that was okay with me, because I was learning the ropes and developing a sense of the moral dilemmas I would face going forward.

Pete and I had been through thick and thin together, starting as young toughs from Romford in the East End to the time we spent in juvie. At five foot nine apiece, neither of us was physically imposing at first sight, but we were both workout fanatics. While I was faster on my feet, Pete was the toughest man Id ever met and training to become a UFC fighter.

From juvie we had both recruited into the Royal Marines. After fifteen years of British military service, we were now two East End blokes going up the smoke, as we called it, on our way from Portsmouth to London in a cab with no idea what we were going to do next. Thats when my big, ugly NEC P100 cell phone rang.

It was Marvin C., our former PTI (physical training instructor), who had gone on to the SBSthe naval partner of the infamous Special Air Service (SAS)where I had served.