Four Ball, One Tracer: Commanding Executive Outcomes in Angola and Sierra Leone

van Heerden, Roelf,Hudson, Andrew

ISBN 10: 1907677763 / ISBN 13: 9781907677762

Published by Helion and Company, 2012

About this Item

Four Ball, One Tracer offers an insiderâ s account of commanding Executive Outcomes, the controversial private military company that played decisive roles in the conflicts in Angola and Sierra Leone during the 1990s. The author provides a candid, operational-level view of the battles, political complexities, and rapid-response campaigns that helped stabilise governments facing collapse. Blending battlefield narrative with strategic analysis, the book examines how a small, highly trained force achieved results that eluded larger national armies and international interventions. A gripping and highly sought-after title for readers interested in modern warfare, mercenary operations, and African conflict history.

Seller Inventory # mon0001643942

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Four Ball, One Tracer: Commanding Executive Outcomes in Angola and Sierra Leone
• Publisher: Helion and Company
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1907677763
• ISBN 13: 9781907677762
• Binding: hardcover
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Brutally honest and devoid of hyperbole, this is Roelf van Heerden's Executive Outcomes. / Unapologetic, unassuming and forthright, the combat exploits of Executive Outcomes (EO) in Angola and Sierra Leone are recounted for the first time by a battlefield commander who was physically on the ground during all their major combat operations. From fighting UNITA for the critical oil installations and diamond fields of Angola to the offensive against the RUF in Sierra Leone to capture the Kono diamond fields and the palace coup which ousted Captain Valentine Strasser, van Heerden was at the forefront. He tells of the tragedy of child soldiers, illegal diamond mining and the curse of government soldiers who turn on their own people; he tells of RUF atrocities, the harrowing attempt to rescue a downed EO pilot and the poignant efforts to recover the remains of EO soldiers killed in action. Coupled with van Heerden's gripping exposé, hitherto unpublished photographs, order of battle charts and battle maps offer unprecedented access to the major actions as they took place on the ground during the heydays of EO.

About the Author

Andrew Hudson majored in military history at the South Africa Military Academy and after two decades as an infantry officer in the South African Defence Force moved into the private sector. Still a soldier at heart he divides his time between earning an income, indulging his passion for collecting books on conflict in Africa, and road running in weird and wonderful locations.

Roelf van Heerden is a veteran and author specializing inmilitary history.