The Russians have always been excellent soldiers, and it is not surprising that some of your military personnel, discharged from service, found work in Africa, Bob Denard.

They showed great interest among readers in the activities of military mercenaries. Reedus decided to study this area in detail - the history of the issue, operating principles, and market conditions.

However, without the story of the Frenchman Bob Denard (real name Gilbert Bourgeau), the greatest mercenary of our time, the topic of soldiers of fortune is not worth raising.

At the beginning of glorious deeds

People who knew Denard, including his opponents, unanimously say that he was a man of extraordinary intelligence, steely will, and at the same time surprisingly easy to communicate with.

Denard himself considered himself and his fellow mercenaries to be romantics, to some extent adventurers, and compared them to corsairs.

“For us then, the profession of a mercenary meant, first of all, romance. Today's soldiers of fortune fight only for dollars. We took money only when it was necessary to pay for weapons and equipment - they don’t give it for free anywhere,” he explained in an interview shortly before his death.

According to the official biography, which, as you might guess, has a lot of blank spots, Denard first took up arms at the age of 15, joining the Resistance in 1944. After the war he entered the naval service and was sent to French Indochina, where he took part in the First Indochina War. Denard was fired from military service for fighting, but he quickly found a place in the Moroccan police.

Since then, the African continent has become his home for many years.

On the left is still a simple boy Gilbert Bourgeau, and on the right is the legendary King of Mercenaries - Bob Denard

Consistent anti-Bolshevik

Bob Denard held extreme right-wing views, was an anti-communist and a supporter of Farnsafrica - a system of informal guardianship of Paris over former colonies.

African states received freedom, and France gained access to their mineral resources and local markets.

With the advent of freedom, blood began to flow in the colonies, regimes replaced each other one after another, so local petty dictators needed professional military men, and not local fools with machine guns. Denard quickly realized that this was the place for him, put together a detachment and first went to the Congo, where the civil war began.

He enlisted in the army of Moise Tshombe, who announced the separation of the state of Katanga from the Republic of Congo. The choice of side was due to the fact that at first the USSR opposed secession, supporting the Republic of the Congo.

Denard acted, as he admitted, with the tacit permission of Paris. “Corsairs in France received written permission from the king to attack foreign ships. I did not have such permission, but I had passports issued by the secret services,” he later explained.

In the Congo, Denard fought along with other mercenary units, including the no less legendary soldier of fortune, Irishman Mile Hoare (in 1964-1965, they suppressed the Simba “red wing” uprising, which was supported by Moscow).

Mad Mike is famous for the fact that it was thanks to him that in the West the phrase “wild geese” became a common noun for mercenaries. He christened his 5th Commando Squad "Wild Geese", which was a reference to the nickname of the Irish mercenaries of the 15th and 16th centuries.

Chevron of the 5th Commando Squad "Wild Geese" by Michael Hoare

Together with the troops of Hoare and another mercenary, Jean Schramm, Denard's mercenaries prevented the massacre of more than one and a half thousand white residents of Stanleyville.

All three field commanders in their subsequent activities harshly suppressed attempts to kill Europeans, even if they were undertaken by the troops of their African employers.

There is evidence that Denard participated in the Portuguese invasion of Guinea in 1970, attempted to overthrow the Marxist regime of Mathieu Kérékou in Benin, participated on the side of the white minority in the conflict in Rhodesia, in the civil wars in Angola and in Nigeria, Chad, Yemen and in a dozen more local conflicts in Africa, as well as in Iran.

This is fragmentary information, the degree of reliability of which cannot be confirmed. By his own admission, throughout his active career, Denard “caught a dozen bullets,” including being wounded in the head.

From mercenaries through Islam to officials

The Mercenary King carried out the largest operation in the Comoros Islands - a small archipelago between Madagascar and the African coast, a former French colony.

In 1975, Bob Denard led the uprising of Maoist Ali Sualikh, which contradicted his right-wing views and other political principles. The coup was successful: President Ahmed Abdullah was overthrown and fled. The deed was done, and Denard left Comoros.

Bob Denard at the height of his fame in the Comoros

But three years later he returned with a detachment of fifty mercenaries and carried out a new coup, as a result of which Sualikh was killed and Ahmed Abdullah returned to power.

As if forgetting the role of the Mercenary King in the Maoist insurgency, the population of the islands hailed him as a liberator, and Muslims even called him the messenger of Allah. Denard received Comorian citizenship, converted to Islam, taking the name Said Mustafa Majub, and married a native of the islands.

However, the change of religion was formal: he never read the Koran and did not learn to pray. “In France I am a Christian, and in Comoros I am a Muslim, that’s all. You must respect the religion of the country where you live,” Denard later explained.

Denard's finest hour has come in Comoros. Here he created a military base of mercenaries, who were formally called the presidential guard. The French soldier of fortune became the unofficial ruler of the Comoros Islands, restructuring the administration, police, and courts according to his preferences. He went into business, became a landowner, but did not forget about his true calling.

From the Comoros, he organized operations in Mozambique and Angola, simultaneously helping France circumvent the embargo imposed on South Africa.

Denard's success inspired his former ally Michael Hoare, who decided to establish control over the Seychelles. However, Mad Mike's adventure failed: the operation failed due to the carelessness of one of the squad members, who failed to hide the weapon well enough. The element of surprise was lost, and the “wild geese” had to engage in battle right at the airport. The adventure ended with the hijacking of an Indian plane and flight to South Africa.

Legendary Mad Mike on the right

The comfortable life ended in 1989, when Ahmed Abdallah was killed under mysterious circumstances. According to one version, Denard himself eliminated his patron when the president decided to disband the guard.

Later in court this version was not confirmed. And the half-brother of that same Maoist Ali Sualikh, Said Mohamed Johar, soon came to power.

Paris did not forget its “corsair”, and with the help of French special forces, Bob Denard managed to escape to South Africa.

“In the 60s, troops of soldiers of fortune consisted of professionals who, as a rule, worked for the interests of their countries, and all their actions were controlled by the special services. It was simply beneficial for the governments of France, England and the United States to pretend that groups of adventurers with whom they had nothing in common were fighting in the jungle. In fact, at that time there was a war in Africa between the USSR and the West. Previously, the “wild goose” profession involved, if you like, romance, but now mercenaries are only interested in money. The superpowers left Africa, but the criminal business became interested in it. And this also causes bloodshed,” the King of Mercenaries explained shortly before his death.

Denard accompanied by French military

The End of the Mercenary King

Denard did not want to accept the defeat in Comoros and in 1995 he again landed on the islands with a group of mercenaries. Since a French landing party was sent to restore order, the Mercenary King did not offer resistance. This adventure was the latest in his rich track record.

“I spent a total of fifteen years in Comoros, but stories about a dozen coups are nonsense. I participated in a maximum of two or three,” Denard recalled.

The Mercenary King was tried several times. In 2006, he was sentenced to five years of suspended imprisonment for belonging to a criminal community. A year later, the sentence was changed to a real four-year term, and was soon reduced to one. But for health reasons, Denard did not leave and soon passed away into another world.

“It's true, I was not a saint. In battle there is no other way. But I wouldn’t still be here if I had done truly reprehensible things,” he said at his 1993 trial.

Bob Denard had a chance to see Soviet and Russian mercenaries in action. And he spoke very flatteringly about them, as well as about Soviet weapons

Bob Denard about the Kalashnikov assault rifle: "Oh yeah! A wonderful machine that has helped me out many times. I remember I had just like this in Yemen. You, in Russia, generally make good weapons, I must tell you.”

In the twentieth century, a profession that seemed typical of the Middle Ages was revived and even flourished. Mercenaries took to the battlefields again. The Cold War marked a wild goose renaissance. These figures mainly participated in various campaigns in Africa. A huge unstable continent, many governments that need the services of professional soldiers, enormous wealth that an enterprising and successful soldier of fortune was able to amass - all this made Africa attractive to all kinds of adventurers. One of the most famous such characters was the German Siegfried Müller, who already received the nickname Congo on the Dark Continent.

Siegfried Müller during the Congo crisis.

The future soldier of fortune was born in Brandenburg in the family of a career officer in 1920. Then young Müller went through the Hitler Youth and from 1939 he himself served in the Wehrmacht. Siegfried took part in the war against the USSR from the first day. He spent the campaign in the USSR in anti-tank units. However, things did not work out for the Müller family on the Russian bloody fields. Siegfried's father, a Wehrmacht lieutenant colonel, died in 1942, but his son continued to fight. On April 20, 1945, Müller was promoted to officer. He managed to earn the Iron Cross, but this became his swan song. In the spring of 1945, in East Prussia, Müller was hit in the spine by a bullet, and the future mercenary was almost left paralyzed. However, this wound saved Müller from more severe retribution. The wounded man was taken by ship to the west, and he was captured already in the American occupation zone.

However, this man could no longer help but fight. Müller's thought took a peculiar route: “I fought for the National Socialist Reich, and today I am a warrior for the free West.” As a result, having recovered from his wounds, Muller decided to join the armed forces. He served in American auxiliary units for two years. Then in North Africa he served for some time as a sapper, removing German mines from Rommel’s campaigns in World War II, then worked as a hotel manager. However, such a life quickly became boring for the former anti-tank man. In 1955, Müller tried to get a job in the Bundeswehr, but was refused. And then Muller decided to become a mercenary.

In the 60s, the main hot spot in Africa was Congo. There was a civil war in the country. In the northeastern regions, an uprising of the Simba, the local tribes, broke out against the government of Moise Tshombe. The USSR supported Tshombe's opponents; the opposite side, accordingly, sided with the government. This war, according to local traditions, was waged with incredible cruelty, and firefights from Kalashnikov assault rifles and bomber raids were combined with belief in ancient magic and fighting with spears.

Siegfried Müller.

All sides of the conflict were drenched in blood, but Müller was not particularly concerned about the cleanliness of his vestments. To fight the rebels, Tshombe called in a detachment of white mercenaries. Led by Soldier of Fortune Mike Hoare from Ireland. This dog of war, a veteran of World War II, recruited comrades, primarily in accordance with their professional level. Thus, former opponents on the fronts of the war with Hitler also found themselves under his command. They looked for people among former military personnel in Britain, Belgium, Italy - in a word, everywhere, through old acquaintances. The detachment was assembled in South Africa and from there transported to the Congo. It was this group that Muller joined.

Irish mercenary soldier Mike Hoare with his personal bodyguard, Sergeant Donald Grant, 7 September 1964.

By the time the "wild geese" arrived at the front, a significant part of the Congo was already under rebel control. They themselves sincerely believed in the power of magic and went into battle, shouting the name of their leader Pierre Mulele: this cry was supposed to protect the screaming one from bullets. To make matters worse for the government, Congolese soldiers also believed in the power of this magic. Military units fled one after another, often going over to the Simba side.

In such conditions, a detachment of experienced soldiers who did not believe in amulets and spells turned out to be a crushing force. However, Hoar needed any soldiers, so he had to turn a blind eye to some not very pleasant things. Müller stunned him from the first days. The former Nazi showed up with an iron cross on his chest and later defiantly wore the award he received from Hitler everywhere. True, compared to some of his colleagues, he looked almost harmless. For example, one of the mercenaries quickly sold skulls with bullet holes to American aviators as souvenirs. He was too lazy to look for bodies with head wounds and simply shot prisoners to get material for crafts. Against this backdrop of the Congo, Muller with his swastika did not look so intimidating. He was immediately promoted to officer and received the rank of lieutenant.

Mike Hoare, 1964

The very first operations showed that the mercenaries were radically different from the local militias. The jungle rebels were confident in their invulnerability, but often did not even have firearms. Some mercenaries were wounded by spears and clubs during these battles. Another time, the soldiers of fortune shot a detachment just at the moment when the sorcerer was preparing it for battle.

Siegfried Müller.

The spells didn't really help the sorcerer. However, success did not always accompany the mercenaries. It was then that German participation in operations in the Congo became public knowledge. The fact is that two German “wild geese” died, and the corpses were captured by the rebels along with documents. A real storm arose in the press, especially since the attitude towards the German military was, in principle, not the warmest: the art of the Wehrmacht and SS in World War II was still well remembered. When it turned out that one of the mercenary officers was flaunting his Nazi past, Müller acquired scandalous fame.

The first successes brought Hoare's group widespread fame. Adventurers from all over the world flocked to Africa. Müller's infusion of fresh blood gave him the opportunity to distinguish himself as an independent commander at the head of an autonomous unit under Hoare's wing. He received a detachment of forty people under his command. This group fought a war over a vast territory, but, given its good preparation by any standards, remained a serious force. The German gathered all his compatriots into his detachment.

However, the reputation of German mercenaries was based not only on the events of the long-standing war in Europe. The Germans were considered undisciplined and cruel Landsknechts. Moreover, they took the habit of hanging cars with the heads of killed rebels, and in this form they were sometimes caught by journalists. However, they could not complain about the fighting qualities of this gang. Most often, government troops followed the mercenaries, like a thread following a needle, and occupied already recaptured lines. Well, as for claims about moral character, it was difficult to surprise the local population with cruelty. In this war, even ritual cannibalism was regularly encountered, and torture and murder were considered the norm, so by the standards of the African war, Müller’s people did not stand out for their cruelty.

Congolese soldiers search the streets during the Congo crisis in 1964.

But in Europe they looked at the adventures of the “wild geese” with wicked amazement. Congo Muller was hungry for glory and allowed journalists to roam freely around his fighters' positions. Therefore, all the unpleasant stories for the mercenaries (from drunken rampages and looting to the killing of prisoners and posing with their heads on pikes) eventually became public knowledge. Muller himself did not consider it necessary to hide the style of war and calmly talked, for example, about the harsh interrogations of prisoners practiced by his soldiers. Phrases like “If we captured the wounded, we shot them” and “Torture is normal,” spoken with a good-natured smile, evoked strong feelings in the audience, especially when followed by maxims about the war for Western ideals, freedom and brotherhood.

In addition, Crazy Mike Hoare, his immediate commander, was already accumulating complaints against Muller. They concerned the commander's talents themselves. At one point, Müller failed a major operation, and the Irishman, no longer short of people, began to wonder whether he really needed a subordinate whose talents were not always the best, and whose reputation, to put it politely, was peculiar.

In October 1964, Congo Muller nevertheless brought himself under the monastery with his pride and thirst for recognition from the press. Two Italian correspondents filmed the execution of the prisoner at close range. Ironically, the execution of a real murderer was captured on camera, but this detail was no longer included in any correspondence. Well, after Müller himself blurted out to journalists about “jaeger fun, hunting for blacks,” they wrote about him in the GDR, and in the USSR, and in Western Europe, in a word, everywhere. By chance, the scandal occurred at about the same time that the detachment under the command of Müller was ambushed and suffered serious losses. After this, the cup of patience ran out, and Müller left forever not only the Congo, but also the Federal Republic of Germany: for the local public his behavior was too provocative, and for the command he became a walking problem. The former mercenary went to South Africa, where he founded a small security company and died in 1983 in Johannesburg.

It cannot be said that Siegfried Müller was the most ferocious character in the wars of the twentieth century. However, this is the case when a person forges his own reputation. The combination of cruelty and a penchant for shocking made him one of the most odious participants in the Cold War. The romantic myth of white mercenaries in Africa had some basis in reality, but it had its own dark underbelly.

I gained this experience during a one-year contract in Iraq.
I've roamed around Iraq more than anyone I've ever met, visiting everywhere from Kuwait to Iran.
I drove in military convoys in armored Hummers, drove around Baghdad in official white Fords without armor and unofficial blacked-out Padzheriks in local outfits, with diplomats in armored Suburbans with helicopter escort.
Like everyone, I made mistakes and was lucky enough to write all this.

CLIENT
Learn to communicate with any client.
Some people think the locals are great guys and the US Army is the center of evil.
Some will demand that you shoot every cyclist who enters the road.
I've seen both.
Consider their schedule and ego.
Don't neglect your own life.
Don't let the client convince you, “It's safe. I always do this..."
If it's stupid, then it's stupid.
And again, if we prevent the client from doing his business, we are in shit.
It's a fine line.
Don't be too conservative and get yourself into trouble.
Yes, if a client thinks it’s a good idea to go for tea to Muslims through the back streets around midnight, sometimes you’ll have to do it.

GEAR
A carbine, twelve magazines for it, a pistol, three magazines for it, a first aid kit, GPS, map and compass, radio with a spare battery, five hundred tanks, dry food, a flask, night vision devices, armored armor and a helmet.

It's a lot.
It's hot in this one.
If this is too hard for you, join the gym: our work is not for weaklings.
I will always wear a helmet from now on.
If there is one, it is on my head.
The guy next to me went down with a bullet in his head, and that settled the matter for all of us.
The more comfortable and compact the helmet, the more likely you are to wear it.
Invest in a MICH (Modular Integrated Communications Helmet) or something similar.

AIMPOINT is excellent (its battery lasts for six months), EOTEC is ok (too bright for my taste), ACOG is the best.
Remember, the reticle is 3 MOA, and we regularly shoot beyond three hundred meters. Last night I had to target a mortar crew seven hundred meters away - fortunately, I had a PKM at hand.
What do I recommend?
Get the ACOG, the TA31F is the best investment.

Take the biggest gun.
Keep it clean and ready.
TAKE A LOT OF AMMO.
I once needed 14 stores, I never thought this could happen. Stock stores everywhere.
If you work in the “green zone”, one or two stores will be enough for you, but if you leave it, you need at least twelve.
Buy a short M4, it will save your life.
I have an 18-inch barrel assembly (upper), and if necessary, I attach it to the lower part of the receiver (lower receiver), replacing the short one with it.
It's like having a choice of two carabiners.
I also have a Mk 12 (SPR) with a 22″ barrel and a Leupold scope for long range shooting.

Ammunition…
They are not imported.
I'd be rich if I got an A every time I heard:
- “Yeah, guy, we’ve already ordered ten boxes, they’ll be there in three days.”
Or my favorite:
- “everything is fine, they are waiting for you in the destination country.”
If you don’t have good guns, ammunition, armor and communications, just say “no,” as Nancy Reagan (wife of the 40th President of the United States) used to say.

Some companies are pieces of crap and will leave you in Iraq with a broken down AK and a couple of magazines, and some will pack you in first class.
Personally, I prefer the above in stock and the rest in the bank.
If I want a backpack for three hundred bucks, I'll buy it myself.
Remember that equipment is critical.
Order the best one and take good care of it.

WORKOUT
I think the most important and overlooked factor for survival is training.
Every day your team must practice behavior algorithms in a variety of situations.
At least do it with dry fire.
We usually start with "what if..." and each guy's opinion on each contingency.
And we practice this in different situations.

Come to certain basic principles - and stick to them.
Know the overall goal and move towards it.
For example, if a car is ambushed, the driver switches to neutral so that the car following can push him out of the affected area.
Shoot a lot.
Keep fit.
If the office cannot provide cartridges - GIVE THEM.
Shoot empty.
Practice changing stores.
In my memory, three guys were shot while they were fiddling with changing magazines, standing in a pillar or rarely changing positions.
Lean on the butt, aiming.
Basic skills are the basis of victory.
Shoot at 800 meters and beyond.
I know that almost every battle takes place closer than 150 meters, but more than once we had to exchange fire at 800 meters or so.
Shoot as if you were still serving, and always beg for ammo.
Remember the movie "We Were Soldiers"?
Sam Elliott as Basil Plumney said:
- “if I need it, there will be plenty of it” - meaning weapons.
He was right.
The wounded and deserters abandon it so much that in two weeks we have accumulated: RPK, AK, PKM, Mk 19, M-249, M203, M4, SVD, and M60...
It was fabulous...
And this led me to the following: know how to handle any weapon.
If you can't shoot it, at least read the NSD.
You never know when 5.56 will run out and you will have to take up RMB.
Be familiar with them.

Before the next business trip, we had fire testing of algorithms and training in leaving vehicles.
This was the best and most rewarding workout I have ever done.
We spent a ton of simulated ammunition on vehicle ambush scenarios.
We have come to the clear conclusion that
LEAVING THE VEHICLE IS A CRITICAL STEP FOR SURVIVAL.
Hide in it or behind it - just wait for a shot from an RPG that will put an end to it.
Therefore, practice and practice, although it is easier said than done.
When they call me to training at seven in the morning, I just growl.
But I think everyone will agree that it is better to think about and discuss your actions at the base than on the side of the road next to a car riddled with PCM.

TRANSPORT
The breakdown in Iraq is like a scene from a bad movie.
We swam, we know.
Check the tires, oil, fuel, everything else.
And don't abuse your car.
Every contractor will tell you that he is a great driver.
The fact that he can drive fast and not crash into anything doesn’t mean anything.
Take an extreme driving course, or let a guy who has completed it drive.
And let him teach everyone his tricks.
Learn by doing.
Practice changing tires.
Realizing that you've piled a hundredweight of weight on top of the spare tire is a feeling I don't want to experience again.
Place a tow rope in EACH car, wrap it behind the rear bumper so it's ready to be towed away within a minute or so.
Get a good jack, it doesn't cost more than money.
Make sure everyone knows where the gear for towing, replacement, and repair is.
Practice.
Always keep your travel plan handy.
We're always trying to be sneakier and smarter than anyone else.
Avoid major highways and roads used by the military as... they are prime targets.
Before you go, look at the maps that the army does not use.
Ask the intelligence officers (G2 according to the NATO hierarchical classification) why.
Keep untouchables in the glove box: fragmentation, smoke and gas.
Here's the rule.
DO NOT TOUCH THE PIN WHILE THE GRENADE IS IN THE PASSENGER!
The car shakes and the grenade falls onto the road.
It's not a big problem.
What if in the salon?
Bummer.

Use of gas and smoke.
If you are caught up in the flow and have bad suspicions about the car behind you, stop smoking.
Most drivers will then stop or at least give you a lot of space.
It is effective and harmless.
Use gas with caution and never in heavy traffic.
Seeing a cloud catch up with you is not much fun.
Gas is a tough thing, and I only used it when I couldn’t do without it.
Shrapnel?
We all know when to take them on.

I ALWAYS prefer armored vehicles to unarmored ones.
Just common sense.
If an unarmored one falls out, we install sandbags, steel plates and spare armor plates wherever possible to install them.
It's better than nothing.
Pull polycarbonate windows from armored cars.

Just like in the good old days, nothing discourages the enemy like accurate, dense fire.
Think about fuel consumption.
Plan stops for refueling and food.
Always keep a spare canister, just in case.
Monitor the fuel level and make sure there is enough.
Attach a US flag to your visor so no one can see it until you arrive at the checkpoint.
On the passenger side, do the same with the VS17 signal panel.
Otherwise, the warriors can fire at you even faster than the local chebureks.
Take rations and water in the car.
NEVER throw food and/or candy to children.
There are many reasons, but at least it encourages them to jump out in front of the car.
Hitting a child can end your career.
It is more likely that the rear vehicle will be attacked, so put your best shooters with the biggest guns there.
A car door is not a shelter.
The car as a whole is not a shelter.
And the Hummer is a car.

MEDICINE
Medical supplies are expensive, but they save lives.
The office where I work spent a lot of dollars on them, and it has already saved three lives.
Conduct medical training.
There is nothing to add to this.
Do it.

THINGS
Are you coming in June?
I would take four pairs of light boots with me so that I can change them often.
Fifty pairs of socks.
At least ten NON-COTTON T-shirts.
Two pairs of sunglasses.
Non-cotton tank tops - if you wear tank tops.
Lots of talcum powder for your feet, DVDs with movies, sun cream.
(Cotton does not burn: it chars. Pilots and crews of combat vehicles wear cotton.
Polyester and nylon are sweat-producing clothing and cause severe burns in the event of a fire.
Fire-resistant thermal underwear has been available for several years now.)

LOCATION
If you live in a trailer or cabin, find out where the nearest bunker is.
Trying to find him at four o'clock in the morning in a hurry is not an option.
Yes, everyone will run there.
The guy from Delta, who usually leers angrily at everyone, will follow the combat swimmer in flip-flops.
120mm mortars make us all quite humble.

The food there is terrible in my opinion.
I sometimes eat my rations just for variety.
If you drink coffee, take it with you.
A bag of instant coffee is worth its weight in gold there.

I wear trekking socks: they wick away sweat.
Insects bother you one week, but the next you don’t notice them.

Things to remember:
Remember that once upon a time you were all stupid little puppies.
You had 450 bucks a month and couldn’t do anything without a bunch of orders.
Remember this when you get angry because you have 17 thousand a month, and the guys from the next office have 17,500.
When your bosses demand that you shave regularly, shave: you never know when you'll be featured in some stupid newspaper.

Wherever you go, have a drink with you.
This is the most valuable item.
You'd be crap if I listed everything I traded for whiskey from our sergeants (the equivalent of our warrant officers).

The soldiers came on a one-year mission, or even more.
They pay in blood for every dollar and do stupid dangerous shit every day.
Remember this when you have to stay 68 days instead of 60.
And communicate with them normally, at least you do.

Of course, each of us ultimately works for ourselves, but distinguish trade secrets from intelligence.
If you run into a mess on the highway, write an e-mail to your colleagues about it.
Trust your intuition, it saves lives.
Be thick-skinned and take criticism well.
If something doesn't work out, ask for advice.

Wear your armor and your helmet.
Always have spare batteries for your GPS.
And always have a map and compass with you.
Know the map and make sure everyone on the team knows the route.
Place an elastic band on your gun belt so that it doesn't snag when you leave the car.
Take a mosquito net and a poncho liner to set up an urban sniper position.
If you start to trust the locals, it’s time to take a day off.
Once you enter a fight... finish it.
If you shot at someone and they lay down, they may open fire again.
Finish what you started.

Things I'm glad I took:
ACOG, short M4, own holster, own unloading, poncho liner, travel mat, compass, books.

Things I would like to take:
more socks, more magazines, more T-shirts, more boots, spare parts for M4, urban camouflage kit, more movie discs.

Take care of your sense of humor.
Stick with cheerful people, it’s easier with them even in a bad situation.

The activities of mercenaries, as a rule, are illegal or semi-legal. They don’t like mercenaries, because they earn their bread at the cost of blood, mostly that of others. There is an article in Russian legislation that provides for a prison term of up to 7 years for such work. There are similar articles in the legislation of many other countries. However, the number of mercenaries is not decreasing; many regimes eagerly resort to their services.

To become a mercenary, you must, at a minimum, have some in-demand military profession. Real combat experience is highly valued. Many mercenaries know each other personally and maintain connections. Therefore, they easily come together when another conflict arises. A person without a reputation, military profession and combat experience is usually not needed by anyone.

However, all mercenaries start somewhere. The simplest and worst option is to simply go illegally to the next war. If the newcomer is lucky and is not detained or imprisoned, he has a chance to reach the combat region. Then he can only hope that he can survive and gain the necessary experience. There is no need to talk about earnings in this situation; no one will pay such a person good money. Most likely, you will have to fight for food and lodging, and it will be good if you manage to save something for the return trip.

If a mercenary has a military profession and knows English, he has a chance to use the services of one of the foreign companies that recruit people to provide security services. For example, the American Military Professional Resources Inc., Dyncorp or the British Sandline International. You may be offered to work as a security guard in some third world country, but it is quite possible that this is just a convenient cover and in fact you will have to take part in one of the local conflicts.

This option can be considered the most successful, since it will be possible not only to gain experience, but also to establish oneself in a certain way. Having performed well, a newcomer can receive an invitation to another contract. From this moment his real career as a mercenary begins.

It is necessary to understand that mercenaries, as a rule, are attracted not by the money they can get, but by the lifestyle characteristic of the “wild geese”. Most of them are simply not interested in the gray, dull life from paycheck to paycheck; they prefer war to it. Many of them do not have families and do not have any illusions about their future, living for today. It is unlikely that these people should be blamed, but there is no point in admiring them. Everyone in this world lives as they can and as they want.

The hopes of humanists that the coming century would be a century without wars did not come true. There are many local wars going on on the planet. And after September 11, the world entered into a state of major “intercivilizational” war - Christian-Western and Islamic-fundamentalist in the person of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and its sympathizers. Both sides have those who want to go to war. From time immemorial, war has been a means of earning money for people of a certain type; the concept of “landsknecht” (hired foreign soldier) has been known since the Middle Ages. Since then, the profession of a mercenary soldier looking for “front work”, regardless of state borders, has gained unprecedented popularity. For the first time in recent years, citizens of Russia and the former Soviet republics have appeared among the Landsknechts (the modern name is “soldiers of fortune”, “wild geese”). Do absolute cynics or people with some principles become “soldiers of fortune”? Are such soldiers good in battle? Do all people of this type know what awaits them in this field? Izvestia asked these questions to a recognized expert in mercenaries - a veteran of rebellions and military coups, French citizen Robert DENARD. The house of the legendary Bob Denard is located in the suburbs of Paris. Old, not repaired for a long time; The rooms are small, the paint is peeling off in some places. I can’t believe that a man lives here who, just twenty years ago, was considered the uncrowned king of Africa: he effortlessly overthrew local presidents and put them back on the throne like dolls, and with his name African mothers scared their children (as the Pravda newspaper wrote about Denard in 1984). "). The kind owner opens the gate and invites you to come in. He takes me for a long time around the house, where on the walls hang his diplomas, awards and animal skins given to him in Africa, African masks and figurines of gods. Separately on the wall under glass is the colonel’s crimson beret, pierced through and through by a bullet. Denard sits in the chair opposite me, smiles and says: “Voila. Ask your questions.” - Monsieur Colonel, when I was on my way to our meeting, I accidentally saw in the window of a bookstore a story about you by the American writer Samantha Weingart called “The Last of the Pirates”... Is this really so? - No. The girl just came up with a catchy title to sell her book. As you can see, I don't have a parrot or a wooden leg on my shoulder. Whatever they call me - a mercenary, a bandit, a pirate - it doesn’t matter to me at all. I know better than anyone who I really am. And now they’re even planning to make a film about me, “The King of Mercenaries.” - Are you flattered by such popularity? - What's flattering about that? Everything will be twisted again. - This movie is clearly being made for a reason - now the world is seeing a surge in the popularity of the “soldier of fortune” profession. More and more people from the countries of Eastern Europe and the CIS go to fight in Kosovo, Chechnya, Ethiopia to earn money from blood... There are also enough mercenaries from Islamic countries. Why do you think this happens? - The main reason is unemployment among thousands of professional military personnel. Around 1991, the situation on the planet changed greatly. The confrontation between the USA and the USSR has ended, a number of wars have ended, including in Afghanistan. In dozens of states (including Russia), many officers suddenly found themselves on the streets. Naturally, they tried to return to the activity they had studied all their lives, because they don’t know how to do anything else. Becoming a mercenary turned out to be easy, because there are no longer problems with borders. If earlier we crossed borders along secret paths, now the “soldier of fortune” simply buys a tourist ticket. - Are the mercenaries of your time different from those of today? - Essentially. In the sixties, detachments of “soldiers of fortune” consisted of “pros” who, as a rule, worked for the interests of their countries, and all their actions were controlled by the intelligence services. It was simply beneficial for the governments of France, England and the United States to pretend that groups of adventurers with whom they had nothing in common were fighting in the jungle. In fact, at that time there was a war in Africa between the USSR and the West. Previously, the “wild goose” profession included, if you like, romance, but now mercenaries are only interested in money. - Will the number of “wild geese” increase? - Now the whole world is like a big market. It all depends on the demand for services. Many people who have their own companies, the core of which are professional officers, go directly to various African presidents and say: we can provide the right people for your operations, the price is this and that. Previously, this was impossible to imagine: the number of “soldiers of fortune” in Africa was strictly limited by the same special services; random people were not included. - There is information circulating that a lot of mercenaries from Russia, CIS countries, and Eastern Europe have appeared in African countries. Have you heard about this? - This is not news to me. The Russians have always been excellent soldiers, and it is not surprising that some of your military personnel, discharged from service, found work in Africa. There would be more of them, but not all of your officers speak English and French. Therefore, groups of Russian mercenaries are still small in number. In 1997, in Zaire, I met about a hundred Serbs and Russians who fought on the side of ex-President Mobutu. The soldiers were laconic, very well equipped, trained, and participated in special forces operations. They arrived in the capital of Zaire on their own transport helicopter and flew away on it after the overthrow of Mobutu. - Rumors also leaked that Russians and Ukrainians participated in the coup d'etat in Congo (Brazzaville) in 1997 on the side of deposed President Pascal Lissouba. - I can confirm this too. However, as far as I know, Russian and Ukrainian mercenaries in the Congo did not engage in hostilities on land; their element was the air. They crewed combat helicopters and flew MiG fighters. - How many African countries use the services of Russian mercenaries? - A little. The Russians do not have special offices that would send trained groups to Africa... Mostly singles make their way. There are Russians in Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Angola... I also remember a Russian pilot who fought on the side of Chadian President Idriss Deby against the rebels. These are mainly pilots and military instructors. Forty years ago, Africans did not know how to fight, so they needed the support of white mercenaries - now they have learned to shoot at each other. But they still don’t know how to operate technology. Therefore, they need specialists to maintain guns and aircraft: Africa still has a lot of Soviet and Russian heavy weapons. - Do you like Russian weapons? - It's of excellent quality. Soviet military equipment has been in service with African countries for many years, and this shows its reliability, since Africans can break anything. In the Comoros, my personal weapon for many years was the AK-47. - By the way, about Comoros... In 1995, you carried out the last coup in your life there. Would it be easy for you to do this now? - Do you want to order a coup for me? - No, I just asked. - Of course, I understand coups. A putsch is easy to carry out, but difficult to plan: it takes six months to a year. Look (points to the map on the wall): for that very revolution in the Comoros, we bought a ship in Norway, for conspiracy we transported it to Holland, and purchased weapons. Then they waited until 36 people gathered who agreed to participate in the operation. - There aren’t too many people... - Enough. They all lived in Comoros for ten years, knew the islands like the back of their hand and could walk from the landing site to the presidential palace with their eyes closed. We entered President Sualikh's residence and got him out of bed. He was very unhappy. - Would you believe it if they told you that in some country a coup was carried out by Russian mercenaries? - Why not? For a well-trained group this is not a problem. And as I said, Russians are good soldiers. - Did you meet Russians in Africa in the sixties? I was told that back then you could see adventurers from everywhere: both Soviet officers and former SS men. - I didn’t meet Russians in “free flight” then: they, just like me, depended on their government, we were on opposite sides of the front line. But former SS men and Wehrmacht soldiers actually fought in African countries, this is no secret, but they mostly worked for the French Foreign Legion. - It seems to me that things in Africa have only gotten worse over half a century. The same wars, famine, a sea of ​​blood, mercenaries, the struggle for power. - Yes it is. And so far there is no end in sight. Oil has now been added to the centuries-old feud between tribes, and oil always costs blood. The superpowers left Africa, but the criminal business became interested in it. And this also causes bloodshed. Do you know what generally surprises me about Africans? For decades they lived under the rule of military dictators. But as soon as they had the opportunity for democratic elections, they again began to elect the same dictators as president: Mathieu Kérékou in Benin, Didier Ratsiraka in Madagascar... Africa is difficult to understand. - The press reported that in Comoros you were an uncrowned ruler, and President Abdullah only carried out your orders. - Lord, what nonsense! Ahmed was my friend. I even converted to Islam as a sign of respect for him, they began to call me Mustafa. This was, of course, just symbolic, although I liked about Islam that you can divorce your wife by simply saying “I’m divorcing you.” I only have eight officially recognized children, so I hope you understand me. But our relationship with President Abdullah has never been commercial. We were strong friends. - So you weren’t? - Maybe only at the very beginning. Of course, I received some money for carrying out coups, but it was work. - And how much does one coup cost on average? - It depends on the country. In Comoros there is one price, in Moscow it will cost more. I won’t tell you the price - it’s a trade secret, if you like. But any revolution is not done for free: money is required for the same ships and weapons. Do you have any special plan for a coup? If there is, let's discuss: maybe I'll like it and I'll give you a discount. - Thank you, Monsieur Colonel, another time. But I heard that you became a rich man by putting revolutions in Africa on stream. - Bullshit! My daughter Katya lives in this house with me, now she has gone to work on the night shift, because they pay more for night work. Would she work so hard if I were rich? Do you see my mountains of diamonds? No, these are now purely commercial wars being waged in Africa. I didn’t make much money from my business. I live on a pension in this small, shabby house... I have always been a soldier, not a businessman. Dollars have never been my main goal. - There have been failures in your career - for example, the attempted coup in Benin in 1977... - You have studied my biography well! I didn’t even expect that people in Russia know so much about me. “We even know that you were sentenced to death in absentia in Benin.” - Yes? But I'm not in Benin, so I don't care much. -Who ordered that revolution for you? - The King of Morocco, through whom the French intelligence services operated. Forty of my people arrived on the scene and immediately seized the capital's airport. But then everything went to hell: according to the plan, part of the army was supposed to join us, but it didn’t. The opposition politicians who were supposed to replace President Kerekou became frightened and refused to get off the plane. Soon North Korean commandos from Kereku's personal guard arrived on the scene, a battle ensued, and I decided to leave. - By the way, do you issue an invoice for work before or after the operation? - Of course, I demand an advance payment - after all, in any case, I risk the lives of my people. But if someone orders three coups in bulk at once, it will cost less. By the way, we prepared the putsch in Benin very quickly - in just three months, because it was sponsored by the Moroccan king: there was no need to think about where to buy a plane and weapons. - Do you regret that that attempt failed? - It was a pity then, because it seriously affected my reputation. But I have no desire to take revenge. - Imagine: you agreed to make a revolution, but then the person you ordered to overthrow suddenly offers you a much larger sum. What are you going to do? - I will fulfill the previous agreement. Not everything in life is measured by money. - If you were ordered to kidnap Osama bin Laden or, say, Yugoslav ex-President Milosevic, would you undertake it? - You can imagine anything. But in reality, I can hardly imagine anyone turning to me for this. I definitely wouldn’t take on bin Laden: he has a whole army, and you can’t catch him with fifty commandos. As for Milosevic, I completely disagree that he was chosen as a scapegoat for everything that happened in Yugoslavia. - You've been thrown around the world quite a bit... Where did it seem most dangerous? - Perhaps in Vietnam, where I served in the French Navy in the fifties... It was real hell. (Shows a scar on his hand from a shrapnel.) Africa is a much more harmless place: there are vaccinations against fever, and I’m used to the climate. - Tell me, is it difficult to kill people? - This is a difficult question... Very often I found myself in the following situation: if I don’t kill, then they will kill me... And here there is no choice left. But never in my life have I killed for pleasure. And he never shot a woman or child. The same goes for revolutions: I didn’t do them on a whim. It was a job, not a hobby. - You had to leave Comoros after the death of President Abdullah, who was killed under mysterious circumstances. It was suggested that you yourself shot him during a quarrel, for which they even tried to try you in Paris. - Do I look like an idiot? Why did I have to cut the branch on which I was sitting? I still don't know exactly what happened. The president and I stood in the palace and talked. A security guard (his close relative) appeared and, without explanation, opened heavy fire from a machine gun. I still don’t know who exactly he wanted to kill - him or me. I threw myself on the floor, but Abdallah does not have the reaction of a military man, he is a civilian, and all the bullets went to him. - You were also accused of the death of the former president of Comoros, Sualiha, who was overthrown by you. - Lord, do you think it was my job to shoot the local presidents like partridges? - Who knows. - You are wrong. On the contrary, I offered to let Sualikh go, but they didn’t listen to me, the crowd tore him to pieces... He was very unpopular in the country, everyone hated him. But when they wanted to burn the corpse, I did not allow it and handed the body over to the family. - You are 72 years old, but you seem to be in excellent shape. Aren't you sad about living quietly in retirement, without planning coups and revolutions, and quietly growing flowers in your yard? -Have you not seen flowers near my house? In my opinion, they were very successful, I tried. But it's true that I can't live without doing anything. I constantly have some ideas, plans, projects in my head... Although I don’t feel like I’m at work - I’m really retired, I read books and allow myself to sleep more. I think this is wonderful. -Are you now considering a plan for a new coup? - Even if there is a plan, I still won’t tell you. Biographical information Robert (in English simply Bob) Denard was born in 1929 in China in the family of a French officer. He chose a military career and in the late forties entered service in the French Navy in Vietnam. In 1961, he showed up in the Congo with a detachment of mercenaries, and since then the path of a “soldier of fortune” has become his main profession. He fought in the same Congo, in the 60s. fought on the side of the deposed Imam of Yemen, participated in the civil war in Nigeria. He took part in about ten military coups. In 1977, he unsuccessfully attempted a coup in Benin. A year later, with a group of 50 people, he staged a revolution in the Comoros Islands, during which President Sualih was killed. Denard became the head of the guard of the new President Abdullah. In 1989, Abdallah was killed under unclear circumstances, and Denard had to leave Comoros, go to South Africa, and then return to France, where he had not been for many years. In 1995, a detachment of mercenaries led by Denard again landed in the Comoros, again deposing the president. French paratroopers who arrived in Comoros surrounded his fighters, and the colonel had to surrender. He returned to Paris, where he was on trial in 1993 and 1998 for the attempted coup in Benin and the death of Comorian President Abdallah. In both cases he was acquitted. He was married twice and has 8 officially recognized children. Heads the association of former mercenaries "Peace is our Fatherland".