Spend enough time in a gunshop or on the range — in fact, anywhere where there are 'guns and stuff' — and it seems at every turn you meet someone who has been to Iraq. Spend enough time behind a counter in a gun shop, and you hear some amazing stories and some ridiculous yarns. Of late the most prevalent one is the Phantom Contractor.
Many years ago I was invited to a Surefire Low-Light Weapons Course, where an American instructor was brought to South Africa to teach room-clearing tactics. On the first day we had to go around the room and tell everyone about us and or background.
The first guy stood up and began his tale: "Good morning everyone, my name is John Smith. I am a 4rd Dan Thai Master, and advanced firearm instructor from the well-known ABC School of Awesome, I was a RECCE on the border and worked in the dog squad for four years as their chief hoohaa..." (Note: this is just an example, and not the real dialogue.)
And so it went around the room until it came to the corner at the back, where two grizzly 50-year-old warriors sat in faded and worn fatigues (name tag removed) with pepper-gray handlebar moustaches. The first one stood up and said only the following: "Good morning, my name is Jaap (Note: no surname given here)... I'm just here to learn...". The second bloke then stood up next to him and said: "Hello everyone. My name is Pieter... I'm here with Jaap...". And that was it. The 'real deal' just showed a room full of blokes who the 'real deal' really was. This is because guys who have been through the blood and mud have nothing to prove to anyone. They have no axe to grind or chest to beat. The real operators don't talk about it or boast about it. They don't need to. They are confident in their own abilities. They don't need those around them to look up to them by verbalising and embellishing their 'war stories'.
Should the time come when they are needed, their actions will speak for themselves. Furthermore, these warriors don't want the world to know what they have achieved in the shadows _ they understand such deeds committed are Opsec, and they most definitely won't open up to the general public outside their own tight little community.
I have had the privilege of knowing one or two real RECCEs. The biggest complaint used to be that everyone who had served/fought on the border in the old days was either a RECCE otr some kind of Special Forces. It didn't matter that there was a very small and recordable number of actual operators (yes, there are existing records) — in every bar and pub you seemed to meet at least two of them. In fact, Special Forces have a 'Wall of Shame' on their website. Go take a look at a few of these barstool would-be warriors who have claimed fake credentials.
As a way of starting youngsters off in shooting and safety, I once ra an airsoft shooting gallery at a ocal school fete, where an inebriated parent stunbled over with his young son, picked up the WW2 Thompson Submachine BB gun and, in a loud voice proclaimed to all around: "This was the gun he used in Angola when he was with Koevoet". Really? How embarrassing when that kid grows up and fondly retells his father's exploits to the wrong person, who then promptly dissolves that father's papier-mâché past.
The border war days are far behind us, but now a new breed of 'wannabees' are now doing the rounds: The Contractor. This group of 30-somethings (sometimes dressed in the latest 5.11 tactical/non-tactical togs) walk around telling all who will listen that they are just back for some well-deserved R&R after their fifth tour in Iraq/Afghanistan.
The guys are a blight on actual former and current South African PSD team members. No one doubts that there were a fair number of South African security personnel in the Middle East. In fact, the export of professional soldiers to global hot spots seemed to be a South African tradition. Both on this continent and abroad, ex-soldiers have been used to put down all sorts of trouble, with great success. War... we're good at it, and have a reputation for producing tough and resilient scrappers that don't shirk away from hard work.
However, if the majority of Velcro-patch-ball-cap wearing weekend warriors are to be believed (in that they all served in conflict zones in the Middle East), the number of contractors would outweigh the local population 4:1! Everyone with access to Google, Soldier of Fortune magazine and Call of Duty video games now has a story of their own. Every tactical armchair operator with an Outdoor Store clothing card and Airsoft M4 rifle now has a concocted photo on their den wall to brag about. These fake bad-asses whisper that they spent three tours in Fallujah, and have the scars to prove it.
I have had the ho honour of working with the real deal, and as with my original story above — they don't talk about it. Their mannerisms on the job show their worth. (Given that the South African government investigates such mercenary activities and instances of private security contracting, why would individuals even boast of their deeds to people outside of their own circles?).
Why do they do it?
I will readily admit that this happens in society where the rites of passage to manhood have been removed and young men are directionless.The tradition of a father who took his son into the wilderness to engage in one-on-one discussion about manhood and hunting has dissolved under modern interpretations of 'quality time' (ignoring hundreds upon thousands of years of tradition and genetic teaching). Lately that rite of passage has been usurped by taking the kids to a rugby game and sharing a cheese burger afterwards — we have tried to compress necessary character building into weekend-manageable chunks.
With no wars to fight and no father figures to emulate, modern day computer cubical man has had to invent his own super persona. This isn't even new. Young German teenagers in the early part of the 20th century used to have a local sugeon cut scars into their cheeks and faces to make it appear that they had valiantly engaged in a duel to woo young girls.
As soon as 'post traumatic stress disorder' was diagnosed, every fifth ex-Vietnam vet suddenly developed it as a crutch against reintegration into society. Event those who had been REMF cooks far from the front lines were suddenly traumatised ex-special forces. Currently our film is filled with military advisors with accolades longer than my arm, who are teaching actors how to move and shoot guns. Some of these blanks-shooting experts are real; may are not. The bookshelves in any newsagent are full of military fiction written by 'ex-special forces operators' writing under pseudonyms. While some are entertaining, most are, as the Brits say, 'complete bollocks'.
Where there have been acts of valour and national servitude, courage and sacrifice, there will always be those who jump on the band wagon and pretend to be one of the few and the brave.
Disrespecting the fallen and those who have served is a saign of weak character and should be resisted at every opportunity. Expose these Weekend Warriors wherever you find them and do your bit to stop the rot.
Keep your powder dry and see you on the range.
About the author
Alan Marthezé
When he's not pretending to be a Special Forces Operator from the 33rd and 1/3rd battalion, Alan manages City Guns in Cape Town. He puts pen to paper for Gun Owners of South Africa in local newspapers and occasionally a page or two of practical firearm advice for Gun Africa. Alan is a certified shooting instructor. He provides the firearms and tactical gear for our CPO's.
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