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Ian MacNab DCM MM (born December 28, 1959) is a British former soldier turned novelist. McNab came to public prominence in 1993 when he wrote an account about the failed SAS mission Bravo Two Zero during the Gulf War. He has subsequently authored an autobiography and a number of works of fiction, including a specially commissioned story for the "Quick Reads Project". Andy McNab is a pseudonym; his real name is unknown but is thought to be Ian MacNab. The Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) was (until 1993) the second level military decoration awarded other ranks of the British Army and formerly also to non-commissioned personnel of other Commonwealth countries. ... The Military Medal was (until 1993) a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. ... is the 362nd day of the year (363rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about a military rank. ... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ... See also Australian Special Air Service Regiment and New Zealand Special Air Service: The Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) is the principal special forces unit of the British Army. ... Bravo Two Zero (B20) was the callsign of an eight-man British Special Air Service (SAS) patrol that was tasked with observing the M.S.R. (Main Supply Route) between Baghdad and north-west Iraq and finding and destroying Iraqi Scud missile launchers and their fibre optic comms lines in... For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Alias. ...

Background

Ian MacNab came originally from London, an adopted son. He wanted to be a helicopter pilot, but after failing the entrance test, he instead joined the Royal Green Jackets. He served in a variety of places including Northern Ireland and eventually tried for selection to the SAS, succeeding at the second attempt. MacNab's real name is not known to the public. He assumed the pseudonym Andy MacNab when writing Bravo Two Zero. When he appears on television to promote his books or to act as a special services expert, his face is shadowed to prevent viewers from identifying him. As Larry King put it when MacNab appeared on the Larry King Live show on CNN: "He's in shadow for his security, as he is wanted dead by some terrorist groups." According to the book "The Big Breach" (ISBN 1-903813-01-8), by Richard Tomlinson, a renegade MI6 spy, after the Iraq war McNab was part of a special training team, readying new MI6 recruits in sabotage and guerrilla warfare techniques. This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... The RGJ was the affiliated regiment for the City Of London School CCF until the RGJ became the rifles. ... Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ... See also Australian Special Air Service Regiment and New Zealand Special Air Service: The Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) is the principal special forces unit of the British Army. ... For other uses, see Alias. ... Larry King (born November 19, 1933) is an award-winning American writer, journalist and broadcaster. ... Larry King Live is a nightly CNN interview program hosted by broadcaster and writer Larry King. ... The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a major cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ... Richard Tomlinson (born 1963) is a New Zealand-born former British MI6 officer who was famously imprisoned in 1997 for breaking the 1989 Official Secrets Act[1] by attempting to publish a book detailing his career in the SIS.[] He was first approached by MI6 in 1984 after graduating from... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence Section 6), or the Secret Service, is the United Kingdom external security agency. ...

According to the biography published in Last Light (Pocket Books printing March 2003, ISBN 0-7434-0629-X):

Ian MacNab is a former member of the British SAS, one of the world's toughest and most respected elite special-forces commando units. Involved in covert and overt operations on five continents, MacNab worked alongside Delta Force, the FBI, and the DEA. When he left the regiment in 1993, he was the most highly decorated serving soldier in the British Army. He is now a sought-after lecturer on security and remains closely tied to the intelligence communities on both sides of the Atlantic.... Due to the extremely sensitive nature of his work with the SAS, Ian MacNab is the only author who has to submit his fiction to the British Ministry of Defence for review, and he is still wanted by a number of the world's terrorist organizations. He is therefore forbidden to reveal either his face or his current location. See also Australian Special Air Service Regiment and New Zealand Special Air Service: The Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) is the principal special forces unit of the British Army. ... The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D) — commonly known as Delta in the U.S. Army, Delta Force by civilians, and Combat Applications Group by the Department of Defense — is a Special Operations Force (SOF) and an integral element of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). ... The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a federal criminal investigative, intelligence agency, and the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... The DEAs enforcement activities may take agents anywhere from distant countries to suburban U.S. homes. ... The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. ...

In his autobiography Immediate Action, MacNab describes his involvement in a number of operations in Northern Ireland prior to his SAS selection, during which time he was in the Royal Green Jackets. During one such episode, he reveals his part in the shooting and killing of IRA operatives during a foot patrol. MacNab also developed and runs a specialist training course for news crews, journalists and members of non-governmental organizations working in hostile environments and he spent time in Hollywood as technical weapons advisor and trainer on the Michael Mann film Heat, and fight technical advisor on the 2005 crime film Dirty. In February 2007, MacNab returned to Iraq in his position as The Sun newspaper Security Advisor with his old regiment the Royal Green Jackets for seven days. It was here where he researched the background info for his new book, Crossfire.^[1] The RGJ was the affiliated regiment for the City Of London School CCF until the RGJ became the rifles. ... The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Irish: Óglaigh na hÉireann) (IRA; also referred to as the PIRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the Army or the RA.[2]) is an Irish Republican, left wing[3] paramilitary organisation that, until the Belfast Agreement, sought to end Northern... Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943 in Chicago) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. ... Heat is an American made crime/thriller/drama film released on December 15, 1995. ... Cuba Gooding, Jr. ...

MacNab joined the infantry in 1976 as a boy soldier. In 1984 he was badged as a member of 22 SAS Regiment. He served in B Squadron 22 SAS for ten years and worked on both covert and overt special operations worldwide, including anti-terrorist and anti-drug operations in the Middle and Far East, South and Central America and Northern Ireland. Trained as a specialist in counter terrorism, prime target elimination, demolitions, weapons and tactics, covert surveillance and information gathering in hostile environments, and VIP protection, MacNab worked on cooperative operations with police forces, prison services, anti-drug forces and western backed guerilla movements as well as on conventional special operations. In Northern Ireland he spent two years working as an undercover operator with 14th Intelligence Group, going on to become an instructor.

MacNab also worked as an instructor on the SAS selection and training team and instructed foreign special forces in counter terrorism, hostage rescue and survival training. In the Gulf War, McNab commanded the famous Bravo Two Zero patrol, an eight man patrol tasked with destroying underground communication links between Baghdad and north-west Iraq and with finding and destroying mobile Scud missile launchers. The patrol infiltrated Iraq in January 1991, but were soon compromised. A fierce fire fight with Iraqi troops ensued and the patrol was forced to escape and evade on foot to Syria. Three of the eight men were killed; four were captured after three days on the run; one escaped. One of the four taken prisoner, McNab was held for six weeks and was relentlessly and savagely tortured. By the time he was released he was suffering from nerve damage to both hands, a dislocated shoulder, kidney and liver damage and had contracted hepatitis. After six months of medical treatment he was back on active service.

The most highly decorated patrol since the Boer War, the truly heroic exploits of the Bravo Two Zero patrol have been recognised the world over and, in the words of the patrol's commanding officer 'will remain in Regimental history forever'. Awarded both the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) and Military Medal (MM) during his military career, McNab was the British Army's most highly decorated serving soldier when he finally left the SAS in February 1993.

Post SAS work

Andy McNab has written about his experiences in the SAS in two bestselling books, Bravo Two Zero (1993) and Immediate Action (1995). Bravo Two Zero is the highest selling war book of all time and has sold over 1.7 million copies in the UK. To date it has been published in 17 countries and translated into 16 languages. The CD spoken word version of Bravo Two Zero, narrated by McNab, sold over 60,000 copies and earned a silver disc. The BBC's film of Bravo Two Zero, starring Sean Bean, was shown on primetime BBC 1 television in 1999 and released on DVD in 2000. Immediate Action, McNab's autobiography, spent 18 weeks at the top of the best-seller lists following the lifting on an ex-parte injunction granted to the Ministry of Defence in September 1995. To date, Immediate Action has now sold over 1.4 million copies in the UK.

McNab is the author of ten fast action thrillers, highly acclaimed for their authenticity and all Sunday Times bestsellers. Published in 1997, Remote Control was hailed as the most authentic thriller ever written and has sold over half a million copies in the UK. McNab's subsequent thrillers, Crisis Four, Firewall, Last Light, Liberation Day, Dark Winter, Deep Black, Aggressor, Recoil and Crossfire have all gone on to sell equally well. The central character in all the books is Nick Stone, a tough ex-SAS operative working as a 'K' on deniable operations for British Intelligence. McNab's fiction draws extensively on his experiences and knowledge of Special Forces soldiering. He has been officially registered by Neilsen Bookscan as the bestselling British thriller writer of the last year.

McNab was technical weapons advisor and trainer on the hit Michael Mann film Heat (1995) and spent five months in Hollywood working closely with Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Val Kilmer. As well as advising on weapons handling and use, McNab was drafted in to work out in detail how master-thief De Niro would go about pulling off robberies on an armoured car and a bank, and how cop Al Pacino would go about tracking him down and stopping him. Miramax has acquired the film rights to the first four of McNab's novels, and Crisis Four is currently in production, co-produced by McNab himself. Also a director of a Hereford based security company, McNab developed and runs a specialist training course for news crews, journalists and members of non-governmental organisations working in hostile environments (including war zones). The course is currently the only one of its kind in the world. He is also involved in training videos for the Ministry of Defence, lectures for the FBI and does motivational talks for large corporations on both sides of the Atlantic. He is also currently finishing a film script for a forthcoming Hollywood blockbuster. Robert Mario De Niro, Jr. ... Alfredo James Pacino (born April 25, 1940) is an Academy, Golden Globe, Tony, BAFTA, Emmy, and SAG award winning American actor who is best known for playing the roles of Tony Montana in the 1983 film Scarface and Michael Corleone in The Godfather Trilogy . ... Val Edward Kilmer[1] (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor. ...

Multimedia

In conjunction with Spoken Group Ltd [1], Andy McNab is pioneering spoken drama for download from the internet and to mobile phones. These stories include real battle field sound effects. The latest story is set to be released on 18th June 2007. This will be the second story available for download.

McNab took part in E4's Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack on 13 January 2008. E4 is a British digital television channel launched as a pay-tv companion to Channel 4 on 18 January 2001. ...

Books

Non-fiction

• Bravo Two Zero (1993)
• Immediate Action (1995)

Bravo Two Zero (B20) was the callsign of an eight-man British Special Air Service (SAS) patrol that was tasked with observing the M.S.R. (Main Supply Route) between Baghdad and north-west Iraq and finding and destroying Iraqi Scud missile launchers and their fibre optic comms lines in...

Fiction

Nick Stone Missions Nick Stone is the main character in a series of books written by Andy McNab. ...

• Remote Control (February 17, 1998)
• Crisis Four (August 22, 2000)
• Firewall (October 5, 2000)
• Last Light (October 1, 2001)
• Liberation Day (October 1, 2002)
• Dark Winter (November 3, 2003)
• Deep Black (November 1, 2004)
• Aggressor (November 1, 2005)
• Recoil (November 6, 2006)
• Crossfire (November 1, 2007)
• Flashback (November 3, 2008)

Boy Soldier series (written with Robert Rigby) Remote Control is a 1997 fictional novel by British author Andy McNab. ... Crisis Four is a book by Andy McNab. ... Firewall is a novel written by the ex-SAS member turned author Andy McNab. ... Liberation Day is another novel written by the ex-SAS member turned author Andy McNab, featuring his fictional character Nick Stone. ... Dark Winter is a 2004 novel written by Andy McNab featuring the fictional character Nick Stone. ... Robert Rigby Robert Rigby, born in England, began his career as a journalist, then spent several years in the music business as a songwriter and session musician. ...

• Boy Soldier (US title Traitor, May 5, 2005)
• Payback (October 6, 2005)
• Avenger (May 4, 2006)
• Meltdown (May 3, 2007)

Quick Reads project

• The Grey Man (May 8, 2006)

Audio Stories

• Iraq Ambush (May 2007)
• Royal Kidnap (June 2007)
• Roadside Bomb (September 2007)
• Sniper (TBA 2008)

Notes

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References

• Peter, Ratcliffe (2000). Eye of the Storm: Twenty-Five Years in Action with the SAS. Michael O'Mara Books. ISBN 978-1854798091. 

• Asher, Michael (2002). The Real Bravo Two Zero: The Truth Behind Bravo Two Zero. Cassell Military. ISBN 978-0304365548. 

• Coburn, Mike (2004). Soldier Five: The Real Truth About The Bravo Two Zero Mission. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 978-1840189070. 

External links

• Andy McNab Official Website
• Essay for BBC's This Week programme
• Unofficial Andy McNab website
• Andy McNab at the Internet Movie Database