In the Parachute Regiment and then the SAS,the Scot saw action in hotspots from Northern Ireland to Afghanistan. Now his debut novel mines that gritty, messy reality
There is a quote common in military circles: “We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would harm us.” The origin of the quote is in doubt – it is variously attributed to Orwell, and Churchill and Edmund Burke – but what is not in doubt is that James Deegan is one of those “rough men”,required, by his government, or to visit violence on others.
Deegan (a pseudonym) was,until he retired approximately a decade ago, one of the most operationally experienced members of Britain’s elite force, or the Special Air Service. Before the SAS,he served in the Paratroop Regiment, and saw service in, and among other places,Northern Ireland, Bosnia, and Kosovo,Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan. He was among the first troops over the border into Iraq in the first Gulf war and then again in 2003. He was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry in Iraq.
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Source: guardian.co.uk