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 Coupled with van Heerden's gripping exposé, hitherto unpublished photographs, order of battle charts and battle maps offer unprecedented access to the major actions as they took place on the ground during the heydays of EO.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Author’s note
• Preface
• Glossary
• Roots
• Part 1: Angola: Helping a Former Enemy Against a Former Ally
  • Soyo and the birth of a new type of African soldier, March 1993
    • Background
    • Recruitment
    • Mercenary or what?
    • Preparation and training
    • Heliborne assault on Quefiquena
    • Seaborne landing
    • Consolidating our gains
    • The occupation of Soyo
    • Reflections
  • The 1994 offensive in Angola to oust UNITA from Cafunfu
    • Preparation and training
    • The deployment at Saurimo
    • Rapid Deployment Force operations
    • UNITA attacks Saurimo and EO bleeds again
    • Final preparations
    • Taking Cacolo
    • Cafunfu—the advance and attack
    • The tragic loss of Laurens Bosch
    • Reflections
    • Locating fallen colleagues in Cafunfu
    • Sojourn at Saurimo
  • Retaking the strategic town of Cacolo
    • Preparations
    • The advance
    • The occupation of Cacolo
    • The Angolan contract ends
    • A tantalizing offer
• Part 2: Sierra Leone: Defeating the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), 1995–96 131
  • Winning the contract
    • Politics in Sierra Leone
    • The coup d’état, the RUF and the civil war
    • The death of Lieutenant-Colonel Robert MacKenzie
    • Low-profile preparations
    • Gearing up
    • EO arrives in Sierra Leone
  • Taking Kono
    • Operation Waterloo
    • Hendri’s Waterloo
    • The advance proper
  • Securing and defending the Kono district
    • Meeting the people of Koidu
    • Birth of the Kono Consultative Committee (KCC)
    • Gaddafi earns his flak jacket
    • The defence of Baiama
  • Administering the Kono district
    • A new concept of operations
    • The Gandorhun attack
    • Strange visitors
    • War children
    • Soldier, sobel, rebel, Bicycle
    • Fort Pega—The House of Pain
    • The hunt for the 530-carat diamond
    • So true
    • Pamela and the tusk
    • The palace coup, 16 January 1996
  • A new horizon for Sierra Leone, 1966
    • Stepping up before the election
    • Kay’s curse
    • TT recalls road movement losses
    • Mi-24 action in the Kangari hills
    • Sobels at Njaiama
    • Preparing for the cessation of hostilities
    • Chief Sam Hinga Norman visits the Eastern Province
    • Keeping the presidents safe
  • Operation Zenith, October 1996
    • The concept of operations
    • Operation Joru
    • Operation Golf Romeo 134
    • Operation Levuma
    • The end in Sierra Leone
    • Reflections
• Plates
• Further reading
• eBooks Published by Helion & Company