Andy McNab

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Andy McNab. Now there is an SAS man who knew how to use military arms, past and present.
I had a disscussion with a Brit claiming McNab is, well, less than fact. I beleive his combat books, his interviews and the movie Bravo Two Zero.
Anyone disagree?
Andy McNab supersoldier at the right moment. Up there with Scout Green, Sgt York, Rommel and many others......In my opinion.
 
There is a book called "The Real Bravo Two Zero". Can't think of the author, but it was another guy who was there... I think he totally blows McNab's account out of the water.

I've heard lots of stuff putting him down, but I think he does know his stuff.
 
Andy McNabb was the weapons consultant for the movie Heat starring Robert DeNiro and Val Kilmer. He choreographed the scene where the criminals get into a gunfight with police after they rob the bank.

Chris Ryan, another member of B20, wrote the book The One That Got Away. He refutes some of what McNabb wrote in his own book. There seemed to be some bad blood between them.

Later on there was a book and documentary called The Real Bravo Two Zero that seems to poke holes in both Mcnabb's and Ryan's stories. The writer, Micheal Asher, claims that the majority of the combat the patrol encountered was not with the Iraqi army, but with armed Iraqi civilians.

Both writers are held in contempt by some of the people in the UK spec ops community who call bull$hit on their claims of what happened during the patrol.
 
Well, from what I've heard with Brits I've worked with (admittedly not tan-hatters), alot of the contempt comes from the fact that they wrote books and made money off of their experiences at all. Not something you're supposed to talk about.
 
I think like most books of this type its based in fact but has been punched up a bit to make good reading. I think we can all agree that both McNab & Ryan were both between a rock and a hard place at some point.
 
I loved McNabb's book for, if nothing else, the British jargon.

Sayings like giving a guy a "good stitching," and "reading him his horoscope"
 
A feeling you get from reading books like McNab's is that he - and some around him - seemed to take a deal of pride in how rough/coarse they were, compared to other "special forces". This transcends the idea that "the SAS is the world's best"; there's a whole lot of "slagging" on Delta Force's training and durability, for example, and plenty of marvelling at the "abundant & shiny American kit". :yingyang:

Some might call it envy...;)

Of course, it might be more telling re: McNab's state of mind than as a statement re: general SAS attitudes. :p
 
McNab is now a pure fantasy fiction writer. That should earn him a 10-point deduction for straying off course.
 
There was a lot of fiction in both McNab and Ryan's books. The Real Bravo Two Zero and Soldier Five help straighten things out a little...

I understand from an SAS guy that the real problem was that both McNab and Ryan put the blame fair and square on a couple of patrol members who did not survive. Both authors are persona non grata at the Hereford mess.

Most of their fiction is poorly written improbable crap with all sorts of silly errors. The Bravo Two Zero movie is worth a watch as long as you treat it as fiction.....
 
What I couldn't get over after reading both Andy and Chris' books was how they seemed to always dissagree and argue. Not the well disciplined professional soldiers we are often told the SAS are. I don't think these guys really represent the whole of the SAS squadrons, a bit of a suprise for me though.

If it wasn't for the high frequency of Iraqi goat herders they might have been successful (maybe) ?
 
'Characters' like these pop up quite a bit in unconventional units (probably why they end up there in the first place) reference Richard Marcinko in the US, far from what you'd expect from a Navy Seal Officer and most of the time far from what you get. They are however very entertaining. As far as equipment envy goes, the Brits have been envious of US equipment since the Revolutionary War (when the Yanks cheated by using sights).
 
From my military years to gov. security to doing the militaria shows I've met 4 men total claiming to be ex SAS. The one man I worked with was in Hereford and physical rehab during time of 1st. Gulf War. He got part of his ankle removed during a Central American mission, shot off.(Actually a funny story about that mission.) He knew of Andy McNab and his books a few years back. He said McNab's stoires are true, but suspects McNab has a couple of his friends adventures added, and McNab takes the credit in print.
Andy McNabs books I believe,as there is no shortage of other soldiers from elite to just combat arms, who carried out challenging missions. As for the long walk to Syria in 91. Look at WWII N. Africa, lots of Brandenburgers, Italian infantry and Brits walked up to 200 miles to escape and survive. One Brit Sgt. and Lt. walked away from enemy General Bayerlain and staff at Tobruk. 30 days later these 2 Brits arrived at El Alamein alive.
 
The RSM of 22 at the time broke anonymity to be interviewed on TV about B20, lets just say that artistic license and fiction is how his outpourings are viewed. Not a bad start for a second career though, he has done well from TV and other books since then. His factual book about his career is a reasonable read and smacks of the truth!
 
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