James Ashcroft - Making a Killing - The Explosive Story of a Hired Gun in Iraq

PSCPrivate Security Company/Contractor.

PSDPersonal Security Detail, used as a noun or a verb.

PXSee AAFES.

QRFQuick Reaction Force.

Regiment‘The Regiment’, slang for 22 SAS Regiment.

RLCRoyal Logistics Corps; aka Really Large Corps.

RMPRoyal Military Police.

RPDSoviet light machine gun from 1953, very light, fires 7.62 shortfrom a non-disintegrating belt fed in from the left-hand side. Manufactured and found in most former communist bloc countries. Also known as ‘Degtyarev’ by the Iraqis.

RPGRPG-7 rocket-propelled grenade, a common Soviet weapon featuring a reusable launcher tube and a separate rocket with an 84mm High Explosive Anti-Tank warhead.

RPKSupport weapon, a long-barrelled AK rifle with a bipod. The thicker, longer barrel increases muzzle velocity, accuracy, heat dissipation and effective battlefield range. Magazine or drum fed from AK magazines.

RUCRoyal Ulster Constabulary.

RVRendezvous.

SAWSquad Automatic Weapon; see Minimi.

ShortSlang for pistol or side arm.

SigSig Sauer firearms manufacturers, who produce the quite excellent P226 and P228 pistols, among other weapons.

SitrepSituation report (radio traffic), status report or update.

SKSOld Soviet semi-automatic rifle firing 7.62 short.

SMGSubmachine gun.

SpectreSee AC-130.

T-62 or T-72Soviet main battle tanks.

TaskySlang for Special Task Force (South African police elite tactical unit) member.

ThurayaRegional satellite telephony provider, also a term used for their phone handsets.

VBIEDVehicle-borne IED.

VSICategory given to casualty; Very Seriously Injured.

WIAWounded In Action.

The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.

Abeer 211, 212, 293

Abraham Lincoln , USS 3

Abu Ghraib prison 234, 287

Ad Dawr 119

Afghanistan 298–9

Ahmad, Shakir 160, 163, 165, 307

aid workers, kidnapping of 265–6, 286

Al-Anbar Muhafazah 97

Al Askari Mosque 327

Al Dawa 201

Al Hambra hotel, Baghdad 94, 113, 237

Al-Jaafari, Ibrahim 327

Al Jazeera 99–100, 125

Al Maliki, Jawad 327

Al Qaeda 5, 7, 24, 145, 297, 298–9

Al-Sadr, Moqtada 51, 201, 241, 286, 327

Al-Sistani, Grand Ayatollah Ali 327, 330

Al Zarqawi, Abu Musab 238

Ali (armourer) 180, 211, 212, 243, 320

Amanat of Baghdad 254

American Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) 2

Anti-Iraqi Forces (AIF) 295

Apache AH-64 helicopters 70

Aradisa Idah 159, 164–9, 173–82, 254, 307, 319

arms 8, 27, 32, 74, 75–7, 173, 193, 217–18, 227, 249, 292

insurgents 20

testing 80–1, 89–91

Ashcroft, Krista 3, 6, 23, 81, 120, 170–2, 179, 182, 249, 272, 283, 311–15, 331

Ashcroft, Natalie (daughter) 4, 23, 170, 311

Ashcroft, Veronica (daughter) 331

Ashura massacre 238

Badger 154, 266, 292

Baghdad 72–84, 85–93, 94–8, 138–53, 200, 202

Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) 1–2, 90–4, 284

Highway (Route Irish) 18–19, 27, 29, 49, 310–11

Basra 55, 242–3

Bin Laden, Osama 298, 328

Blackwater security company 238–9, 245

Blair, Tony 13, 99

BMP personnel carriers 70

Bosnia 72

Bremer, Ambassador Paul 13, 198–9, 201, 202

Bush, President George W. 3, 203, 328

Bush Sr., President George 329

Campbell, Steve 114, 115, 141, 146, 147, 149, 153, 154

car bombs 29–38

cellphones 9, 24, 58, 82, 91–2

Chavez, President Hugo 145

checkpoints 21, 29–38, 40–9, 73

Cheney, Vice-President Dick 7, 302

Clark, Jacky 78, 79, 81, 93

close operation platoon (COP) 75

Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) 2, 62, 84, 95, 111, 115, 126, 174, 202

Cobus 10, 27, 35, 42, 80, 85, 104–5, 138, 140–1, 145, 151, 153, 160, 166–7, 186, 188–9, 245, 255, 317–18, 321–2

Combat Support Hospital (CSH) 140, 154, 155–7

Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division (GRD) 254

Delacroix, Michel 95–6, 99–100, 103–7, 110, 112–13, 115–16, 118, 133

Diwaniyah 242

Duke of Wellington’s Regiment 3–4

Erebus UK 307, 331

Etienne 10, 20, 28, 32, 50, 80, 85–7, 93, 104, 108, 115, 138, 140, 154, 160, 176, 180, 245, 320

Evans, Sergeant Gareth 180, 181, 248, 298, 313–14

Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams 263–4, 265, 278–9

Facilities Protection Service (FPS) 100, 102, 173–4

Faisal, Colonel 184, 239–40, 243, 249–50, 267–9, 271–2, 279, 288, 290, 293, 329

Fallujah 67, 96–7, 99, 239, 266

Fedayeen Saddam 9, 23, 35, 104, 253

Fernandez, Rafael 114–15

Forward Operating Base (FOB) 260

Franks, General Tommy 199, 201

Gazzard, Gus 210–20, 225–30, 233–4, 235

‘Golden Container’ 77, 113

GPS (Global Positioning System) 92, 268

Grayfield, Bran 244

Green Berets 266

Greves, Sergeant 187–8

Gulf War (1991) 48, 54, 71, 329

Hart Security Company 244

Harvey, Sergeant 127, 129, 141, 158

Hassan, Margaret 286

Hayder 66, 73, 79, 139

Hayes, Seamus 9, 14–15, 20–2, 27, 29, 32–3, 36, 43–6, 48–50, 65–6, 73–85, 87–93, 95, 97–8, 100–1, 104–7, 112–14, 127–32, 138–51, 153–6, 160, 163, 173, 175–6, 184, 206, 210, 215, 219, 237, 239, 242, 245, 248, 255, 266, 268, 278, 307–23

Hendriks 10–14, 23, 35, 50, 80, 85–6, 90, 95, 100, 104–5, 110, 120, 138–9, 142–5, 151, 153, 160, 176, 180, 182, 241, 246, 250, 255, 321–2

Hind, Colonel John 120–3, 126–37, 141, 158, 163, 259, 294–9, 303–6, 329

Humvees 217, 259

Hussein, Saddam 2, 54–5, 109–10, 118–19, 181, 201, 253, 290, 329

Ibrahim, Colonel 159–60, 163, 167, 174, 211, 243, 294, 308, 313, 316, 329

Imam Ali Mosque, siege of 286

Improvised Explosive Device (IED) 10, 19, 23, 139, 165, 179, 253–4, 255

insurgents 6–7, 20, 29–38, 53–4, 101–5, 132–3, 142, 178, 181, 214–20, 226–36, 238, 253–4, 262, 285

International Red Cross 13

Iran-Iraq War 288–9

Iraq

crime 21, 121–2, 199–200

inflation 177

insurgents 6–7, 20, 29–38, 53–4, 101–5, 132–3, 142, 178, 181, 214–20, 226–36, 238, 253–4, 262, 285

oil 123–5, 126–37

rebuilding 7, 101, 121–2

security forces 143, 160, 181, 198–9, 242, 286

Iraq Project and Contracting Office (PCO) 254

Iraq Reconstruction Management Office (IRMO) 254

Iraqi Body Count charity 329

Iraqi Civil Defence Corps (ICDC) 242, 243, 266

Iraqi National Guard (ING) 286

Iraqi Quick Reaction Force (QRF) 206

Iraqis

corruption 279–80

courtesy 161, 269

hatred of Americans 28, 162–3

Jackson, Piers ‘Jacko’ 114–15, 138–41, 148

Jaki 115, 140–1, 155

Japanese Military Contingent (JMC) 186, 190–3, 194

Jenkins, Sergeant John 248

jihad 236

Johannes 115, 140

Jones, Dai 12, 65–6, 75, 79, 139, 141, 157, 160, 173, 185, 245, 255, 263, 266, 269, 292–3, 307, 309–10

KBR Construction Company 7, 53, 124, 125