The Legend of Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Hoare

I remember reading Congo Mercenary while deployed many moons back.

This guy was the stuff of legend.

Europe Renaissance

Mercenary ‘Mad Mike’ Hoare (1919-2022) was perhaps the best-known of the European mercenaries who fought in the Congo Crisis (1960-1965).  Born to Irish parents in Calcutta he was educated in England. A rarity for mercenaries who spend their lives on the frontlines, Hoare, at 101 years old seemingly benefited from the unstinting devotion of a very special and caring guardian angel. A veteran of numerous conflicts, Mike Hoare earned his spurs as an officer in the London Irish Rifles.

What does an army captain do when World War II becomes history? He becomes a chartered accountant of course. When led by Europeans prosperous and peaceful South Africa was a magnet for many disenchanted Britons. Mike Hoare was no exception. The amiable demobbed Brit set up a charted accountant’s business in South Africa.

As a South African citizen, Mike Hoare combined his sense of adventure and soldierly know-how to organise safaris…

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The Carver Technique

Low-Tech to No-Tech is The Way

Analog all the way!
Paper don’t need batteries.

Tactical Wisdom

Being a public figure in the preparedness world, I get swamped with people asking me for my recommendations on the latest and coolest cool-guy Ultra-Tacticool gear. Which night vision should I buy, what’s the best range finder, and what rifle accessories do I need top the list.

While I give the best answers I can (and I’ll try to here), I always wonder if they’ve even read my first book, the Baseline Training Manual, where I spell out my philosophy on this. My philosophy is to go with no or low-tech options, every time. Technology is a point of failure. You’ll need batteries or repairs, so the answer is to learn to do without. You don’t need the $375 ultra-light backpacking tent; you need a tarp and some para-cord.

This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way…

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Opinion: What are prototactics?

Read Twice and Distribute Freely.

Badlands Fieldcraft

I’ve spent the better part of the last couple years (to be honest tactics and strategy have always been a big interest of mine) studying small unit tactics from different perspectives in an attempt to discern those that might be practical for today’s concerned citizens, including myself. I wanted to go beyond the typical self defense tactics though, and delve into something deeper, and maybe more taboo.

Popular culture and politicians want the “regular” (I use this term loosely, since many of the men I’ve trained with are anything but regular) guys to think tactics and tactical training are reserved for those in the employ of such “elites”, and “regular” guys don’t have any use for them. They want “regular” guys to think that if they find themselves interested in such things, they are hobbyists, LARPers, or “doomsday preppers” and that they have no practical need for such knowledge or…

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The Evolution of the The QuadCopter in Modern Warfare

The Evolution of the QuadCopter in Modern Warfare

 

The pinnacle of this tactic is a Chinese-made DJI Mavic quadcopter – easy to procure, easy to fly/ navigate, it became absolutely indispensable for ISR, target spotting, artillery correction and combat missions like “kamikaze attacks”, dropping small bombs and grenades.