The Bremer Detail - by Frank Gallagher & John M Del Vecchio (Hardcover)

About the Book

Action-packed memoir from the NYT bestselling author of The 13th Valley and a high-level private security contractor responsible for Ambassador L. Paul Bremer's Security Detail.

Book Synopsis

From the NYT bestselling author of The 13th Valley and a high-level private security contractor who worked in Iraq just after the fall of Saddam Hussein, this action-packed memoir now has updated photographs and a new foreword by Ken Herbert, Blackwater's Operations Manager for Ambassador L. Paul Bremer's Security Detail. The Iraqi insurgency was powerful, and the stakes were high. But one man, Frank Gallagher, was determined to protect Paul Bremer, the president's envoy to Iraq.

Bremer banned the Ba'ath party and dismantled the Iraqi army, which made him the prime target for dozens of insurgent and terrorist groups. Blackwater security expert Frank Gallagher and a team of former Marines, SEALs, and other defense professionals arrived just as Baghdad was set to explode.

In his fascinating memoir, Gallagher shares an intimate look at the high-level private security contracting business and his experiences protecting Bremer during his grueling days in Iraq.

This thrilling book includes:

• The courage to face 16-hour days and intense security operations
• An emotional look into the dangers of being a private security contractor as Bremer and the men who guarded him faced death daily
• The experience of being part of the Blackwater response to the insurgency

Experience the high-stakes reality of Iraq during the war with Frank Gallagher's gripping memoir.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Bremer Detail

"You can't make this up!"

That phrase, or some amped up variation, was uttered with regular frequency at the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Baghdad. Frank Gallagher's book is an insider's view of just one aspect of how accurate that phrase was in describing our lives. Now, some 20 years removed from those events, these stories are still informative, and in many cases still elicit headshaking, more than a few laughs, a reminder of lessons learned and the hope they never have to be relearned.

Frank's book gives a sampling of his challenges in managing a tightly knit team with a singular mission. His stories are gritty behind the scenes details of what it took to run our operation... There are many after-action reports, studies and lessons-learned documents. They have value, but the book in your hands is going to provide you a perspective you won't get from a think tank or sterile report. Of all the lessons we learned, from policy to operations, bringing on Frank and his team was one we got right, and it saved lives. It isn't all pretty... but Frank doesn't need any more friends.

-Brian McCormack, Deputy Assistant to President George W. Bush; White House Secret Service; Department of Defense and Department of Energy

It was a complicated and unique experience...

[Frank's] dedication and determination to ensure Ambassador Bremer's safety was unrelenting, and his operational experience and leadership became obvious to me almost immediately.

Big Army operations, private contractors, reservists, local support, and more intersected in an uncertain and dangerous place. A new model was being developed on a daily basis-unprecedented stuff as far as I knew.

-Jim Cawley, Secret Service High Threat Assessment Team;

SAIC, New York Field Office

The best of times, the worst of times...

Frank captures all that Blackwater was, the mission, the courage, the patriotism; and why Blackwater continued to win contract after contract. After all the false accusations and negative press, the men and women of Blackwater are finally getting the recognition they earned and deserve.

-Eric Parker, Former Blackwater contractor; Owner & CEO Select International

Karzai Protective Operation: 2002

This was the first time in history that the State Department had gone off and protected the president of another country. My detail launched what was the beginning of the institutionalized private military contractor force working for the State Department. The training that the private military contractors underwent was close to what was provided to DDS agents; a special emphasis, though, was placed on the use of deadly force versus rules of engagement.

-Dale 'Chip' McElhattan. Supervisory Special Agent Diplomatic Security Services, U.S. Department of State; Founder & CEO DemSec, Ltd (Diplomatic Security)