About Me

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I saw active service in conventional, clandestine and covert units of the South African Defence Force. I was the founder of the Private Military Company (PMC) Executive Outcomes in 1989 and its chairman until I left in 1997. Until its closure in 1998, EO operated primarily in Africa helping African governments that had been abandoned by the West and were facing threats from insurgencies, terrorism and organised crime. EO also operated in South America and the Far East. I believe that only Africans (Black and White) can truly solve Africa’s problems. I was appointed Chairman of STTEP International in 2009 and also lecture at military colleges and universities in Africa on defence, intelligence and security issues. Prior to the STTEP International appointment, I served as an independent politico-military advisor to several African governments. Until recently, I was a contributing editor to The Counter Terrorist magazine. All comments in line with the topics on this blog are welcome. As I consider this to be a serious look at military and security matters, foul language and political or religious debates will not be entertained on this blog.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

SOME CHIN-WAGGING WITH JAKE

Jake Allen is the owner of the website The Combat Operator – an ezine for operators and security contractors. Jake also runs a very popular podcast known as the Combat Operator Radio. In essence, he focuses on the Private Military industry and the PMCs operating out there. I believe that he deserves all the support he can get as he is working hard at improving the image of credible PMCs and giving objective news related to the PMC industry. Additionally, he will not hesitate to expose the phoney ones.

On 29 January 2009, Jake invited me as a guest onto his show. He was a great host and we had a bit of a talk about several things of relevance and it was great fun. Fortunately, Jake was there to ensure that I did not just blabber on and on.

The show can be found at http://combatoperator.com/blog/radio-2/

Thank you for the opportunity, Jake!

8 comments:

Aethyr said...

A very interesting interview and I must say that I'm thrilled to hear there's another book in the making!

Can you give us some infos on your timetable or is it too early to ask for a date of publication?

regards
David

Randy said...

Eeben, very good to hear your voice on the interview. I hope there will be more interviews with Jake in the future. He pronounced Eeben with a soft E sound as in "pen". I thought I had heard it pronounced with a long E sound as in "feet". Was Jake correct?

Eeben Barlow's Milsec Blog said...

Thank you, David.

As regards a time-table, I am trying to complete it, ready for publication, by July 2009. My publisher wants it available, ready for purchase, by Christmas 2009.

I shall use the blog to keep everyone who may be interested updated.

Rgds,

Eeben

Eeben Barlow's Milsec Blog said...

Thank you, Randy. The actual pronunciation of my name is as you suggest with a long E. So, in this instance, I hate to admit that Jake was not correct.

Rgds,

Eeben

Jake said...

Eeben,
You polite old fox!! You never corrected my mispronunciation of your name. How embarrassed I am.

In any event, I remain grateful for the chance to get your views on a range of subjects. It was great fun and I hope we can do it again sometime.

Jake

matt said...

Great interview Eeben! It was a treat to hear your thoughts on the industry, and we should all be paying attention. I especially liked the discussion about media relations. I am looking forward to the book as well, and I wish you all the luck with it. Cheers. -Matt

Eeben Barlow's Milsec Blog said...

No need to be embarrassed, Jake. Most people aren’t too sure of how to pronounce my name and I really don’t mind.

Thank you again for being such a great host.

Rgds,

Eeben

Eeben Barlow's Milsec Blog said...

Many thanks, Matt. I just hope that PMCs will see what good work you and Jake are putting in to your websites to clean up their images and that they will make use of the good resources you offer them.

Rgds,

Eeben