Andy McNab Sergeant Andy McNab DCM MM ( born 28 December 1959 ) is the pseudonym of an English novelist and former SAS operative and soldier . McNab came into public prominence in 1993 , when he published his account of the Special Air Service ( SAS ) patrol Bravo Two Zero , for which he had been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal in 1991 . He had previously received the Military Medal in 1980 , awarded for an action whilst serving with the Royal Green Jackets in Northern Ireland during 1979 . In addition to " Bravo Two Zero " he has written two other autobiographies and a number of fiction books . Early life . McNab was born on 28 December 1959 . Found abandoned on the steps of Guy ' s Hospital in Southwark in a Harrods shopping bag , he was brought up in Peckham , with his adoptive family . He did not do well in school , dropped out and worked at various odd jobs , usually for friends and relatives , and was involved in petty criminality , finally being arrested for burglary in 1976 . Partly inspired by his brother ' s time in the army , he wanted to join the British Army . He failed the entry test for training as an army pilot , but enlisted with the Royal Green Jackets at the age of sixteen . Military career . He was posted to Kent for his basic training , and boxed for his regimental team . After basic training , he was posted to the Rifle Depot in Winchester . In 1977 , he spent time in Gibraltar as part of his first operational posting , while with 2RGJ . From December 1977 to June 1978 , he was posted to South Armagh , Northern Ireland , as part of the British Army ' s " Operation Banner " . In 1978 and 1979 , he returned to Armagh as a newly promoted Lance Corporal , and claimed to have killed for the first time during a firefight with the Provisional Irish Republican Army . McNab wrote of the incident : " I remember vividly the first time I had to kill someone to stay alive . I was a 19 - year - old soldier in Keady , South Armagh , and my patrol stumbled across six IRA terrorists , preparing for an ambush . When the shooting started , they were just 20 metres away from my patrol . I was scared , very scared . " He was awarded the Military Medal for this incident . However , security sources later reported that the person McNab shot was only wounded and died as a result of injuries from a separate shootout later that day . In 1982 , after eight years with the Royal Green Jackets , he attempted SAS selection . After failing his first attempt , he passed in 1984 , and transferred to the SAS . During his 10 years with Air Troop , B Squadron , 22 SAS , McNab served with Al Slater , Frank Collins and Charles " Nish " Bruce . In a November 2008 Interview with the Daily Telegraph , McNab describes Bruce as " one of my heroes . " McNab worked on both covert and overt operations including counter terrorism and drug operations in the Middle East and Far East , South and Central America and Northern Ireland . McNab trained as a specialist in counter terrorism , prime target elimination , demolitions , weapons , tactics , covert surveillance roles and information gathering in hostile environments , and VIP protection . He worked on cooperative operations with police forces , prison services , anti - drug forces and Western backed guerrilla movements as well as on conventional special operations . In Northern Ireland , he spent two years working as an undercover operator with 14 Intelligence Company , going on to become an instructor . During the First Gulf War , McNab commanded Bravo Two Zero , an eight man SAS patrol that was given the task of destroying underground communication links between Baghdad and north - west Iraq and with tracking Scud missile movements in the region . The patrol was dropped into Iraq on 22 January 1991 , but was soon compromised , escaping on foot towards Syria , the closest coalition country . Three of the eight were killed , and four captured ( including McNab ) after three days on the run ; one member , Chris Ryan , escaped . The captured men were held for six weeks before being released on 5 March . By that time , McNab was suffering from nerve damage to both hands , a dislocated shoulder , kidney and liver damage , and hepatitis B . After six months of medical treatment he was back on active service . Awarded both the Distinguished Conduct Medal ( DCM ) and Military Medal ( MM ) during his military career , McNab claims to have been the British Army ' s most highly decorated serving soldier when he left the SAS in February 1993 . Post - military career . McNab assumed his pseudonym while writing " Bravo Two Zero " . When he appears on television to promote his books or to act as a special services expert , his face is shadowed to prevent identification . As Larry King put it , when McNab appeared on the " Larry King Live " show on CNN : " We have Andy in shadows . He ' s wanted by terrorist groups . " According to the book " The Big Breach " , by Richard Tomlinson , a renegade MI6 spy , McNab was part of a special training team after the Iraq war , training MI6 recruits in sabotage and guerrilla warfare techniques . Due to the extremely sensitive nature of his work while serving with the SAS , McNab has a legally binding contract obliging him to submit his writings to the British Ministry of Defence for review . He is still believed to be wanted by a number of the world ' s terrorist organisations ; he therefore chooses not to reveal either his face or his current location . After leaving the Army , McNab developed and maintained a specialist training course for news crews , journalists and members of non - governmental organisations working in hostile environments . He spent time in Hollywood as a technical weapons advisor and trainer on Michael Mann ' s film " Heat " . He was also the technical advisor on the 2005 crime film " Dirty " . In February 2007 , McNab returned to Iraq for seven days as " The Sun " newspaper ' s security advisor with his old regiment , the Royal Green Jackets . There , he researched the background for " Crossfire " ( 2007 ) . McNab has written about his experiences in the SAS in three best - selling books , " Bravo Two Zero " ( 1993 ) , " Immediate Action " ( 1995 ) , and " Seven Troop " ( 2008 ) . " Bravo Two Zero " sold over 1 . 7 million copies , with " Immediate Action " selling 1 . 4 million in the UK . It has been published in 17 countries and translated into 16 languages . The CD spoken word version of " Bravo Two Zero " , narrated by McNab , sold over 60 , 000 copies and earned a silver disc . A BBC film of " Bravo Two Zero " , starring Sean Bean , was shown on prime time BBC One television in 1999 and released on DVD in 2000 . " Immediate Action " , McNab ' s autobiography , spent 18 weeks at the top of the bestseller lists following the lifting of an " ex - parte " injunction granted to the Ministry of Defence in September 1995 . The veracity of McNab ' s first book , " Bravo Two Zero " , has been questioned by Michael Asher , an explorer , Arabist , and former SAS soldier , who visited Iraq with a Channel 4 film crew , and interviewed many eye - witnesses . Asher concluded that much of what McNab wrote was a fabrication , and that there was no evidence that the Bravo Two Zero patrol accounted for a single enemy casualty . Moreover , McNab ' s account and that of his comrade Chris Ryan are contradictory on many points . This has been corroborated by Peter Ratcliffe , who was regimental sergeant major of 22 SAS Regiment during the Gulf War , who stated that , in a debriefing to the entire Regiment , recorded on video , none of the patrol members mentioned contacts with large numbers of enemies or any of the other extraordinary incidents included in the books . Asher ' s conclusion was that the book ' s claim to be ' the true story of an SAS patrol in action ' was a fraud . Despite threats from their lawyers , neither McNab nor Ryan have brought a libel action against Asher for his conclusions , which were accepted by the Ministry of Defence to the extent that they issued a letter to the parents of deceased patrol - member , Vince Phillips , exonerating him from blame for compromising the patrol , as claimed in the books . Fiction writing . McNab is the author of a number of action thrillers . He has been officially registered by Nielsen BookScan as a best - selling British thriller writer . Nick Stone Missions is a successful series based on an ex - SAS soldier working on deniable operations for British intelligence . The series draws extensively on McNab ' s experiences and knowledge of Special Forces soldiering . The Boy Soldier Series was written with the cooperation of Robert Rigby and follows a boy named Danny Watts and his grandfather Fergus , apparently a rogue ex - SAS soldier . Andy McNab has also written books for Quick Reads , a charity that supports World Book day . BBC raw words offers exclusive audio versions of the latest Quick Reads by Andy McNab , " Last Night Another Soldier " ( 2010 ) , read by Rupert Degas . Other fiction books include Audio Stories , Men at War series , Battlefield 3 , Tom Buckingham series , and two young adult series : Dropzone Stories and The New Recruit series . Film work . After his work on the Miramax film " Heat " , Miramax acquired the film rights to the first four of McNab ' s novels , and " Echelon " ( 2012 ) is currently in production , based on the book " Firewall " ( 2000 ) . McNab will co - produce and co - write the script and also act as technical adviser . According to McNab on his 2011 book signing tour , either Jason Statham or Tom Hardy will play the lead role of Nick Stone . Other work . In conjunction with Spoken Group Ltd , he is pioneering spoken drama for download from the Internet and to mobile phones . These stories include real battlefield sound effects . McNab took part in E4 ' s " " on 13 January 2008 . In the Mobcast e - book platform he co - founded with Tony Lynch was sold to Tesco for £4 . 5 million with Mitchell ' s stake being worth £1 million Current . He now lives in New York He is also a director of military service recruitment , mentoring and Foundation organisation , ForceSelect . McNab is also a board member of a private security company . He worked with DICE on perfecting various situations involving techniques on gun fighting , stance and other war - related issues for " Battlefield 3 " . Books . Fiction . Nick Stone Missions Boy Soldier Series ( written with Robert Rigby ) Quick Reads project Audio Stories Dropzone Series " ( Young Adult ) " Men at War Series ( written with Kym Jordan ) Battlefield 3 Tom Buckingham Series The New Recruit " ( Young Adult ) "