SAVE THE LAST BULLET FOR YOURSELF: A Soldier of Fortune in the Balkans and Somalia Review

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SAVE THE LAST BULLET FOR YOURSELF: A Soldier of Fortune in the Balkans and Somalia ReviewI would take a very cautious approach before buying this book. "SAVE THE LAST BULLET FOR YOURSELF: A Soldier of Fortune in the Balkans and Somalia" is a very misleading title. The book should have been titled "How I showed up in the Balk end uninvited and unwanted and managed to shoot a couple of people".
In the first third of the book Mr. Krott describes how he arrives in the Balkans uninvited and unwanted. After traveling around the country for a week or two he finally finds a unit the will allow him to stick around and train some of their troops. Mr. Krott manages to hang around for several months and train troops in small unit infantry tactics. He does manage to sneak away to the front lines one day with a friend, play sniper for a day and kill two or three soldiers. He does tell us in the book that he can not mention this to anyone in the unit he is staying with because they will not be pleased. Soon after this point Mr. Krott travels home.
A short time after arriving home Mr. Krott takes a job with a private company that itself has a contract with the U.S. government. Mr. Krott's job with the this company is to help sign up 100 Somali speaking people living in the United States and then ship out to Somalia with them so that they can work with the U.S. military as interpreters. Once in Somalia Mr. Krott's job is to keep an eye on them and then drive around the country every week or two to hand out the paychecks. During this time in Somalia Mr. Krott obsesses over obtaining a weapon to carry while he makes his rounds handing out paychecks. He does manage to get his hands on a rifle at one point, tags along with a unit and kills a Somali rebel in a firefight. Another successful mercenary trip abroad.
Finally in the last third of the book Mr. Krott returns to the Balkans. This time he at least has a contact before he arrives. The folks at Soldier of Fortune magazine tell him who to see when he gets there. Once again he stays several months and trains troops in small unit tactics such as how to conduct an ambush, forming a perimeter, hand signals etc. All very riveting stuff.
The entire book is sprinkled with comments of Mr. Krott being under contract as a mercenary or having to pass up one contract because he was another. This is all very nice soldier of fortune talk but it appears that while he was in the Balkans he did not really have a contract. It would appear he made about $50 a week, the same as the troops he was training. At least this is what I gather from the story he tells. He did have a contract with the company he worked for in Somalia but at some point he is let go by that company.
Mr. Krott also reminds us through most of the book that he is a pretty skilled warrior and most other soldiers are basically dirt. This does get a little tedious. I am sure the majority of people he met were dirt bags but at a certain point you need to give it a rest. It also seems that he has a hard time getting along with people and holding a job. By the end of the book it feels like he is claiming to be a victim of other people's stupidity for not getting contracts, losing jobs and missing out on the big money.
To sum up, the book is not written badly. It flows well and the writing style is good. The problem with this book is that it is not very interesting. You keep reading it basically to find out if anything actually happens. Sadly, nothing really happens in this book and that is the problem.SAVE THE LAST BULLET FOR YOURSELF: A Soldier of Fortune in the Balkans and Somalia OverviewThe down-to-earth memoir of a modern mercenary via Harvard . . .

This is the tale of Rob Krott, a U.S. Army officer who after leaving active duty found adventure in the early days of the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Somalia. Stripped of the glamour and mystique surrounding the mercenary profession, Save the Last Bullet for Yourself is a no-holds-barred look at private soldiering in the 1990's, pulling no punches in chronicling the role of modern day soldiers of fortune in the most violent, bloody, ethnic conflicts of the past decade.

Krott recounts soldiering with a mixed bag of humanity's flotsam: the has-beens, wannabes, gutter-trash, homicidal psychotics, criminals, and the occasional professional soldier for hire. In the middle of all this is the author-an idealistic, Harvard-educated ex-Army captain who just wants to follow his true calling:leading troops in combat.

Krott, travels to Croatia in early 1992 and joins the fledgling Croatian Army as a volunteer in the war against Serbia , which is backed by the former Yugoslav Army. Commissioned as an officer in a Croatian Commando unit, he leads combat patrols along the free-fire-zone border. He then sets up a training program for the Commandos, leads forays against Serb positions, snipes enemy soldiers, becomes involved in intrigue, and leaves Croatiajust as the Bosnian conflict starts.

He then undertakes a mission in Somalia during Operation Restore Hope as a contracted consultant to the U.S. Army, supervising 100 Somali speakers recruited in Washington. Krott then returns to the Balkans, this time to Bosnia, commanding a unit of multinational"volunteers" and serving as a brigade staff major with the Bosnian-Croat Defense Force. It was there that a foreign mercenary attempted to kill him.

With humor, insight, and a keen eye for the often-absurd world of ad hoc warfare, Krott's account provides the reader an inside look at theshadowy world of professional soldiers for hire, for all its hardship and excitement.



REVIEWS

"One thing that Krottmakesclear quickly is that the glamorous Hollywood portrayal of high-paidinternationalmercenaries issheer fiction. . . . [He] ends with an epilogue that recounts the sad and often dismal fate of many of the mercenaries he served with."

-David Isenberg, United Press International

"...puts you in the combat boots of a former US Army officer turned mercenary in two of the world's hotspots: Bosnia/ Croatia and Somalia.... Provides frank descriptions and analysis of the troops...a boots on the ground in your face memoir..."Magweb.com, 10/2008

'...well-written...Rob's great writing skills show his true feelings about the conflicts he finds himself in. This book shows a scary insight into a world most of the population will never know." Raider, 11/2008

"...you know the writer has been there, done that and knows the firearms from personal, hands on experience...details the exciting, real and all very true stories of ... modern soldier of fortune."Small Arms Review, 06/2009

"...very good you are there on the ground memoir of a hired grunt toting his rifle to two of the 1990s hotspots."Kepler's Military History Reviews, 02/2010

"...eloquent, convincing, compelling... an unapologetic tale of adventure."History of War.Org, 03/2012

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