From Combat to Contract: The Dangerous Path of a Navy SEAL Turned Mercenary

Fighting pirates, wielding various weapons (or surviving with none at all), taking down Al Qaeda bomb makers, and gathering intel might sound like something from a Hollywood blockbuster. But for former Navy SEAL operator Daniel Corbett III—who served in SEAL Teams 5, 6, and 17—it was just another day on the job, with nothing “Hollywood” about it.

“We don’t drive Porsches or Land Rovers, we drive Kia Sorentos, Nissan Pathfinders, Toyota Hiluxes,” Corbett writes. “And our liaisons are not sexy Bond girls with names like Vesper Lynd and Pussy Galore but instead are ugly, world-weary men with names like Omar and Herbert.”

After ditching the dead-end and lower paying navy life, Corbett quickly climbed the murky ranks of private military contracting until a solo mission landed him eighteen months in a Serbian prison.

In American Mercenary, Corbett takes you on his gripping journey across the globe and into the mind of a hired gun. Along the way, he shares:

• The lavish and harsh realities of being a modern mercenary
• The chaotic and dysfunctional Serbian court system, and how he survived prison without knowing the language
• The challenges many veterans face in transitioning from military to civilian life, and his thoughts on how the system can improve

Corbett even offers a few tips for excelling as a mercenary—but not all.

“A man in my position has to keep some secrets,” he writes.

Discover the action-packed life of Daniel Corbett III in his new memoir, American Mercenary.