Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Barrie Rice is a former commando with the New Zealand Special Air Service. For the past 30 years, he's been a mercenary and personal bodyguard all over the world.
Rice served in the Special Air Service for seven years. After leaving in 1995, Rice worked globally as a private security contractor, including roles with Blackwater in Iraq. He spent seven years in Iraq from 2003 to 2010. After Iraq, he spent time as a private contractor training military forces in South Sudan. Rice has also worked as a personal bodyguard, traveling all over the world to places such as Syria, Libya, Ukraine, and Latin America.
Rice talks to Business Insider about the weapons, the ethics, the money, and the perks of being a mercenary. He also discusses his training, the risks, and his thoughts on how private military contractors are being used in global warfare.
He is the author of "We Were Blackwater: Life, Death and Madness in the Killing Fields of Iraq."
For more:
bitebackpublishing.com/books/we-were-blackwater
00:00 - Introduction
00:28 - The Missions
04:01 - The Risks
06:03 - The Rules
07:48 - The Weapons
11:41 - The Hierarchy
13:56 - The Money
16:31 - Friendly Fire
19:40 - The Firefights
22:36 - The Ambushes
25:17 - The Ethics
28:13 - Global Mercenaries
31:13 - Psychological Impact
34:15 -The Backstory
37:59 - The Future
39:53 - The Aftermath
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#mercenaries #specialairservice #blackwater #bodyguard
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How Mercenaries Actually Work | Authorized Account | Insider
Barrie Rice is a former commando with the New Zealand Special Air Service. For the past 30 years, he's been a mercenary and personal bodyguard all over the world.
Rice served in the Special Air Service for seven years. After leaving in 1995, Rice worked globally as a private security contractor, including roles with Blackwater in Iraq. He spent seven years in Iraq from 2003 to 2010. After Iraq, he spent time as a private contractor training military forces in South Sudan. Rice has also worked as a personal bodyguard, traveling all over the world to places such as Syria, Libya, Ukraine, and Latin America.
Rice talks to Business Insider about the weapons, the ethics, the money, and the perks of being a mercenary. He also discusses his training, the risks, and his thoughts on how private military contractors are being used in global warfare.
He is the author of "We Were Blackwater: Life, Death and Madness in the Killing Fields of Iraq."
For more:
bitebackpublishing.com/books/we-were-blackwater
00:00 - Introduction
00:28 - The Missions
04:01 - The Risks
06:03 - The Rules
07:48 - The Weapons
11:41 - The Hierarchy
13:56 - The Money
16:31 - Friendly Fire
19:40 - The Firefights
22:36 - The Ambushes
25:17 - The Ethics
28:13 - Global Mercenaries
31:13 - Psychological Impact
34:15 -The Backstory
37:59 - The Future
39:53 - The Aftermath
------------------------------------------------------
#mercenaries #specialairservice #blackwater #bodyguard
MORE AUTHORIZED ACCOUNT VIDEOS:
How US Drone Warfare Actually Works
youtu.be/yYdKnWxmC7o
How Reforming A Neo-Nazi Actually Works
youtu.be/1KGH8_khwQw
How The SAS Actually Works
youtu.be/Ce8pf1Y3Zlc
Insider's mission is to inform and inspire.
Visit our homepage for the top stories of the day: businessinsider.com
Insider on Facebook: facebook.com/insider
Insider on Instagram: instagram.com/insider
Insider on Twitter: twitter.com/thisisinsider
Insider on Snapchat: snapchat.com/discover/Insider/2708030621
Insider on TikTok: tiktok.com/@insider
How Mercenaries Actually Work | Authorized Account | Insider
