Chris Ryan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the actor, see Christopher Ryan.
Chris Ryan was born in 1961. He joined the regular SAS in 1984 after seven years in the territorial SAS and he was later was one of the members of the disastrous "Bravo Two Zero" mission, during which a patrol from the Special Air Service (SAS) were sent behind enemy lines in the first Gulf War.
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[edit] The SAS
Chris Ryan originally joined the 23rd Territorial SAS regiment after unsuccessfully trying to get into the army as a boy soldier at 16. His cousin, Billy was already in it, so he suggested that Ryan came down to the base for a few weekends to see what the army was really like. Ryan loved doing this, and he came down every weekend, eventually almost passing selection several times, but he was too young to continue selection and do 'test week'. He eventually joined the 23rd SAS and shortly afterwards began selection for the 22nd, regular SAS. He passed, joining 'B' squadron but needing a parent regiment, he planned to spend three months with the parachute regiment, but this was cut to four weeks when he was called back to go with 'B' squadron to Aden to help secure the beach heads whilst the British pulled out. He then spent seven years doing both covert and overt missions with the SAS in various theatres of the world.
[edit] Bravo Two Zero
One of Ryan's final missions was as part of the Bravo Two Zero patrol in Iraq in the First Gulf War, they were meant to report on enemy positions and call in aircraft to take out any worthwhile targets, as well as destroying fibre optic communication lines. The patrol's signaller was initially given the wrong codes for the radio, making it useless. Their emergency TACBE radio devices which were thought to be able to communicate with coalition aircraft in extreme circumstances were in fact almost 250 miles out of their operational range. They were also unprepared for the terrain, as they were told they would be operating in a hot and sandy desert. As it was, the area was barren and rocky and the temperatures plummeted during the night.During their second day in the OP, their position was compromised by a young goat herder who made eye contact with the patrol. During the ensuing few days, in their attempt to escape, several fire fights with the enemy occurred. All of the patrol escaped without injury, where they continued to evade the enemy until the patrol got split into two groups. Out of the initial eight SAS soldiers, Ryan was the only soldier to successfully escape from Iraq and into Syria who had agreed to return any escaped coalition servicemen.
He traveled over 200 miles in seven days on foot, in both the freezing cold and baking sun. He suffered sleep deprivation, starvation, severe dehydration and other such physical ailments. He had even lost all his toenails. He lost a considerable amount of weight (36 lbs), something that could have killed him. Three of the original squad of eight died. Two of hypothermia and one of being shot as he ran out of ammo. The rest including the leader Andy McNab were captured and brutally tortured. "Chris Ryan" made history with the "longest escape and evasion by an SAS trooper or any other soldier". This achievement was recognised by the award of the Military Medal. This feat had only ever been matched by another SAS trooper, Jack Stilleto, while lost in the Sahara Desert in 1942 although Chris beat his distance by over 100 miles, but they were in entirely different circumstances. He spent his final two years in the SAS training and finding potential recruits.
[edit] After the SAS
Since leaving the SAS in 1993, "Ryan" has written several books, including The One That Got Away (ISBN 1-57488-156-6) — his own account of the Bravo Two Zero mission—as well as a number of novels, including Greed and The Increment. He has also gone on to write a series of books for younger readers — the "Alpha Force" books - and combines a successful career juggling roles as a bestselling writer, motivational speaker and presenter of television documentaries including Hunting Chris Ryan.
In 2005, "Chris Ryan" presented a BSkyB show called "How Not to Die", explaining how one should act in various life-threatening situations.
He helped to develop the game I.G.I.-2: Covert Strike.
Chris Ryan also created and starred in the TV show Ultimate Force. He was a technical adviser and played the role of Blue Troop leader Johnny Bell in series 1 and 2.
[edit] Books
[edit] Non-Fiction
- The One That Got Away
[edit] Fiction
Geordie Sharp (character)
- Stand By, Stand By (1996)
- Zero Option (1997)
- The Kremlin Device (1998)
- Tenth Man Down (1999)
Other
- The Hit List (2000)
- The Watchman (2001)
- Land Of Fire (2002)
- Greed (2003)
- The Increment (2004)
- Blackout (2005)
- Ultimate Weapon (2006)
- Strike Back (2007)
Code Red
- Flash Flood (2006)
- Wildfire (2007)
- Outbreak (2007)
Alpha Force
- Alpha Force 1: Survival (2002)
- Alpha Force 2: Rat-catcher (2002)
- Alpha Force 3: Desert Pursuit (2003)
- Alpha Force 4: Hostage (2003)
- Alpha Force 5: Red Centre (2004)
- Alpha Force 6: Hunted (2004)
- Alpha Force 7: Blood Money (2005)
- Alpha Force 8: Fault Line (2005)
- Alpha Force 9: Black Gold (2005)
- Alpha Force 10: Untouchable (2005)
