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CHARLIE ONE
Seán Hartnett was born in Cork in 1975 and is married with two step-children. He joined the British Army in 1998 and served for almost seven years before moving first to South Africa, then Australia and finally returning to Ireland just as the Celtic Tiger was collapsing. He has worked as a security consultant for major companies and on government projects worldwide. He has also worked in the area of commercial espionage and counter espionage. He is a fanatical rugby fan and is a sucker for a slice of good Tiramisu.
CHARLIE ONE
THE TRUE STORY OF AN IRISHMAN IN THE BRITISH ARMY AND HIS ROLE IN COVERT COUNTER-TERRORISM OPERATIONS IN NORTHERN IRELAND
SEÁN HARTNETT
Published in 2016 by
Merrion Press
10 George’s Street
Newbridge
Co. Kildare
Ireland
© 2016 Seán Hartnett
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
An entry can be found on request
ISBN 978-1-78537-085-4 (Paperback)
ISBN 978-1-78537-086-1 (Kindle)
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
An entry can be found on request
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved alone, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Design by Sin É
Typeset in Minion 12/14 pt
Front cover by www.phoenix-graphicdesign.com
Cover images © Pacemaker Press International (paramilitary) and
© Andrey Popov | Dreamstime.com (CCTV bank)
Printed by Scandbook AB, Sweden.
For the brave men and women of JCU-NI,
especially for North Det and Cameras Section.
Ní Bheidh ár Leithéidí Arís Ann.
Go out into the highways
and along the hedges
and compel them to come in
so that my house may be filled.
JCU-NI motto (Luke 14:23)
CONTENTS
Prologue: How the Hell Did I End Up Here?
7.The Short Straw
8.First Operation
9.Hare & Hounds
10.The Colombian Connection
11.Sheriff’s Mountain
12.Heli Down
13.You’re Nicked
14.Early Days at North Det
15.Deadly Dilemma
16.Harvey Street
17.Tout
18.The Book
19.On Your Bike
20.Mad Dog
21.Lady Luck
22.The Arse
23.Withdrawal Methods
24.Ní Bheidh ár Leithéidí Arís Ann
Acknowledgements
NOTE TO THE READER
For security reasons many of the names and locations in this book have been changed. Identifying some of those involved on both sides may put their lives at risk. Those who are mentioned have already made it into the public domain with regard to the events featured in this book and further prior involvement with the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
The naming convention of the JCU-NI personnel used in this book is unique to JCU-NI. It was used for both security purposes and for ease of remembering people’s names and functions at the Det. The convention was simple, your first name followed by the Det’s slang term for your job description i.e. Seán Tech (Royal Signals technician), Colin Opso (operations officer), Brian Ops (operator) or Mandy Spook (intelligence officer). It was part of a unique language spoken at the Det and became second nature to me during my time there.
MAP OF NORTHERN IRELAND
MAP OF DERRY CITY
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
| AOR | Area of Responsibility |
| ASU | Active Service Unit |
| Bleep | Slang term for a Royal Signals radio operator at a JCU-NI Det |
| Box | MI5 |
| Brownie | Slang term for a photographer attached at a JCU-NI Det |
| CIRA | Continuity IRA |
| CMOE | Covert Methods of Entry |
| CO | Commanding Officer |
| Det | Slang term for a JCU-NI outpost, short for ‘Detachment’ |
| ELINT | Electronic Intelligence |
| FLIR | Forward Looking Infra-Red |
| FMB | Forward Mounting Base |
| FoS | Foreman of Signals – Warrant Officer in charge of all technicians at a unit |
| FRU | Force Research Unit |
| GPMG | General
|