"A Swamp the Size of Belgium" is a book that describes my six-month deployment as a Military Liaison Officer with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan in 2015-2016. In this memoir, I describe the ground-truth of austere living conditions, cumulative stresses, and relentless civil war which has devastated the world’s youngest and second-most dangerous country since 2013. I wanted to bring the reader into my day-to-day life, which while often mundane and routine, was also frantic, spontaneous, and frenzied. This all contributed to an overwhelming sense of hopelessness and anger that remained long after I returned home.
And it was my second deployment to South Sudan. In 2006, I was a UN Military Observer in Bentiu - I've left these videos as a reminder of those patrols for comparison!
"A Swamp the Size of Belgium" will be released by Double Dagger Books in July of 2023!
Enjoy!