Editing Tim Spicer

{{Short description|British military officer and executive}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Tim Spicer
| birth_name    = Timothy Simon Spicer
| birth_date    = {{Birth year and age|1952}}
| birth_place   = [[Aldershot]], England
| death_place   = 
| image         = 
| caption       = 
| serviceyears  = 1970<ref name="resist">{{cite web|year=2007|url=http://www.resist.org.uk/reports/archive/misc/spicer.php|title = Lt Col Tim Spicer|publisher=pub|accessdate=14 August 2007 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20071008015710/http://www.resist.org.uk/reports/archive/misc/spicer.php|archivedate=8 October 2007}}</ref> – 1994<ref name="aegisworld">{{cite web|year=2007 |url=http://www.aegisworld.com/tim-spicer.html |title=Tim Spicer OBE – Chief Executive Officer of Aegis Defence Services Ltd |publisher=Aegis World |accessdate=14 August 2007 |last=Aegis Defence Services |author-link=Aegis Defence Services |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703025814/http://www.aegisworld.com/tim-spicer.html |archivedate=3 July 2007}}</ref>
| rank          = [[Lieutenant-Colonel (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-Colonel]]
| branch        = [[British Armed Forces]]
| commands      = 
| unit          = [[Scots Guards]]
| battles       = <BR>While serving in the [[Scots Guards|UK's Scots Guard]]:
----[[Falklands War]]<BR>[[1991 Gulf War]]<BR>[[Yugoslav wars|UN force in Bosnia]]<BR><BR>Working for [[private military company|Private Military Companies]]:
----[[Sandline affair|Bougainville Uprising]]<BR>[[Sierra Leone Civil War]]<BR>[[Iraq War]]<ref name="vanityfair">{{cite magazine |date= 1 March 2007|url = http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/04/spicer200704?printable=true&currentPage=all|title = US: Iraq's Mercenary King|magazine=Vanity Fair | accessdate =14 August 2007 | last=Robert Baer}}</ref><BR><BR>
| awards        = [[Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)]]<ref name="aegisworld"/> <br/>[[General Service Medal (1962)|General Service Medal]] <br/>[[South Atlantic Medal]]
| laterwork     = Founder of the private military corporation [[Sandline International]] and former CEO of [[Aegis Defence Services]]. 
 Author.
}}

'''Timothy Simon Spicer''', {{post-nominals|post-noms=[[Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|OBE]]}} (born 1952) is a former [[British Army]] officer, and former [[chief executive officer|CEO]] of the private security company [[Aegis Defence Services]]. He served in the [[Falklands War]] and in Northern Ireland. He founded [[Sandline International]], a [[private military company]] which closed in April 2004. He is the author of three books: ''An Unorthodox Soldier: Peace and War and the [[Sandline affair|Sandline Affair]]'' (2000), ''A Dangerous Enterprise: Secret War at Sea'' (2021)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Spicer |first=Tim |url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/447683/a-dangerous-enterprise-by-spicer-tim/9781999589134 |title=A Dangerous Enterprise |date=2021-09-07 |language=en}}</ref> and ''A Suspicion of Spies: Risk, Secrets and Shadows - the Biography of [[Wilfred Dunderdale|Wilfred ‘Biffy’ Dunderdale]]'' was published on 12 September 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-12 |title=Tim Spicer |url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/208198/tim-spicer |access-date=2024-07-14 |website=www.penguin.co.uk |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Andrew |first=Christopher |date=2024-09-14 |title=Meet 'Biffy' – MI6 officer, bold seducer and 007 inspiration |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fiction/review-suspicion-spies-tim-spicer-biffy-dunderdale/ |access-date=2025-05-12 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

==Early life and military career==
Born in 1952 in [[Aldershot]], [[England]], Spicer was educated at [[Sherborne School]] and followed his father into the [[British Army]], attending [[Royal Military Academy Sandhurst|Sandhurst]] and then was commissioned in the [[Scots Guards]]. He tried to join the [[Special Air Service]] (SAS), but failed the selection course.<ref name="vanityfair"/> In 1982, his regiment was pulled from guard duty at the [[Tower of London]] and sent to the [[Falklands War]], where he saw action at the [[Battle of Mount Tumbledown]] on 13 June.{{fact|date=September 2022}}

After the Falklands War, Spicer, then at the rank of [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant colonel]], was sent to [[Northern Ireland]] along with his regiment as part of [[Operation Banner]] during [[the Troubles]].<ref>''An Unorthodox Soldier'', by Tim Spicer, Mainstream Publishing, 1999, pp. 121-125.<!-- isbn needed --></ref> In 1992, Spicer was awarded the [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] "for operational service in Northern Ireland".<ref name="Aegis">{{cite web |url=http://www.aegisworld.com/index.php/tim-spicer |title=AEGIS - Tim Spicer |accessdate=2012-05-29 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519034226/http://www.aegisworld.com/index.php/tim-spicer |archivedate=19 May 2012}}</ref> On 4 September of that year, two soldiers under his command, Mark Wright and James Fisher, shot and killed an 18-year old Catholic teenager named Peter McBride in disputed circumstances. Immediately following the incident, Wright and Fisher were interviewed by Spicer and three other officers before they were interrogated by the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] (RUC). In his 1999 autobiography ''An Unorthodox Soldier'', Spicer wrote that "I thought between us we could reach a balanced judgement on what happened."<ref name="unorthodox">''An Unorthodox Soldier'', by Tim Spicer, Mainstream Publishing, 1999, p. 121.<!-- isbn needed --></ref> 

The two soldiers were subsequently tried via [[court-martial]], which convicted them of [[murder]] and sentenced the pair to [[life imprisonment]] at [[HM Prison Maghaberry]] on 10 February 1995. At the court-martial, Wright and James claimed that they feared that McBride was about to throw an [[improvised explosive device]] he had hidden in a [[plastic bag]] towards them, a claim which Spicer supported (the bag was subsequently found to only contain a [[t-shirt]]).<ref>[http://patfinucanecentre.org/cases/pmcbride/mcbride.html "The murder of Peter Mc Bride"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116130207/http://patfinucanecentre.org/cases/pmcbride/mcbride.html |date=16 January 2014 }}, Pat Finucane Centre, accessed 7 January 2009.</ref> 

In reaction to their conviction, Spicer organised a [[lobbying]] campaign to free Wright and James, arguing that the two had legitimately believed that their lives were in imminent danger due to McBride's actions.<ref name="unorthodox"/> The campaign successfully persuaded the British government to free the pair from HM Prison Maghaberry on 2 September 1998, after they had spent roughly three and a half years in prison.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1375775/Guardsmen-jailed-for-murder-may-stay-in-Army.html|title=Guardsmen jailed for murder may stay in Army|first=David|last=Sharrock|date=25 November 2000|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|accessdate=26 April 2016}}</ref><ref name="The_Boston_Globe">{{cite web|date=22 June 2004|url=http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2004/06/22/security_firms_293m_deal_under_scrutiny/|title=Security firm's $293m deal under scrutiny|work=The Boston Globe|accessdate=9 May 2009|last=Charles M. Sennott}}</ref> Wright and James were flown to [[Catterick Garrison]] in [[Yorkshire]] to meet Spicer, where they stayed until the [[Army Board]] decided to reinstate them into the Scots Guards a month later; the pair subsequently served in the [[Iraq War]].<ref>[http://www.rte.ie/news/2003/0613/mcbride.html Belfast court rules on McBride killers], RTÉ News, 13 June 2003.</ref>

==Private military company==
In 1994 he left the army and founded [[Sandline International]], a private military company.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McLoughlin |first=Sam |date=2024-10-10 |title=Lieutenant Colonel Tim Spicer OBE on his book about the man who inspired 007 |url=https://restless.co.uk/leisure-and-lifestyle/art-and-culture/lieutenant-colonel-tim-spicer-obe-on-his-book-about-the-man-who-inspired-007/ |access-date=2025-05-03 |website=Rest Less |language=en-GB}}</ref>

===Sandline affair===
{{Main|Sandline affair}}
The Sandline affair was a political scandal that became one of the defining moments in the [[history of Papua New Guinea]] (PNG), and particularly that of the conflict in [[Bougainville Province|Bougainville]]. It brought down the PNG government of [[Julius Chan|Sir Julius Chan]] and took [[Papua New Guinea]] to the verge of military revolt. After coming to power in 1994, Prime Minister Chan made repeated attempts to resolve the Bougainville conflict by diplomatic means. These were ultimately unsuccessful, due to the repeated failure of Bougainvillean leaders to arrive at scheduled peace talks.  

After a number of failed military assaults and the refusal of Australia and New Zealand to provide troops, a decision was then made to investigate the use of mercenaries. Through some overseas contacts, defence minister Mathias Ijape was put in contact with Spicer.{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}} He accepted a contract for $36&nbsp;million, but the deal fell through when the PNG Army found out that so much money was being spent on a job they claimed to be able to do.  The Army overthrew the PNG government and arrested Spicer.  He was eventually released and sued the PNG government for money not paid.<ref>"The Private war of Tumbledown Tim", ''London Sunday Times Magazine'', 2 July 2000.</ref>

===Sierra Leone Scandal: the arms-to-Africa affair===
When employed by Sandline International, Spicer was involved in military operations in the [[Sierra Leone Civil War]], which included importing weapons in apparent violation of the United Nations [[arms embargo]].<ref name="thenation">{{cite web|date=29 December 2004 |url=http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20050110&s=ackerman |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050108080600/http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20050110&s=ackerman |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 January 2005 |title=Tim Spicer's World |publisher=The Nation |accessdate=14 August 2007 |last=Ackerman |first=Andrew }}</ref> The contract was first offered to Globe Risk International who declined the contract on moral grounds. He had been contacted by [[Rakesh Saxena]], an [[India]]n financier hoping that a new government would grant him diamond and mineral concessions. The controversy over this incident, and whether the British [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]] (FCO) knew of Sandline's actions; inquiries into it concluded that the FCO had known of the actions, and that Spicer believed he was not breaking the embargo. However, former British diplomat [[Craig Murray]] claims that he was present at a Foreign office meeting when Spicer was explicitly read the text of UN [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1132|Security Council Resolution 1132]] which obliges member states to prevent their nationals from importing arms to Sierra Leone.<ref name="Craig_Murray">{{cite book|last=Murray|first=Craig|author-link=Craig Murray|title=The Catholic Orangemen of Togo and other Conflicts I Have Known|date=29 August 2023 |edition=12 January 2009|page=220|publisher=Atholl Publishing|isbn=978-0-9561299-0-1}}</ref>

Spicer maintains neither he nor Sandline did anything illegal: {{quote|Neither Sandline nor Tim Spicer did anything illegal and were, if anything, victims of a wider UK political controversy. Sandline was contracted to supply weapons and professional services to the legitimate elected government of Sierra Leone. This government had been deposed by a military junta in alliance with the Revolutionary United Front, a barbaric rebel movement. The British government knew of the action, which did not contravene international law or the UN Security Council’s arms embargo. The facts are borne out by a Government investigation, two inquiries and a UN Legal opinion.|Spicer's FAQ page<ref name="aegisworld"/>}}

Spicer has claimed that he always has called for greater involvement of the British government in the PMC issue. In fact, Lt. Col. Spicer said that six weeks before the arms-to-Africa affair blew up, Sandline had submitted a paper to the Foreign Office calling for greater regulation, but had not yet received a response. At the time, with no government response, Sandline was considering setting up its own oversight committee, including a senior retired general, a lawyer and a representative of the media.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite web|date=22 November 1998 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1998/11/22/narmy22.html |title=Inside Lt Col Spicer's new model army |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |accessdate=14 August 2007 |last=Andrew Gilligan |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070519032042/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=%2Farchive%2F1998%2F11%2F22%2Fnarmy22.html |archivedate=19 May 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In late 1999, Spicer left Sandline, which kept operating until 2004. The next year, he launched Crisis and Risk Management. In 2001, he changed the company's name to Strategic Consulting International and also set up a partner firm specialising in anti-[[piracy]] consulting, called Trident Maritime. In 2002, Spicer established Aegis Defence Services, which around the beginning of the [[Iraq War]] was consulting for the [[Disney|Disney Cruise Line]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}}

===Aegis Defence Services===
Spicer was Chief Executive of [[Aegis Defence Services]], a PMC based in London, until replaced by [[Major General]] [[Graham Binns]] in 2010. The chairman of the Aegis board of directors is former [[Minister of State for the Armed Forces|Defence minister]], [[Nicholas Soames]] [[Member of Parliament|MP]].<ref>[http://www.aegisworld.com/index.php/new2/about-us-2/management2Aegis Defence Services website]{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The Board of Directors include: General [[Roger Wheeler (British Army officer)|Sir Roger Wheeler]], [[Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the General Staff]]; [[Paul Boateng]], former Labour Minister and ex-High Commissioner to South Africa<ref>{{cite web|date=8 November 2009 |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6908050.ece|archive-url=https://archive.today/20091201180439/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6908050.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 December 2009|title=Lobbying row as ex-minister Paul Boateng lands defence firm job|work=The Times|location=UK|accessdate=17 May 2010|last=Oliver |first=Jonathan }}</ref> and [[John Birch (diplomat)|Sir John Birch]], former British deputy ambassador to the [[United Nations]].

In October 2004, Aegis won a $293&nbsp;million three-year contract in [[Iraq]] outsourcing, among other things, intelligence for the [[U.S. Army]].<ref>{{cite web|date=23 October 2005|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article578141.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202013933/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article578141.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 December 2008|title=Making a killing|publisher=pub|accessdate=14 August 2007|last=Jon Swain}}</ref><ref name="washingtonpost">{{cite news|date=1 July 2007 |url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/30/AR2007063001075_pf.html|title=In Iraq, a Private Realm of Intelligence-Gathering|newspaper=The Washington Post|accessdate =14 August 2007|last=Steve Fainaru and Alec Klein}}</ref>

{{quote|Spicer is effectively in charge of the [[Private military company#Iraq|second largest military force in Iraq]] – some 20,000 private soldiers. Just don't call him a [[mercenary]].|Stephen Armstrong [[The Guardian|''Guardian'' journalist]]<ref name="guardian">{{cite web|date=20 May 2006|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/story/0,,1779424,00.html|title=The enforcer|work=The Guardian|location=UK|accessdate=14 August 2007|last=Stephen Armstrong}}</ref>}}

===Criticism by US Senators===
In 2005, following the award of this contract, five [[United States Senator]]s – [[Charles Schumer]], [[Hillary Clinton]], [[Ted Kennedy]], [[Chris Dodd]] and [[John Kerry]] – wrote a joint letter<ref name="Irishnational">{{cite web|date=7 December 2004 |url=http://www.irishnationalcaucus.org/pages/Spicer/Pentagon%20now%20paying%20millions%20to%20Spicer.htm |title=Pentagon now paying millions to Spicer |publisher=Irish National Caucus |location=IR |accessdate=10 January 2012 |last=Ray O'Hanlon |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630192249/http://www.irishnationalcaucus.org/pages/Spicer/Pentagon%20now%20paying%20millions%20to%20Spicer.htm |archivedate=30 June 2012}}</ref> calling on Secretary of Defence [[Donald Rumsfeld]] to investigate the granting of the Aegis contract, describing Spicer as "an individual with a history of supporting excessive use of force against a civilian population" and stating that he "vigorously defends [human rights abuses]".

In a December 2005 letter to his constituents, then-U.S. Senator [[Barack Obama]] (D-IL) called on the Department of Defense to withdraw its contract with Aegis. Obama wrote that "The CEO of Aegis Defense Services Tim Spicer has been implicated in a variety of human rights abuses around the globe ... given his history, I agree that the United States should consider rescinding its contract with his company."<ref name="Irishnational2">{{cite web|date=15 December 2005 |url=http://www.irishnationalcaucus.org/pages/Articles2008/IRISH%20URGE%20OBAMA%20TO%20KEEP%20PROMISE%20ON%20SPICER%20Rescind%20the%20$293%20million%20security%20contract.htm |title=Irish urge OBAMA to keep promises on Spicer |publisher=Irish National Caucus |location=IR |accessdate=10 January 2012 |last=Tom Griffin }}{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Tony Hunter-Choat]]

==Books==
Spicer is the author of three books:

* ''An Unorthodox Soldier: Peace and War and the [[Sandline affair|Sandline Affair]]'' (2000)
* ''A Dangerous Enterprise: Secret War at Sea'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Helen |date=2023-07-16 |title=Jane Birkin: My father, the secret agent |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fiction/jane-birkin-interview-childhood-father-john-barry-kate/ |access-date=2024-07-14 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>
* ''A Suspicion of Spies: Risk, Secrets and Shadows - the Biography of [[Wilfred Dunderdale|Wilfred ‘Biffy’ Dunderdale]]'', published on 12 September 2024.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Spicer |first1=Tim |title=A Suspicion of Spies |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.co.uk/books/463478/a-suspicion-of-spies-by-spicer-tim/9781999589141 |publisher=Penguin Random House |access-date=14 July 2024 |language=en |date=12 September 2024}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
*{{cite book|last=Robert Young Pelton|author-link=Robert Young Pelton|title=Licensed to Kill, Hired Guns in the War on Terror|date=29 August 2006|publisher=Crown|isbn=1-4000-9781-9}}
*{{cite book|last=Robert Young Pelton|author-link=Robert Young Pelton|title=Three World's Gone Mad|date=1 December 2003|publisher=Lyons Press|isbn=1-59228-100-1}}
*{{cite book|last=Tim Spicer|title=An Unorthodox Soldier|date=1 September 2000|publisher=Mainstream Publishing|isbn=1-84018-349-7}}
* [http://www.sandline.com/ Sandline International] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050828045604/http://www.sandline.com/ |date=28 August 2005 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050720002243/http://www.aegisdef.com/ Aegis Defence Services]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spicer, Tim}}
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:Date of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People educated at Sherborne School]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Aldershot]]
[[Category:Scots Guards officers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Falklands War]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst]]
[[Category:People of the Sierra Leone Civil War]]
[[Category:English mercenaries]]
[[Category:Human rights abuses in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:British military personnel of The Troubles (Northern Ireland)]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Aldershot]]