John Graham (The Falklands War, Catharsis Through Writing and Close Protection) - Episode 792

Behind The Shield

James Geering

Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Fitness

4.9 • 667 Ratings

🗓️ 22 November 2025

⏱️ 143 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

John Graham is a former British Army Paratrooper and member of 22 SAS. He is also known as his pen name John Geddes, the author of "Spearhead Assault" detailing his experience in the Falkland Islands War and "Highway to Hell" telling his military contracting story in Iraq.

We discuss his early life in England, his journey into the military, serving in Northern Ireland, The Battle of Goose Green, war in the Middle East, contracting, close protection work, mental health, leadership and much more.

John is a former British Army Warrant Officer who served in the Parachute Regiment and 22 SAS. Since Leaving the Army in 1997 he has consulted to many international security companies and has acted as an insolvency agent specialising in asset recovery.

John held two directorships and has spent two years on active service in Iraq prior to taking up the post of MD Ronin Concepts Elite Ltd. He has written two novels under the pen name of John Geddes; ‘Highway to Hell' about PMC security in Iraq and ‘Spearhead Assault' about the battle for Goosegreen in the Falkland Islands.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to the Pioneer Shield podcast. As always, my name's James Gearing, and this week it is my
0:03.9	absolute honor to welcome on the show, former British paratrooper and member of 22 SAS, John Graham.
0:11.4	Now, John is also known as John Geddes, the author of Spearhead Assault, about his time in the Falklands War,
0:18.0	and Highway to Hell, working in Iraq as a military contractor.
0:22.3	So we discuss a host of topics from his early life in the UK, his journey into the military,
0:29.4	Northern Ireland, the Battle of Goose Green, War in the Middle East, the world of military
0:35.1	contracting, close protection, mental health, leadership,
0:40.0	and so much more.
0:41.6	Now, before we get to this incredible conversation, as I say every week, please just take a
0:45.7	moment.
0:46.6	Go to whichever app you listen to this on, subscribe to the show, leave feedback and leave
0:52.2	a rating.
0:53.4	Every single five-star rating truly does elevate this podcast,
0:57.8	therefore making it easier for others to find because this is a free library of almost 800 episodes
1:05.3	now. So all I ask in return is that you help share these incredible men and women's stories so I can get them to every single person on planet Earth who needs to hear them.
1:16.9	So with that being said, I introduce to you John Graham.
1:22.3	Enjoy. Obviously, you have Gerdasat there, you have Graham.
1:45.0	In 2023, what do you like to be referred to these days?
1:49.0	Well, it's, you know, lots of writers have pen names, you know.
1:57.5	But I have an origin from the pen name.
2:01.3	It was written by a friend of mine who did a book called CQB,
2:07.9	Close Border Battle.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 17 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from James Geering, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of James Geering and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.