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military exercise of the PetroWar. It
has been argued that this circum-
stance greatly magnified Stern’s guilt
in the eyes of his superiors, and of
history. It has been likewise argued
that the Pentagon never would’ve
committed the Shiloh to a suicide
operation, that there must have been a
winning scenario behind the decision,
and that Stern failed his country by
failing to realize this objective. Stern
himself has never commented publicly
either way. Likewise, the Pentagon
maintains a top secret classification
around the incident, and the question
will likely never be resolved until both
versions of the story are told.
We do know, however, that Stern
and Lyle Richards were the sole
survivors of the Shiloh; although it is
widely believed that Stern was the sole
survivor, this is clearly not the case.
And we can surmise from the timing
that Stern’s resignation from the Navy
and his subsequent founding of the
Wildcats sprang from the loss of the
Shiloh. Might he have been driven into
the death-for-profit business by the
experience, determined to found a
squadron where men, if they had to
risk their lives, did it for their own
reasons and profits, at the same time
finding himself repelled by the
ruthlessness of typical mercenary
operations? Under such circum-
stances, the Wildcats would seem to be
an inevitability, a compromise born of
a troubled spirit.
For whatever reason Stern founded
the Wildcats, it wasn’t long before his
old friend and arch-rival, Jean-Paul
Prideaux, came back into the picture.
Prideaux, unlike Stern, had been too
restless to settle into a military career.
After serving out the obligatory four-
year commission, Prideaux resigned
from the Navy, hungry for indepen-
dence and profit. He knocked around
airfields for years, taking odd jobs for
airlines and merc groups, until he
finally came to Istanbul seeking out
freelance work. It was there he linked
up with Stern and became the first of
Stern’s Wildcats. The old friends were
together again.
The early years were rocky. Profits
were slim and jobs scarce, as the
new mercenary market in Istanbul
searched for its stride. Prideaux grew
more and more irritated with Stern’s
rejection of operations he considered
immoral, especially when ops were so
hard to come by. Eventually Prideaux
broke away from the Wildcats, forming
the immensely profitable mercenary
squadron known as the Jackals. This
betrayal must have come as a terrible
blow to Stern during hard times, and
the Jackals’ increasing prosperity
during the years the Wildcats have
struggled must give Stern doubts
about his approach. Nevertheless, it is
reported that the two men still com-
municate on a regular basis.
As to the future of the Wildcats,
only one thing is clear. Stern will
never compromise his commitment to
morality in an immoral world. And
that, at least, is something of an
achievement.
SUDDEN DEATH • July 2011
35
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