Bravo Two Zero was the call sign of an eight-man British Army SAS patrol, deployed into Iraq during the First Gulf War in January 1991. According to Chris Ryan's account, the patrol were given the task of gathering intelligence, finding a good lying-up position (LUP) and setting up an observation post (OP):15 on the Iraqi Main Supply Route (MSR) between Baghdad and North-Western Iraq, while according to another, the task was to find and destroy Iraqi Scud missile launchers along a 250 km (160 mi) stretch of the MSR.:35
The patrol was the subject of several books. Accounts in the first two books, one by patrol commander Steven Mitchell (writing under the pseudonym Andy McNab), Bravo Two Zero (1993) the other by Colin Armstrong, writing under the pseudonym Chris Ryan – The One That Got Away (1995) as well as those by the SAS's RSM at the time of the patrol, Peter Ratcliffe (Eye of the Storm, 2000), did not always correspond, leading to accusations from the media of lying.[citation needed] The investigative book The Real Bravo Two Zero (2002) by Michael Asher followed the patrol route and interviewed witnesses. The subsequent book, Soldier Five by patrol member Mike Coburn, was released in 2004. For Mitchell's conduct during the patrol, he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, whilst Armstrong, and two other patrol members (Steven Lane and Robert Consiglio) were awarded the Military Medal
