Mercenary Mum is the true story of Neryl Joyce, a young single mother who went from working at her local Woolworths to serving as a soldier in the Australian Army’s elite Close Personal Protection Unit. She later left the army to become a high-risk security contractor, where she was responsible for protecting high-threat targets from assassination and opportune attack in Iraq.Vividly and powerfully, Joyce takes us on a journey through the battlefields of Iraq. She suffers the loss of close friends on the infamous Route Irish. She reveals what it’s like to be a woman in a brutal man’s world, and a victim of sexual abuse. And she tells how she survived all this to return home to her son.Mercenary Mum is the unforgettable and inspiring story of one woman’s fight for her career, for her family and for life itself.Neryl Joyce served as a commissioned officer in the Australian Army in its close personal protection unit, then worked as a private security contractor in Iraq. After retiring from the security business, she and her husband moved to Christmas Island to manage a detention centre. Neryl currently lives in Perth.

Mercenary Mum is the true story of Neryl Joyce, a young single mother who went from working at her local Woolworths to serving as a soldier in the Australian Army’s elite Close Personal Protection Unit. She later left the army to become a high-risk security contractor, where she was responsible for protecting high-threat targets from assassination and opportune attack in Iraq.Vividly and powerfully, Joyce takes us on a journey through the battlefields of Iraq. She suffers the loss of close friends on the infamous Route Irish. She reveals what it’s like to be a woman in a brutal man’s world, and a victim of sexual abuse. And she tells how she survived all this to return home to her son.Mercenary Mum is the unforgettable and inspiring story of one woman’s fight for her career, for her family and for life itself.Neryl Joyce served as a commissioned officer in the Australian Army in its close personal protection unit, then worked as a private security contractor in Iraq. After retiring from the security business, she and her husband moved to Christmas Island to manage a detention centre. Neryl currently lives in Perth.