As a mercenary or contractor, he worked in countries including South Africa, Angola, Colombia, Russia, Algeria and Iraq.

McAleese was born into a Roman Catholic family of Irish descent in Glasgow, Scotland, within sight of Barlinnie Prison, and spent his childhood years in the city's Riddrie district.

[citation needed] In 1968 he was again returned to the Parachute Regiment by the SAS for disciplinary offences related to violent disorder, rejoining 1 Para, which he served with from 1968 to 1969 as a sergeant-instructor.

On release from prison for the third time he left the United Kingdom for Africa, where he was a mercenary soldier in the Angolan Civil War for several months in 1976, fighting for the National Liberation Front of Angola, assuming command of the formation after the capture of Costas Georgiou.

After the fall of Rhodesia in 1980, he enlisted with the South African Defence Force's 44 Parachute Brigade, where he served as a Warrant Officer Class 2 to 1984.

[5][3] In the mid-1980s McAleese set up a family home in Pretoria, and became an employee of the COIN Security Group, a military/police private contractor based in South Africa.