Robert Callen MacKenzie SCR BCR (November 30, 1948 – February 24, 1995) was an American professional soldier whose career included service as an infantryman in the United States Army during the Vietnam War, the C Squadron 22 (Rhodesian) SAS, the South African Defence Force, and the Transkei Defense Force.

As a contributing editor for unconventional operations for Soldier of Fortune (SOF) magazine, he was sent to cover conflicts in different hot-spots around the globe, including Mozambique, Central America, Croatia, Bosnia, Russia, Thailand, Suriname, Taiwan and Cambodia.

After finishing high school at the age of 17 in 1966, MacKenzie was awarded an appointment to the United States Air Force Academy.

In 1970, MacKenzie traveled to Rhodesia in Africa, and passing the rigorous selection course, enlisted as a foreign volunteer in the Rhodesian Special Air Service, where from then on until 1980, he rose through the ranks from Trooper to Captain and SAS Squadron Commander.

In February 1995, at the behest of Sierra Leone's leader, Valentine Strasser, MacKenzie took command of a training troop, the Sierra Leone Commando Unit (SLCU) in cooperation with Strasser's right-hand man, Major Abu Tarawali and sixty Gurkhas of the Gurkha Security Guards.

Their opposition in that African country was the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), an insurgent army then plaguing rural Sierra Leone.

On a scouting patrol to assess possible locations for the training camp, MacKenzie, Tarawali and an escort of would-be SLCU came upon a village that had been burned by the rebels.

Marshaling the Gurkhas and the SLCU troops, MacKenzie drove through the kill zone and began flanking maneuvers, surprising the enemy at the aggressiveness of their response.

Thick undergrowth prevented effective tracking, but three blood spoors were found, indicating that the RUF forces had taken some casualties.

[citation needed] In preparation for the assault on the hills, jets borrowed from the Nigerians were to drop cluster bombs on the rebel positions in order to soften them up.

However, the Russian pilot flying a Mi-24 helicopter tasked with bringing in the Nigerian commander who would communicate with the jets, without any explanation simply hovered over the camp on the 23rd and left.

Calls to HQ fell on deaf ears, and when the Nigerian jets arrived the next day, they bombed the wrong hill.