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In the 15 years I have worked in the realm of executive protection the number one question I get from individuals attempting to break into the field is, “How have you been successful in this field?”

To be completely frank, there is no special secret. In order to succeed you have to network and get out and rattle the bushes. In addition, you have to be hungry. The more people you talk with and the more business cards you pass out it is more likely you will succeed, start to find clients, and build a customer base.

When you network with people it is also important to know your craft, stay current on security related and executive protection trends and issues, and understand not just the physical attributes of the job but also understand how the current unstable financial markets create criminal enterprises to thrive; such as the current situation in Mexico where kidnappings for profit have increased by 85% in the last year. These factors can drive the need for experienced and qualified executive protection specialists.  By knowing this type of information you will be able to hold a conversation while networking, thus allowing you to provide expert insight into the field.

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Operating in Beirut: Part 2

By: Georges Tabet

Upon my group’s first meeting with our client it became quite obvious that a number of issues needed to be both addressed and resolved.  During the initial meeting with our client he stated to me, “I need you to guarantee me that I will not be killed”. This is not the first time I have heard this statement and most likely it will not be the last.

In reality, while I honestly wish that I could give someone that definitive answer of “Yes, I can guarantee you that you will not be killed”, the truth of the matter is that you cannot make that promise.  I have known many fine protective operators with an experienced team that ended up getting ambushed by a small arms contact or blown up by an IED.  It was not because of anything they did, it was just their time, and in this business as most of you working in a hostile environment know, you can only cheat the undertaker so many times before your number comes up. I’m a realist and like any good operator, I know my limitations.

After explaining this to the client, I was able to make one guarantee to him. I assured him that whoever was trying to kill him would have an extremely difficult time of succeeding. In addition, I ensured the client that my current team was a top notch group of protective specialists.  My team currently consists of Lebanese, British, and American operators who are talented, experienced and creative when putting together operational plans and then executing them.
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The Solution

In classes, we often hear, “Hey, I want to go to Iraq and run details for $1,500.00 a day…will your training help me?”

First, let me say that there aren’t many details paying that much any more (I know of one and you have to know the detail leader to get hired). Second, my answer is always, “This training certainly won’t hurt you, but you should find out who holds the contract for that particular assignment, and go take their course!” This will enable you to learn their systems while allowing them the opportunity to grow comfortable with you .

You should seek out training from competent instructors, but almost as importantly, from professionals who make their living in the environment that you want to join.  As I mentioned previously, some of the skill-sets are transferable, but you have to admit that there is a world of difference between club-hopping with a rap artist and working a speaking event with the King of Spain and the Chair of the Federal Reserve.

In our methodological review and revolution we put training into a business process and determined first and foremost, “Know the elements of the job you want”; and train accordingly.  Once you know where you want to be, it will be easier to identify the skill-sets that you will need to be successful.  In our programs, we like to work that out with the students in advance of the course, so that as we cover the material, we are playing into their hand. The academic portion of the course focuses on an explanation of protection (historically and operationally) so that attendees have a realistic understanding of and appreciation for the components that they’ll be learning about for the next 40 to 80 hours.

By breaking the aforementioned core elements into modular lessons, we are able to expand or condense them consistent with the needs of the student and/or client. In short, these topics can be one-hour survey courses or two-day advanced training components. This also made it easier to format their delivery to meet military drill periods, college academic semesters or organizational time and budget slots.

We integrate hard-skills throughout the course so that students are not sedated by incessant lecture.  This also allows us to cover the wide range of defensive tactics over an extended period rather than saturating students physically and intellectually by throwing six to eight hours of DT at them in one setting.

Our goal is to provide a firm foundation of academic and practical exercises in the first forty hours so that a student can begin to build experientially as soon as they hit the streets (Table 3).  Then, after the specialist has an opportunity to gain practical experience, they are better positioned to return for the advanced (OPOTA  Level II) course.  Subjects to which they were introduced in the Level I program, such as Threat Assessment, are studied in more detail in the advanced program.  Even critics can see that listening to a clinical forensic psychologist explain the effects of personality disorders in an assessment of an individual’s potential for violence…without the assessor having met any crazy people yet…is often wasted training.

[Read more…] about Training to Task: Part Three