Hello.

I am a Certified Protection Officer. Also I am a security team leader in a Hospital. I'm looking toward Executive protection as a career. In my research so far, the best school I've found is "Executive Security International" based out of Colorado.

http://www.esi-lifeforce.com

They offer a ten month course that seems to be the most comprehensive and well respected in the field. I'm just wondering if anyone has heard of this school, or knows of any other good schools teaching executive protection. Can never have too many opinions.

Thanks for your posts.

I am going to look into Bodyguard Training International. They offer both a 5 day and 10 day course. As I am former Military and former Deputy Sheriff, this would add missing components to my skillsets. As of yet, I have not checked the school out, nor checked to see how the training is viewed in the EP community. 10 day's I can pull off..10 weeks I can't.

If you find a way to see what the industry views as good schools, I am all ears.

Somehow I thought there was a school in VA that included evasive driving.

From what I have heard, ESI is one of the premier facilities for security training. That is looking at it from their overall rep.

just posting a questin here - how realistic is it for a private company to offer training that is serious enough to cover all the bases for somebody without LEO or military training? I would think that it would be almost impossible for a person without government sponsered training to get to the top of this field.

what are your feelings on this?

Well, considering many of the people that engineer these programs are former law enforcement trainers, and the fact that there is a ton of $$$ to be made training private and personal security, it is probably pretty realistic as far as what the company can provide.

OK Folks...Oldman is on a roll...

Nice post Old Man. Heh heh.

Unfortunatly it is very true with some, perhaps even the majority of security companies these days. Untrained, uncertified, unlicensed, underpaid people in uniform. This in turn creates guards who have little desire or knowledge to do their job.

They give the industry and actual Certified Protection Officers a black eye. Insurance companies require many facilities commercial and industrial to have security. Or offer a discount in insurance rates to facilities that do. The facilities then in turn hire the cheapist, rinky dink companys to fill this role. This trend is only going to continue. I fear what I have come to call the "McGuard" is here to stay.

ESI is probably one of the best. There is a week class offered by a guy named Kobetz. He has written several books on this topic.

My question is this? How difficult is it to break into this profession. From the research and discussion that I've had with some people this is a very difficult profession to earn a living in and to find work. I'd like to hear others opinion on this matter as well.

Sorry to but in, but are these McGuards allowed to carry firearms?

ESI looks like a class operation.

I would still wonder if there is an organization that rates these schools, and how the certifications are viewed in the business and private sector.

Well I had my first job interview with a bodyguard. Who also happens to be my Muay Thai instructor.

It's funny. Whenever I asked Roger about body guarding and the security he provides for the film industry. I always kind of got the brush off. As if I was just another guy who thinks it would be cool to be a body guard. Which was a little disheartening. Seeing as he is my best "in" to that line of work currently.

To show some initiative. I decided to approach him proffesionally. I put on a suit, along with grabbing a copy of my resume and I went down to the gym. I'm glad to say his response was a complete 180. He seemed very excited and told me he may have some big security contracts comming up in September.

I'm very excited and I'll keep you guys posted on my progress.

Rogers Muay Thai website ----> www.lumyoungsmuaythai.com

Hi There, I just signed on this site. Many great topics. here. I would say you are in the right direction. I have found in my life time that many who are teaching have not been in the field, and the ones who have the most paper are the ones who haven't done much in the way of reality. You are looking at a good school from what I;ve heard. The problem is that the mandate is not very consuming. Most anyone can get into this line of work, atleast here in Fl. A D license and you are on your way. Look out Barney Fife

If you are looking for some really good hands on training for getting the client in and out of the car and buildings, along with great tech. for guarding your client and not getting wrapped up in a brawl, contact Anthony THEDEADLYPUZZLE@NETZERO.COM this guy trains privately. He is not in it for the money end, he just loves to train. He very selective in who he trains, but I have been very satisfied.
Frank

ESI is a great way to go! I am a graduated from ESI in 1991 became a Certified Protection Specialist(CPS) and a Certified Security Specialist(CSS) and it was the best move for my career.I have had the honor of working with some of the best people in the world(Most of the time)

The Executive Protection Details I have worked with in the past. Those who have went thru ESI most have been L.E.O , Ex-Military and Martial Artists .

They have all been professional the training was good tough, but worth it

My humble thoughts,
Devin Willis

thanks for your post. from my personal experience, it has been more or less the oposite of yours, not that mine is right, I just find the differences interesting.

I served in the an israeli military unit, a reconosance unit of the paratroopers. the vast majority of our training had no relevance to security, except for about 8 weeks or handgun and hand to hand combat, which also was not protection oriented, but attack oriented - our training was to go in and get people, not protect people, to simplify.

but, by the time I got out of the army, I had fired hundreds of thousands of live rounds, seen combat and led med in combat, been involved in dozens of contacts with shock weapons, used explosives and heavy weapons in real situations and extensive training operations, seen a hell of a lot of blood. I had also been on several hundred "missions" - where I needed to focus and keep track of details and keep an eye out for explosive danger coming unexpectedtly.

in israel, when you get out of the military from a good unit, you may be invited to join the unit that provides security for dimplomates and polititians, or an organization that trains forign allies, or the police, or the internal or external security forces. many of my friends joined the unit that provides security. I went into another, related, field, and then later, in university, worked as a bodyguard for a judge for a while while studying. nobody in israel would be considered for work in security if they hadn't been in an infantry unit for at least 3 years, mostly because it would be considered impossible to judge how they would react in a real combat situation, and to catch up on the firearms training - you can't teach a person 3 years of shooting in a few weeks.

granted, the vast majority of the actual security work - the day to day work and all the various tricks of the trade are not things that you can get in the infantry, but it is bordering on the impossible to teach the fundamentals of small arms combat and the basic "focus" for want of a better word, in a few weeks or training.

it could be that we are looking at the needs very differently - when I think of a bodyguard, I am thinking of somebody who could get through a firefight with 2-3 kidnappers, or get away from somebody who is trying to kill the principal. I am thinking of places like colombia, israel, mexico city. I am not thinking about protecting the principal from arguments or photographers, or randam muggers.

Globetrotter,

Yes I understand the military experience. You have seen combat and gained a lot but what about someone who did not see combat, they would be no better off than Joe civilian in Executive Protection.

Also just like any other occupation there is a level of proficiency hence why some Body Guards make $500 a week and others make $500 a day.

Just as the military teaches basics so does the security schools. It's the individual's job to acquire higher training and hone his skills to be better at his job.

I still think it is possible for Joe citizen to acquire the training and hone their skills in the field and be just as proficient as a Special Forces Combat Veteran at Executive Protection. Now for Joe citizen to reach the top they are going to have to do more than just the basic school. They are going to have to get lots of specialized training, practice, learn from experienced veterans and get field experience.

Combat experience may give some the edge in a real attack but maybe not. War combat and an assassination or kidnapping attempt may have similarities but are not the same thing. Just because one is good in military combat does not mean they will be good in a street shoot out.

But as I have said before some of the most respected Body Guards in the field were Private Sector trained!

Sincerely,
Teacher: Eddie Ivester

PPST,

protection, like anything else, has a skill set that may be hard to define. if we say that it includes W+X+Y+Z, with W being a group of skills that are specific to protection that would be totally unknown to somebody from out side the field, and X are a set of skills that are things like being calm under fire and reacting well to combat, and Y are skills like shooting well, handling weapons well, handling communications well, and Z are a set of skills that are specific to protection like reading a crowd well and driving a car defensivly well (as well as others that I know nothing about).

the total is what makes agood operative. it would be very hard to say how important each section is. I still think that it is very hard to train somebody to use a fire arm as well in civillian life as in an infranty unit, just because of the cost and the time involved. but, it may be that I am hugely overestimating the importance of the value of being that good a shooter.

I think that it is hard to judge how well a man will react to combat until he has been in combat, but that, too may be over rated.

anyway, it was a purely intellectual excersize. peace

I have a friend who is head of security for one of the major IT companies in the Silicon Valley. He's retired LE and does a lot of advanced work and executive protection for the CEO and Chairman of the Board. We've both been through the California POST EP school and he says that ESI offers top notch training, better then the POST training. You'd be hard pressed to do better unless you went through the Secret Service academy (which is where the Marines who guard Camp David, the White House, etc go as well) or joined the USMC, put in a few years and then go through the Embassy duty training.

this is exactly my point -

as you say, you couldn't do better unless you were trained in the military.

and, no offence meant, but I am not sure that being the head of security for a large IT company is a sign of being the top of the top in terms of security of the bang bang type. I would think that the real test are those guys who are in places where extreme and unexpected violence is common, again, no offense meant what so ever to you or your friend.

I think you would agree that there are many levels of security with regard to both property and personal protection?

It appears in some of these posts...that we are talking apples and oranges. Many of us come from different experience levels, but the common thread is protecting the asset(s).


Is there a standard "threat" grading on executive protection?

All may feel free to elaborate on my humble stab in the dark on this:

Low - Business person in the US.
Medium - High Profile business person in the US
High - High Profile business person or celebrity traveling outside the US.
Very High - High Profile individual traveling in "hot spot" locations
Ultra High(Areyououtofyourfreakingmind) - Fully armed..locked and loaded protection of a High Profile individual in hostile situation..team effort with support and evac plan(s).

I've seen a T.V. show on a place in Virginia that teaches evasive driving, firearm use and care, how to safely escort your client, and much much more. forogt what it was called but it made me think of good old 007 .
-Karl

I wanted to take the evasive driving class there...but lost the contact info...

Hey all..

Liked most of the posts so far.

I've been enrolled in ESI's Certified Security Specialist course for 4 months now. So far I couldn't be happier, just another 15 months to go.

From what I've learned of the case study on assassinations I've been doing so far. Is that whenever the bodyguards are forced to draw their guns, they usually all wind up dead. Partly because they were ex-LEO and Military with no Protection training. It's not that they were a bad shot or not good at their trade. It's that they were ambushed by superior man and fire power. By the time they knew what was happening there was nothing they could do about it. That is the nature of the "game". The Executive Protection resources / budget is stretched over weeks, months or years. Where as the terrorist or attackers resources / budget can all be concentrated on a period of as little as 3 minutes! So it is best to be trained how to avoid getting caught in the ambush.

The Aldo Moro ambush and kidnapping makes for great case study and so does the video of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.

Basically what I've learned so far, is that if you have to draw your gun as a bodyguard it's probably too late to seriously effect the outcome.

I'm also going for my Infantry training with the Canadian Forces. So hopefully I'll have the best of both worlds.

I have been involved in what is called "red teaming" - basically being the badguy in protection excersizes.

if the attacker doesn't mind dying, there is no way to stop him.

if he wants to live, and he is pretty good, you can't stop him with less than about 10 to one power. the main reason is what you said - he will be focused on the exact time and place of the hit, and you need to be focused for months or years. the very best guys I have seen have been able to identify the "red team" during casing and preperation work and intervene before we were set up.

good luck.

School side: I've finnished 8 of my 18 units with a 99% average.

Work side: I have received a written comendation for my ability to search for and identify bombs during a terrorist incident. I've protected members of the Parliment of Canada and other higher level politicians. I've also provided security for rock bands and celebrities. I've worked as a private contractor on a military base. I've also preformed security in some other very intresting enviroments.


Overall: I've worked with some government EP teams and they have been very impressed with the my knowledge in the field. So much so, that they have expressed intrest in enrolling to ESI themselves. The education this school provides has opened doors for me and I haven't even graduated or joined the ESI Alumni Association yet. All I can say is that the sky is the limit.

Interesting to read the first hand perspective here.

Has anyone heard of the Bodyguard firm called "Blue Warrior"?

They said they are pretty big in the United States, but that they just started up in Toronto less than a year ago. Which is where I live.

I've had one interview with them, and have my 2nd interview in a couple days.

I toured the command post of one of their protection details, and they seem pretty legit.

If anyone can tell me anything about them, that would be great.

- Justin