Lessons From Close Protection Training

There is much that is misunderstood about Close/Executive Protection (Bodyguards) e.g. it is a far more involved job than standing in front of a car, with your arms behind your back, whilst wearing a pair of sunglasses. The principles and concepts that are used in Close Protection, whilst protecting third parties, translate well to personal/self-protection and can be used to help increase awareness and improve a person’s ability to predict, anticipate and avoid violence. In this week’s blog, I want to just illustrate and describe a few of the general ideas, which cross over well from this professional field into the personal one (and reinforce some of the ideas that we talked about in yesterday’s class).

Firstly, Close Protection is about avoiding confrontation. The person whose safety you are responsible for doesn’t want to be involved in an aggressive or violent incident. They have a life to lead, a job to do, and don’t want to be side-tracked from it. This is why the majority of high-level CP Operatives aren’t easily identifiable individuals e.g. they want to be invisible, not noticeable – don’t be confused by the large-built tanks who escort celebrities from limos to movie premieres, etc. - these “visible deterrents” perform a very narrow and distinct role in security terms. Flying under the radar is the desire of every principle, except when they have to perform obvious public duties. Many people look to the Martial Arts or Self-Defense to teach them how to handle confrontations, rather than avoid them – but although being able to handle oneself physically in a violent situation is a large part of the picture, it is not the end goal. If you’re the loud guy in the Tap-Out tee shirt in the bar, you are not flying under the radar.

Planning and preparation are a large piece of any Close Protection gig, and probably make up the largest part of any detail. Identifying potential threats/risks beforehand, and planning how to avoid and mitigate them really is the most important part of the job. Individuals who “suddenly” find themselves in a dodgy part of town late at night have not planned their evening well. Walking into an unknown bar is another good example. Because we rarely see or experience violence, our plans don’t often involve considerations of personal safety, when in reality these should be our first and most important thoughts.

Constantly referring back to the plan is also extremely important. It was interesting to note when we did yesterday’s drills where we trained with eyes closed, how few people checked that they were in arm’s length of the principle (the person they were protecting), though this was an essential piece of the plan, if they were able to pull the person away quickly at the first sign of danger. Simply being able to touch the person lightly, would be an easy check to see if they could be reached, however few people did this. Checking in with the plan and updating it if necessary e.g. moving closer, is as important as the plan itself.  

I am not going to talk much about situational awareness (SA) in this blog, as I have written extensively about it in past blogs. Rather, I would just restate that it is important to let your eyes be drawn to the things and movements that are out of place. Many people will give the example of somebody wearing a heavy coat in hot weather, however this is not something you look for, as there are a million things that can be possibly out of place or unusual. The person wearing a coat in hot weather is something you rationally make sense of after you have noticed that the person is out of place, not something that you work out and then identify. Looking at the complete picture and letting your eyes pick out the things that don’t fit in, like you do when you look at a “spot the difference” picture, is more to the point of how situational awareness works. Many of the drills we do in class are designed to improve this skill.

Identification, Prediction and Avoidance are the key skills of the Close Protection Operative and should be the skills that every individual looks to develop, rather than just their physical self-defense and martial arts skills.