Keeping The Plates Spinning

It’s been a hectic but productive month on this end.  15 days crisscrossing Australia on assignment followed directly by 15 days with my instructor hat on for the back-to-back ICON Celebrity & VIP Protection Course, and the ICON Advanced Executive Protection Course.

*whew*

Even in the mist of doing all of this, I had planned to jump a flight and get to Baltimore to speak at the 2012 Protective Security Conference that is now ongoing.  I spoke there last year and it was a blast interacting with the other attendees and speakers.  Unfortunately, (or fortunately depending on your perspective) A major client scheduled an important event that involved quite a few moving parts and it because apparent that due to some of the complexities, I was personally needed on the assignment.  Knowing full well how the last minute nature of the industry works, the host of the PSC were gracious enough to understand,  and I will continue to give them my full support and plan on again being involved and in attendance next year.

One very cool post script to all of this was that I was able to use several of the past and present ICON Advanced Course Graduates on the multi-day Protection Detail.  (They were after all the advanced course).  From real world training, to real world experience.

In a perfect world that’s how the industry is supposed to work.

“Unlearning” To Succeed In Executive Protection

Just kicked off Day 1 of the ICON Academy Celebrity & VIP Protection Training Course.  The first day is always pretty interesting with everyone getting a feel for each other and the pace of the class.  Because so many of the students come from military or law enforcement backgrounds, I always like to spent some time talking about how that alone will not automatically qualify a person to successfully perform Executive Protection work.  In fact in some cases it’s necessary to Unlearn some of the practices and techniques that have been ingrained from those fields.

Business of Security Interviews Elijah Shaw on Executive Protection

Larry Snow is a guy who moves behind the scenes in the Executive Protection community.  He has long ties to the industry, and as an expert in the field of Social Media, has a unique outlook– one that I share on a variety of topics.  He recently interviewed me regarding the Bodyguard Industry, with a recurring theme of the role mentorship plays.  *The above photo includes me and one of my mentors, Tony Scotti , a true gentleman that has offered me sound advice since our initial meeting.

One of the things we laughed about was the challenge to get the interview conducted due to my crazy schedule.  In fact, while you don’t see the video that accompanied this podcast, I was surrounded by half packed bags, and immediately after the interview, threw in the rest of my clothes, made a mad dash to the airport, and boarded a 18 hour flight to the other side of the world.

If you’ve got a few minutes on the way to the range (or on the treadmill) I encourage you to give it a listen.

Click HERE

ICON Academy Scholarship Program: 1 Students Experience

To the Icon Scholarship Selection Committee:

First and foremost I would like to say thanks and express my sincere gratitude for the opportunity that allowed me to be awarded the ICON Academy Scholarship for the Celebrity / VIP Protection Training course of first quarter 2012. The wisdom and expertise the instructors imparted along with the lessons learned during the course will go with me throughout my career.

After being asked to work security at my church I had an instant interest and desire to learn more about the security industry. Later as I began my research into the steps necessary to begin a career in Executive Protection, I have to admit, I became a bit disheartened after seeing that the training courses were very expensive. It is for this reason that I was shocked to see that ICON offered a scholarship program; to my knowledge, no other company out there has a scholarship program –at least none that I could find during my research.

Realizing that this was my opportunity, I completed and turned in all the necessary documents to fulfill the requirements, including what I would later be an important part, namely the section on how I would use skills obtained in the course to better the industry and my community.  Once the deadline was reached, my family and I were extremely excited to learn that I had been awarded the scholarship.

The CPC training course was challenging both mentally and physically but after coming out on the other side I can truly say it was all worth it and I would not trade that experience for anything. The instructors challenged us to take an active role in our development and to think outside of the box where security is concerned. Each instructor brought their own unique style and feel to the training from real life experiences that let us see things in different perspectives, not just teaching scenarios from a book.  My education is in no way complete, and I have additional courses already on the books but this jumpstart was instrumental both financially and motivationally.

To Elijah and all the staff at ICON: Thank you for giving back and offering a scholarship that levels the playing field, giving individuals the opportunity to obtain top notch training at, in my opinion, one of the best companies around.  ICON has given me a chance to achieve my dream and anyone who has a genuine desire to learn but not sure where to begin, you have my strongest encouragement to research the program.

~ Uriah Riley

ICON CPC, Course Graduate, January 2012

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Click on the highlighted link to learn more or apply for the ICON Academy Scholarship Program.

Next Dates

Celebrity & VIP Protection:  April 25 – 29, 2012 (Financing & Scholarships Available)

Advanced Executive Protection (High Risk): April 30 – May 9th, 2012 (Financing & Scholarships Available)

Saadi Gaddafi Bodyguard Outlines Escape

Mr. Gary Peters name has been attached to many story surrounding the fall of the Gaddafi family in Lybia, almost to the point where it reads like a Hollywood film.   I’ll say one thing for him, he’s standing by his client to the end.

via:  Lateline

EMMA ALBERICI: What exactly did Saadi Gaddafi ask of you?

GARY PETERS: Nothing was asked of me from Saadi Gaddafi. Ah, my concern and always is with all my clients is their safety, their well-being, their rite of passage, how they’re going to get there. The secondary is their families. The third is their associates. Beginning of 2011, I instigated or tried to begin a process of getting him or extracting him from Libya to a different destination. That was in 2011. Um, why? Because of how I knew how he felt about Libya, how I knew how he felt about the circumstances there, how I knew how he felt about his family. And then my thoughts and my feelings on his safety. Not willing to lose a friend. Not willing to lose a client. And also having feelings of the same way he does about the people of Libya.

EMMA ALBERICI: I’ll just pick you up on that point about knowing what Saadi Gaddafi was feeling. Can you articulate that for us?

GARY PETERS: He wasn’t happy with the situation in Libya. He wasn’t happy with the situation in Benghazi in February when there was a massacre in Benghazi. He had nothing to do with that. The media was reporting that he ordered this and ordered that. That’s rubbish. That’s garbage. He had nothing to do with that massacre. But – he went there because he was ordered to by his father to go and talk to the people. That’s why he went there in February. But the situation in Libya, for the people, for – everything that was happening, he was very distraught about that.

EMMA ALBERICI: You talk about extracting him from Libya; what was the plan?

GARY PETERS: The plan was to get him out of Libya and his family to another destination legally, somebody that would host him, some country that would host him and do everything legally. There was like paperwork, documentation, transportation, air transportation, property acquisition and ongoing security, so to speak. That was the plan. Now he never asked for this. This was done on our own bat to be presented to him to say, “OK, boss, you know, OK, Saadi, this is what I think should happen.”

For the full (and interesting) interview including video, click HERE.

See related HERE.

Student Experiences After ICON Executive Protection Training

“When I consider what the primary difference was which made my ICON experience a greater value and overall experience to my previous training, I believe it is due to the fact the ICON course was  student-centric.  In other words, the course was designed to create and support an environment in which the students actively contributed to their own learning.  To create a course such as this, ICON put in significant time and effort to design and implement experiences which were designed to rapidly transition from the classroom to the real world”.

Donna Angevine

ICON CPC, AEP Course Graduate, January 2012

“I think that reality based training with stress is the best way to learn.  Sitting in a classroom can only teach somebody so much.  Putting people under stress and forcing them to think then act, then reviewing their actions is a much more effective way to learn and you and your staff taught me a lot.  Each member of your staff is a true professional and an effective teacher.”

Jimmy Menzoian

ICON CPC, AEP Course Graduate, January 2012

“In my 15 day journey, a total mental and physical transformation took place. During training, I was introduced to hand-to-hand combat, defensive tactics, and firearm training that was in addition to other tactical and dynamic instruction.  One advantage that ICON has over other Executive Protection courses is the top notch instructors who present up-to-date real life experience in the EP industry.   ICON has given me a great head start into the Executive Protection industry”.

Michael Brown

ICON CPC, AEP Course Graduate, January 2012

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Next Dates

Celebrity & VIP Protection:  May 2-6, 2012 (Financing & Scholarships Available)

Advanced Executive Protection (High Risk): May 7-16, 2012 (Financing & Scholarships Available)

To learn more about the ICON Academy Executive Protection Training Course click on the link.

Australian Prime Minister Security Disaster

“Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard clung to her bodyguard as she was dragged to safety through a crowd of angry protesters in Canberra today.

Riot police formed a shield around the prime minister as they helped her force a path through the protesters who surrounded a restaurant where she was attending an awards ceremony to mark Australia Day.

Miss Gillard stumbled after losing a shoe in the scuffle, but was caught by her personal security guard and managed to get into a waiting car. “

After watching the video of the events that transpired ,I was very confused by he lack of security procedures that should have been in place prior to having a VIP on site (The Advance) as well as some of the actions that were taken when the decision was made to quickly remove the Prime Minister THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF A CROWD OF ANGRY PROTESTERS???

Maybe these guys know something I don’t…

Check out the video yourself HERE.

The New ICON Advanced Executive Protection Course Graduates

Congratulating the new graduates of the ICON Advanced Executive Protection Training Course.  Long hours, challenging assignments a few surprises, and the ever present  mantra “drill, drill, drill”.

Thanks for giving 100%! Your efforts showed!

Next course:  April 30 – May 9th, 2012  Special Financing & Scholarship Opportunities Available.  For more information click HERE.

Top 10 Bodyguard Related Movies

Presenting my very biased list for Top 10 Bodyguard Movies of all time. This is an unscientific study with the only criteria being that they have an element of Executive Protection included (and of course that they get a lot of play in my DVD).

1. Star Wars

 You have to look at #1 on my list with 2 things in mind.  1. Obi-Wan was Luke’s bodyguard!)  And 2. I’m a huge Star Wars fan so anytime I can relate that to Executive Protection i’m going to slide it in!

2.. Man on Fire

The gold standard as far as i’m concerned.

3. Custodio (The Minder)

Foreign film but i’m so glad I tracked it down after I got the recommendation.

4. The Bodyguard 

Yeah it’s Cliché, but it’s a good movie

5. Way of the Gun

People either love or hate this one, but it’s one of my personal favs.  The elevator scene won me over (but why did they think leaving her alone was a good idea???)

6. Shogun Assassin

Classic.

7. Guarding Tess

I had stayed away from this movie for years as I thought it was going to be a comedy that just poked fun at the profession without knowing anything about it.  However I saw it for the first time just a short while ago and I loved it. It actually gave a good snapshot of the frustration and give and take that goes into working long term with a client.  (with a humors slant of course)

8. Heat

Not even sure if there are any BG’s in it, but it still makes list.  The Bank Robbery scene. ’nuff said.

9. Ronin

Too many scenes to mention but the coffee cup ambush and the introduction (not to mention the REAL car chase sequences) get this one regular rotation in my DVD.

10. In the Line of Fire

Clint and John both in their prime.

Honorable Mention:

The Unit

While it won’t make the official list as it’s television, the good episodes reached a high standard and had some pretty dynamic storytelling.

So that’s my list.  Agree? Disagree?  Which ones did I miss?

Stage Crashers & Bodyguards 1

A humorous example of what happens when you don’t have security.  (I think the artist was a great sport)  While the guy on stage was harmless, what if he wasn’t, or decided later not to be? I’m guessing it was a promoter who *finally* came on the stage, (not artist security) and STILL didn’t get the fan off.  (If it was security, he might want to trying some continuing training like the ICON CELEBRITY PROTECTION COURSE)