No profession is more misunderstood than that of the role of the bodyguard. To the uninitiated a bodyguard is usually imagined as a hulking, overweight, bald-headed thug in an ill fitting suit and usually (if you were to believe the TV, film and showbiz image) can be seen "minding"; pop stars, actors and gangsters. These types of minder do exist and can often be seen splashed across the pages of popular celebrity magazines for everyone to see.
The reality for the professional bodyguard is nowhere near like that. For a number of years Executive Protection - the personal security/bodyguarding of business people and VIP's in hostile environments - has been a subsidiary part of my overall business as a security consultant.
Thankfully most business executives are savvy enough not to want a bullet headed ;minder watching their backs, after all what would their clients and business partners from friendly corporations think if the CEO of a major company turned up with "Lurch"; from The Addams Family.
They would think:
(A)"These people aren't very subtle or discreet, and
(B)"Do we really want to be associated with a company that acts like the Mafia and employs knuckle draggers!!"
From my own experience, and those of contemporaries of mine, I would say they don't. Although there is a worrying minority that always require the services of a "Troll"; to make themselves look important and stand out from the crowd. A business executive if he really needs a security team, say for a trip abroad, will want personnel that blend in with the people around them and that can make logistical things happen quickly and quietly.
The VIP will expect no fuss and will not expect to be embarrassed by the protection team that is looking after them. The VIP expects them to be seen (sometimes) but not heard. From the protection team's point of view a job where nothing happens, where no drama or the use of force is required would be classed as a success. It means the team has carried out the protective effort correctly.
If the role of the bodyguard is often misunderstood by the general public, then the use of close quarter battle (CQB) and unarmed combatives within that role is DOUBLY misinterpreted. This is certainly the case in civilian and corporate close protection work. An example of this is as follows.
I once had an individual approach me for some advice about how to ";get into" close protection work.
I recommended several possible UK training companies that had a good reputation. I then asked him why he had chosen the bodyguard industry as a new career move. His reply "I want to carry a gun on the job and learn how to use it" didn't surprise me at all, as to the uninitiated this is what they think the reality of the bodyguard is!
However, when I explained that due to firearms restrictions he would not be able to receive firearms training in this country and also that it was very rare for a close protection team to be armed, even abroad, let alone in the UK, his disappointed look seemed to say that he had already changed his mind about his new profession.
The reality of the Executive Bodyguard today is that they are (or should be) first and foremost an assessor of risks and a planner of actions. This is the basis of good personal security. He or She should be conversant with the VIP that they are protecting and the locations they are visiting. It is ONLY as a last resort that they will have to draw a weapon or strike an attacker to protect their Principal; after all if they have to carry out these aggressive actions they've obviously made a potentially fatal mistake in planning the protective effort.
This is where the confusion about the duties of a close protection officer stems from, not only from prospective future bodyguards but also from potential clients and the public at large, who may have bought into the whole "Film & TV" image that is propagated.
The CP operative should be the grey man that blends into the surroundings and acts in a meek and mild manner, an average sized average looking individual, not attracting any attention and certainly not making his presence known to those around him. He will act, and act forcefully, ONLY if he believes his VIP's life is danger. The rest of the time he will use his man management skills to resolve any lesser disturbances or problems. This, on the whole, is pretty much the best type of protection officer.
What is NOT needed is the large, obvious looking braggart who will more than anything embarrass the VIP by his demeanour and appearance, or may even put the VIP at risk due to his obviousness.
Yet, unfortunately, these types STILL manage to get recruited onto VIP protection teams!!!
However, it is not always the civilian bodyguard who makes such blunders by believing the "Movie hype". Even so called "professionals" can also have their share of incompetents.
On a trip to the Middle East several years ago we had a plain clothes indigenous team supporting us as our Personal Escort Section (PES). These were the armed security police of the host country and they were there to lay down suppressive fire upon any terrorist attackers whilst we (the UK team) were to provide body cover for our VIP's and, hopefully, make our escape. This was at a time when the risk of terrorism against foreigners was a reality in the region and our threat level was classed as extremely high.
Everything was working well and the teams were getting along famously until we noticed one of the younger members of our Middle Eastern PES, who should have been concentrating on his job, trying to chat up a group of female tourists with the line, ";I am police bodyguard, don't worry ladies you are safe with my friends and I here"; We stared in disbelief.
His next line nearly knocked us for six when he offered to show them the MP5K sub-machine gun he had hidden in a covert holster beneath his suit jacket, "It is very good gun, quick fire, you want to see." So much for remaining covert!!!! One of his fellow PES members must have noticed that we were glaring in their direction and had a quiet word in his ear. Thankfully there was no repeat performance from this aspiring Casanova.
For the majority of close protection operatives in the corporate sector their only weapons will be their awareness, reactions and personal combative skills. For the civilian bodyguard combative skills should consist of striking, kicking and grappling - all at very, very close range.
When protecting a VIP the personal bodyguard or nearest PES member won't have the luxury of having enough time and space to move into a comfortable "defensive" martial arts stance, as by that time the attacker will be all over the security team or more importantly the VIP.
If their training is good the close protection team members will instinctively hit hard and hit first. Street fighting skills, not complex techniques, are what are needed to rescue the situation. This is the difference between CQB for the bodyguard and the martial arts in general, Simplicity saves lives - Complexity kills.
As a point of reference I was looking through our CP personnel database recently to note how many of the protection officers we employ or have access to come from a martial arts background. Rather surprisingly the majority do not.
Although they may now practise combative martial arts, of varying forms, to keep their fitness levels up they had started out receiving close protection training first.
However I should stress that these are people from a Police special operations or military Special Forces background and have therefore been government trained.
From a CQB point of view because they have been taught skills specific to do a certain job, i.e. bodyguarding, they don't have to "unlearn" everything about the ritual of Dojo fighting that they would have had to if they had initially come from just a martial arts background.
Martial artists that make that "blind" leap from an Eastern discipline to the real World of VIP protection can, more often than not, come unstuck when they try to make complex techniques work in a restrictive environment. This type of bodyguard can usually be found advertising the fact that they are "accredited martial artists" and yet may never have undergone close protection training or task related ECQB.
This is of course a generalisation and there are many World class CPO's that hail from a martial arts background who easily make the transition to the specialist security industry. But these are the individuals that recognise that it is simple methods that work in complex environments - but not vice versa.
This also brings up the subject of constant training and re-training for the civilian bodyguard. Who has responsibility for the motivation and update of skills for the working protection officer? If it was the police or military operative it would fall to the training wing of Scotland Yard or military instructors to constantly retrain and evaluate an officers skill levels.
But for the civilian close protection officer this falls to no one but himself.
Retraining and the evaluation of weak points can keep a CPO in shape, motivated and in top form - after all there is no discipline but self-discipline. This also goes to the heart of practising a CQB/combatives system for the bodyguard.
A six foot doorman-like "monster" does not a professional bodyguard make, especially if he has not trained or kept in shape for weeks or even months. Size is no guarantee of success or safety. It is simply not enough to "look hard" these days as a terrorist or assassin intent on attacking with a knife or gun simply won't care about the gorilla in the VIP's wake.
In fact having a huge, hulking bodyguard will probably make it easier for the terrorist to identify the target.
The CPO of the 21st Century has to know how to fight quickly and effectively, but more importantly he has to be in the correct physical shape to be able to do this.
CQB weapons training levels for the civilian CPO are also somewhat vague, and in a similar way to unarmed combatives and fitness training, there is no guarantee that the personnel you have recruited onto your team have ANY experience with personal weapons, let alone have practised to reach an effective skills level.
As has been already stated it is extremely rare that a corporate bodyguard travelling abroad to work will be armed with a firearm, as these are usually carried by personnel recruited from the host country who will have the relevant permits and authority.
However, this should not let the working CPO assume that they will never have to be armed on an operation, and as such they should endeavour to learn the relevant skills to the area of armed close protection - whether that be blade, baton or personal firearm.
After all finding yourself in the middle of a fire-fight in some godforsaken trouble-spot on the other side of the World might not be the best time to start wondering how the safety catch works on your personal firearm or how to operate your extendable baton.
The corporate bodyguard is pretty much left up to his own devices to arrange his own personal CQB training. Because of UK firearms restrictions, courses tend to be run in a variety of other countries such as the USA, Israel and South Africa to name a few, whilst inside the UK training revolves around dry firing or the use of "simunition" drills and exercises.
The latter involves the use of a small 6mm plastic pellet fired from a compatible firearm and is used in conjunction with extreme close quarter combat and anti-ambush training scenarios.
Anti-ambush training should include various scenarios where the close protection team has to fight its way out of an attack situation. This will include techniques and drills such as fire and movement, one handed shooting whilst giving bodycover, CAT suppressive fire, shooting from a moving vehicle, and providing covering fire when the team de-busses from the vehicle. Broadly speaking the necessary CQB skills for a professional close protection officer, regardless of whether they are working in civilian or government services, should consist of the following
* Striking and kicking skills
* Grappling
*Weapon disarming techniques
* Blade and edged weapon skills
* Baton and non-lethal weapons skills
* Pistol skills
* Team weapon skills
The majority of CQB skills that we have previously discussed have been handed down and researched (using trial and error) by various special forces instructors and personnel.
If you are police or military trained this will have been part of the instructors CP training syllabus. However for the civilian CPO, especially those new to the industry, they may not be aware of what close quarter combat skills are relevant to the role of the bodyguard.
Those enlightened professional and commercially run CP training services that teach relevant combative skills are to be applauded. They offer the best techniques for a difficult and demanding job.
Unfortunately there are many privately run companies that do not offer the reality of what will work and instead show a syllabus of martial arts katas and techniques designed for competition fighting and for use in a controlled environment (Dojo, gym, etc) that offer no hope of working and therefore no protection to the VIP/Principal of surviving a sustained attack up close and personal.
We even had a leaflet sent to our offices from an instructor offering to teach our CP personnel the art of Ninjutsu!! - "as taught to the bodyguards of the Dali Lama." (Please Note: we declined his generous offer!)
This does not only pertain to unarmed combative skills but also to firearms and personal weapons training that offers to instruct the unwary in "shooting methods for the bodyguard."
Usually these are anything but, and simply revolve around instructing the student in safety practice (laudable), to adopting one of several stances which in reality is more suited to competition shooting and therefore unsuitable and impractical for close protection work. It is a rarity when any ECQB skills are taught on these courses - which is what the novice bodyguard SHOULD be learning.
This brings us to the thorny subject of how much force is permissible for the civilian CPO. For the police and law enforcement it is the minimum use of force to restrain and arrest a criminal or violent offender so that they can ensure a safe arrest, while for the military specialists it is maximum force and aggression needed to close with and kill an enemy.
Both these organisations have clearly defined parameters in what they can or can't do. For the corporate bodyguard it is an extremely grey and difficult area as to what level of action may be needed to protect their VIP.
Pull a weapon at the wrong time and over-react and the bodyguard may well be charged with murder depending on the outcome of the altercation. However, fail to use the necessary level of aggression/action to stop an attack and under-react and both you and your VIP could be shipped home in body-bags.
The decision will basically be as a result of the location that the team may be operating in, the importance of the VIP and the threat level assessment that had been reached prior to deployment on the operation. To start shooting in a London high street at a potential mugger will definitely be seen as having gone too far - as removal of the VIP and/or physical intervention skills by the PES would be more realistic and appropriate.
On the other hand trying to use restraining tactics against an extremist armed with an automatic weapon in North Africa would be seen to have seriously under-played the danger of the situation.
This is where maturity, judgement and experience come into their own regarding the individual skills needed for a bodyguard.
I have seen individuals go totally over the top in reaction to a relatively minor safety alert - stomping around, shouting and doing a very good impression of a headless chicken. This serves no purpose except to panic those around them and to make themselves appear as a bit of a "flapper."
On the other hand I have witnessed operatives react calmly and purposefully to a genuine crisis. This is what is needed - calmness and maturity - so as to be able to operate under conditions of great stress, and not the over reactions of a "Rambo" who has seen too many gung-ho movies.
To summarise: the close protection officer should be "almost" the invisible man. There, ready to react, but not really noticeable as anything other than an aide or PA to the Principal. He should compliment his VIP and be at one with his surroundings. A Wolf in a sheep's clothing. The greatest compliment that I ever received in my role as a CPO was from someone who said to me, "But you don't look like a bodyguard, I didn't even consider that you were part of the security team." Praise indeed.
Copyright MCG 2004
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