Personal Protection And Body Guarding Manual

By Mike Harland

Security manual for Close Protection operatives and Personal security professionals. For people interested in Body Guarding or security with regards to Personal security detail, Bodyguards or security professionals in general. This also deals with basic pistols skills and different techniques used by surveillance experts

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mike Harland
• Release date: Jun 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9781983235436

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Personal Protection And Body Guarding Manual

MikeEmblem

Copyright © Michael Harland 1997-2021

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Copyright © Michael Harland, no part of this book may be copied, in part or fully on any media whatsoever without the permission of the author

Dedication

To my family who have always been supportive of all my endeavours 

And all those who serve righteousness with love and perseverance

About The Author

From a young age I was taught combat skills by my father who thought it necessary for a man later in life. It does help your self-esteem and feeling of safety when you are a young man to be able to protect oneself.

For this reason I was told it would be good to learn karate. This I started doing in 1979 and continued for about 14-15 years, reaching black belt 2nd Dan in 1991. During this period I participated in a number of karate competitions, winning gold and a number of bronze medals in competition karate. From 1985-1986 I did my national service in the South African Defence Force (SADF) doing border duty for 9 months in the combat area (red zone/war zone). This is where as a 20 year old I saw my first contact (real life shooting) as a group of ANC/ SWAPO terrorists attacked our perimeter base. 

From about 1987 till the early 90’s I worked doing door duty at clubs, sometimes on my own and sometimes in a team. During this period in our country, you very seldom found men suing each other or going to the police, as they normally took their punishment like a man, and that was where I had most of my street experience situations up until about 40 years of age. Personally, and in the capacity of a soldier, Close Protection Specialist or door supervisor, I have used most of the strikes and techniques I teach in unarmed combat. When I tried to recall the number of street situations I have been in it was about 70-80 but it could be more.  

People always want to know what you base your training on and what experience you have. Therefore it is good for someone to ask because when your life depends on the training you will get from an instructor you need to know that the person who is teaching you actually has experience in real combat. What does the person teaching you have to draw from as an instructor if he has no experience? What I have learnt about unarmed situations is to keep your distance till you are ready, then commit to strike with speed and intensity balanced with power, staying focused on the opponent, yet allowing yourself to monitor those around you (which is needed in crowded situations).

From about 1992 I became interested in Close Protection (CP), which was a very new occupation in the public sector in South Africa (SA) at the time. There was not much in the way of sophisticated training courses for civilians. So whenever there was a possibility to train with an instructor that knew what he was talking about in CP, we would jump at the opportunity. During the period 1992 till 2005 I attended 4 separate CP courses and a number of other related courses such as shooting in low light, advanced foot and vehicle drills, Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) recognition, unarmed combat, knife fighting, and numerous others. These instructors ranged from civilian instructors to ex Special Forces (SF) and FBI certified instructors that were in the private sector at the time. During my CP experience, I have looked after celebrities, businessmen, royalty and diplomats, some of these you will see in pictures I have placed in the manual.

During the years I worked as a close protection specialist, I had the opportunity to apply skills learnt to prevent IEDs being placed in areas around a venue.  I was able to apply IED recognition experience in counter terrorism operations. In 2000 I was tasked to come up with a plan to minimize IEDs being placed in The V & A Waterfront in Cape Town.

South Africa has a tradition of hunters and shooters because of the nature of the land and its tumultuous history over the last 300 years, where hunting and fighting were the order of the day, and this gave most South Africans a good taste of reality in combat. Therefore it was more likely that we would be exposed to weapons living in South Africa and, like the USA, we still have the God given right to defend ourselves as should all first world countries’ citizens. From about the age of 9 I had already shot a revolver and a hunting rifle, and basic lessons learned at such a young age are normally kept for life. My understanding was further developed by training in the army and being exposed to fully automatic rifles and heavy weapons, such as the 12.7 mm Browning, and this gives one the understanding of capabilities of the smaller and larger calibres of military weapons systems.

In the military we dealt with all sorts of weapons and equipment, such as radar and radio communications etc. High threat CP is commonly referred to as Private Security Detail (PSD), and during 2004 the conflict in Iraq attracted a lot of PSD operators from all over the world. Having military experience and about 13 years in CP by that time, I decided it would benefit my overall abilities to get some PSD experience and training.  During my time in Iraq I was able to use my issued rifle in fairly close situations having to deal with the threat that sometimes materialised during our daily operations.

You soon learn it takes a determined, focused and deliberate mindset balanced with self confidence that will allow you to win in a real gun fight; there is no room for negative thoughts or thoughts that detract from the winning, orientated and focused mind.

When you train for shooting in real life it helps to train instinctively and to train so you react and don’t have to think about tactics, because there is only time for reacting. With training you can speed up your mental calculating process; you can do this with intensity training that allows your brain to run through hundreds of options in a split second to come to a conclusion that best suits your dilemma.

My experience with martial and unarmed combat spans about 36 years and my weapons training with various weapons systems, handguns and rifles spans 29 years. To better understand where my skill level was in terms of international standards, I did an advanced certificate in handgun and rifle skills to round off my weapons qualification. This certifies a person to teach to an advanced level anywhere in the world and is internationally recognised.

My CP experience covers 17 years and during this period I have been tasked as team leader at least 70 times.  That is a lot of jobs, but being in civilian CP most of the jobs are short term. In the period 1990-1991 I studied physical education which has helped me better understand the body and how it functions. I apply this in my unarmed combat and weapons training courses.  

Table of Contents

About The Author

Overview of the Manual

Introduction to Close Protection

Intercept Training Concepts (ITC) definition of Close Protection

Foundational principles for close protection

Characteristics and etiquette of a Close Protection operative

Developing the correct mind-set for Close Protection work

Mental tools (Observe Anticipate Plan)

Stress Response To Combat

Basic equipment for CP operatives

Personal security regarding the CP operative

Case Studies

General history of assassinations:

Example analysis on a terrorist organization

Organization specific incidents

Examination/ Test

Terrorism

A general overview

The reason for using terror

How it affects the CP operator

Where it started

Aircraft hijacking

The area of influence for terrorist organizations

Terrorists/insurgency fighters comprise the following:

The structure of a terrorist organization

Statistics on weapons used in attacks from 1968 to 1985

Examples of equipment used in attacks on principals

Abduction And Kidnapping

General risks that form part of the threat assessment

Aircraft hijackings

Background

Prevention

Situation after September 11th

Germany: Shooting down airplanes and the constitution (insert from Wikipedia)

DB Cooper hijacking

The U.S. State Department’s List Of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO)

Foreign terrorist organizations

Other terrorist groups

Foot Drills (Foot Formations)

The objective of foot drills

Introduction to foot drills

Classic foot drill formations

Single CPO formation:

2-man formation

3-man formation

4-man formation

5-man formation

Large team formations

The benefit of classic foot drills

The negatives of using classic foot drill formations

ITC foot formations for effective coverage

ITC foot formations

Explanation of each ITC foot formation

Alternative 3-man foot formation

Specific foot drill scenarios

Escalator drills

Elevator/Lift drills

Door and corner drills

Meeting a VIP drill

Principal with crowd

Principles for effective foot drills

General information about foot drills

Accommodating the civilian Close Protection operator

Positions and responsibility of the close protectors

Body cover issues in contact drills

When should you physically move the principal?

Evacuation procedure versus contact drills

Scanning the crowd

Protection dynamics for 1 CP

The progression of events from walking to dealing with a threat

General dynamics for 1 to 3 operators

Dealing with attackers while on foot

General situational awareness

Common CP mistakes

Tactical Considerations Regarding Close Protection

The shortfalls of body cover

Immediate action drills

Contact drill for one close protector

Considerations for engaging the assailant

Summary of some tactics for Contacts

Briefing the principal

Objective

The Briefing Stages

Checklist for basic brief for low threat clients

Security with regards to travel and the principal’s business

Document security

Business security for travelling abroad

General expediency

Advance Work

Objective

Application of advance

Equipment for the advance

Phoning ahead (prepare the ground)

Airport procedures

Hotel advance checklist

Restaurant and food service

Brief the principal

Checklist for Advance work

Pre-departure preparations

Organize and make sense of the collected information

Weapons training for close protection

General overview

Training the basics

Handgun equipment:

Weapon safety

Stripping and maintenance

Weapon carry:

Shooting on the move

Weapon presentation (drawing)

Know where your equipment is

Point aiming

Checking your environment

Movement drills

Malfunction/stoppage drills

Magazine changes

Shooting in four directions standing (standing stationary)

Shooting kneeling and lying

Wounded arm drills

Target recognition

Night shooting (survival in low light conditions)

Student objectives:

Weapon retention and disarming

Disarming

Retention

Shooting while moving

Stress fire

Shooting in close quarters (advanced students only)

Specific drills to increase skill

Tactical movement for individuals and other considerations

Fighting In Twos

Mental aspects of combat training

Assessment of the Danger to the Principal

Threat assessment

Requirements for good planning

For this assessment, you can ask yourself the following questions.

How will any threats succeed?

Proper analysis and interpretation of correct information

Realistic predictions and assumptions

Plan of action for foreseeable events

A guideline for the principal’s profile is as follows

Compiling the threat assessment

Keep the following in mind when you make your assessment

How will the threat assessment help the close protection team?

Where threats originate

Vehicle Escort Drills

General overview

Classic vehicle formation for driving

Principles for vehicle escort

Vehicle specification

The driver (qualifications and attributes)

Pre departure checks

Briefing the team just before departure

Vehicle breakdown

Vehicle accident

General mistakes

Vehicle Anti-ambush Drills

The Objective of anti-ambush drills

General overview

Rules for anti-ambush drills

Sequence of events leading up to the ambush

Recognising an ambush

Ambush evasive measures using a vehicle

Defensive anti ambush manoeuvres

Vehicle Modifications for Close Protection

General overview

Advantages and disadvantages of armouring a vehicle

Vehicle specification for general use

Surveillance

The art of subtleties

Terrorism and the need for information

Progression of events to the surveillance effort

Other sources of information

To collect information terrorists will study the following:

Signs of vehicle surveillance

(For counter surveillance/surveillance detection)

Example of a box formation using vehicles:

Patterns and frequency (general recognition)

Signs of foot surveillance

What makes you vulnerable to surveillance?

What makes surveillance teams vulnerable?

Compromise the terrorist surveillance team

Recording observations of surveillance personnel

Surveillance terminology

Selecting A Route (Route Reconnaissance)

General overview

General expediency

Actual procedure of route selection

Areas of heightened danger on the route

Important information about the route

Preparation of vehicles

Explosive Recognition and Searching

General overview

IED searching

How to assess a vehicle for IED’s

Minimizing IED risks

The practicality of vehicle search

Equipment necessary for a proper search

Actual procedure of search

How to harden/secure the vehicle

Example of a Search card for vehicles (checklist)

Searching the premises for an IED

Basic equipment you will need to search a premises

Actual search

Searching for Surveillance Devices

General overview

Who does the surveillance

Venues and places that need searching

Searching for surveillance devices

Common places to hide surveillance devices (bugs)

Other devices used to do surveillance

Venue Security

Security regarding the principal’s residence

Perimeter

The architectural drawing annotations

Sources of drawings and plans

Considerations for a guardhouse

Procedure regarding the residence staff

Basic strategy

Security In Public Settings

Security at hotels

Security at restaurants and cafes

Stage appearances

Movie houses

Malls

Security for the Principal’s Office

Operations Room for CP team (Command Post)

Function of the operations room

Basics operations of the ops room

Communications equipment for the ops room

Landline communications

General equipment acquisition for the ops room.

The following are also kept in the ops room

Equipment kept in ops room for use when travelling

Daily briefings

Briefing before the convoy moves

Rules for the ops room

Dealing with Grenade Attacks

Preamble

Statistics for South Africa

Classification

How they work

The explosion

How to deal with grenade attacks

Firebombs (Thermite bombs)

Phosphor bomb

Acid bomb

Petrol bomb

Overview of the Manual

The manual covers basic procedures and tactics for a civilian operator who wants to know more about CP in a civilian context.  As Civilian Close Protectors and teams normally do not have the luxury of a large team, it is imperative that a civilian Close Protector, working in a team of 1 to 3 men, has exceptional weapons and unarmed skills. It is also important to understand the limitations when it comes to covering the various functions of a CP team such as Advances, residence security, IED searches, covert and overt team members.

Most often during a civilian Close Protection job you will only be applying the foot and vehicle drills learnt and very little else. Probably the only time you will work in a team consisting of 8 to 12 operators will be in a PSD environment or when doing CP for the super-rich, diplomats or royalty. The reasons you seldom do more than just foot and vehicle drills is either it is not needed or the budget does not allow for it.

Do not be too serious when it comes to dealing with your team mates as serious people do not necessary live longer than well trained people. Some people you work with may take kindness and a friendly attitude as a weakness, but that may be someone that is not confident in their own abilities and normally not well trained.

From my experience one of the most common problems with CP operational environments today is that people try to put government agency training into a civilian infrastructure and context. This creates major problems because you will never have the budget or manpower in a civilian CP job that you have in a government CP operational environment. 

Another aspect of civilian CP work affected by government agents moving into the private sector is that some agencies will stress team work because of:

The larger number of agents in a government detail,

Intelligence (because of the mass of intelligence data available to government agencies),

High tech equipment (not available to private companies)

Ability of advance parties to check ahead (this is very seldom applied correctly in civilian CP work).

This is also why some training manuals will focus on government agency training methods or tactics that work if you have the budget and manpower unlikely to be found in a civilian context.

The basic manual deals with tactics and strategies that most single civilian CP operators should know. The more advanced manual goes into details about the individual areas for CP as well as extra subjects that deal with other areas of CP not always applied in everyday CP work such as computer security, maritime security and to a lesser degree security when flying.

Realistically the training material and tactics in the Advanced Close Protection training can only be fully taught and ingrained over a 2 to 3 month period but due to constraints in time for most civilian operators, it is usually only 4 to 6 weeks training. This should be done after a 4 week basic course has been successfully completed.

Introduction to Close Protection

Intercept Training Concepts (ITC) definition of Close Protection

Close Protection is protecting a person from physical harm and damage to their reputation, by applying principles and procedures to their lifestyle to maximize security without affecting quality of life unduly.

Even though this is a basic manual, some advanced contact drills developed by ITC are illustrated in this manual. These were developed and used exclusively by me until recently. This is until people start realizing the difference between effective contact drills and non-effective contact drills namely, that they will change.

It is important to know the difference between civilian Close Protection contracts and government Close Protection contracts.

The reason I discuss the difference is to emphasise the discrepancies between what you will learn on most CP courses and what you will need operating on your own. What will happen most of the time if you work in a civilian CP environment is that you will have to do virtually everything yourself. The reality of applying all aspects of CP when you are a sole operator will sink in when you realize all the different aspects of doing CP and how hard it is to do them when you have a limited budget and manpower.

The training for a government CP contract relies heavily on the presupposition that there will be a lot of manpower available to do the CP work. There will thus be a team for all the different aspects of the CP effort. These are some of the teams you will find in a full CP effort:

Escort section (does foot drills)

Drivers

Residence security team (RST)

Advance security detail

Counter sniper element

CAT car operators (the operators responsible for countering an attack)

Explosive ordinance disposal EOD (this is normally a government function)

Medics

Covert CP team

From the above list it can be seen that it is easy to get carried away when doing a CP course that was designed for government operatives. The focus tends to be on planning and coordination and not so much on the ability to deal with volatile situations. Granted you want to avoid violent confrontations